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?
Keep one of those brush/scraper things in your car.
Clean the snow off your car before driving.
CLEAN THE SNOW OFF YOUR CAR BEFORE DRIVING
All of it
If it is going to be a lot of snow, don’t wait until it is over before you start digging out.
Salt/pet friendly ice melt for your walkways
Have a snow blower? Don’t wait until the day before to see if it still runs. Make sure you have gas for it
Slow drip on a faucet to prevent pipes from bursting
Seriously, 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.
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.
Also your car needs real winter tires, preferably studded.
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 in a skidding 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.
If it snows much at all, get some waterproof boots that either have insulation or plenty of room for socks. Get ones either intended for snow or look similar to ones that are, as soles of boots have different traction in snow than dirt just like tires. They don’t need to be marshmallow looking snow boots, just purpose made winter boots.
Snow pants and a good winter coat is good for keeping dry while shoveling snow. Dress in layers, so that you can remove one or two if you start to get warm. If exerting yourself avoid sweating by going a little lighter than you would when stationary or walking as sweat will.make you a lot colder. If you can find and handle wool it is absolutely amazing at keeping you dry, even if it gets wet, and it is a lot better at leeping you a constant temp through a wide variety of temps.
Where I live we get strong winds, and even down to 0F with wind I generally wear a long sleeve wool shirt, light jacket as a windbreak, snow pants, and some insulated work boots made for snow. Plus gloves and a hat of course, which are the two things that tend to get sweaty!
Drive your car like it doesn’t have brakes. Treat it like a boat.
When you get parked, knock the snow and ice out of the wheel wells before you start driving again.
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.
I’ve never heard that coffee metaphor but it’s perfect. I’m going to start borrowing that one
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.
Don’t eat the yellow snow
If you don’t have a car that can drive in snow, don’t drive in snow.
Last blizzard I was in, I had to pull over to try to help two people get up a small hill.
The first woman was afraid to steer while me and and a tow truck driver pushed her up. She wanted one of us to steer her car, but that just couldn’t happen. She ended up paying the tow truck driver more than $300 to tow her.
While that was going on, a Honda Civic ended up sliding backwards down the hill. I pushed that one about 100ft along the road until it leveled out enough to move on its own.
We have a Civic, but it sits in the driveway for blizzards.
If you get serious snow where you’re moving, and you have to drive, get something with all wheel drive. Just remember that all wheel drive doesn’t mean you can stop. You still need to drive like a Granny in Sunday church traffic.
Civics are amazing in the level of snow Connecticut gets if you have the right tires
Yeah, pretty sure a Civic with winter tyres is pretty capable as long as it doesn’t bottom out on the snow or try to drive on solid ice
I had a Yaris and a Prius and they did great in snow. They just need snow tires. A sedan with snow tires will do better than a suv with all season tires any day of the week.
It’s ok to eat a bit more nutritious food when it’s cold - your natural body heating costs energy.
Cover your head when outside, your head loses an unreasonable amount of heat.
If your bed’s too cold in the evening, buy a heating pad - a warm bed feels awsome.
If your hands get painfully cold, more excruciating pain may be waiting for you when they start to heat back up. To avoid the additional pain, put your hands under cold tap water first - I promise it’s going to feel warm. Then increase the heat slowly until your hands are warm again.
An electric blanket is one of the best ways to warm up when you’re “chilled to the bone”. Layer them between normal blankets to make the most of the heat and keep them clean, and you can get whole body heat for a tenth the cost of even a little space heater.
There’s an old saying, “If your feet are cold, put on a hat”. You could have the nicest coat ever made, but nothing will warm a particular body part more than the body parts next to it. There’s tons of blood flowing close to the surface on the head, neck, and wrists; having those areas exposed turns your skin into a blood-cooling radiator. So consistent, thorough coverage and tucking in layers will make your winter clothes warmer than the sum of their parts
Keep in your trunk the following: a portable snow shovel, an ice scraper, a window snow brush, a spare set of gloves, one of those emergency mylar blankets, a little spray-bottle of deicer, an extra jug of wiper fluid.
My mom would also suggest a heavy blanket, and maybe a candle / matches / lighter. But the candle could cause a fire if you aren’t careful.
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Cotton absorbs water. If you wear cotton clothing, and it gets wet from sweat or from snow melting on you, or just water from anywhere, your cotton clothing will be cold. So dont wear jeans in the snow. Dont wear cotton socks. Cotton long underwear is fine under you pants if you’re not going to be in the snow. But silk or synthetic fibers are a must for sledding, or skiing or snowshoeing or really anything you might want to do to play or excercise in the snow.
I lived in colorado where the snow was very dry. When it snowed i would rush outside and use a hand plow to clear my walkways before anyone could step on it. Some of my neighbors would use leaf blowers. If the morning walkers crunched the snow before i could shovel it, the sidewalk would have boot shaped icebergs frozen all over it until we got enough sun to melt it off.
This would drive me nuts so i would work to get everything cleared off as soon as it stopped snowing
This.
DO NIT WALK/COMPACT YOUR REGULAR PATHS BEFORE SHOVELLING! SHOVEL THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
If you have compacted snow you will have to stab it top down with a round end steel shovel crcking apart 10cm(4") sections the whole way.
Spent the better part of last winter fixing the mistake i made in my first week of snow. (125m long path).
If you have wood oven heating then keep your wood stock close to home. My shed is 30m away and it gets real old hauling across every few days. I also use a plastic bin to carry it now. A lot easier than a wheelbarrow as you can walk right into your house and to your inside wood shelf.
Boot chains are really great, not the spikes, chains. Especially if you have a dog that gets excited and pulls.
If you have a long driveway consider a plowing service, your local farmer will probably do it cheaper(than you think) than a commercial service if you’re rural.
Stock up on food/water.
Otherwise there’s not much to it.
Freezing cold is +3C/-6C, then -18C and below. The -6C/-18C range is actually very comfortable.
- 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.
I know you’re joking but I’ll answer that it’s not a nice to sweat in warm clothing but have it cool down in skin-contact
Invest in electric heaters.
If you already had a place picked that’s in the north, make sure you settle in as early as a month or two before it’s winter season starts.
Do not ever neglect snow tires. If you’re tight on money, getting even 2 sets of tires for wintry conditions is better than none. But 4 is still recommended and no, All-Seasons are terrible for winters regardless of brand. They just aren’t designed for winter conditions, they’re designed mostly for Spring/Summer/Fall.
Buy winter emergency sets for your vehicle. Buy one for the glove compartment, the ones where they actually have emergency power banks in them. Buy another for general use, especially ones equipped with a piece together shovel.
Use HEET only in 30 below temperatures.
Just going to throw out that electric heaters are the most expensive/least efficient way to heat electrically.
If you’re in the US, you can get a partial credit for improving windows, doors, and insulation (always the best first step).
You or your landlord can also get up to a $3000 credit toward a central heat pump system, which gives 3-4x the delivered heat for a given amount of electricity.
Heat pumps are also electric. The term that you guys want is “electric resistance heaters”.
This is mostly if doing outdoor outings.
Dress in layers. If you find it cold, you can always add multiple pairs of gloves, socks, and scarves and take them off as you get hot. There are balaclava type things and long John’s available as well.
They sell little hot pockets you can activate and they stay warm for 2-3 hours or so, you can keep them in your gloves and boots. There are self heating gloves as well with batteries.
Keeping a thermos with a hot beverage helps as well.
Don’t get wet, this includes sweating a lot.
I moved to a snow city for the first time well into adulthood.
The big thing I have for you is that walking on snow is awesome for like two hours and then it’s constantly threatening to kill you. Slippery sludge or ice is the worst feeling in the universe and all the locals will just strut right over it like it’s nothing while you’re fighting for your life.
Just buy good shoes and plant your feet vertically, no sliding motions.
Crampons help.
Planting one’s feet vertically is a skill that takes a while to develop.
I feel comfortable walking on ice, but I’ve had it a few times that people drove past me on road bikes.
