Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

[Mr. Kilt]

Bubba, you have that right! I was amazed when we lived in Raleigh, NC for 6 years how people with 4x4's thought that it was some kind of silver bullet. Just could not get them to understand that if one wheel started spinning while on ice and snow, that the other ones were probably going to be following very shortly. Saw people with 4x4 Ford Explorers who had NEVER put it in 4 wheel drive before, decide that the perfect first time was when the interstate was covered in ice! As a side note, Raleigh gets very little snow, and a 1/4" of snow does shut the city down, and if I recall there are like 4 snowplows for the whole city. May have changed since we let in 1999.

Ain't that the truth! People don't seem to realize that a 4x4 may get you going when stuck or on ice, it sure won't help you take curves or stop.
I bought a 4x4 Explorer last January. I use it to haul a utility trailer around, and the main reason I got a 4x4 model was to help climb some of the hills in the city after a snowstorm. So far I've only used it once, but it's nice to know it's there if I need it.

[starbkjrus]

It's just that we have so much to do when it snows...

1. Shovel Snow
2. Watch snow plow dump snow right back where it was
3. Shovel snow again
4. Drive to the grocery (hitting the ditch on the way)
5. Loot the grocery store
6. Drive into some more ditches
7. Abandon car on Capital Beltway
8. Walk home with groceries
9. Unpack groceries
10. Walk to bar

The only time I like to see snow is at a Ski Resort. :rolleyes:

[bubba]

A 4x4 helps in snow but it doesn't do squat on ice. The only things that can help on ice are studded tires or chains. The simple fact is most people don't know how to drive, all they do is aim and too many aren't very good at that. I drove professionally for 20 years without an accident. I accomplished this feat by assuming every other vehicle on the road was piloted by a suicidal maniac determined to take me out with them.

[davedove]

It's just that we have so much to do when it snows...

1. Shovel Snow
2. Watch snow plow dump snow right back where it was
3. Shovel snow again
4. Drive to the grocery (hitting the ditch on the way)
5. Loot the grocery store
6. Drive into some more ditches
7. Abandon car on Capital Beltway
8. Walk home with groceries
9. Unpack groceries
10. Walk to bar

The only time I like to see snow is at a Ski Resort. :rolleyes:

Even if you don't have to abandon your car, you have to repeat #3 because the plow has been through again while you were away and you can't get the car into the driveway. And you have to shovel the sidewalk so that some idiot, who shouldn't be out walking, doesn't fall and subject you to a lawsuit.

[Wompet]

Well, it was a typical start to a Calgary winter. An inch of snow and all hell breaks loose. 123 collisions recorded between midnight and noon today, 1 of them fatal. Traffic was pretty much at a standstill for the entire morning rush.

December 23, 2004 - El Paso, TX. 0.20" accumulation. 61 accidents in 24 hours, none fatal (faalities are unlikely when the top speed is 10 mph).

April 23-24, 2005 - I-90 Snowbelt south of Lake Erie. Minimum 24" packed accumulation with 3' drifts. No serious accidents.

I'm glad to be back North where most of us know how to handle the white stuff (and there's enough for kilted snowshoeing).

And if there's some shovelling involved - well, a little workout helps keep off the winter pounds, so my kilts won't get snug.

[John M.]

Speaking of workouts.

I've got to pull my two 150 or so pound elevator counter weights out of the garage, put them in the bed of the truck over the rear axels & let a couple pounds of air out of the tires before we get burried.

That helps give me enough traction that I rarely have to use 4WD during the winter.

[jfellrath]

Sadly, Victoria makes Vancouver look like a winterwonderland in comparison, and we get next to no snow at all.

Umm... correct me if I'm wrong, please, but isn't Vancouver hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010? This comment fails to fill me with confidence!

[Mr. Kilt]

Umm... correct me if I'm wrong, please, but isn't Vancouver hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010? This comment fails to fill me with confidence!

When Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988 they had one of the warmest Februaries in ages! Right when the games started a warm Chinook wind blew in. If it's warm and snowless in Vancouver in 2010 they will deal with it. :-p

[Mr. Kilt]

A 4x4 helps in snow but it doesn't do squat on ice. The only things that can help on ice are studded tires or chains. The simple fact is most people don't know how to drive, all they do is aim and too many aren't very good at that. I drove professionally for 20 years without an accident. I accomplished this feat by assuming every other vehicle on the road was piloted by a suicidal maniac determined to take me out with them.

Assuming everyone else on the road is an idiot has kept me alive more times than I like. I haven't been driving "pro" for very long, but I've always had the mentality to do it.

As for studded tires...we get so few occasions to use them here that they really don't like us using them. Our roads are normally clean and dry. They only get snow/ice on them right after a storm, then within a few days they've either been cleared by the road crews, or a Chinook wind blows in, the temps rise, and the stuff melts away.