We're in NC, heading back on Sunday. News down here says you guys are covered in ice, with wide spread power outages due to downed trees in the western suburbs of Chicago. Is this true, or is the media doing it's normal "up selling" of bad news?

Right now it's snowing. We had an ice storm Wed. night, but I'm not aware GE lost any power. Then it rained and melted almost everything away. Now it's snowing. There's some ice on the side roads but it's not that bad.

Just backing up Scribbler's assessment. Come home. All is well. ....though probably not as warm here as points south.

Why the hell would you want to come back to the Midwest? I have been thinking about this for the past couple of days and I thought about contacting you...but ever since you moved here the weather just hasn't been right. October....25 days of rain out of 31. This stupid early snow....then an ice storm...the a thaw...now snow. What do we really know about you, nc211...if that is your real name. Predicted high of 54 tomorrow in Charlotte and you want to come back here? I am beginning to think you are some kind of weather controller sent here to ruin us.

It's been a steady snow here all morning, but it's actually very nice to look at, the light fluffy variety. Easy to plow or shovel.

Roads aren't great and the crews are have trouble with the side streets.

Weather update: What was forecasted as a "few snow showers" has turned into 9 inches of snow and still counting. DON'T COME BACK!!! Stay where you are, if you have any sense. Seriously, it's really bad out there. Even Roosevelt is dicey.

Stupid weather forecasters.

Are you friggin' kidding me scribbler!?!?! Is it still coming down? We're scheduled to arrive around 10 am tomorrow morning at OHare. Not that the day won't be just oh so jolly to begin with, but having a 19 month old who makes the Enegizer Bunny look like a nursing home contestant in tow, and thanks to that terrorist idiot yesterday and what is surely to be a nice experience with the TSA, and now nearly a foot of snow on the ground?

Clam.....sorry man.... I promise you amigo, the second the economy clears the lanes, we'll get out of your neck of the woods and stop torturing your weather patterns!!!!

It was fluffy snow. Pretty much all gone by now. My guess is the airports will be OK in the morning.

Can back in a hurry. It's fun here in the winter.

At $660 bucks to rebook the flight for Monday, we're heading back tomorrow (or at least try). Glad the SUV is at the airport waiting, and not the Lexus, otherwise we'd probably not make it out of the airport, assuming we get there to begin with. Ho freakin' ho ho

While we do have 9 plus inches, as Clam said it has stopped snowing now. The roads currently are a mess, but by the time you're home they'll be fine except for the usual side streets in Glen Ellyn. And it is a fluffy snow so it won't be hard to clear from your driveway.

I did fret a bit about my parents driving up from Indianapolis today but they made it safely; they said the snow really only started being heavy from Kankakee on north. Still, I have to say this one took me by surprise; I don't recall anyone predicting this much snow.

nc--

I forget when you moved here... as I recall, it was late last winter, after the worst of the snow and ice had come and gone.

Were all of your driving years spent down south before moving to Glen Ellyn? My yankee parents retired to Charlotte and were stunned at how inexperienced the “locals” were at driving on snow or ice. If the speed limit sign said “35,” by god they were going to drive 35+ no matter what the weather. The natives didn't have a clue that more space should be left between their car and the vehicle in front, that one had to allow a longer distance to stop for a stop sign, how to “pump” the brakes, how to steer through a skid, how to “rock” out of a snowdrift (and not spin the tires) and so on. Four wheel drive may help you on snow, but four wheels will skid on ice just as easily as two.

Just “common senst” to those raised above the Mason-Dixon Line, bu a mystery to those who spent all their winters south of it.

My parents saw accidents all over the place in Charlotte of the sort that would never happen up north.

Meaning... if you're not familiar with drivibg on snow and ice, just accept the fact that it might take 3-4 hours to get home from O'Hare. Blame it on the weather; don'ttry to beat the system. Drive so slowly and carefully that it annoys the others in your car. As soon as practical, head for a big, empty, snow-covered mall parking lot to see what happens when you slam on the brakes. Make sharp turns at 35mph to see what happens. Learn what “black ice” is, and does. Test your vehicle; train yourself. Winter driving is second nature to us; we don't even think about it.

Just be thankful you're in the flat midwest, and not in the hills of New England.

Drive safe! —Ted E.

Nothing was more riotous than watching the folks in Atlanta try to navigate those hills after one their massive snowstorms...which were typically an inch of less.

Agreed. Spent five punishing years in exurban Gherokee County... foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

One more winter driving tip offered by my wife: never, ever put your car in Cruise Control if there's even the slightest chance you might drive across a patch of ice or packed snow. Fastest way to find yourself in an unexpected and uncontrolled spin you can imagine. —Ted E.

When we lived in England, my wife and I woke up one morning to 1" of snow on the ground. We drove to work on empty roads only to find that the Government had shut down the entire country.

Yet another... when you're on an interstate, and traffic is down to one lane because of snow, and you're in a hurry and the guy in front of you is going too slow...

Do not try to pass unless your AAA account is paid up and you have time to wait for a towtruck to tow you out of a snowbank. —Ted E.

Since you have a little guy, rest assured that he will absolutely love the snow! After all when you have a toddler in your house, life is all about what makes him happy. He will always remember playing in the snow. This is wonderful, fluffy, puffy, snow that can rest in the palm of a hand and be blown into the wind. Snow is for children, help him enjoy it and roll with it! Learn to love it for the sake of your child. Nuf said as I am an adult and I am thinking of listening to Mr. Scotty's request of buying a place in Florida for the winter months!

Most useful tip I know in this weather (drilled into me by Proud Hubby) - if you park your car outside, not in a garage, ALWAYS turn your windshield wipers off before you shut off the engine. If you don't, and it snows/ices over, when you start your car and the blades try to move but can't because they're iced to the windshield or weighed down by a ton of snowand the motor keeps trying and trying and trying to move them, well -

The odds of doing a lot of expensive damage to your windshield wiper system is pretty high. We've both learned this from painful experience.

Not in this Weather

Well,we made it, with minimal fuss. Another 4am wake up call to get to RDU "Raleigh airport" this morning for the flight. OHare is a mess, would hate to be on a flight out today. It was going to be 60 degrees today where we were in NC. This isn't exactly our type of weather here, ya' know. But, we do see the beauty in it, and for all of our complaining, it is pretty to look at. Now, the snow that went directly into my shoes as I stepped out of the car into the fresh powder in the driveway, I'll always complain about that crap!

My background with snow driving, and driving in general, is a mixed bag of places and lessons. Places closest to winter driving include Indiana and Kansas. Driving techniques were taught to me from, of all people, the Teamsters! I use to be a Teamster during my movie days, and had to be trained to drive smoothly and safely, with a few extra tricks in there, in case I ever had a high profile passenger, that would get me on a magazine cover if something bad happened. Thankfully that never happened. All excellent advice from everyone on driving in this stuff! My favorite is to kick the car into neutral if coming to a stop on slick surfaces. This takes the torque of the engine and the gearing down kicks of the transmission out of the equation, allowing the car to roll over the ice uninterupted, and letting the brakes function as gently as you want them to. I have a 4runner with a V8 engine. At times, the torquing down of the gears when coming to a stop can break the traction of the tires. Many cars can do this. I once sat in an ice storm for 12 hours in Raleigh, to cover 4 miles of road. I watched a guy in a Jag inch into a ditch, because he couldn't get his car to stop moving forward. He didn't realize his brakes were freezing over and the idle torque of the engine kept pushing his rear wheels forward. If he had just put it into neutral, he'd of saved himself a pretty penny!

I know exactly what you mean about us southern drivers in winter. What you don't understand however, is a "snow" day for us, makes a hurricane party look like kids stuff! Every idiot gets into their cars to re-enact their favorite Dukes of Hazzard scenes.

Tomorrow is our "snow day". The little one is going sledding with his dad for his first time, and my first time in probably 25 years "since we left the midwest back in 84' - Indiana"!

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Now, the snow that went directly into my shoes as I stepped out of the car into the fresh powder in the driveway

Let me get this straight...you were out of town and your neighbor(s) didn't use the blower on your driveway? Man, did you buy in the wrong neighborhood! You need to live on my block.