How's that Climate Change Denialism working out for you, Atlanta?

No less the Republican government you elected which repeatedly cut services, and who couldn't see a snowstorm coming, despite warnings?

Meanwhile, back in here in California -- which Republicans repeatedly claimed is a hellhole -- it's 70 degrees and sunny, and since we got rid of our Republican governer and overrode the minority Republicans in the legislature, our economy has been booming.

You get what you paid -- and voted -- for.

The above having been said, I truly hope every one of you Atlantans is rescued -- even if we have to send in the National Guard from California.

and they say Seattle freaks out over snow

Cobra doesn't even need a Weather Dominator.

Kasim Reed's people should be talking to Greg Nickels' people stat about how not to handle a snow crisis.

I know we're into 2014 a month already, but I want to add one more New Years Resolution:

Fall asleep in a supermarket aisle.

charles you're spot on for once.

@1: climate is not weather. the south got hit because the high that is/was keeping us dry and CA in drought is sending the jet stream way north, then way south. that's why the polar vortex keeps dipping down in the midwest as well.

that and the lack of topographic features to stop it.

it's not directly attributable to climate change. just ask cliff mass.

As the resident meteorologist, I'd like to note that the forecasts were pretty solid on this one. It's a giant pain getting people to listen to warnings, anyway, and a more difficult prospect when large swathes don't "believe" in science.

Correction: Atlanta isn't a city at all. It's more of a feudal collective of gated communities. Paranoid gated communities, with residents that are most definately clinging to their guns.

Yep. Too damned many single-family residences. Who would live in one of those, anyway? But at least they have grade-separated mass transit!

A decade ago I spent a weekend as a tourist in downtown Atlanta. That place is DESERTED from 5pm Friday until 8am on Monday. I was the only person in a major downtown subway station (Five Points) at 8pm on a Saturday. It was creepy.

Isnt a parked car much like an apodment?

Not only does Atlanta have grade-separated mass transit they arguably have OUR grade-separated mass transit. Seattle didn't think we were in financial shape to match the federal mass transit funds that ended up in Atlanta.

@9: you ain't kidding. Here's a cogent take on the real source of the problem: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2…

...spoken by a bunch of people who don't know Atlanta at all. 1) Public transit does suck here. But, it's a lot more feasible if you live/work in town. 2) The city of Atlanta is largely liberal (Q: What do you call a black man in Atlanta? A: Mayor). 3) Gated communities? Maybe in the 'burbs. 4) Locals don't hang out downtown. Duh.

Look, I live in metro Atlanta and the weather forecasts were very murky. Maybe it will, maybe it won't: snow. and if it did, they acted like it wasn't going to be much: dusting to an inch. Then the Nat'l Weather Svc. even downgraded their warning and everyone said, well, there you go.

AND THEY DIDN'T CLOSE THE SCHOOLS.

The school thing was the killer. So people went about their business and then it started steady snow, no wind, about 11 a.m. in the northern Metro. And the temp started dropping. The school systems realized they were idiots and started calling parents, school closing after 1 p.m. and the city lost its mind.

Everyone jumped on the roads by 12:30 and by 1:30 the snow was heavy enough and had accumulated enough to make the roads slippery. And slippery in Atlanta is killer because Atlanta is all hills. You think Seattle has hills? Atlanta is hills on hills on hills and no one has proper vehicles or tires or preparation. So, essentially, a million people all going home at the same time in steady snow on hills. The secondary roads and subdivisions and apartment complexes (of which we have way more than gated communities, thank you) weren't salted at all, even though major arteries had been covered.

Not to defend Mayor Kasim Reed, but the city and counties were out early salting and sanding before the precipitation starting coming down, but only major arteries. And once the streets became gridlocked, the govt vehicles couldn't get through to hit them again.

There were way too many idiots driving, too. Acting as if they were above the traffic laws and the laws of slippery. As a result, accidents clogged the already clogged roads and things came to a standstill. Literally.

More plows or sand/salt trucks would not have helped. Closing the schools the night before would have helped a lot. There were school buses full of kids stuck for 3, 4, 5, 6 hours in the traffic. A lot had to turn back and return the kids to school. It seems to have been downplayed in the news but schools had their kids all night and into the next day because they couldn't bus them home or their parents were stuck in traffic and couldn't get them home. Of course, then the schools needed to have at least one policeman there overnight. Which meant one less cop out trying to help on the roads. Not good. Hmmm?

The 4 inches of ice and snow we got in 2011 was worse, but hit Sunday night and everyone was at home and so it didn't turn out this way. But this exact SnowJam occurred in 1982, evidently, with snow coming in at midday. And now we have SnowJam 2014. And probably will again. Sadly. Because no one learns.

Well, not totally true. I was lucky and my big boss had a horrific experience in 1982 so he said to home at noon and while I was in heavy traffic (like regular rush hour), I was home in 45 minutes. But anyone that waited much past 12:30 had their commute multiplied by 100 and that was if they were lucky enough to get home. My husband left at 2:30 and made it to our exit on the highway by 5 p.m. but traffic just stopped due to accidents on the secondary roads. And then people's cars starting overheating or running out of gas, another problem as the hours went on, adding to the blockages. It took him 9 hours to go one mile and even then, the last 300 feet he had to drive illegally in the empty lanes to reach the entrance to our subdivision.