Freezing rain ...do not drive

h3000

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Bail out!
Madness.

Thats what I taught. Why people insist on jumping out of the car I don't know.

Here is another case of bailing out.

Random wrote: »

Seems a bit mental getting out of the car given they almost got run over by it? Where was this? Was it today?

It was within the last few days in Paignton Devon in the UK. (not my vid)

Hal1

I posted that in the cool pics and links sub forum of afterhours. I had gotten it from b3ta.com (alot of the stuff is nfsw ). There were a few other vids of drivers doing crazy stuff on the ice :rolleyes:.

fricatus

mukki wrote: »

...this dam country is a joke

and so is this post. I have been drinking since 3pm and am on antibiotics

:eek:

Surely contender for post of the year...

Anyway, dunno about the rest of the country, but don't under any circumstances go out in the Waterford area. It has rained and this has just turned straight to ice, and it's everywhere. My estate is like in the video above. I walked home and it was lethal. I could see cars skidding at 10 mph. Stay where you are tonight and wait until there's a good thaw tomorrow before even considering driving!

peanuthead

Posted this over in weather, but all the meteorologists must be in bed
Sister is driving to Longford in the morning, she wants to leave here (Dublin) at 9am. BFs dad says she should hold off till 12, they told me that in Weather too.

She is determined to go though, saying the roads will be gritted. Will she be okay or should I convince her to stay

Flyer1

Just in folks, the roads around Waterford are absolutely lethal. Getting a lift home from a friend of mine, she was driving at 15 - 20mph ( no exaggeration ) and next thing the car spun out and bounced ditch to ditch. She usually drives an ae86 and does the odd bit of drifting and can control a car better than most drivers, no getting it back.

My first time really experiencing this stuff and it's nasty.

Mr Benevolent

Flyer1 wrote: »

Just in folks, the roads around Waterford are absolutely lethal. Getting a lift home from a friend of mine, she was driving at 15 - 20mph ( no exaggeration ) and next thing the car spun out and bounced ditch to ditch. She usually drives an ae86 and does the odd bit of drifting and can control a car better than most drivers, no getting it back.

My first time really experiencing this stuff and it's nasty.

Ah but supercooled rain is even nastier in an aircraft

corktina

also really really bad in North Cork and I have to drive to the Airport in a minute.. :-(

corktina

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

I just hope that the guy was OK.

What were they thinking ?

if they had taken the brakes off they would have had at least some control....i hope they are oK they...natural instinct to run when you are scared....

Mothman

I mostly hang around the weather forum.

The conditions generally away from southern and eastern coastal margins have been VERY cold for a few days. This cold is in the ground and is not going anywhere fast. The top part of the ground is sub zero and 6C air above will make very little difference is sucking this cold out of the ground. What will make a difference is rain and lots of it..

There is going to be black ice for days, Today black ice will certainly be widespread.
The "for days" part especially applies to areas that receive no sun. North side of hills, shaded by tress buildings etc.

I posted the following in a thread in weather forum

In conditions like this, I regularly test the conditions by braking (in a safe place, straight bit of road, no one behind) The rest of the family look at me in disgust because most of the time the road is fine and they get thrown forward, but when they hear the wheels lock up (old car pre abs) then they see the wisdom.

Don't be fooled by your thermo reading 4C and frost melting off cars.
Keep an eye on http://www.nratraffic.ie/weather/default.asp?RegionId=0 and look at soil temperatures. They are sub zero in many places.
Also http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

The above is a generalisation. There may be no black ice today along coastal margins, but I'd advise assume the worst and take allowances for other drivers making mistakes.

Main roads will be treated, but if it rains this could get washed off and then it freezes. Continually assess the conditions.

Also in the past I have deflated my tyres a little to try get through ice and then inflateed then once I got to main roads. Driving fast anf long on soft tyres will quickly harm them, but having them soft may get you through a short journey.

thirtypence

lads, im planning to drive from wexford to dublin thru enniscorthy, wicklow etc..............anyone got an update on what these roads are like?

R.O.R

Walked home from the In-Laws last night around 10.00pm and it was lethal in Drogheda. Main road was gritted, but everywhere was like an ice rink. Thankfully there are grass verges practically all the way as that was the only way we could grip.

When we got in to our estate there was and auld fella backing out of one of the driveways (in a Micra surprisingly). He managed to get off the driveway, in to the middle of the road, then starting revving the bollox off the engine before dropping the clutch in first. After a couple of minutes of moving absolutley nowhere I was torn between embarrasment for him, or going to help. As we were about 20 yards down the road and I had the dog, I just let him at it.

Think the wife's car is going to stay on the In-Laws drive today as neither of us fancy the walk again and my car is one of the worst I've ever driven in slippy conditions.

Thank God there is nothing to do today so I'm staying in and staying safe. Just a shame ESPN have the Premier League games today so it's championship football for me.

Mothman

thirtypence wrote: »

lads, im planning to drive from wexford to dublin thru enniscorthy, wicklow etc..............anyone got an update on what these roads are like?

Not an update but the N11 got a thaw on the 23rd that most of the country did not get.

Assuming N11 is treated it'll be fine.

Freezing in Wicklow last night and roads not gritted will be slippy with black ice possible.

cormie

Mothman wrote: »

Don't be fooled by your thermo reading 4C and frost melting off cars.
Keep an eye on http://www.nratraffic.ie/weather/default.asp?RegionId=0 and look at soil temperatures. They are sub zero in many places.
Also http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

Thanks for the link. I'm going from Bray to Wicklow town today, according to the NRA site, M11 in bray is -0.1, but Enniscorthy is -3.6, so I'm guessing it's getting colder the more southern you go. How lethal is -3.6 compared to -0.1 I wonder though? This is road temp by the way.

Also, do you have any idea when the weather is likely to pick up? Have we been through the worst of it or what's January likely to bring? Another snow feast like last year? I've got to travel about 3,000 miles in January alone over 8 days of driving. Am I in for a treacherous month or is the weather likely to improve and spring come early?

Mothman

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for the link. I'm going from Bray to Wicklow town today, according to the NRA site, M11 in bray is -0.1, but Enniscorthy is -3.6, so I'm guessing it's getting colder the more southern you go. How lethal is -3.6 compared to -0.1 I wonder though? This is road temp by the way.

Also, do you have any idea when the weather is likely to pick up? Have we been through the worst of it or what's January likely to bring? Another snow feast like last year? I've got to travel about 3,000 miles in January alone over 8 days of driving. Am I in for a treacherous month or is the weather likely to improve and spring come early?

I should have posted the alink to full table
http://www.nra.ie/RoadWeatherInfo/Map/data/htm/WeatherTable.htm
It doesn't give soil temps on this link but is a handy table

The Arklow bypass is stated as frosty...
-3.6C is probably okay if treated.

I'm not speculating about January, but the cold is staying with us for the next week with a battle between cold easterlies and mild atlantic air over us for a while with the possibility of snow.

Has anyone been on any stretch of the Galway - Athlone or Athlone - Cavan road today? Thinking of heading that way in the next while if it's not too bad

Connacht

Lads,
Can anybody tell me anything about the state of the N5 - N4 between Mayo and Kildare ?
Any info re ice / condidtions on any stretch you know greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.

Mothman

thirtypence wrote: »

lads, im planning to drive from wexford to dublin thru enniscorthy, wicklow etc..............anyone got an update on what these roads are like?

AA roadwatch

The N11 at Enniscorthy is treacherous. AVOID. Particularly bad from Ferns to Oilgate.

corktina

just back from airport....80 miles + black ice all the way even thru Cork City...stay home is my advice.

KANTURK is particularly bad, I only just managed to get thru without mishap, had there been normal traffic today, it would have been impassible...

timmywex

thirtypence wrote: »

lads, im planning to drive from wexford to dublin thru enniscorthy, wicklow etc..............anyone got an update on what these roads are like?

Dad drove between wexford and enniscorthy at about 10 this morning, worst he has ever seen roads, 5 accidents on the stretch with cars in ditches!

And bearing in mind he drives in snow/ice on mountains every year in germany/austria/switzerland. They are starting to get better though. Dont think there was much gritting going on yesterday in any case!

The ground temperatures appear to have risen alot since this morning.

Not near as many below zero now and rising steadily.

http://www.nra.ie/RoadWeatherInfo/Map/data/htm/WeatherTable.htm

dudara

Considering driving from Waterford to Macroom, Cork today. But road temps are -1.0 and -0.6 C in Macroom and Ballyvourney respectively on the N22. My parents live off the N22 in a rural hilly area so that's not good and additionally, things are supposed to be bad around Cork City.

cormie

Mothman wrote: »

I should have posted the alink to full table
http://www.nra.ie/RoadWeatherInfo/Map/data/htm/WeatherTable.htm
It doesn't give soil temps on this link but is a handy table

The Arklow bypass is stated as frosty...
-3.6C is probably okay if treated.

I'm not speculating about January, but the cold is staying with us for the next week with a battle between cold easterlies and mild atlantic air over us for a while with the possibility of snow.

Just saw this now, thanks again for the link. Temperatures have risen much higher now so it would appear it's definitely safe. I guess caution should still be taken in shaded areas.

Actually, what's to say that although the road may be a certain temperature, the ice covering it wouldn't have melted yet?

L1011

cormie wrote: »

Actually, what's to say that although the road may be a certain temperature, the ice covering it wouldn't have melted yet?

I think the laws of physics prevent that from happening, cormie... if the road temperature is above 4c, ice won't be able to remain on it.

Problem is theres an awful lot of road thats still below 4c or even below 0.

Mothman

cormie wrote: »

Just saw this now, thanks again for the link. Temperatures have risen much higher now so it would appear it's definitely safe. I guess caution should still be taken in shaded areas.

Actually, what's to say that although the road may be a certain temperature, the ice covering it wouldn't have melted yet?

The temperature sensors are only only representative for the location they are placed. 1km down the road could be in shade or a hollow where cold air pools and it could be much colder.
There are showers today that could wash the salt off and if not retreated they could freeze very quickly tonight.

Oh and about it being safe...that is almost entirely in the hands of the driver...any conditions, even dry can made unsafe by inappropriate driving, so I'd never say definitely safe.

cormie

Thanks for the replies. I know what you're saying about the laws of physics but when I wrote it I was just wondering if there's any way ice could still be on a road 4c. I guess I was just thinking if the heat was from another source other than the sun, above the road, which would of course have to melt the ice before making the road 4c I guess. In the case of shaded areas this wouldn't be the case though which has to be considered when driving.

gyppo

Back roads around Athlone and Moate were unbelievably dire today after a heavy rainshower - rain froze immediately on contact with the road.

5mph, and my car slid sideways on a very gentle camber in the road,until it came to rest on the frozen soft margin. The big problem came in that once I had came to a stop I could not get enough traction to get started again.
Also happened to be on a bend at this stage, so I was scared s***less of another car appearing and I could see that damage would occur.

Put the hazards on, and got a car to stop one side of the bend, while a girl out walking her dog held watch on the other side of the bend.
After much fruitless revving, and trying to get going, I let the air out of the front tyres until they were very soft, and I used the interior car mats under the front wheels to get me going.

I parked up down the road and went back to retrieve my mats. Lo and behold, the car which had stopped earlier slid sideways into the same spot, and was stuck too!
So, the mats were used a 2nd time

Scary conditions out there.

NLane

gyppo wrote: »

After much fruitless revving, and trying to get going, I let the air out of the front tyres until they were very soft, and I used the interior car mats under the front wheels to get me going.

good thinking, well done!

rossean

Has anyone been on the N5 between Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown? Or the N17 between Charlestown and Galway city?

GrumPy

Got raped by this shít last night. Lucky none of the cars involved actually collided, thank god. Was a very interesting Christmas day!

Mothman

An ice warning for this week 28th Dec into New Year.

Much of the country may see rain and away from south coast and this will freeze on the ground creating sheets of ice much slippier than ice rinks. The lowland south coast will probably be warm enough for any rain not to freeze on ground.

If it is snow, it will not be near as bad.

The gound is so cold and sub zero across much of the country, any ice in shade will remain for days, perhaps for week or 2.

I'm in Wicklow a mile from coast. (much warmer than most of country) It was 7C and sunny yesterday, but some light showers froze on the part of my drive in the shade creating an ice sheet.

5cm soil temps are well below zero in many places
http://www.nratraffic.ie/weather/default.asp?regionid=0
See individual stations.

A full table but not including soil temps
http://www.nra.ie/RoadWeatherInfo/Map/data/htm/WeatherTable.htm

Keep an eye on AA Roadwatch

To sum up If it rains beware!!