Some Berkshire Roads are Very Slick This Morning Due to Black Ice

This morning seems like a typical, calm, cool morning in Berkshire County and for the most part, it is. When I hopped in my car earlier this morning and started my drive to work from Pittsfield, I went the normal speed like usual with very little thought of anything risky happening. However, when I ended up on East Street, it didn't take long for me to notice that parts of the road were covered in a layer of black ice as my vehicle started slipping and sliding. As is the case with black ice, this situation was very deceptive because to my eyes, it appeared that only water was on the road.

Once I was able to get my vehicle under control, I noticed that there were trucks out sanding the roads. I saw sand being thrown down on a few side streets as well as East Street and Holmes Road. Pittsfield Lenox Road appeared to be fine but I still used caution and took it slow. I didn't have any trouble in Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, and Great Barrington but again, I was being very cautious.

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As I mentioned in a previous post, the 40 degree mild temperatures that we're experiencing lately in the Berkshires is great but pay attention when walking and driving in the late afternoon, evening and overnight hours as snowmelt rapidly freezes up. The temperature driving to work this morning would shift between 24 and 26 degrees so it's no surprise that there was/is plenty of black ice to contend with.

Be careful when driving this weekend as well because after we receive some mild temperatures over the next couple of days, it's back to the '20s in the evening and overnight hours with upper single digits expected for Sunday evening into early Monday morning. It's only February and still very much winter in the Berkshires.