Second day of snow in Aberdeen. This time it was heavy snow during the morning rush hour. Took me a while to remove all the snow from my car. The road within the housing area was not ploughed or gritted but that's OK because it's on flat ground. I can easily drive over the snow. The main road within the housing area was not bad because more cars have passed through. The problem is at the end of this road is a rather steep slope downhill. Not only that, the bottom of the hill is where it meets the main road to town and is controlled by a traffic light. Yesterday I drove really slow here and still skidded a little but I didn't have to stop since the light was green. Today the snow was heavier ... and the light was red ... but so far so good as I drove even slower and maintain large distance to the car in front. No skid. I turned into the main road just to join the long jam. I got my camera with me so I'm sort of prepared to capture interesting event along the way.
It was actually not that cold. Outside temperature was 1 degree Celsius so ice should not be an issue. In fact the DJ on the radio commented that in some parts of Aberdeen it was actually snow and rain at the same time. His colleagues then said shouldn't it be called "sleet". The DJ replied that sleet is actually snow and ice and that a new word should be created for snow and rain called "snain"! He then went on to announce the name of 133 schools around Aberdeen that were closed. Mik's school was not one of them. Aberdeen airport was also closed due to the snow.
| Traffic crawling on North Deeside Road | Clearing the sidewalk in front of Robert Gordon U |
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| Die-hard bikers - one with a guitar! | Office car park with fresh snow on cars |
It was actually not that cold. Outside temperature was 1 degree Celsius so ice should not be an issue. In fact the DJ on the radio commented that in some parts of Aberdeen it was actually snow and rain at the same time. His colleagues then said shouldn't it be called "sleet". The DJ replied that sleet is actually snow and ice and that a new word should be created for snow and rain called "snain"! He then went on to announce the name of 133 schools around Aberdeen that were closed. Mik's school was not one of them. Aberdeen airport was also closed due to the snow.
I decided to take a detour from the long queue on North Deeside Road. As expected the small road that I was on was a lot more slippery. A Mercedes has to turn around since it cannot climb a gentle slope (due to rear wheel drive). I skidded a little even at such slow speed ... but the detour paid off as the road on the other side has less traffic. One slope downhill and another uphill and I'll be "home free". The slope toward Garthdee claimed one victim when I was passing through. A car skidded coming uphill toward Robert Gordon U. Two guys were trying to push the car with long queue of cars behind them. Good thing I'm on the opposite direction - going downhill that is not as steep as the slope close to my house. The road going North on Anderson Drive was filled with cars backed up all the way to Garthdee bridge. Thankfully I didn't have to go that way. One last slope to go ... was hoping that I won't have to stop on the slope but because of the roundabout and several cars in front of me - stopping on the slope was unavoidable. I skidded and swerved slightly as I started to move again, which was a great relief. I got to the office after 45 minutes - not too bad - the main thing is ... the car and me are scratch free! As I was walking into the building, my wife called. She was still stuck in traffic on the way to Mik's school even though she left more than half an hour earlier than me.
| Sun came out in the afternoon | View from office window |
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| Sunset over snow covered rooftops | Aberdeen winter sunset at closer look |
The snow did not just stopped in the afternoon, the sun actually came out to brighten the day but did not melt the snows away. Going home in the evening was much more pleasant since there were less traffic and the roads were cleared - just need to be watchful for ice since the temperature was 0 degree Celsius. At home my driveway is still full of snow and part of it is compacted into ice ... I hope this will not cause havoc on me tomorrow.
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| In car park leaving the office | Compacted snow in driveway at home |
Awesome pictures of the 'deen! Especially the one with the guitarist on a bike. Just watch out for the ice on the porch outside your door in the mornings though, it can be quite dangerous!
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