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Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

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Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#21

Post by Ekaros »

joecool1029 wrote: post #16
bigstrat2003 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, all seasons do you just fine. Not worth the effort to put winter tires on, imo.

You’re right usually (about not needing blizzaks) but there’s important nuance here. There are warm all season (with usual M+S stamped on, this just means tread pattern, nothing about compound) and winter all-season with a compatible compound for cold conditions. The industry created a logo for the tires some years back it’s like 3 peak mountain snowflake or something. This ensures the compound is soft enough to keep…

There is lot of variation between tires. From summer, to all season, to European winter to Nordic winter(studdles or studded). Only Nordic ones designed specifically for snow and ice are really usable in conditions where there is often snow and ice. They fare worse in wet not freezing conditions and ofc in dry.

But not all winter tires are made equivalent.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#22

Post by hysan »

Something about the tone of the article just makes me want to write a retort / criticism instead of praising the advice. Maybe it’s because it feels like an incomplete list or that it’s too generalized but written like the author has learned it all. For example, no mention of learning when and what to do to avoid frozen pipes. Or how to fix things when it happens. Also, shoveling snow isn’t that hard if you have the right snow shoveling equipment and know a bit of physics (which in my experience, locals will gladly teach you).

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#23

Post by computerdork »

Moved a year ago from California to northern Michigan. To add to this list, specifically regarding "Do NOT get wet and cold":

o If you're walking out in the cold, have many different ways to keep your feet and your hands warm, because usually, you'll have a good-enough coat and winter-pants that'll keep your core relatively warm, but it's the very ends of your extremities that get cold (just got a small amount of frost bite on my toes the other day).

o On top of really thick gloves and socks, can buy some battery-heated versions of both. These aren't just gimmicks, they work wonders! As do the standard handwarmers and toewarmers

o Get real winter boots, these are water proof and insulated, so your feet won't get wet, and will resist the cold for longer (didn't learn this one until recently. Yeah, once your shoes get wet enough to bleed into your socks, you feet start to freeze).

o For your head and neck, carry one of those head and neck covers with you in your coat pocket (called a balaclava). Because sometimes you misread the weather and suddenly you've got a 5 degree wind chill streaming over your neck and face.

o etc:)

And, actually, walking in the snow is really nice (so clean and pure), which is why a lot of us here do actually go outside.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#24

Post by ThrowawayTestr »

literalAardvark wrote: post #15
antupis wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Difference is pretty big if it’s icy like breaking 100 meters vs 10 meters. Especially if there’s wildlife like reindeers/moose’s you are going to do emergency breathing semi regularly.

If it's icy there's no difference at all. The only tyres that do anything on ice are the ones with spikes or chains. If it's snowy a good modern all weather tyre can hold its own, but will brake a few feet later than a good winter tyre. In all other conditions a good all weather is a lot better than winter tyres, and pretty close to a good summer tyre.

You must live in Florida or be a terrible driver. The difference between winter and all seasons is very apparent.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#25

Post by yokoprime »

> In the first really heavy winter storm of the year, your power might go off. This is understandable

Having lived in Norway most of my 40+ years on this earth, I can with some confidence say that this is not an universal truth. I don’t think I’ve experienced any power interruption of over 1 hour in winter ever, and it’s been at least 5 years since the last time. Yes it snows here. A lot.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#26

Post by krzyk »

> In the first really heavy winter storm of the year, your power might go off. This is understandable but you do have to think about it beforehand.

Power going is last thing I would think happens in such place. I understand wind, but snow? I get that rural places might get power cables in the air, but in cities those should go underground.

I live in rural area, close to big city in a semi snowy place (depends on winter), in the last 10 years power went out only when constructions workers cut it out because they had to do some work on them.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#27

Post by joecool1029 »

pests wrote: post #17
fulafel wrote: post #5

A lot of this seems to deal with unreliable electricity infrastructure and effects thereof. Is it just normal in the US and people in warmer places don't mind so much, or does it somehow correlate with snow?

Snow and ice builds up on overhead powerlines. It can cause issues. States with tornados or hurricanes are more likely to build underground which avoids this. My location in SE Michigan is all overhead and, while we rarely lose power, I see tons of issues every ice storm that some unlucky few suffer through. I live very near a hospital and suspect I branch off their higher-SLA lines so that may be a factor. Warmer pl…

> I live very near a hospital

Yeah, you won’t lose power much. That’s prioritized.

I don’t get as many power outages in the winter as I do in the warmer months (in fall it’s not unusual to have some weeks without grid power). I did however get a freak outage before the last round of storms and cold. The overhead lines coming up the mountain to me have wetlands at the bottom, it appears a sudden extreme drop in temperature caused the wires to contract and tilted a pole enough (before ground could refreeze) to disconnect the lines. This is in NJ. JCP&L/firstenergy utility just does a shit job here.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#28

Post by qixv »

brettgriffin wrote: post #4

Put winter tires on your vehicles. I'm surprised by the number of people who tool around in snow and ice in 'all season' tires. Also, that writing tone is obnoxious.

I find it quite funny. I read it as if he is obnoxious towards himself, because the lessons presented are learned the hard way.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#29

Post by joecool1029 »

ndndndndj wrote: post #20
yxhuvud wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trees fall down due to combination of heavy snow and wind. They probably don't cut sufficiently around power lines. It is extra bad if the ground hasn't frozen properly yet. In some places it may be cheaper to dig down the cable than facing storms.

But why are power lines above ground in the first place?

cost, it’s way more expensive to dig. more red tape.

Re: Lessons you will learn living in a snowy place

#30

Post by colechristensen »

yokoprime wrote: post #25

> In the first really heavy winter storm of the year, your power might go off. This is understandable Having lived in Norway most of my 40+ years on this earth, I can with some confidence say that this is not an universal truth. I don’t think I’ve experienced any power interruption of over 1 hour in winter ever, and it’s been at least 5 years since the last time. Yes it snows here. A lot.

Those of us with above ground power lines especially not in cities experience power outages. Particularly when it's near freezing and there's significant ice accumulation.
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