Hot Weather Question

yola

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I'm curious as to how most countries manage with temperature variations. The reason I ask is that for the last few days it has been 30+ degrees C in the UK, and the country has been falling apart!!!

Our train rails are buckling under the heat, so they have imposed severe speed restrictions on most main inter-city lines; tarmac is melting; people are having fist-fights in traffic jams as their tempers fray . . . it was reported that the rest of Europe don't experience such problems, even though it's hotter across the continent at the moment.

Anyway, I know some of you live in extreme (both hot and cold) climates. Do you transport infrastructures grind to a halt? We seem to have problems with heat, problems with cold (roads don't get gritted soon enough, railway points freeze), and most famously - leaves on the (railway) lines in autumn, meaning that again trains get cancelled or badly delayed.

Is the UK unique in this? Are the reasons genuine or is the nation just unable to cope with anything more extreme than drizzle and grey skies?
 

willowsmom

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Well considering that it's only 82F and there is numerous places here in the US that get over that during the summer and all systems keep running I think it has something to do with they way things are build over there. they aren't made for that temp. is it rare to reach temps that high?? I think who ever build all those things didn't weight in the fact of HIGH temps. but anyway to answer you more fully......No everything stays running and doesn't shut down......that only happenes here in case of Bad snow of Rain or tornado's or hurricanes all the very tramatic type of storms.

Hope that helps you a little bit!
 

sal

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I know what you mean Yola - it's a nightmare here isn't it. Remember earlier in the year when it snowed and the M11 came to a standstill overnight just because of a couple of inches of snow??

We were in Toronto in December a couple of years ago and were amazed at how well everything ran, considering they have tons and tons of snow. I think a lot of it is to do with money and the fact that the British Government just want to spend as little as possible.
 

lorie d.

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I live in a part of the country that has extremes of both heat and cold. Our roads and sidewalks do show the strain of going through repeated temperature extremes year after year. In the spring we get pot holes in the roads and our sidewalks can get cracked and uneven. We also have very mild problems with roads buckling during periods of extreme heat. However, these were built to withstand the temperatures and everything does keep going.

Maybe things over there weren't built to hold up very well during periods of higher temperatures???? I have heard that it's very unusual for England to be so warm.
 

shadowfein

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In South Africa - our average mean temp in summer during the day is 30 degrees celcius - 86 fareinheit. At night it is around 20 celcius and 72 f. In winter we have our biggest difference. Glorious warm days - arounnd 20 c and at night it drops down to 3 c or 37 f. But I only ever remember it snowing once - in 1981. Generally everything comes to a standstill but only cos it is so exciting.

Our infrastructure seems fine, especially with the heat - a lot of people have swimming pools, etc. And the cold - we live with that - it isn't too bad, only 3 months of the year.

I live in Johannesburg - which is also very low in humidity. So we are fine here.
 

ttmom

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I think it depends on what places are used to.

Snows 1/4 inch in Dallas and the whole infrastructure shuts down.

Snows very little, doesn't even stay on the ground, in Temecula (just north of San Diego) and the 15 goes from 4 lanes to 8 because nobody knows how to drive and just makes their own lane.

There's been places here in the US where the tarmac has melted too. Makes a mess of wheels.
 

sfell

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Well, right now we are under a heat advisory. Today the high is supposed to be 98-100 Degrees F. with a heat index of 110 (we have a heat index because of high humidity, (I thank the Gulf of Mexico for that one) it makes the heat so much worse. Everything keeps on running full-steam but our area was built to withstand that kind of heat. Now if we get snow or ice, which is very rare and only happens maybe once every 8 or so years, the whole place stops functioning; businesses close, schools close, roads close.
 

tuxedokitties

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Here everything is built to withstand the heat, but if we get any ice everything shuts down. All the highways are closed so the city can sprinkle gravel on them, so when the ice melts we all get broken windshields.
 

hopehacker

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I'm assuming 30 degree's Celcius is about the same as 80 or 85 degrees F. I don't consider that to be all that hot. To me, that's just perfect. I live in Los Angeles. It can get up to the 90's in August or September, but it's usually in the 80's.

The only time I've seen the city shut down due to anything weather related, and I don't even know if this is weather related, was the big Earthquake we had in 1994.
 

kev

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The reason why the trains are getting messed up - according to my step father who is a structural engineer - its in the metal used for the railway lines.

In the UK, our railway lines or the metals used are stretched when they are made - and other countries dont do this - hence, the metal cannot cope with the temperature and warps.

I agree with my colleague about Toronto, I have been there a lot in the past and the place runs like clockwork. It gets hot, the trains run on time, it snows 6 feet, so what? The roads are mainly clear. It freezes, gritters already been out and sorted it.

We have one of the worst transport systems here in the UK. We panic at the slightest thing that goes wrong and if you ever need to go from place to place on the M25, forget it. The world largest roundabout never got any better, just worse.

kev
 

mzjazz2u

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I don't notice that here so much. Although in Utah the power lines are very old and occassionally that will be a problem in extreme weather. But It isn't that frequent.
 

jellybelly

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Originally posted by tuxedokitties
Here everything is built to withstand the heat, but if we get any ice everything shuts down. All the highways are closed so the city can sprinkle gravel on them, so when the ice melts we all get broken windshields.
LOL! Yeah, a little bit of sleet or even rain everything is slowed or halted. We are pretty famous for that!
Tux, remember when it actually snowed and froze for about three days?! I think it was in march, it happened on a monday, the day before was nice and sunny, breezy and in the 70s, then overnight, it rained, sleeted, snowed and froze! That was soooo cool!!! I hadn't seen that in years!!! Andlike an idiot I didn't take pics
 

katl8e

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Tucson is fairly warm, most of the winter. Daytime highs are usually in the 60s, with overnights dropping into the 20s and 30s. Some of the bridges on the interstate have to be closed, due to black ice but, it rarely snows here and its gone by noon.

Summertime highs are always triple-digits, with overnights in the 80s. Some parking lot pavements soften and get gooey but nothing shuts down, from the heat. We get power outages, from lightning and cats and toads short out transformer boxes. The cats get in there, to kep dry and the toads just don't know better.

If we get a heavy rain, the washes and dry riverbeds flood and some idiots always drive into them. We have a "stupid motorist" law, whereby people who drive around barricades and into flooded washes are cited and billed for their rescue. Last week, a friend's daughter was swept away and killed, when she drove into a flooded wash. She was 31, grew up in southern AZ and knew better. I'm sorry for her family.
 
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