Developing a road impact parameter for forecast models and mesoanalysis
The purpose of this parameter is to allow quick identification of regions at risk of developing hazardous road conditions due to winter precipitation. read full post
icyroadsafety.com News Feed
icyroadsafety.com News Feed
Latest posts
Analysis of the Fort Worth, Texas pileup: its cause, contributing factors and how to prevent future ones
At about 6am on Thursday, February 11, 2021, a pileup involving 133 vehicles occurred on Interstate 35 West just north of downtown Fort Worth, Texas. 6 people lost their lives and at least 60 were injured, with 36 requiring transport to a hospital. This article will examine the cause of this tragedy and offer a potential solution to prevent similar incidents in the future. read full post
Major road icing event affects 41 states - January 14-18, 2018
It is rare for a single storm to threaten the majority of the United States with the icy road hazard. The event brought dangerous conditions to 41 states in a continuous swath from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. read full post
Winter driving education videos
These winter driving education videos, viewable for free either here or on Youtube, cover the essentials of keeping yourself accident-free during icy conditions. read full post
Trip to Mississippi and Alabama for Southern US winter storm - January 5-7, 2017
Even minor winter storms in the deep South are high-impact events. As such, I have made them a priority to cover, reserving some of my chasing funds for trips to these events. read full post
High-impact freezing rain/drizzle road icing event from Oklahoma to the East Coast - December 15-17, 2016
Another significant-impact freezing rain event across the USA has demonstrated once more what this underrated hazard can do. read full post
"Icezilla" freezing rain disaster in the northeast US - January 18, 2015
Yet another devastating light freezing rain event demonstrates the tragic and crippling nature of this underrated weather phenomenon. This time, the northeastern US was affected, with high-impact road icing from Baltimore through New England. read full post
Report: December 30-January 2 Oklahoma/Texas icing event sequence
This is an account from my first major winter weather chase of the 2014-2015 season to capture footage and gather more observations and material for this site. As a shallow Arctic air mass plunged southeast, successive icing events were shown by models to advance eastward with each day. read full post
8 dead, 100s injured, millions in damage from freezing rain on 11/22/14
One of the worst weather events of 2014 (in terms of human impacts) occurred on Saturday, November 22, 2014 as light freezing rain moved from the Midwest through the lower Great Lakes and Pennsylvania/New York. read full post
Report: Major winter storm in the Deep South, 1/28
I returned home Wednesday from another long trip to cover the January 28 winter storm in the South. Like the Texas event, this was a very high-impact, high-threat event due to the region of the country it was taking place in. The most significant impacts were in the Atlanta and Birmingham areas. As with the Texas trip, I learned more valuable details about southern US icy roads. read full post
Report: High Risk road icing event in south Texas/Louisiana
I returned home Saturday from a grueling, intense trip to southern Texas to cover what is likely one of the worst types of road icing events possible. I learned many valuable details about southern US icy roads. This report will hopefully shed some light about what goes on during coverage of an event like this. read full post
Winter tires: not the solution for preventing icy crashes
Part of my research on the road icing subject has involved getting a feel for widely-held perceptions and beliefs. One of the most common I see is the stout belief that winter tires are the 'silver bullet' solution to the road icing hazard. read full post
Preliminary low estimate of December 3-8 toll: 40
At least 40 people have lost their lives on icy roads in the US since last Tuesday (December 3 to 8, 2013). This figure comes from a search of online news reports across the country, and therefore is likely a significant underestimate. read full post
The Top 7 Icy Road Myths
These are the most common myths about icy roads I see in various places, including forum discussions, media articles, video comments and more: read full post
Aren't icy road crashes caused by driving too fast for conditions, not ice and snow?
As we begin the 2012-2013 road icing season in the US, I wanted to challenge a common 'official' perception of what causes wrecks on ice and snow: people going too fast for conditions. read full post
Road icing news for January-February 2012
A roundup of few items and events of note during the past two months: read full post
Commentary on the recent viral WV pileup video
The recent viral icy road video in circulation of a camera-equipped car involved in a multi-vehicle pileup in West Virginia provides an opportunity to bring up a couple of points of discussion about a few common myths and misconceptions. read full post