Currently snowing quite hard in Des Moines according to my mate - roads
are 'interesting' after 3 days of freezing rain too..

http://www.theiowachannel.com/weathe...70/detail.html

The UK would just grind to a total halt. Iowa ranges from -30C to +40C
in an average year, yet the roads aren't falling apart, the trains don't
stop running... Wonder where the UK lost the plot? Seriously, I seem
to recall that in '79 & 81 the UK seemed to at least have a grip on what
to do in winter, can't recall much detail from '86 / '87 which was quite
bad in Lincolnshire IIRC, but the decline in our ability to cope began
around then.

G.
--
Graham J. Platt
graham (a) bowhunter (d) demon (d) co (d) uk
TRA #10112 L2

"Graham" wrote in message
...
Currently snowing quite hard in Des Moines according to my mate - roads
are 'interesting' after 3 days of freezing rain too..

http://www.theiowachannel.com/weathe...70/detail.html

The UK would just grind to a total halt. Iowa ranges from -30C to +40C
in an average year, yet the roads aren't falling apart, the trains don't
stop running... Wonder where the UK lost the plot? Seriously, I seem
to recall that in '79 & 81 the UK seemed to at least have a grip on what
to do in winter, can't recall much detail from '86 / '87 which was quite
bad in Lincolnshire IIRC, but the decline in our ability to cope began
around then.

G.
--
Graham J. Platt
graham (a) bowhunter (d) demon (d) co (d) uk
TRA #10112 L2


I think the answer to this is quite simple when you come to think of it. We
simply are not used to extreme weather, because we very rarely have it.
Especially extreme winter weather, over the past 15 years.

In article ,
Graham writes:
Currently snowing quite hard in Des Moines according to my mate - roads
are 'interesting' after 3 days of freezing rain too..

http://www.theiowachannel.com/weathe...70/detail.html

The UK would just grind to a total halt. Iowa ranges from -30C to +40C
in an average year, yet the roads aren't falling apart, the trains
don't stop running... Wonder where the UK lost the plot? Seriously, I
seem to recall that in '79 & 81 the UK seemed to at least have a grip
on what to do in winter, can't recall much detail from '86 / '87 which
was quite bad in Lincolnshire IIRC, but the decline in our ability to
cope began around then.

You could argue that it's reasonable for councils and utilities to spend
less on preparations in case of severe winter weather when such episodes
seem to be becoming increasingly rare. How much is it worth spending on
insuring against problems that occur very seldom?

In Des Moines they know that they are going to get severe conditions
every winter.
--
John Hall

"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

"John Hall" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Graham writes:
Currently snowing quite hard in Des Moines according to my mate - roads
are 'interesting' after 3 days of freezing rain too..

http://www.theiowachannel.com/weathe...70/detail.html

The UK would just grind to a total halt. Iowa ranges from -30C to +40C
in an average year, yet the roads aren't falling apart, the trains
don't stop running... Wonder where the UK lost the plot? Seriously, I
seem to recall that in '79 & 81 the UK seemed to at least have a grip
on what to do in winter, can't recall much detail from '86 / '87 which
was quite bad in Lincolnshire IIRC, but the decline in our ability to
cope began around then.

You could argue that it's reasonable for councils and utilities to spend
less on preparations in case of severe winter weather when such episodes
seem to be becoming increasingly rare. How much is it worth spending on
insuring against problems that occur very seldom?

In Des Moines they know that they are going to get severe conditions
every winter.
--
John Hall

"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

As Gordon Manley said in his excellent 'Climate and the British Scene'
(1952) and still relevant today

"..the more impressive extremes of our winter weather occur with somewhat
dangerous rarity"

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 17:35:48 +0000, Graham wrote:

And a few web cams:

http://www.webcam-index.com/USA/Iowa/

Most are okay, 2 or 3 are duff/no good.