And it snowed...
Dec. 9th, 2005 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoWeather forecasts here, especially those regarding snow, seem to be wrong more often than they are right. However, this time it really did snow, on schedule as predicted, and rather considerably heavier than predicted. We were to get 1 to 3 inches at the farm. As of this morning we have 6 inches. Farther south, there was to be 3 to 7 inches. When we left St. Charles at 10 pm last night, they already had 7 or 8 inches and it was still coming down hard. I don't know what the final count may have been.
As you can tell, we did make the trip. It's about 40 miles each way, and would normally take less than an hour, perhaps 50 minutes. It took almost two hours going and 90 minutes coming back. But it wasn't particularly frightening. Conditions were so obviously bad that everyone really did slow down. You can navigate heavy snow on a decent paved road at 30 or 35 mph without mishap. It's when people insist on going 50 or 60 mph that they make trouble. We saw one car in the ditch, and no wrecks. No one slid past us or in front of us, no one tailgated, everyone was on amazingly good behavior. Traffic going was very heavy because it was evening rush hour anyway. By the time we left to come home, of course that was over with. Snow plowing has not been handled well, many roads are still slush covered to a depth of 3 inches or more, but otherwise, no problem.
Well, almost none. For the second time, my anti-lock braking appears to have failed just when it is most likely to be needed. Happened last week too. Drive in sloppy snowy slush for 20 or 30 minutes, and the yellow warning light comes on. Brakes are still fine, but supposedly the ABS is not working. Park the car for a few hours and the light will be off again. The slop must be getting into the system somewhere. Since I drive so that ABS only very rarely activates, I can't say for sure whether it actually is not working or the light is just coming on due to a short or something. Guess it will have to go back to the mechanic, though the latest news about Ford makes me unhappy about going back to the dealership that just fixed my brakes.
As you can tell, we did make the trip. It's about 40 miles each way, and would normally take less than an hour, perhaps 50 minutes. It took almost two hours going and 90 minutes coming back. But it wasn't particularly frightening. Conditions were so obviously bad that everyone really did slow down. You can navigate heavy snow on a decent paved road at 30 or 35 mph without mishap. It's when people insist on going 50 or 60 mph that they make trouble. We saw one car in the ditch, and no wrecks. No one slid past us or in front of us, no one tailgated, everyone was on amazingly good behavior. Traffic going was very heavy because it was evening rush hour anyway. By the time we left to come home, of course that was over with. Snow plowing has not been handled well, many roads are still slush covered to a depth of 3 inches or more, but otherwise, no problem.
Well, almost none. For the second time, my anti-lock braking appears to have failed just when it is most likely to be needed. Happened last week too. Drive in sloppy snowy slush for 20 or 30 minutes, and the yellow warning light comes on. Brakes are still fine, but supposedly the ABS is not working. Park the car for a few hours and the light will be off again. The slop must be getting into the system somewhere. Since I drive so that ABS only very rarely activates, I can't say for sure whether it actually is not working or the light is just coming on due to a short or something. Guess it will have to go back to the mechanic, though the latest news about Ford makes me unhappy about going back to the dealership that just fixed my brakes.
