By TIM PRESTON
PAINTSVILLE — Eric Price left his home in Minot, N.D., this week with 3 feet of snow on the roof and a wind-chill factor of 45 degrees below zero and arrived in Kentucky to witness some of the worst winter weather to hit the region in years.
“It’s almost like a 100-degree change for me,” said Price, citing a thermometer reading of 25 below zero when he departed from North Dakota along with his wife, Renee, and their two daughters to attend a funeral in his hometown of Painstville.
“There’s snow as tall as me in my driveway right now,” Price said, adding he is concerned the accumulation on his roof may cause problems this spring. A new Wal-Mart in that area also sustained roof failure recently when 71 inches of snow piled onto the roof of the building, he said.
The weather was all clear when their plane landed in Lexington Monday, although they knew a storm was forecast and immediately pointed their car toward eastern Kentucky.
He gave credit to the abundant state and county highway crews they observed ready for action as they traveled along the Mountain Parkway to Salyersville, where they noticed the first hint of the storm that blanketed this area.
“I counted at least a hundred trucks,” he said.
While people in North Dakota are certainly more accustomed to much harsher winters and significantly deeper snows, Price said trees and flat land provide the major differences when it comes to getting out and going.
“This weather is extremely warm. We will get a freeze like this but it’s not as bad because there’s not a lot of trees,” he said, explaining downed power lines and trees across roads are enough to stop even seasoned winter weather drivers.
When trees and power lines aren’t a factor, driving on ice and snow is simply a fact of life.
“You get used to driving on it. I kind of wish I had my truck, but we’re getting around,” he said, theorizing the latest round of snow and ice here shouldn’t interfere with his plans to visit family in and around his hometown.
