Member
Central Maine
You folks in the path of the latest blizzard take care! We in the great frozen north (Maine here) have experience with driving in snow and ice and here's the best way to handle it. Driving secrets on snow and ice follow.
Unless you have a huge need to drive, stay off of it. Huge need could be described as needing to get to work or be fired, a medical emergency, or some such. A six pack for an evening of relaxation is NOT a good reason to be on the roads. One days pay is not a good reason. I always ask myself what is the upside and does it beat the downside which could be a vehicle wrapped around a tree and a trip to the hospital for myself or death. The upside needs to beat that. Bear in mind, we know how to drive on the stuff and have vehicles set up to do just that. There's a huge difference between being able to drive and having a genuine need to drive. There is no shame in staying safe.
Please stay safe.
OK, back to the weather channel. It appears you folks far south of Maine are about to get clobbered. This is one storm that we'll see only on the talking heads shows by the looks of it. I expect to see clouds and maybe a flake or two at most. But we have 8" of snow on the ground and that's enough for the season. What are the chances of that though? I can still take my ATV anywhere I wish to go and this is the latest that I've been able to do that in the past 20+ years. So far it's been an easy winter here. So far we've had winter cold for maybe 3 weeks with temps just a few degrees below zero (once), but mostly in the single digits to 20s at night and temps in the 20s and higher during the day. Those are actual readings without wind chill factored in. No complaints this year except my usual... I've had enough of this winter. Two more months and we'll start to see a huge turn around in it as the days get noticeably longer and the sun higher in the sky.
Unless you have a huge need to drive, stay off of it. Huge need could be described as needing to get to work or be fired, a medical emergency, or some such. A six pack for an evening of relaxation is NOT a good reason to be on the roads. One days pay is not a good reason. I always ask myself what is the upside and does it beat the downside which could be a vehicle wrapped around a tree and a trip to the hospital for myself or death. The upside needs to beat that. Bear in mind, we know how to drive on the stuff and have vehicles set up to do just that. There's a huge difference between being able to drive and having a genuine need to drive. There is no shame in staying safe.
Please stay safe.
OK, back to the weather channel. It appears you folks far south of Maine are about to get clobbered. This is one storm that we'll see only on the talking heads shows by the looks of it. I expect to see clouds and maybe a flake or two at most. But we have 8" of snow on the ground and that's enough for the season. What are the chances of that though? I can still take my ATV anywhere I wish to go and this is the latest that I've been able to do that in the past 20+ years. So far it's been an easy winter here. So far we've had winter cold for maybe 3 weeks with temps just a few degrees below zero (once), but mostly in the single digits to 20s at night and temps in the 20s and higher during the day. Those are actual readings without wind chill factored in. No complaints this year except my usual... I've had enough of this winter. Two more months and we'll start to see a huge turn around in it as the days get noticeably longer and the sun higher in the sky.
Brian. Lover of SE razors.
You get used to it. Like the Boy Scout motto, be prepared. Snow tires, studded are always good, have an emergency kit in the trunk. Dress in layers, wear a hat/touque/beanie. Scarves are a good idea, those shemaghs are great to get maximum coverage. I hate having wind and snow blow down my neck. And if its really bad, as Brian says above, don't go out. There's very few things worth wrecking your car, or getting killed over. Some of my best memories with my kids when they were small involved snow days when I couldn't get in to work so we just played in the snow and then warmed up with hot chocolate in front of a fire. Good times. You do get used to the day to day life in cold climate, watch you don't slip on the ice.