Snow disruption! For those of you who have real snow.....

[Laura Corin]

I thought you might have fun with the kind of snow that causes disruption here....

 

L

[Ottakee]

But you aren't experienced with snow and equipped to deal with it.  We get 8 inches overnight and no one blinks.  What gets us is the high winds and light fluffy lake effect snow which can cause 3-6 foots drifts in the roads in a few minutes, total whiteout conditions, etc.

[Laura Corin]

But you aren't experienced with snow and equipped to deal with it.  We get 8 inches overnight and no one blinks.  What gets us is the high winds and light fluffy lake effect snow which can cause 3-6 foots drifts in the roads in a few minutes, total whiteout conditions, etc.

 

Well.... yes and no.  We get that kind of snow several times each winter.  But most people react as though it's a complete surprise every time - no snow tyres, no road sense.....

 

L

[creekland]

That looks a bit like the snow levels in our region that close schools and businesses.  My mom laughs (she lives where real snow is common).  I still can't get used to it either - even after being here for 19 years.  If my school (growing up) had closed for what closes school here we'd have had very few school days in the winter.

[Ottakee]

I can't say much for west michigan though as we just had a HUGE 193 car pile up that resulted in 1 truck driver passing away and 23 hospitalized.  A semi truck caught on fire and another full of fireworks exploded.  The biggest cause for this massive accident was people driving way too fast for the conditions.  When the winds whipped up and they couldn't see they were going too fast to stop in time before hitting what was in front of them.

[MFG]

I like the picture of the Brave Sheep. That snow is not even deep enough to cover the grass.

[Annie G]

We get snow all winter long and people act like it's an event. I find it charming that they call it a 'snow disruption' where you are.   Here they give it goofy names like last year's Snowmageddon. 

 

The picture of the tree that recently fell- that was a huge tree!!

[Laura Corin]

We get snow all winter long and people act like it's an event. I find it charming that they call it a 'snow disruption' where you are.   Here they give it goofy names like last year's Snowmageddon. 

 

The picture of the tree that recently fell- that was a huge tree!!

 

We have had some extraordinary winds recently.  I don't know if you saw the news stories about scheduled flights going almost supersonic due to tailwinds?  Well, those winds hit the Scottish islands pretty hard.  A couple of days ago, there were 140,000 houses without electricity.

 

L

[AMJ]

My brother used to live in northern California.  Every year several places in town would have pipes bursting from temps getting down to freezing -- every year! -- but no one ever would consider wrapping their pipes with heat tape or building their homes and businesses with better insulation in the walls.

 

I grew up in Illinois and Minnesota.  I moved to Colorado, where snow was less, then down here.  I've lived here longer than anyplace else, for about 18 years.  I am STILL not used to the heat, humidity, and sheer length of "summer", and I pray futilely for snow or even a good, hard freeze each winter.  Some winters we don't even get rid of the mosquitoes -- they stick around all year.

 

ANY snow down here will cause shut-downs.  Ice will do it even faster, and that's all to the good.  The road surfaces here are crafted for to withstand summer's heat and handle lots of rain.  They tend to get rather slick when things get cold.

 

If snow, or even slushy stuff, falls we take a snow day off of school and go out and play in it.  Must not waste the rare opportunity!

 

[Katy]

The thing about snow is that if you don't have enough to regularly drive on, you never learn how to drive on it.  You really need to have someone take you to a big empty parking lot on a snowy day and just practice.  Practice sliding, spinning, stopping, parking, accelerating, and learning how to not crash. If you never have enough snow to do that...  stay off the roads when it snows.

[Laura Corin]

The thing about snow is that if you don't have enough to regularly drive on, you never learn how to drive on it.  You really need to have someone take you to a big empty parking lot on a snowy day and just practice.  Practice sliding, spinning, stopping, parking, accelerating, and learning how to not crash. If you never have enough snow to do that...  stay off the roads when it snows.

 

On the other hand: if you know that you haven't had enough practice, buy winter tyres.  Yes, it's an investment, but then the wear balances out (because the normal tyres are only on for half the year).  The winter tyres deal so much better with snow and ice, compensating for my lack of skill.  I am still really, really careful, but the extra grip makes an enormous difference.

[Carrie12345]

I get "real snow", but I pretty much rearrange my life to avoid driving in it.

Unfortunately, ice is an even bigger problem here. And there isn't much to be done about it when temperatures are extremely low.  Everyone around me seems to be content to go out and risk crashing (and there are ALWAYS a huge number of crashes.)  I just can't see the point.

 

(We're missing co-op for the second week in a row b/c there's no way I'm attempting to drive down the mountain today!)

[Amy in NH]

We had 4-6 inches yesterday (on top of the foot we already had), and still went to all of our afternoon and evening activities. I have all-wheel-drive. DH has regular front wheel drive, but he has studded snow tires for the winter months.  If it had been ice I would have canceled. 

[creekland]

Ice is worth cancelling over.  Even my northern school would cancel for ice.  Snow?  That would only delay things if it were 8 inches or more.  It had to be a foot and still coming to cancel.  There were years we only had one or two snow days and only one year where we got two days off in a row - that was due to a true blizzard and the Governor required it.

 

Anything else we just knew to be up early enough to move any snow in our way and we plugged in our cars on the really cold days (engine heaters).

[Pawz4me]

Snow is easy.

 

Ice is definitely not easy, and that article mentions ice several times.  So I don't judge by pictures.  Sure you can see it's just a little bit of snow, but maybe there's a layer of ice there that isn't visible.  That happens here in the south sometimes.  I wish more people would take ice seriously.

[indigomama]

I was too distracted by the beautiful landscape and buildings to notice the snow in your pictures. That one of Inverness Riverside and the sheep, beautiful!

[Laura Corin]

Snow is easy.

 

Ice is definitely not easy, and that article mentions ice several times.  So I don't judge by pictures.  Sure you can see it's just a little bit of snow, but maybe there's a layer of ice there that isn't visible.  That happens here in the south sometimes.  I wish more people would take ice seriously.

 

I'm actually in Dundee at the moment, and my colleagues drove in from different parts of the city this morning.  Dundee was just snowy......  Other places could have ice problems.

 

L

[JFSinIL]

Snow tires? Chains? What are these things?

 

Here in Northern Illinois I know of no one who uses them, nor do I see ads for them.  Back where I came from, S. California, chains were recommended when going up in the mountains after snow.  I suspect that is to help slow down folks not used to driving in snow.

[MEmama]

On the other hand: if you know that you haven't had enough practice, buy winter tyres. Yes, it's an investment, but then the wear balances out (because the normal tyres are only on for half the year). The winter tyres deal so much better with snow and ice, compensating for my lack of skill. I am still really, really careful, but the extra grip makes an enormous difference.

Sorry but nothing compensates for lack of skill. Thankfully driving in snow is really just common sense--slow down (!), take it easy on turns, give extra stopping time and space between you and the car in front of you. I had never driven in snowy conditions before moving from California to the Midwest, but learned with no problems. Snow tires can help with traction (especially in very cold temps when the rubber of ordinary tires gets too hard), all wheel drive is fantastic and definitely helpful, but it's common sense that really matters.

[Laura Corin]

Sorry but nothing compensates for lack of skill. Thankfully driving in snow is really just common sense--slow down (!), take it easy on turns, give extra stopping time and space between you and the car in front of you. 

 

Absolutely - I do all those things. I thought we were talking about skills beyond that.  

 

L

[Katy]

When I lived in the Denver suburbs there were days where the mountain passes were closed except the interstate, and the interstate was closed unless you had chains on your tires. I've never even heard it recommended to use them on flat lands though. 

[momofkhm]

And here in NC, we had schools open late last week for extreme cold.  No snow.  No ice.  Just cold.  I think it may have been in the 12 degree range.. What would the people in places like WI, MI, MN, Canada do if they delayed school for those temps?

 

 

[Amy in NH]

Snow tires? Chains? What are these things?

 

Here in Northern Illinois I know of no one who uses them, nor do I see ads for them.  Back where I came from, S. California, chains were recommended when going up in the mountains after snow.  I suspect that is to help slow down folks no used to driving in snow.

 

My Dad lived in SCal for 20 years and used to lead ski trips in Yosemite.  He used to tell me about the checkpoints where you were required to stop and put chains on your tires before you were allowed to travel on the mountain highways.

[Laura Corin]

My Dad lived in SCal for 20 years and used to lead ski trips in Yosemite.  He used to tell me about the checkpoints where you were required to stop and put chains on your tires before you were allowed to travel on the mountain highways.

 

It's the same in the Pyrenees.

 

L

[Annie G]

And here in NC, we had schools open late last week for extreme cold.  No snow.  No ice.  Just cold.  I think it may have been in the 12 degree range.. What would the people in places like WI, MI, MN, Canada do if they delayed school for those temps?

 

 

12 is cold for you guys though. Last week our schools were closed for three days due to cold. With wind chills it was in the -25 range and they didn't want kids waiting for the bus or walking to school in that weather.  

 

However, if the temp is zero or above the kids  go outside for recess.  But of course the kids have coats, hats, gloves, etc. 

[Liz CA]

My sheep only WISH there was that little snow here! I hate lambing and calving, when we have to walk every single lane as we can't see over the 12' piles. I noticed that the piles at the grocery store yesterday are well over the cars. Crested Butte has gotten 113" already this year. 

 

Margaret, your winter weather is always stunning to me. I even remember when you posted that it sometimes snows in July.

 

[creekland]

12 is cold for you guys though. Last week our schools were closed for three days due to cold. With wind chills it was in the -25 range and they didn't want kids waiting for the bus or walking to school in that weather.  

 

However, if the temp is zero or above the kids  go outside for recess.  But of course the kids have coats, hats, gloves, etc. 

 

The coldest I remember walking home (mom's house) from school in was -76 with the wind chill,  a balmy -25 or 30 without.  I wasn't off the school grounds before I felt very, very cold.  At each house along the way I thought about stopping to see if some kind soul would let me warm up before continuing, but I didn't.  I just fantasized doing so.  By the time I had finished I was frozen and it took a long time inside to thaw.

 

Our school didn't bus anyone unless they lived more than 2 miles from school - so only a handful qualified.  My experience was so memorable with such a short distance... I can't even imagine how those going 2 miles felt.

 

My mom tells me the school now closes if the cold gets that bad.  I consider that a good thing for the students involved!

 

12 is normal though.  I just looked up weather stats for that area for this date.

 

Normal high is 12-35.

Normal low is -17 to 12

Record low is -31

 

I was there when we had that record low, but it's not the right year for my walking to school memory (nor do I recall the date - just what year of school I was in).

[MEmama]

And here in NC, we had schools open late last week for extreme cold. No snow. No ice. Just cold. I think it may have been in the 12 degree range.. What would the people in places like WI, MI, MN, Canada do if they delayed school for those temps?

Where we lived in eastern Canada, schools never closed due to cold. Kids went outside to play at recess unless it was colder than -19 (f), IIRC. Only then did the teachers grudgingly allow them to stay indoors and only because it was mandated. But not once did I hear any concern about waiting for the bus in extreme cold; of course everyone was prepared for it (in theory anyway. A lot of kids couldn't afford proper gear). However...when the temperature went over 70, which was rare, everyone was warned about the dangers of heat stroke. DS had a soccer game cancelled once over the "extreme heat". :)

[Saddlemomma]

But you aren't experienced with snow and equipped to deal with it.  We get 8 inches overnight and no one blinks.  What gets us is the high winds and light fluffy lake effect snow which can cause 3-6 foots drifts in the roads in a few minutes, total whiteout conditions, etc.

 

Yup!  That's like us up here in the frozen north.  We have pretty continuous high winds during the winter.  Last few nights it's only been between -25 to -35 with the winds when it was supposed to get down to -50.  While driving to church we hit the flats and all the sudden we couldn't see diddly.  We had to slow way down and say a prayer that we wouldn't hit anything.  We couldn't even see the sides of the road to pull over.  Thankfully made it into the area where a line of trees blocks the wind and stops the drifting.

 

Drifting is so bad here that we can go out our door, walk down the steps into about 5 inches of snow, start down the driveway to the barn and suddenly hit two feet you have to climb over.  Sometimes it's necessary to get the snowshoes on to get down there.

 

 

 

[Saddlemomma]

Where we lived in eastern Canada, schools never closed due to cold. Kids went outside to play at recess unless it was colder than -19 (f), IIRC. Only then did the teachers grudgingly allow them to stay indoors and only because it was mandated. But not once did I hear any concern about waiting for the bus in extreme cold; of course everyone was prepared for it (in theory anyway. A lot of kids couldn't afford proper gear). However...when the temperature went over 70, which was rare, everyone was warned about the dangers of heat stroke. DS had a soccer game cancelled once over the "extreme heat". :)

 

Not here either.  Just last Thursday I took DD to Band/Flute practice in -10 weather.

[Dicentra]

And here in NC, we had schools open late last week for extreme cold.  No snow.  No ice.  Just cold.  I think it may have been in the 12 degree range.. What would the people in places like WI, MI, MN, Canada do if they delayed school for those temps?

 

No one would go to school between October and April. :D  We tend to look at the "First Day of..." dates on calendars and laugh.  No - winter does not start on Dec. 21.  No - spring does not start on Mar. 21. :D Winter starts, usually, in October and the last of the snow will be gone sometime in May.  I can't plant annuals until after the first full moon in June or they'll freeze at night.  Our growing season is woefully short - I believe we're in Zone 2b or 3a.

 

We don't cancel school for cold - ever.  School are never closed for snow, either.  The buses will be cancelled for snow over 8 inches but they never close the schools.  Sometimes that means that you may only have a handful of kids in class (I live in an area that's quite extensively rural) but the school is still open.

 

The latest I remember it snowing here (and that was only briefly and melted when it hit the ground) was June 30.  I was home for the summer from university, was out working my summer job at 6 am, and it was snowing.  Oh, Canada... ;)

 

ETA:  I should add that not all of Canada experiences temps or seasons like we do here in the center of the country.  Southern coastal BC has lovely weather (when it's not raining ;) ) and Southern Ontario is at the same latitude as Northern California (although, being inland, is probably still colder).  The Maritime provinces get more snow than we do but their temps aren't as cold.  Just in case anyone thought that all of Canada was a deep-freeze. ;)  Current temp in Tofino, BC is 9C (48F).

[Pawz4me]

And here in NC, we had schools open late last week for extreme cold.  No snow.  No ice.  Just cold.  I think it may have been in the 12 degree range.. What would the people in places like WI, MI, MN, Canada do if they delayed school for those temps?

 

It was 6 here with windchills below 0.  But even though the county delayed schools, DS's school was an exception.  The principal essentially said "Tough luck, guys.  That's the price you pay for enrolling in a school where you have to provide your own transportation.  The delay is mainly for the benefit of the bus drivers and kids who have to wait on a bus, and that isn't you." :lol:

[ErinE]

Snow tires? Chains? What are these things?

 

Here in Northern Illinois I know of no one who uses them, nor do I see ads for them. Back where I came from, S. California, chains were recommended when going up in the mountains after snow. I suspect that is to help slow down folks not used to driving in snow.

Chains and all-weather tires are almost required where I live, which is very rural and has many unpaved roads. In the last big snow dump, the plows were getting stuck in the snow.

[Laura Corin]

 I've never even heard it recommended to use them on flat lands though. 

 

Scotland doesn't really have much flat land.  At the very least it rolls - not much in the way of plains.

 

Someone else mentioned roads not being ploughed - this is actually a problem with not having very frequent deep snow: when it does happen, ploughing is very slow and never reaches minor roads (particularly in the countryside).  It's just not worth the investment in equipment.

 

In my village, when we do have appreciable snow, the road gets ploughed when a local farmer has finished sorting out his livestock and comes through with a plough on his tractor.  This can take some time to occur.  And while we do have gritting trucks come through to deal with minor ice, the steep road through the village only really becomes easy to deal with in real snow (for those without winter tyres) once I and others have trekked to the community grit bin, put a load on a sled and hand applied it to the hill.

 

L

[strange_girl]

Snow? What snow? I can barely see any ;)

 

In reality, a small amount of snow with unprepared cars and drivers can be worse than a large amount. It certainly looks like you guys are dealing with a fair amount of inconvenience.

 

We live in Maine. It has been a very dry winter so far. I think we've only had between 2 and 3 feet of snow so far...pretty mild.

[foxbridgeacademy]

And here in NC, we had schools open late last week for extreme cold.  No snow.  No ice.  Just cold.  I think it may have been in the 12 degree range.. What would the people in places like WI, MI, MN, Canada do if they delayed school for those temps?

They'd have to go all summer to make up for all the missed days.

Here in S. Indiana they did a 2 hour delay at my nephew's school for single digit temps and negative wind chill. My sister and I couldn't believe it, when we were kids they wouldn't shut down for anything less then a blizzard.  I have frost nipped toes to prove it (still painful 30 years later).  

 

A couple years ago when we were in NC they got snow, about 4 inches, overnight.  The whole city seemed to shut down.  The only people driving were the Northern transplants and they drove too fast. 

[Guest bareisong]

That looks a bit like the snow levels in our region that close schools and businesses.