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Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

isitsnowinginpdx.com

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Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#91

Post by Ccecil »

travisgriggs wrote: post #88
shanecleveland wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention the limited resources municipalities have to deal with these events, since they just don't happen that often. It is more common to see 4WD vehicles abandoned in ditches because they didn't realize 4WD doesn't help with braking or going down a hill. Wanna learn how to drive in the snow? Tackle an unplowed, 45 degree hill littered with vehicles that didn't make it.

> Wanna learn how to drive in the snow? Tackle an unplowed, 45 degree hill littered with vehicles that didn't make it. I'm sure your advice is a bit tongue in cheek? :D I live on the hillier/colder/drier side of Washington where we do get some actual snow. During my kids' learning years of driving (16-18), first big snow, I find an empty/abandoned parking lot, take my kids there, do a couple of donuts and such, then…

I agree.

Coeur d'Alene, ID here. My advice to "new to the area" people when the topic of snow driving comes up is "go to a parking lot...put your car into a slide, spin, etc". It gives you a very good idea of what the car is going to do on the road and more importantly...allows you to learn how to recover from those situations at a time where you are less likely to have panic set in.

It really only takes a few minutes to get the feel for how the car will react. Learning those things in a controlled situation is a very good way to develop the "instinct" to correct without panic. Most of the time hitting the brakes is the wrong thing to do...that is not natural to a panicking driver.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#92

Post by ekeane »

travisgriggs wrote: post #88
shanecleveland wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention the limited resources municipalities have to deal with these events, since they just don't happen that often. It is more common to see 4WD vehicles abandoned in ditches because they didn't realize 4WD doesn't help with braking or going down a hill. Wanna learn how to drive in the snow? Tackle an unplowed, 45 degree hill littered with vehicles that didn't make it.

> Wanna learn how to drive in the snow? Tackle an unplowed, 45 degree hill littered with vehicles that didn't make it. I'm sure your advice is a bit tongue in cheek? :D I live on the hillier/colder/drier side of Washington where we do get some actual snow. During my kids' learning years of driving (16-18), first big snow, I find an empty/abandoned parking lot, take my kids there, do a couple of donuts and such, then…

My parents had me do a driving school that specializes in inclement weather training. A few years ago, I did one at ProDrive at Portland International Raceway, and they have a car on a sled that reduces traction that is REALLY good for teaching kids this.

Definitely worth looking into in the PacNW.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#93

Post by xeromal »

jmspring wrote: post #79

I've dealt with snow in the PNW (including Vancouver, BC) and the region really isn't great about how to deal with it. Hell, WA and OR can barely deal with driving in the rain. If you want some humorous questions / etc. regarding snow, at the moment, check out the CHP Truckee Instagram account. 70ish miles of Highway 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line is closed at the moment, and may be until Tuesday. All the pe…

A thing I started doing when I lived in my first snow climate was finding an empty parking lot after the first snow of the year and really testing out my car.

Accelerate to 30-40 and slam on the brakes.

Take a sharp turn in both directions and find the speed you lose traction.

Do a few donuts.

30-40 minutes of practice every year really helps you understand how your car will perform in the snow and you can decide if you need new snow tires, brakes, etc. You'll also be honing skills for that avoiding the inevitable bozo that tries to kill you that year.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#94

Post by eitland »

travisgriggs wrote: post #88
shanecleveland wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention the limited resources municipalities have to deal with these events, since they just don't happen that often. It is more common to see 4WD vehicles abandoned in ditches because they didn't realize 4WD doesn't help with braking or going down a hill. Wanna learn how to drive in the snow? Tackle an unplowed, 45 degree hill littered with vehicles that didn't make it.

> Wanna learn how to drive in the snow? Tackle an unplowed, 45 degree hill littered with vehicles that didn't make it. I'm sure your advice is a bit tongue in cheek? :D I live on the hillier/colder/drier side of Washington where we do get some actual snow. During my kids' learning years of driving (16-18), first big snow, I find an empty/abandoned parking lot, take my kids there, do a couple of donuts and such, then…

> Since they all have to learn to drive a stick (manual), we learn how to brake via downshifting too.

Something to be aware of when shifting down on stick shift is that certain carts are really unbalanced when braking on the gear. You won't notice in the summer, but on slippery roads just releasing the accelerator carelessly while in a low gear can send you on a sled ride.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#95

Post by emerged »

tjr225 wrote: post #43
ZanyProgrammer wrote: post #39

Transplants complaining about how they're better drivers than native PNWers gets pretty old after a very short while. Apparently winter weather driving accidents never happen anywhere else in the country.

It is incredible how little self reflection people have as a whole. It is so easy to have smug self satisfaction in the misery of others for some reason.

Most people are tongue and cheek about this type of thing. When you spend every year dealing with snow, it is just a bit wacky to see how it affects people and areas who aren’t used to it. The topic has come up plenty of times in my life and it always immediately transitions into listing the obvious reasons why it happens.

But it’s an opportunity to get all territorial and worked up so we get threads like this.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#96

Post by gkop »

jollybean wrote: post #87
FourthProtocol wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Research is also useful - The first key to effective snow driving is a light throttle and choosing the correct tyre. Driving in snow requires a tall tyre with a narrow section-width. This allows the tyre to cut through the crust and obtain traction on the hard surface beneath the snow (the opposite of sand tyres)... And so on. I used to teach this stuff -- https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/offroading/Driving/Snow.html

It's not so much 'choosing the correct tire' - there's a 'category of tire' and it's called a 'snow tire' and everyone in snowy areas has them, often by law. It's like 'choosing' to slip through the snow wearing Oxford shoes, or, put on a pair of boots. All of these comments about bad driving in the W. Coast, about 50% of this is just everyone has completely the wrong tires.

In California at least, it’s not that simple. There are “all weather tires” that, when paired with AWD, count for “snow tires” per CalTRANS chain control, and then there are real snow (and also, ice) tires. Guess what? You’re gonna have a better time with real snow tires versus all weather, but only the minority of vehicles in chain control in CA have them (IE the majority has chosen the wrong tire for snow safety).

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#97

Post by rootusrootus »

stevenbedrick wrote: post #74
rootusrootus wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About fifty years ago, when building out new freeways was a thing, Portland revolted and stopped building new roads. We haven't built anything meaningful since completing I205 in the 80s. But the city continues to grow. Traffic sucks because the local government has bet the future on light rail.

As context for non-Portlanders, the "revolt" against additional freeways was one part of a larger effort to manage urban growth so as to avoid endless sprawl and preserve the agricultural landscape surrounding the metro area. One of the freeways that the city specifically opted out of building fifty years ago would have taken up the entire west side of the city's waterfront; because we _don't_ have a freeway running…

I'd much rather see a really robust network of buses than another light rail expansion. It's not convenient to get to the train, and it crawls through downtown at an average pace of 17 mph. I live all of 20 minutes from downtown (by car), and even then it would take me as long as 60 minutes during the day to catch the nearest bus, and then 30+ minutes to make it downtown (and that assumes the connections work flawlessly). It's not practical to use the bus here except for people who live and work in relatively close proximity, in certain areas of town.

I personally believe that part of the problem is Portland's style of government. There's a pretty good reason why it's the largest city in the US governed by committee. Though to be fair that may not really explain the whole problem. Just trying to design a replacement bridge across the Columbia cost 175 million without ever doing anything. Dysfunctional is an understatement for Oregon.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#98

Post by foobiekr »

jmspring wrote: post #79

I've dealt with snow in the PNW (including Vancouver, BC) and the region really isn't great about how to deal with it. Hell, WA and OR can barely deal with driving in the rain. If you want some humorous questions / etc. regarding snow, at the moment, check out the CHP Truckee Instagram account. 70ish miles of Highway 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line is closed at the moment, and may be until Tuesday. All the pe…

Oh, I don't know. At least they get practice.

A friend, observing the people who relocated to Montana, suggested that a surprise snow storm in the bay area on a weekday morning would solve the housing crisis very quickly, though for time there would be a massive backlog in the morgues.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#99

Post by FourthProtocol »

jollybean wrote: post #87
FourthProtocol wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Research is also useful - The first key to effective snow driving is a light throttle and choosing the correct tyre. Driving in snow requires a tall tyre with a narrow section-width. This allows the tyre to cut through the crust and obtain traction on the hard surface beneath the snow (the opposite of sand tyres)... And so on. I used to teach this stuff -- https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/offroading/Driving/Snow.html

It's not so much 'choosing the correct tire' - there's a 'category of tire' and it's called a 'snow tire' and everyone in snowy areas has them, often by law. It's like 'choosing' to slip through the snow wearing Oxford shoes, or, put on a pair of boots. All of these comments about bad driving in the W. Coast, about 50% of this is just everyone has completely the wrong tires.

Understood. I chose (forgive me) 'choosing the correct tire' because not everybody in snowy areas knows they need them, and not everybody has ready access to them. There's often no legal requirement for snow tyres, and some countries (Australia, for example) don't even HAVE snow tyres even though Canberra for eg, tends to get snow at least once a year.

Snow is no stranger in Scotland either, and there's no snow tyres requirement in the UK.

Germany has a law that states you must have winter tyres or all-year tyres from October to Easter ("Oktober bis Ostern" - O to O).

Drive up to Tiffindell Ski Resort in South Affrica (8,920 ft up) in whatever you have - donkey cart, bicyle, 4x4... That gets snowed in regularly, and there's a just a hand-made "4WD recommended" sign at the bottom of the mountain.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#100

Post by jmspring »

xeromal wrote: post #93
jmspring wrote: post #79

I've dealt with snow in the PNW (including Vancouver, BC) and the region really isn't great about how to deal with it. Hell, WA and OR can barely deal with driving in the rain. If you want some humorous questions / etc. regarding snow, at the moment, check out the CHP Truckee Instagram account. 70ish miles of Highway 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line is closed at the moment, and may be until Tuesday. All the pe…

A thing I started doing when I lived in my first snow climate was finding an empty parking lot after the first snow of the year and really testing out my car. Accelerate to 30-40 and slam on the brakes. Take a sharp turn in both directions and find the speed you lose traction. Do a few donuts. 30-40 minutes of practice every year really helps you understand how your car will perform in the snow and you can decide if…

For my Tacoma, I make sure to put enough weight in the back (over the rear axle) to help offset the vehicle being front heavy. Typically in straightaways, if no one is around, on some of the rural roads I drive I'll test braking (not slamming, but just steady) to check traction. I've also replaced tires considered to have sufficient tread, but were a couple of years old, to make sure getting through a season was as safe as possible. I also do a bit of off roading.

I used to have a subaru and the better weight distribution made the car much more stable.

Multiple times in the last month, I've driven a stretch of Hwy 80 between Sierraville and Truckee (about 25mi) and have seen all sorts driving beyond their ability and having or coming very close to accidents. Always love when people try and pass with a blind turn coming up. I also tend to pull over and back off to let darwin do his thing.

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