I-40 Oklahoma

So many talented people out there. Glad it was all low speed.

 

I was supposed to haul a permitted overweight load that morning. The customer declared a stand down due to the ice storm. Hopefully we will get underway tomorrow morning.

 

Not sure how many times i've said this have lost count now, a professional driver will drive according to the conditions and slow down accordingly, will always keep a look out on vehicles well in advance to prepare for any unforeseen situations like this one and hence avoid the mishap and continue driving on.

 

Wednesday: Elk City to just east of OKC was all ice. 35-40 mph. Made it through with no problems...but many others weren't so lucky. At the 192 west bound was a jackknife blocking the entire WB side. Guess he went from good roads to "oh ####" in a hurry. Is there a video in the link or is it just a still?

 

Not loading for me. Oh well...saw enough wrecks on the way to Arkansas anyway.

 

Dorf

 

December of 2000, it was close to 90 degrees F when we entered the west side of OKC on 40 with a thunderstorm frontal passage pending tornadoes and all. (Which makes for a very intense morning.) It's 3 AM and all hell broke loose.

By the time we hit the west side in about 40 minutes it had fallen to right around 28 and whatever was wet and continued to fall was ice too slippery to walk or drive on. It's now 4 am and radio was lighting up with about a dozen big rigs slid off into the median, what there was of it. Many were doing phone patches to those with cells to dispatch.

We hid out in West OKC on a hilltop hotel truckstop kind of place until the sun was up enough to melt everything.

You cannot make assumptions in nature. You wont believe what is possible when temps fall straight down (Or rise vertically...) and the wild things that happen when it does.

 

If you don't like the weather in OKC, wait five minutes.