I had to drive to Johnstown, PA from Panama City, leaving Sunday morning. I knew about the storm, and based upon projections, Charlotte, NC appeared not to get snow until mid-morning on Monday (according to the forecasts). While driving north through Atlanta to Statesville, NC (about 25 miles north of Charlotte), there wasn't a bit of snow, rain, or sleet and the roads were very dry. My plan for out-running the storm seemed to succeed.
This morning, I awoke at 5AM and saw about 1/4" of snow out on the parking lot...uh oh! About 1.5 hours later, I was all packed and ready to get back out on the road. The tires on the '06 are not all-season, but are directional tires designed for maximum wet and dry traction (but no snow traction). I slowly pulled out of the parking lot, and tried to go up-hill on a very gentle grade. The car fish-tailed like crazy, but I did manage to get to a gas station to fill up. Fortunately, it was next to a Starbucks, so I loaded the thermos bottle with high-test. I then managed to go onto a clover-leaf onto I-77N, and tried to stay in previous tracks of other cars. I started out doing 35 mph, and managed to get up to 45 mph without problems. 30 miles down the freeway, the highway was free of snow and was dry. I went 70 mph the rest of the way up to Johnstown.
Damn weather forecasters...if they had said snow about 60 miles north of Charlotte, I would have spent the extra time driving the distance on Sunday to avoid the snow. I thought I had a safe margin as it was...
