One of the things a lot of people do when weather events like this weekend's winter storm take place is to make sure to say a prayer for the first responders, linemen, street crews, etc., who have to be in this stuff to varying degrees while the rest of us are hunkered down at home and hopefully staying warm and dry. Though they are trained for it, their jobs can get very dangerous in a hurry out on slick roads and/or working near ice-covered trees and power lines.
A big complaint you'd often hear in Charlotte during past winter storms is how poorly of a job they did in getting the main roads salted ahead of snow and ice storms. While one wouldn't expect their presence on the side roads and back roads, surely the increasing frequency of these events warranted the city (and county) taking the situation far more seriously than we were seeing.
In my opinion, they have taken it more seriously in recent years, as evidenced, for instance, by what I saw in the days before the current storm hit our area. I saw the trucks, saw the salting taking place, and I saw evidence of what they'd done on the roads I traveled. It's something I've noticed for at least the last ten years or so of winter storms, big and small, that have passed through our region.
SEE ALSO: Huge Winter Storm Now Hammering 40 States
In D.C., things are - as they are here as I write this - worsening quickly, with the Capital Weather Gang making the following observations on X:
The combination of relentless precipitation, and perhaps the fact that it’s a Sunday, has meant many roads and sidewalks have yet to be touched. Even those that have been plowed — including snow emergency routes — are snow and sleet packed at best and prone to spots of deeper snow and sleet at worst.
We’ve seen numerous images of stuck vehicles, including snowplows.
3:49 p.m. — Roads are difficult to impassable with freezing rain starting to mix in
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) January 25, 2026
Waves of heavy sleet remain quite persistent in the area. It’s piling up and contributing to awful driving and walking conditions. Unless it’s an emergency, there is no reason to be on roads.… pic.twitter.com/9gPkiRtgSy
With talk of snowplows being stuck, one wonders if a snowplow driver who goes by the nickname "Princess Cat" is out there staying safe. As of the filming of the below news clip, she was - complete with tiara - while urging people to please stay home so city workers could try and make streets safer:
WHO IS THIS DIVA? pic.twitter.com/ffaSolKlfq
— Spencer Allan Brooks (@SpencerSays) January 25, 2026
We found her pic.twitter.com/D5qKIDUaYg
— Spencer Allan Brooks (@SpencerSays) January 25, 2026
Ms. Cat says she works the midnight to noon shift, and noted in the fuller WUSA9 interview clip that she is a "heavy plow" driver (there are also "light plow" drivers). She advised people who complained about their streets not being plowed that it probably had been plowed, but the mess was coming down so fast that the streets were getting messy again pretty quickly.
The D.C. Dept. of Public Works confirmed that Ms. Cat is indeed a snowplow driver:
Crown is NOT slipping… and we don't want you to either! 👑
— DC Department of Public Works (@DCDPW) January 25, 2026
Keep giving our teams space to treat the ice. https://t.co/2CfWaJbikX
To make the story even better, she's been at it for 20 years. Total legend:
Princess Cat…worked midnight to noon. She’s been doing this for 20 years. 👑 https://t.co/m1MzqOPqDw
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 25, 2026
A woman in a tiara working through awful conditions to clear the roads for her fellow citizens?
— Matt St. Jean (@mattstdream) January 25, 2026
I do love this country. https://t.co/miErJzbyXD
For real, y'all. #Merica. All hail Princess Cat, saver of D.C. city streets!!
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