If you never lived where it snows and were moving North to where it does snow, what would you have liked to have known? What would you do to prepare?
For driving: If there’s snow on the ground and you’re in a safe place to do this, get up to 5 mph or so and slam on the brakes. That’ll give you a good feel for your much traction you have. Of course, conditions vary, so don’t sue me if you had grip on your home street but not the freeway. Other than that, keep acceleration to a minimum, and I mean that in any direction. Ease on the gas, ease on the brake, slow down BEFORE you need to turn, and turn easy. Be calm, a panicked reaction to a slide can make it worse. Abs and traction control can save your ass, but they’re emergency systems. If they are activating frequently, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.
Driving aside, nice winter clothes are great, but how you wear them is much more important in my experience. Keep body heat in and cold wind out. Assuming that your clothes actually fit, the best, free way to do this is to simply tuck your shirt into your pants, and if you have them, coat sleeves over your gloves and neck gaiter into your coat. You lose so much heat in those areas, by addressing them you can be out many degrees colder before you need another layer. However, if you’re physically exerting yourself in the cold, don’t let yourself sweat, because as soon as you stop that shit will freeze. Be mindful of when you start getting warm and be prepared to untuck clothes, open vents, or remove layers.
Finally, and you should be doing this anyway but people forget in winter, drink plenty of water.
Mittens are warmer than gloves.
Winter shoes must fit a woolen sock and not be too tight, otherwise the insulation gets compressed and doesn’t work.
Better to wear many layers rather than just one layer of super thick clothing
I actually like my winter boots to be slightly loose too. I get cold toes easily, but if there’s a little extra room in my boots I find that every step moves air around inside the boot so my toebox doesn’t get isolated.
When there’s snow on the ground, drive like you have an open cup of coffee in your lap. Turn, brake, or accelerate too hard and you spill steaming hot coffee on your bits. Winter tires will help a lot, but drive like you don’t have them.
Most importantly always break well before a turn in snow. Never break in a turn.
It’s worth noting you should extend this mindset to those around you. An out of control car can slide a LONG way. Make sure you have the space and capability to get out of danger zones, or wait for them to be completely clear.
You might have proper winter tires, and be in control. This doesn’t stop an idiot on summer ties gliding into you like an elephant on iceskates.
Also extend this to others. Give the cars ahead of /around you PLENTY of room to escape.
I’ve never heard that coffee metaphor but it’s perfect. I’m going to start borrowing that one
Sprinkle cat litter after you shovel and salt, it’ll provide traction and prevent ice from reforming. You can get one good and warm set of winter clothes, or you can do a fuckton of layers. The former is simpler but can leave you with less flexibility and will probably be more expensive than wearing 3-5 layers of clothes you probably already own. If you don’t have them, long johns/thermal pants are a godsend. Gloves and a hat that covers the ears are also godsends, but if you’re willing to tough it out (and maybe lose a few extremities) you can do without them as eventually you’ll stop feeling the sting. Tuck your shirt and/or jacket into your pants, this will trap heat. Tuck your gloves into your coat or vice versa. Get good boots, i cannot stress this enough. It is not fun or a good idea dealing with snow in sneakers.
Moving to Michigan from wv has taught me one thing, people don’t really realize how slick ice and slush really is. I man the mountains even if you are going slow you’ll slide up and down the hills and turns, even small ones. Up here where it’s all flat and straight lines people go 80 through ice that they probably don’t realize they can’t stop or even really turn on effectively without huge risk. TAKE IT SLOW always be sure of road conditions and you ability before going out
I’ve heard that people use snow tires. How does that work? Does everyone have 2 sets of wheels at home that they switch with the seasons?
Some dealers or tire shops have a service to store/swap them if space is limited. You can ask around. There are really two ways to do it. A higher upfront cost of an entire set of wheels/tires. They just need to be put on. Other option is to have snow tires remounted on the same rims. This option costs more per change(mount/balance) but cheaper up front (no rims to buy).
I have an entire set and just use cheap rims. That way if you do slide into something and mess them up it’s not a huge deal. My stock rims are like $800 each…other rims are like $100.
I also downsized my tires to a smaller factory size. Usually cheaper tires on 17” rims vs 18 or 20”. If you keep the outer diameter the same you’ll get more sidewall height. That paired with the softer nature of snow tires will change the driving characteristics of your vehicle a bit.
My insurance agent of all people when I was a teenager said to find an empty parking lot full of snow and slide your car around. The first time you slip out shouldn’t be on a public roadway if you can help it. Stops you from freaking out and making it worse. Learn how to correct slides and such so when you need it then you have some idea of what you’re doing. Pay attention to light poles, curbs and more importantly…parking stones(the slabs of concrete at the front of some parking spaces that might be hidden under snow). So make sure you’re familiar with the lot. Back parts of mall parking lots are a pretty decent choice.
Edit: tiny typos throughout
More stuff… While snow tires can help tremendously they don’t make it even remotely close to driving on dry pavement or even wet pavement from rain. You need to do just about everything slower and brake earlier.
Most snow tires have two sets of tread wear bars. The normal set found on most tires and a second much taller set that marks their reduction of ability when used in deep snow. You need more tread to disperse the thicker snow/slush. Biggest difference is the rubber followed by the tread patterns/siping. They stay softer in way colder temps than even all-season tires. The further below freezing you go the more noticeable this becomes. Conversely they don’t handle heat well and will degrade insanely quickly. The handling sucks too cause they feel kinda greasy because they’re just too soft at higher temps. They’re made for cold.
Yes
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I’d add that, while not strictly required, one of those total car snow covers really does come in handy: https://www.amazon.ca/kayme-Waterproof-Protection-Automobiles-Universal/dp/B09FLKGLCW
Have a snow blower? Don’t wait until the day before to see if it still runs. Make sure you have gas for it
That reminds me, I should set a reminder to charge the batteries for mine.
Serious, clearing snow isn’t just for your visibility. It’s illegal here (and presumably other places) to leave any snow at all on your car because it will come off and is very likely to affect the visibility of another driver at high speeds.
Also your car needs real winter tires, preferably studded.
Ask a local to show you some of their winter clothes or to take you winter clothes shopping. Your warmest clothes right now are not warm enough. Capacitive touch gloves will let you use your phone.
If you have a car, get a snow brush and ice scraper (for windshield and windows). There is winter windshield fluid, get and use it when it’s snowing. Get winter tires, it makes a difference. Insurance companies give a discount for having them. If there’s snow on the road, go slower than you think you should, and start braking at least twice as early as when it’s dry. Accelerate and brake slowly. If your car is sliding on ice, resist the temptation to keep pressing your brakes, try your best to steer the slide instead.
If your car gets stuck in snow and you need to run it to keep it warm, make sure the tail pipe is well clear of snow (carbon monoxide). Keep an emergency blanket, hat, gloves in the car in case of breakdown. If the wheels are stuck in a snowbank (just spinning in place), some sand or non-clumping cat litter can give you traction. You can sacrifice your floor mats for this, too.
If you walk instead of drive, consider crampons for your boots for if it gets icy out.
There’s different textures and density to snow. Wet snow is dense and heavy, dry snow is light and fluffy. Shoveling can be very different depending on the snow. Lift/push with your legs, now with your arms or back. Take breaks if needed.
If you wear glasses, they will fog up when you go from outside to inside. Sorry. You could get anti-fog stuff used for snow and ski goggles, but most normal people just wait for them to warm up.
A scarf makes a big difference.
Wool can keep you warm even when wet.
Be prepared for power outages especially if the area does not bury power lines. Heavy snow, or worse, ice, can make tree branches heavy and fall and snap power lines. If this happens, be mindful of carbon monoxide. People, families have died trying to keep warm by running generators, stoves, etc indoors without proper ventilation.
Snow reflects sunlight; wear sunglasses if the sun is out and there’s snow on the ground.
Go outside and listen when the snow is falling. It makes everything quieter and it’s really ice to hear.
Snow that’s warmed slightly then frozen again is crunchy and fun to walk on.
If you’re north enough, the sunlight will not be sufficient for creating vitamin D. (Plus you’ll probably be indoors more, less daylight in general.) Consider a supplement.
Consider a SAD light if lack of daylight affects your moods.
Go outside and listen when the snow is falling. It makes everything quieter and it’s really ice to hear.
Somehow that typo works in this context. Ice.
Snow that’s warmed slightly then frozen again is crunchy and fun to walk on.
It’s “ice” to walk on.
Jokes aside, thank you so much for the information. I don’t live where it snows but I learned a lit about how to survive if I ever need to. Thanks again.
So you spent the day outside shoveling snow, maybe you had to walk 20 minutes to get to a friend’s house, maybe the cold itself just took it out of you because your body was burning calories just to stay warm. You finally get home and you are out of breath and just wanting to dry off and get warm again- and that’s when you thank your past self for what you did on meal prep Sunday:
French onion soup.
You can look online for recipes, but here’s what I improvised last Sunday (probably not definition french onion soup, but at least a variation on a theme). Mine takes about 1 hour to make (10 min prep, 50ish minutes to cook)
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tablespoon fat (I use leftover bacon grease)
- Onions (I used 4 but you could do more)
- garlic (I used 1 bulb, but you could always do more)
- Apple (I used 1, but you could always do more)
- veggies (I like zucchini and carrots)
- mushrooms if you like em
- protein (stew beef, ground meat, chicken, turkey, hell even sandwich meat will do)
- cardamom
- Curry powder
- vinegar (I use white balsamic, but apple cider vinegar or anything flavorful will do)
- chicken broth
- Cut up the onions into thick chunks, no need to get precise, just hack 'em quick so you have less time being in a tearful agony
- Peel the bulb of garlic, but leave the cloves whole- don’t crush them.
- Heat up your butter and fat, then add in the onions and garlic. Let it sautee for like… 30 minutes? If you have time to do a proper caramelizing then do that, but it’s still good if you want to make it faster.
- While the onions and garlic do their thing, prepare your meat in another pan. Of course if you use ham or something pre cooked you can skip this step.
- Slice your apple(s) however you want, I like thin slices but cubes are good too.
- Add in veg and apples, let them cook for 15 minutes or so
- Add meat
- A couple dashes of cardamom and curry and also pour in your broth to desired consistency
- Give a taste then add a dash of vinegar to see how it really cuts through the fattiness
Dish and serve! If you want to really clog those arteries, go ahead and add some cheese on top, I like smoked Gouda. I also use a pipe sweater to torch the cheese and give it a little melty/ crispy texture.
That and a hot tody will give you the coziness that will lift your spirits in the dark cold months.
Good luck!
Telltale sign that a French onion soup recipe is really Belgian: if it’s written in Belch.
This is certainly one of the best ideas here. I second this, wholeheartedly!
It also will make your house smell great! I’d also suggest making enough for friends and visitors.
I’m in Chicago and it can get lonely if you decide to stay couped up in your house for too long. Make sure to be intentional on inviting friends over and becoming close with your neighbors. I noticed comments here are focused on the physical aspect of winter, but it’s also important to take care of your mental health.
My theory is the Midwestern kindness is just a regional Stockholm syndrome. We’re all in this together.
Have good boots for winter, because ice or packed snow is slippery and often unavoidable. And when you’re picking the boots, make sure they have enough space for thick socks.
If you are walking down a very snowy hill or something, I’ve found out that stepping with your heel first, so that your foot creates a stair-like step helps. Useful if it happens to be a path you use often.
Think about warm clothing and plan ahead. Especially in fall or spring, having extra warm clothing with you is super useful even if you don’t need it at the moment, because you can never know when it gets suddenly colder.
Dress in layers. For example, the upper body could have the following layers:
-
shirt you wear indoors
-
thicker shirt/sweater
-
possibly another sweater
-
jacket/coat
You forgot one of the most important and best layers thermals both upper and lower part. It dose SO much.
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It can in fact thunderstorm and snow at the same time. can even do it while alternating between rain and snow causing layers of ice hidden in snow. if you’re moving to a place that does this, just stay in doors and enjoy the show. if it’s one of the regions that can also spawn tornados during these storms. you watch the storm on tv from a basement.
oh i dont see it in the comments yet. all of which are great. proper snow boots. even it only snows a little where you are. just because i can walk across an ice rink on leather soles doesnt mean i’m ever going to. if the experiance of walking on ice and snow is new, use footwear meant to help you from slipping. plus they hold up better to road salts and deicing chemiclas if they’re used there.
There is no such thing as good winter drivers and bad winter drivers. There is only those with snow tires and those without.
Best: 4 snows on awd and 2-4 water softener bags of salt in trunk for weight and getting unstuck.
2nd best: 4 snow on awd
3rd best: 2 snow on front wheel drive with 4 salt bags in trunk/bed.
4th best: awd no snows but good tread
Worst: fuckin everything else.
Household tips: insulate your pipes if in unfinished basement or have a heater running for really cold days or if the pipes will not have water FLOWING/RUNNING/MOVING thru pipes i.e. you go on vacation.
Plastic wrap your windows every fall. It sucks but helps a ton keeping heat in and costs down.
Spend the most money on gloves, hats and boots. Things that can’t be layered and get rhe coldest.
Hot hands/heat pouches are life savers for winter sports/sporting events/hunting/camping. They make them in foot shaped stick on versions for boots, put one in each of your pants pockets and one each in your coat pockets.
Keep spare salt, shovel, gloves, hat, blanket, granola bars and water in your car for when you WILL go off the road and need to wait for AAA.
Don’t fuck around with ice. Don’t try and walk across it without losing balance. Dont try and walk across it because you think it’s thick enough to hold you. If you are going on ice over water DONOT until you have drilled to check thickness or it is a large bodybif water that publishes the ice thickness.
Yes, snowmobiles can hydroplane across bodies of water.
Yes, skiis and snowboards can skate across bodies of water.
DO FUCKING NOT FUCKING TRY AND FUCKING HYDRO-FUCKING-PLANE OR SKI/SNOWBOARD ACCROSS ANY BODIES OF WATER.
You don’t need snow tires in Chicago. The streets are very well plowed and salted. Just take it slow.
Actually the best tires of all: stay the fuck home where it’s nice and warm and work online in your socks and bathrobe.
There is no such thing as good winter drivers and bad winter drivers. There is only those with snow tires and those without.
I don’t agree with that. Good tools are useless in the hands of the ignorant. Somebody can have the best winter tires ever engineered, but if they stop and turn on ice like they would do on perfect pavement on the dryest summer days, then they’re fucked and they’re a cocky jackass. A good driver will know the limits of their tires, whatever they are.
True, it follows that having this knowledge will generally convince good drivers to get better tires, but it’s not like buying fancy new rubber will turn you into Ken Block (rip).
TL;DR: Get the winter tires, they’re great and worth it. But PLEASE for the love of god take the time to learn how to fucking drive on snow and ice or you’ll be stuck in the medium with the rest of them, because even with the best winter tires it’s NOT the same physics
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard. The part about there not being good or bad winter drivers.
Honestly. Most of your tips sounds what someone says that was a tourist somewhere cold once in their life and now pretends to know what they’re talking about.
Sincerely. Someone born and raised in the north.
Right. Vancouver drivers are terrible in the snow (if the snow sticks that year, and bad all year round anyway). Drivers from Saskatchewan or North Ontario scoff at whatever we get over here!
What is north for you? I see so many tips being the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.
Like plastic wrap on your windows. Sounds like something stupid Americans does instead of buying proper insulated windows.
Not saying I’m a expert. But I am a Swede and deal with snow and cold every year.
You should see the difference in available windows in the states vs Europe. Its like you are in the 23rd century and we are still in the 19th. Our boomer class raced all the way to the bottom to increase profits, so many things are just cheap plastic here. We can special order windows like you have, if you want to spend $4000 per window.
What you consider normal is exotic here.
Windows like we have? It’s just two panes of glass with a gap between the panes for air to act as an insulant.
Even with plastic windows, you can have two panes with a gap and it will work too.
I believe you. I just really struggle to comprehend that not being standard in parta where you get snow and cold. Or it being considered “extra”. It’s not alien technology. It’s two panes with a gap between them. That’s it.
We DO have double pane windows. Just not in areas that have middling weather. Or construction before 1990 or so. Or in older mobile homes, which we have a lot of. And the houses with double pane windows are often poorly constructed, sometimes in the homes, sometimes in the windows, and often both.
Energy has historically been very cheap here, so efficiency has never been a priority. That is changing now.
The videos I’ve seen of northern European windows just seem to have a ton more features than ours.
I see. I think I’m starting to understand. It makes sense when you mention that energy has been very cheap.
Why spend money on new windows when the difference in the energy bill is just a few bucks.
Lots of houses/apartments in places like Boston, etc. have old, drafty windows that landlords don’t bother to improve. Lots of hardware stores here sell kits containing double-sided tape and sheets of a special type of plastic. You surround the window with tape, place the plastic over it, then use a hot hair dryer to shrink the plastic until it’s snug. You can hardly see the plastic if you do it right, and it does a great job of dealing with drafts.
The US. Got it. Say no more.
- learn how to drive on a slippery surfaces
- building on the previous one - buy a set of winter tires and if needed chains
- always have spare warm clothes in the car
- make sure your house gets enough warmth and ventilation to prevent mold
- keep a huge bag of road salt in a garage
- get yourself few sets of breathing underwear
- depending on the outside temperature learn how to dress like an onion
Last but not least, learn to ski/snowboard. Best way to spend time outdoors. Also, develop a taste for a mulled wine.
get yourself few sets of breathing underwear
Does it like, have warm breath to keep you comfortable?
More like the underwear that won’t make you sweat and if you do, it would get the excess of moisture away from the body.
Many people mentioned clearing ALL the snow off your car, but I didn’t see people mentioning why. Here are some videos to elaborate how terrifying and dangerous it can be when people don’t do that.
It takes a lot of energy to clear the car off, but it’s critical. Don’t be the person that harms someone else just to save a bit of time and effort.
No matter how comfortable you get driving in the snow, always drive slow.
I don’t care if you got four wheel drive chains and snow tires, drive like 5 10 15 miles an hour.
Also, if you start to skid, don’t slam on the brakes.
If it is a long skid and you have time to react, drop your vehicle down into low gear (which should not be very difficult because you’ve been driving slow right?) and let off the accelerator and allow the resistance of the drivetrain to slow you down.
If you feel yourself decelerating you can try tapping the brakes but if you do not immediately regain traction and slow back down, let off the brake.
When you are Innis getting situation, do not White knuckle your steering wheel. Especially when you are turning against the skid, suddenly regaining traction with your tires at an extreme angle can put you into an entirely new skid. You need to be prepared to let go of the steering wheel as soon as you have traction if need be.
Finally, practice.
When there is a gentle snow, which there often is prior to large snows, take your car out and drive it around. Find out how your car reacts in the snow and get a little bit of practice with the small skids that you might encounter on the roads that you travel.
If you live up or down a large Hill, find out if there are alternative routes that you can take to get to your destination. If there is no way to get to your house without either going up or coming down a large hill, identify places where you can safely park your car away from the hill and walk to your home.
Finding that information out beforehand will save you a lot of hassle in the event of a winter storm.
I’ll finish that up with saying, if you expect yourself to be in severe winter weather, it is a good idea to get some chains and some traction devices and some blankets and some water and store them in the trunk of your car during the winter season.
That way, if you are caught unaware’s, you will be prepared.
All of my advice are for severe places like Wisconsin. If you live in a place where the snow is well managed that might be Overkill.
I moved to Washington State and got caught in a blizzard in an old beat-up pickup truck.
Part of my route to get home required that I go down a Long Hill, so I slowed to 5 miles an hour and dropped my vehicle in to low gear and made it about 20 ft down the hill before I lost traction.
As I’m slowly uncontrollably skiing down the hill on a bed of snow, to my left and to my right I am passing by row after row after row of vehicles that had been abandoned by their drivers unable to traverse this road.
It was a good day to wear brown pants
However, by steering against the skid and not white knuckling and not riding my brakes and keeping the vehicle in its low drive I was able to safely ski down the road that I had found myself on and make it to the other side.
I was able to drive home that day by following my own advice.
If something like that happens to you, I hope you do the same.
