I worry about the bridges, because they seem to freeze almost immediately. I remember actual ground covering snow only once since I lived here and ice on the bayou only twice. It will get cold, below freezing, but usually only in clear weather. Clouds tend to make it warmer.

Things are shifting around, which may mean more snow for us, and less for places where they expect it.

The Hattiesburg American did a live blog noting that school administrators in one rural district didn’t make the decision on closure until the buses were already on the road. Apparantly the buses did not have two way radio communication, so many did not find out until they arrived filled with kids to the schools.

Pick-ups with no weight in the back sliding all over everywhere; fools who think 4WD magically provides traction on glare ice, people going through intersections sideways; oh, yes, the joys of Southern driving when the roads get bad.

I made it to work every day through the snows and blizzards of Rochester, the lovely Arctic weather in Fairbanks, but if we get a heavy thunderstorm down here there’s no room for all of the ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars heading from accident to accident.

Thing is, once I got to the other side of the bridge, usually I saw said asswipe in the ditch on the other side. Did I stop and use my cell phone to call 911? Fuck no. Fuck’em. If he thought I was going over that goddamned bridge at 20mph because I wanted to, he deserved everything he got. Around Jackson, *every* offramp and *every* overpass had smashed cars all over the freakin’ place because the fuggin’ morons just drove balls out and slid right off the damned roadway in the ice and snow.

So anyhow, I hit the Louisiana state border, and as you can imagine, it’s been damned slow and I’m way tired. So I got off at Vicksburg and looked for a hotel room. Not a damned thing anywhere. Lady at the motel said every motel room in town was filled by utility company trucks come to fix the power lines after the ice storm let up. So I got a cup of coffee and headed out again. Monroe? Same deal. So I head down 165, tired as all getout, but at least the weather has warmed up a bit and there’s no longer ice on the bridges, not that I’m roaring over them at top speed. I ended up getting to my Mom’s house at 2AM and fell asleep on the couch shortly after staggering in…

Anyhow, that’s what happens in the South when you see snow and ice come through. It ain’t fun at all.

The local bridge over the bayou is so steep, that when it freezes you need chains or a tracked vehicle to get over it. If there’s not a lot going on and it happens, you wander down and watch the SUVs with all wheels spinning get about halfway up and then started slipping back down.

You take poles, ropes, and life rings with you, because, sooner or later, some fool ends up in the bayou and you have to fish them out. My best friend warms up the engine on his 30-footer because bad things happen if you let the engine freeze and he has a platform on the back that makes it easier to get people out of the water without getting wet. He lives just down from the bridge.

Ironically, cable news is just now reporting closed roads and a Winter Weather Advisory for New Orleans…