This cold weather and threat of ice on Monday got me thinking about how interesting DM was during 2011 Atlanta Snowpocalypse.  So I put together a recap of that whole week for you all to enjoy at your leisure.  I was actually surprised by how enjoyable it was to go back and look at pics and comments from that week.

Put on your ice skates, here we go!

Sunday January 9th

• Posted an “Snow Day Open Thread”  – mood is generally light.  We didn’t know this was about to turn into a weeklong thing.  TOK wrote…

Nice sledding on 3rd Avenue (the road itself), between Oakview and East Lake. Lots of neighborhood families out sliding down the hill, trying not to ram into one of the cars parked along the street.

• People sent in a ton of great “playing in the snow” pics, including the one below from Kate…

Monday, January 10th

The snow and ice started having an impact on the regular goings on of the city on Monday.  The ZBA meeting was cancelled.  A train stopped randomly for an hour on the tracks between College and Howard, blocking traffic at intersections.  Photo courtesy of Andisheh.

Judy had a good idea and we started what became a reoccurring thread throughout the week “What’s Open in Decatur Today/Tonight?”  What was open?  Square Pub, Farm Burger, Dancing Goats, Starbucks.  That was basically it.

Things are just getting started!  Continue the week after the jump!

Tuesday, January 11th

If I recall correctly, this was the first photo that drove home that no one was going to be going anywhere anytime soon.  That and the forecast that showed temps just above freezing during the day and then dipping into the 20s at night.  “West Howard Ave is a Sheet of Ice” photo courtesy of Andisheh

• Decatur schools were closed another day and folks started asking if the city, county or state had a snow plow or two.
• Despite the ice on the road, folks were still enjoying the snow.  More photos were sent in proving this.
• There was a Tuesday edition of “What’s Open in Decatur Today/Tonight?”  Lots more was open. Steinbecks, Little Kroger, CVS, Taqueria, Farm Burger, Blue Elephant, Dancing Goats. Twains, The Marlay, etc.
• We started a “Decatur Area Road Conditions” as folks thought about getting back out on the road.  There were many interesting reports including “Midway Woods seems to be an ice skating rink……”, there were calls to shovel your sidewalks, Westchester Drive was closed to sledding traffic only, downtown roads were reported to be “fine” but residential streets were all ice.  City of Atlanta finally received approval to pave state roads.
• Board of Ed meeting was cancelled.
• Trash pickup was delayed a full week.

Wednesday, January 12

• Most everything was open again by Wednesday, and according to some things were “hopping” as folks walked to downtown and Oakhurst just to get out of their houses for a bit.
• Sledding videos were a big hit.

• Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss responded to the perceived lack of response by the city during the snow/ice event saying “We do not purchase or store salt. We do have a sand spreader and our standard procedure is to sand areas that are identified as a critical need by our public safety and public works staff. We do not have a snow plow. Purchasing a snow plow for the once every five-ten years we would use it would not be fiscally responsible.”  There were 74 responses to that thread.
• Folks started getting back out on the roads with only reasonable success.  Reports of stuck vehicles and whatnot in the Wednesday “Road Conditions” post.
• There was basically NOTHING on the shelves at the Emory Commons Publix.  Photo courtesy of Heather

Thursday, January 13

• Apparently most of the stores/restaurants were open on Thursday, but the roads were still a total mess requiring another “road conditions” post.
• Scott Boulevard began to look almost passable.  Photo courtesy of Joe

Friday, January 14th

• Decatur schools made the full week of closings official.
• We were still doing road conditions posts where we learned that Ponce was an absolute mess the night before.
• We talked about how Decatur and Atlanta might be better prepared for the next storm.  Have we done these things?  “Buy a snow shovel”, “Buy kids sleds…so we don’t have to wreck the house looking for something that will slide down the hill.”, stock the larder, “rope more neighbors into shovelling tire tracks down the block”, and finally “sit around and listen to all the experts proselytize on how to better handle the storm. All the while, sipping on a fermented beverage.”
• And finally we rounded out the week with an “Eye on the Sleet” pic.

By the following Monday, we were trying to help a lost sled find it’s way home, and were back to discussing our favorite books of 2010.