Winter Weather Memories Week 6

Charlie Wilson of Weather History  described the  four-day snow and ice storm as the worst major ice storm in Oklahoma in more than a decade. The storm affected all but the southeast part of the state, with ice accumulations of a half to 1 inch. Local ice accumulations of 4 inches were reported at Cordell. More than 225 people were treated for injuries, after slipping on the ice. Charlie reports that there were at least 170 of the injuries in the Oklahoma City area. I called it 'The First Blizzard of My Life, and I Wasn't Prepared For It.

This picture is of a later snow storm but it is very much like the one I went through and this link is a picture of a road near where I drove in 1967

Lorraine, of "Olive Tree Genealogy Blog", invited us to join her in weather memories for the 'Sharing Memories a Genealogy Journal'.
This is a memory I had just shared with my daughter while I was in California.

 

I was 19 and working as a telephone operator in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I lived an hour away from my job. I had not yet learned the value of watching the weather for what to expect.  When I left home at 9am, it was sunny warm and a beautiful day.  I was dressed in a light skirt and blouse with sandals on, silly teen girl. About 8pm, some of my co workers began to talk about there being a storm coming in. Still I did not think much about it. It was Oklahoma, weather was always changing.
At midnight, I walked out into a blowing, snowing, icy world.  I slipped and slided my way to my car.  I had never driven on snow or ice before, so my mind was searching for the instructor's words for what to do if your car started in a spin.  Something about turning your wheel.  It was not coming back to me.  I began my journey towards my home.  There were people sitting on the side of the road everywhere.  I was not dressed for a night in the ice and snow, and I had not (another improvident act) filled up my gas tank, so it was precariously close to empty.  I had enough gas to make it back home, if I could not stop to fill up. I was doing fine, until I hit the ascent to the over pass. At that point, I began to slide, I turned my wheel because I did not want to slide into the cars near me, it caused my car to go into a spin.  I came to a halt sitting with my front wheels off the road and on the slope down towards the feeder street.  I couldn't get traction to go backwards on the road, so I held my breath and put the car in drive and slid down the hill to the feeder.  It was a go.  I made it and proceeded homeward.  After two hours of inching down the road, I arrived at home, hurried inside, and collapsed down in front of the fireplace to tell my story to my dad, who had waited up holding his breath hoping that I would make it home safely.  There weren't any cell phones back then. 
Two years ago, I made a trip to Idaho at Christmas time. My son could not understand the apprehension I had about driving in the snow.  I just said, it is not my thing to do.  Oh yeah, I have a weather memory!