Travel Alert

Travel Alert Helpful Tips

If you live in areas of moderate winter snowfall, you may not be one to watch road conditions carefully before venturing out. When weather stations issue warnings, you may well save your life by taking a look. There are numerous weather websites, but look for ones taking electronic readings from actual field stations to get the most accurate information on the path you'll be traveling. A travel alert isn't something to ignore.

Recently, a woman with an appointment to see an important client in a nearby city, woke up to a winter wonder land! That meant driving out of the valley and over the 4000-foot summit separating her and the important client. This was an account she really wanted, which would gain her a hefty commission on the sale. Then again, the traffic on this particular Interstate bore heavy truck traffic, which often resulted in some nasty accidents in bad weather.

She went online and zeroed in on the mountain pass in question. She was due to leave in a few minutes. Conditions had been updated seven minutes before. At the summit, it was 21 degrees with freezing fog and light snow. Visibility was zero. Snow, ice and sleet were on the roads.

She clicked on “Winter Storm Warning”, which was in effect until 4:00 pm. “A winter storm warning is defined as conditions making it hazardous, if not impossible to travel.” This was her wakeup call in the form of this travelalert.

Travel Alert Facts

No sense going out in such conditions, getting herself and perhaps others killed, all in trying to get a new client. People knew things like this happened. She called him up, explained the danger and unavoidable postponement of their meeting. He did indeed understand the necessity and praised her for her demonstration of common sense.

However,the real punchline to this story is that not twenty minutes after she'd rescheduled with her client, she glanced at her screen to see the blinking update on the weather. The Winter Storm Warning had been canceled, as had the Winter Storm Advisory. Everything was just fine. Either the weather people blew it or it was one of those freak storms.

So everything turned out just fine for this woman. Good thing she checked her facts.

Other sources of a possible travelalert include your State Road Conditions, listed in the phone book. If you're traveling overseas, it's good to check for another type of travel alert, involving other countries.

So the moral to this story is if it looks bad, check for this type of travel alert before you find yourself in a dangerous situation. Hey, I wonder if she got the client?