When it comes to weathering the weather, Iowa is tops.
So says CNBC in a piece assessing which states are best prepared.
(Georgia did not make the list).
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sent a team of journalists to the Hawkeye State last week for caucus coverage and as their dispatches illustrate, the weather - with its snur-icane force winds, was definitely something.
But unlike metro Atlanta, where schools and government offices were closed or delayed ahead of what has mostly turned out to be frigid temps so far, Iowa doesn’t shut down when winter is coming.
Here’s a wrap of our team’s hot cold takes:
“Iowa experienced a one-two winter weather punch last week that resulted in more snow that many areas had experienced in over a half-century. That was followed by subzero temperatures and dangerous wind chills that lasted for days. It was so cold that normal remedies like salting roads were less effective. That is why it’s so impressive to me how well the state navigated the storm.”
When I landed at Des Moines Airport on Saturday, the winds were blowing snow all over the place. But the airport was functioning well; I don’t know how those people got to work. As I drove a few miles into downtown Des Moines, only one road on my route was deemed impassable. The rest were frozen over and snow packed, but the few people who ventured out were able to get where they needed to go. By Sunday, my first day hitting the Des Moines highways, I found clear lanes of travel. I don’t know how they did it: I guess some high tech solutions with super low freezing levels. The interstates near Des Moines had at least two travel lanes that were essentially dry. Yes, there was snow piled up on emergency lanes and the occasional slick spots. But the fact that just days after the storm the highways were clear was amazing to me. Finally, it was clear the people of Iowa are used to this. I know I frustrated some drivers as I crept along at an out-of-towner’s pace on the snowy streets, because at their first opportunity many sped around me. But unlike them, I wasn’t used to driving in these conditions!
There were lots of pickup trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles on the road. There were lots of trucks with snow plows on the front. Monday evening, as I left a precinct where I observed caucus speeches, I walked back to my rental car parked in a nearby neighborhood. It was about 7:30 p.m. local time, and a homeowner had pulled out his snow blower to clear off his driveway. It was the same type of machine I had seen throughout the week, making sidewalks navigable. Yes, even Iowans said the storm and the freezing temperatures were rare. But not one of them told me they were unprepared.
Temperatures of -6 to -9 below zero made Monday night the coldest Iowa caucuses on record. The frigid temperatures continued to make travel treacherous in parts of the state as Iowans headed out to caucus.”
Dozens of tractor trailers remained abandoned on the sides of I-80 east of Des Moines, days after a blizzard made the interstate all but impassable, and ice-coated streets and sidewalks proved too difficult to navigate for some trying to get to caucus locations. Turnout for the first-in-the-nation contest the lowest in more than a decade.
It was the coldest weather I have ever experienced in my life. As long as I didn’t have to stay outside for more than 10 minutes, I was OK. I brought three down puffy jackets. When I had to stay outside, I had to wear at least two.
They were actually great at dealing with snow. The one thing I was really amazed at is, incredibly, I didn’t see a single accident. They know how to drive. The snow was pretty bad but it didn’t take too long to clean up. They handle snow really, really well. I was really impressed.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
