I grew up in places like Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine and I was oblivious to the idea of 'freezing rain'. When we first moved to NC, I kept asking "isn't freezing rain just snow (or sleet)? Why don't they call it snow or sleet?". Then I was driving to work one day and it was 29F and pouring rain. How is that possible? Does NC defy the laws of physics? That rain was freezing to my car as I was driving... By the time I got to work (13 miles from home), I couldn't get out of my car as the doors were frozen shut!! That, ladies and gentleman, is freezing rain. It SUCKS.

Now that I live in the PNW - I've had to change my definition of 'bad weather'. People laugh that 4 inches of snow will stop us in our tracks for days. It started to snow here on Thursday. Today (Monday), people are still calling in to work...unable to get out of their neighborhoods. 4 inches of snow with 4 days of temps near freezing or below, with very few plows and with hills everywhere and an awful lot of cars with crappy bald tires and people who don't know how to drive in snow is a recipe for disaster. Personally, I stay off the roads if I can and I'm very comfortable driving in snow (and we own a Subaru).

A friend of mine posted a video of a guy ice skating down the street (literally - on hockey skates!). Crazy!