Winter Driving Amnesia

[Cat]

Moved here in 1990. 3 foot snow drifts, come on. I used to sled out of a third floor window in western NY as a kid in the 60s. 3 feet is what we used to have on the ground commonly. If it snowed 6 inches we did not miss school for a snow day it commonly took at least a foot overnight.

mrDrone did sub school here in the early 80s and has commented on how the weather was warmer in the winters here in the 80s compared when he was here in 84/85.

There was a reason I could make it in to work driving 50 miles one way when people living less than a mile away couldn't make it in. Wimps.

Hahaa, I was teasing ya, but Wester NY? Dang. Yeah, I had a coworker who would drive in an inch of snow...and guess who had to do her work?

[Magpie]

My only experience driving in the snow (before today) has been the Seattle area. And let me tell you that sucks! They refuse to salt/sand the roads because it will hurt the eco system too much, but they have like maybe 10 plows for all of king county.

One of these days I would love to move out of my current warm climate, to somewhere where they don't use salt. However, I've always had enough sand and ploughs, so yes, without any of those it's a problem.

[protege]

There was a reason I could make it in to work driving 50 miles one way when people living less than a mile away couldn't make it in. Wimps.

One of my former co-workers was like that. He'd get to work late or whine because everyone else was late...yet I lived much further away, and I was usually there before he was. Did I mention he drove a 4x4 Jeep, and I had a Tercel?

But, the best ones are the SUVs. They all forget about the ice and snow, and that the vehicle's features will enable them to do 90mph on the highway. Never mind that they usually spin out (or worse!), and I'll go right past them...without changing speed at all.

Other fun drivers, are the idiots who can't figure out how to climb hills from a stop. They'll jackrabbit away from a stop sign, get about halfway up the hill, and then slowly slide back to the bottom. Annoys the hell out of me, because I'll wait for them to stop sliding, put the car into 2nd...and walk right up the hill no problem.

Then there are the "OMG Ice!" people. They're already doing about 5mph, but feel the need to be constantly slamming on the brakes. Then they start to slide on a hill, slam on the brakes...and go off the road The transmission is your friend, folks! Downshift into low gear, and let the car's weight slow you.

[AccountingDrone]

One of my former co-workers was like that. He'd get to work late or whine because everyone else was late...yet I lived much further away, and I was usually there before he was. Did I mention he drove a 4x4 Jeep, and I had a Tercel?

But, the best ones are the SUVs. They all forget about the ice and snow, and that the vehicle's features will enable them to do 90mph on the highway. Never mind that they usually spin out (or worse!), and I'll go right past them...without changing speed at all.

Other fun drivers, are the idiots who can't figure out how to climb hills from a stop. They'll jackrabbit away from a stop sign, get about halfway up the hill, and then slowly slide back to the bottom. Annoys the hell out of me, because I'll wait for them to stop sliding, put the car into 2nd...and walk right up the hill no problem.

Then there are the "OMG Ice!" people. They're already doing about 5mph, but feel the need to be constantly slamming on the brakes. Then they start to slide on a hill, slam on the brakes...and go off the road The transmission is your friend, folks! Downshift into low gear, and let the car's weight slow you.

Remember that blizzard that covered the eastern corner of the US back on Feb 11th, 1983? I drove from Rochester NY to Springfield OH *in* it. In my defense, I left from work and drove west and it was back in the days where we really were not all hooked up to the TV 24 hours a day ... I got snowed in at my BFs apartment for a week as they closed down the roads [ok, they actually closed them down before I got there, and by the time the cops noticed me, I was almost there anyway.]

A winter drivers best friend other than common sense can be a good set of chains =)

[Kogarashi]

Although there is this one weather guy on tv here, who I wish would get fired, or move to Buffalo for a few winters to learn about winter conditions. In CT we pretty much do not have a winter. We get a tiny snowfall and it melts away pretty much within a couple days. Every damned year he gets these panic attacks if there is a snowflake on his windshield when he comes in in the morning. He panics and his sheeple followers panic and all of a sudden with less than a quarter inch of snow on the road the traffic all drops to about 5 miles per hour. If the temp is hovering around 20, he panics about black ice. Unfortunately black ice needs either well below 0 fahrenheit or just hovering at 32-34 fahrenheit to form.

Good grief, what did he do last December when there were actual piles of it on the ground?

I learned to drive in Eastern NY (Albany area), so while I didn't have the massive drifts to contend with, I still know how to handle a car in snowy weather. That's why last year Hubby had me drive the dinky little 2WD rental car home while he took our 4WD Jeep (he's from Texas). I fishtailed a little going up the one insanely steep hill near our apartment, but that was it.

AccountingDrone, what station is this weatherman on?

[mikoyan29]

I drive a Neon. The only time I have problems with snow is when it gets pretty deep. Otherwise, I just take it slower than normal and give myself extra distant to stop and stuff. It's funny how many SUV's you see littering the side of the road after a snowstorm though.....People...4 wheel drive is no friend on ice....

[protege]

Remember that blizzard that covered the eastern corner of the US back on Feb 11th, 1983?

I vaguely remember that one. Other than seeing the yard turn white, I remember very little--I would have been about 6 at the time, and could walk to school. I do remember the '79 blizzard better--I was in preschool then, and my mother's VW station wagon (which was awesome in winter) didn't have snow tires on it. She took the car home, then walked back to get me with the sled. Fun, but it kinda sucked, since I had to leave my fire truck toy (which I'd brought to "show and tell") behind.

Better memories of the early 1990-91 blizzards. During that one, my father and I nearly got trapped up in the mountains! 7 and 10-foot drifts, lots of buried cars, closed roads, and downed trees. Driving home from Uniontown, PA, a trip that would have taken about an hour and a half...took nearly 4 Most of the previous day was spent digging the minivan out of a 7-foot high drift...which we had to do *again* the next morning. Route 40 was covered enough to be dangerous. Visibility was down to nothing. On the way back, everything was either closed, or deserted. Even during the day, very few lights were on, and nobody else was on the road. Back home, it was pretty much the same--lots of snow, stranded cars, etc. In fact, even the plows couldn't get out! Most roads local roads were closed for a week!

[AccountingDrone]

Good grief, what did he do last December when there were actual piles of it on the ground?

I learned to drive in Eastern NY (Albany area), so while I didn't have the massive drifts to contend with, I still know how to handle a car in snowy weather. That's why last year Hubby had me drive the dinky little 2WD rental car home while he took our 4WD Jeep (he's from Texas). I fishtailed a little going up the one insanely steep hill near our apartment, but that was it.

AccountingDrone, what station is this weatherman on?

Channel 3, WFSB Connecticut. Scott Haney
Unfortunately youtube doesnt have any of his panic attacks to link.
He also shakes the hell out of a freaking cowbell at 5:55:55 screetching at the top of his lungs about it being 5;55;55 am

[AccountingDrone]

I vaguely remember that one. Other than seeing the yard turn white, I remember very little--I would have been about 6 at the time, and could walk to school. I do remember the '79 blizzard better--I was in preschool then, and my mother's VW station wagon (which was awesome in winter) didn't have snow tires on it. She took the car home, then walked back to get me with the sled. Fun, but it kinda sucked, since I had to leave my fire truck toy (which I'd brought to "show and tell") behind.

Better memories of the early 1990-91 blizzards. During that one, my father and I nearly got trapped up in the mountains! 7 and 10-foot drifts, lots of buried cars, closed roads, and downed trees. Driving home from Uniontown, PA, a trip that would have taken about an hour and a half...took nearly 4 Most of the previous day was spent digging the minivan out of a 7-foot high drift...which we had to do *again* the next morning. Route 40 was covered enough to be dangerous. Visibility was down to nothing. On the way back, everything was either closed, or deserted. Even during the day, very few lights were on, and nobody else was on the road. Back home, it was pretty much the same--lots of snow, stranded cars, etc. In fact, even the plows couldn't get out! Most roads local roads were closed for a week!

Winter when one is stuck at home where it is warm and cozy is great ... I actually have a pot of chili on the wood stove, and am baking a loaf of bread to go with it in the oven portion of the woodstove =)

I love it when everything is closed down from a blizzard. Ever notice how softly quiet it is? And the air feels like ice cold velvet ... and if there was an ice storm the trees and everything shine like they are encased in crystal!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I didn't have so much trouble getting in to work today. Coming home, not so much.

The roads felt like you were driving on a washboard. I felt my wheels spinning a few times. I did 15 mph at best all the way home.

The snow was really, really, really, really heavy. Last night there were transformers blowing like it was going out of style. There must've been a brief power outage at the store because several things were fucked up (all the salesfloor lights were on, absolutely nothing over the PA, scanners didn't work right for a while). There were next to no customers in the store all day, though it did begin to pick up as we were leaving. I bet tomorrow will be nucking futs.

It's really pretty outside, though.

[mikoyan29]

WE got just enough snow to see white....but it wasn't particularly pretty. It was windy when I was going home though.

[protege]

I love it when everything is closed down from a blizzard. Ever notice how softly quiet it is? And the air feels like ice cold velvet ... and if there was an ice storm the trees and everything shine like they are encased in crystal!

LOL I got to see that several times when I was living at my grandmother's. Even though the nearest town was 3 miles away...it was dead quiet. Well, except for the mine's air ventilation shaft up the road. The humming of the fans would be the only thing you'd hear. Of course if you walked up there, you'd hear the clicking of the power relays, and possibly a deer or two attempting to walk through the meadow

[Andara Bledin]

I spent a winter at my middle aunt's house one year. They had a blizzard. She lives in Vermont, not particularly close to any town of note; her street only received a name in the last couple of years.

We actually went out and cut our own tree. I got to go ice skating on a local lake while my brother was sick, and my brother got to build a snowman and have a snowball fight while I was sick.

Snow: Great to visit, but nothing I want to live with.

From what I can tell of the weather reports, my mom's getting snow right now. She's probably hating it.

^-.-^

[blas]

So on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and today I have been bullied and tailgated by trucks and SUVs....

This is the most half assed attempt at plowing/cleaning up that I have seen in all my years of winter driving (which is only 6, but I digress). There are still major intersections that are glare ice or that dreaded SNOT snow, days after the storm is over, most places there is only one crystal clear lane or one "clean" lane and they still have half lanes blocked because they put the snow there and haven't gone over it again yet.....and some roads it's as if the salt/sand truck just said "fuck it" for a mile and got lazy.

I'm driving safe and trying not to slide on roads where there are stoplights every 50 fricken feet, and I'm being tailgated by inbreds and soccer folk in their precious big "safe" vehicles.

Fuck off.

[wolfie]

Then there are the "OMG Ice!" people. They're already doing about 5mph, but feel the need to be constantly slamming on the brakes. Then they start to slide on a hill, slam on the brakes...and go off the road The transmission is your friend, folks! Downshift into low gear, and let the car's weight slow you.

This is a classic case of KNOW YOUR VEHICLE. Your advice is for straight (non-articulated) vehicles ONLY (probably what most people will be driving). For anyone pulling a trailer using a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, however, it is the WORST possible advice.

Since only the second set of wheels is having any braking effect, it'll be the set to start skidding if the going gets more slippery, and the rule of thumb is that locked wheels will try to lead. This means you'll get into what's known as a "cab jacknife" (trailer tries to go straight ahead, pushes the tow vehicle around), which develops a lot faster than a "trailer jacknife" (trailer wheels locked, probably because you tried to keep control by hitting the "spike", so the trailer tries to swing around in order to lead) due to the lower moment of inertia.