SC

Let The Great Palmetto Ice Freakout Begin!

“DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER … MASS HYSTERIA!” We’ve been pretty ho-hum in our coverage of oncoming Winter Storm Pax … in large part because Winter Storm Leon was such a dud. Of course that was before we learned of a little something called the Sperry-Piltz Ice Accumulation Index –…

“DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER … MASS HYSTERIA!”

We’ve been pretty ho-hum in our coverage of oncoming Winter Storm Pax … in large part because Winter Storm Leon was such a dud.

Of course that was before we learned of a little something called the Sperry-Piltz Ice Accumulation Index – or the SIPA index. What’s that, you say? Glad you asked …

Named after Oklahomans Sidney Sperry (an electric cooperatives executive) and Steven Piltz (the head of the National Weather Service in Tulsa), the SIPA purports to measure ice storm intensity based on total precipitation, wind speed and direction and temperatures.

Introduced in 2007, the index incorporates these meteorological readings into a “Potential Utility Damage Scale” – enabling forecasters to alert the public to potential power outages in advance of oncoming storms.

So … what does that have to do with South Carolina?

Well according to the latest forecast models, huge swaths of the Palmetto State – including the Columbia, S.C. region – are in line to receive ice accumulations of more than one inch over the next 48-72 hours.

What does that mean? According to Sperry-Piltz, it means the potential for some serious damage.

Take a look …

spia

Yeah …

Take note of that stage five reading … which references “catastrophic damage to entire exposed utility systems” and power outages lasting “several weeks in some areas.”

Ummmmmm …. what????

Obviously we’re taking “Icepacalyse” predictions with a grain of salt … but this is clearly a system we’ll be eyeing closely over the next few days.

UPDATE: Yes, our sub-headline is from the movie Ghostbusters.

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28 comments

Mike at the Beach February 10, 2014 at 6:33 pm

Don’t run off and start buying plywood and duct tape just yet…I mean bread and milk, whatever…

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Will Folks aka Sic February 10, 2014 at 6:50 pm

What about salt LOL

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Mike at the Beach February 10, 2014 at 6:52 pm

Now THAT would make sense (which means that they probably didn’t).

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shifty henry February 10, 2014 at 7:16 pm

My girlfriend’s salty tears will only melt…..my heart.

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euwe max February 11, 2014 at 1:15 am

“girl?”
—–
I suggest you keep that on the down low… child protective services sometimes skims this site.

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shifty henry February 11, 2014 at 7:18 am

Shifty’s “girlfriends” have always been, and will always continue to be, between the ages of consent and collapse.

euwe max February 11, 2014 at 9:06 am

well, aren’t you the least bit worried that referring to a female past the age of consent as a “girl,” that she might feel diminished in some way?

It’s one thing to be referred to with a pet name like “my little skanky snookum skeezer shugs” when you’re muff diving under the covers, and quite another to post it as a caption under a picture of her shaved pubes on a porn site for octogenarians.

Norma Scok February 11, 2014 at 10:20 am

I’ve never heard anyone say they had a “woman friend”, unless she was just large. If they say she is a “lady friend”, she’s probably a prostitute. I’ve also noticed that anytime someone refers to their wife as “wifey”, they have probably taken pr0n pictures of her and published them on the internets.

euwe max February 11, 2014 at 10:34 am

I’ve never had a “lady friend.” However, my understanding is that a clear complexion and fresh underwear is extremely expensive.

shifty henry February 12, 2014 at 8:26 pm

Nowadays, couples are likely to be living together but not lovers (husband and wife, say), or separated but still involved, or having a fling but not a long-term affair, or living alone but married (open divorce), or divorced but still living together. The possibilities are unlimited.

Relations today are so hazy that you’re likely to hear anything at a neighborhood cocktail party.

A few years ago at party a man kept introducing the woman with him (on his, arm, in fact) as “my lady,” and nobody there knew if she was his wife, lover or cleaning woman. If he had only said “my old lady” people might at least have narrowed it down to wife
or mother or perhaps somebody he had just helped across the street.

If the guy had had simply said, “This is Ms. Glenore
Garibaldi, my lady,” I might at least have had an inkling that they were more than blind dates and yet less than master and concubine.

.

shifty henry February 11, 2014 at 11:18 am

[1] – No, [2] – pet names should be short, [3] – manly duties. requiresnotalking, [4] – my current lady friend has four adult daughters who live nearby, and each has their Mom’s first name (Vivian) as their first or second name. However, they all have the habit of referring to each other by any one of their given names, including Mom. It’s confusing, especially when Mom hears that Shifty was going to take ‘Vivian’ out-of-town. So I honored Mom by naming her “The Duchess”

euwe max February 11, 2014 at 11:24 am

Reagan called Nancy “mommy”.. I imagine him burning in Reagan (renamed in honor of him), screaming “MOMMY!” for eternity… keeping the newly arrived Sharon from getting any sleep.

euwe max February 11, 2014 at 1:17 am

What about salt

——-

If the temperature of the roadway is lower than 15 F or so, then the salt really won’t have any effect — the solid salt cannot get into the structure of the solid water to start the dissolving process.

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Smirks February 11, 2014 at 8:30 am

Willing to bet more than half the people flooding the stores for weather “events” like this would be like, “What do I need salt for?”

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euwe max February 11, 2014 at 9:09 pm

Kitty litter is better for parking spots and getting you going when the temperature is really super low, and you’re sliding or spinning on black ice. Keep a bag in the car.. they have lighter kitty litter now, so it’s not like carrying bricks.

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Deo Vindice SC February 10, 2014 at 6:55 pm

Let the pipes burst and lets have a ball game.

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Deo Vindice SC February 10, 2014 at 6:57 pm

Moron state, should be the name on our plates.

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Norma Scok February 10, 2014 at 7:06 pm

I hear Jim Cantore is in Columbia. I hope he survives…

The gunfire.

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Smirks February 11, 2014 at 8:29 am

“We’re down here in beautiful Five Points and… Oh my, is that thunder? I just heard a loud boom- …no, wait, there it is again. Oh crap, is that gunfire? Get me the hell out of here!”

Followed by statement from Steve Benjamin that Five Points is safe, doesn’t understand why anyone is complaining.

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Keith February 11, 2014 at 10:15 pm

Those damned under-aged white college kids drinking beer again!

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Original Good Old Boy February 11, 2014 at 11:07 am

He’s from Atlanta. He’s used to dodging bullets.

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IVEBEENHACKED February 10, 2014 at 9:02 pm

Watch “Governor Nikki Haley speaks at a Sikh Temple” on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mkg72Z17Fc&feature=youtube_gdata_playerHmmmm……

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Frank Pytel February 11, 2014 at 5:54 am

Why?

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shifty henry February 11, 2014 at 8:01 am

She glories in being idolized, and she appears to be almost holy.

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jerry February 11, 2014 at 7:28 am

The guy with the peacock feather is doing the indian wave…Lol..Oh better not let those god fearing southern baptist find out Haley is not really one of them. She was just pretending…

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The Colonel February 11, 2014 at 7:13 am

what happened to Moe, Nesbitt and Oscar?

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shifty henry February 11, 2014 at 8:07 am

Shifty is a Leon, and I resent having my name attached to a puny, limp event. Why wasn’t it named Larry? My ex-wife had a hurricane!

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MashPotato February 15, 2014 at 5:57 am

“… SIPA purports to measure ice storm intensity based on total precipitation, wind speed and direction and temperatures.”

No love for the Oxford comma, Sic? This is a perfect example of why it’s appropriate.

Reply

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