A lot of people are about to be hit with a big winter storm who are not used to this kind of weather. Here are some tips from a Minnesotan:
Keeping warm:
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avoid cotton fabrics.
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Use layers, take them off if you start to sweat.
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I like tight gloves with thick mittens, which allows use of your hands sometimes without skin exposure.
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A face mask works as a scarf or another layer in a pinch
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Warm up your home in case you lose power. Power outages may happen after the snow/freezing rain stops
Snow removal:
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Lift with your legs, not your back.
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Don’t save all of the shoveling for the very end of the storm, it’ll be more difficult and will start to create an ice layer (especially where walked on)
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if you have a car, lift up the windshield wipers before it starts snowing/freezing rain
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Completely clean your car soon after the storm. In most places, it’s illegal to drive with a lot of snow/ice on your car and super dangerous.
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If you’re parked on a street, move the car to a plowed area when possible so they can plow where you were parked
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If you have a driveway, clear off part of the street in the direction the plow will come from, so that doesn’t end up blocking your driveway
Driving
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stay home until streets are plowed if possible (thank you healthcare workers and emergency responders!)
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Turn on ABS brake and traction control settings, if available
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accelerate and take turns slowly
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Have more time/distance to brake
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Speed up before going up an incline, getting stuck and sliding back down is not fun
Sliding on ice:
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If walking, keep your feet underneath your center of gravity
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If driving, switch to neutral and steer in the direction that the back of the car is sliding, but don’t overreact on steering. Slamming brakes will make sliding worse.
Car stuck in snow:
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turn off traction control
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don’t just let the tires spin out
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try shoveling, sand/kitty litter, and rocking back and forth
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Once you get moving again, don’t stop
Edit: if you do lose power, have a faucet or two drip water to prevent the pipes from freezing and bursting
Edit 2: if you see ICE, follow these steps
Yall have any recommendations for thin gloves that could fit under mittens that preferably don’t have seams and don’t costn an arm and a leg?
Was that just all a set up for the ICE bit at the end?!
Canadian here: Storm chips and whisky.
getting storm chocolate and anxiolytics. 🥹
yay…
Rocking back and forth doesn’t help me when I watch the news, so I doubt it’ll help me get out of a snow drift.
Something I picked up when driving in Wisconsin is if you are driving and need to change lanes take your foot off the acceleration pedal if there is a layer of Snow/slush/ice between the lanes. If the tires slip your not adding power to the wheels. Also take your time and slowly drift into the lane. It’s not a race.
A tip someone gave me if you can’t see the lane markers well is to slowly move towards the rumble strip. This can help you know where the edge of the road is.
I suggest you keep a reflective jacket or vest in the car just so you can be seen IF you need to get out of the car if you get stuck or putting on chains.
Great additions!
Something else I would do I find a large open parking lot and intentionally drive in a way to make my car lose traction. This way I could practice my over steer, counter steer. Sure it was fun to play in the snow but I wanted to make sure I had a controlled setting to do this. Just be careful of light poles and other obstacles.
Lots of great advice here and in the comments. To add some clarity to driving carefully, imagine that you are driving with an open fish tank on the floor of the passenger side and you don’t want to lose any fish.
Another small one for driving: unless you need to stop/slow down, it’s far better to just let of the gas/accelerator and coast that to touch the brakes and risk breaking traction. This goes for things like, unsure if person in lane a wants to move over? Unsure if person is going to pull out? Similar things. If its slick, you really don’t want to overuse your brakes.
Yup, try to never stop/brake until you’re at your destination, if possible. Intersections are notorious icy spots as stopped cars waiting for the light to change can melt a thin layer of snow/ice. Which the refreezes one the car leaves. It’s much better, if possible, to look ahead and coast some to time the intersection to slowly pass through without stopping.
This limits brake use, which reduces chance of sliding out, which reduces the chance of crashing. Plus, looking ahead is always a good idea for driving, regardless of if it’s storming out.
I can’t remember the last time I had french toast but after reading the comments here it seems like necessary step to survive the weekend.
Go to the sporting goods store and buy a pair of ski goggles. Best purchase I ever made.
Agree! I debated putting that in the OP, but wasn’t sure how possible that is for folks
Excellent advice.
Regarding windshield wipers: my mechanic advises people not to leave them up. He says that doing this too often can stretch the springs in your wipers, ultimately reducing the downforce that makes them effective. Someone else in the comments mentioned using a vinyl (or cardboard) cover for your windshield - this can be a good timesaver that is kind to your wipers.
Learn where the water shutoff is to your house.
If the worst happens and you lose power for any significant amount of time with no way to heat your home, and you face leaving your house find someplace warm, shut the water off. Some might suggest leaving taps trickling, and that might work for sinks, but won’t for toilets and other pipes.
Open the lowest spigot in the house to drain as much water as possible. Flush the toilets enough times to empty the tanks. Pour cheap vodka in the toilet “S” traps and sink “U” traps as a cheap antifreeze.
I’ve had to winterize a house on several occasions, learned the hard way on a couple occasions when I came back to a busted toilet or cracked drain.
E: oh, and clean your damn car roof off. I’m tired of chunks of snow flying off cars into mine, or almost as bad, the clowns that hit the brakes and the snowpack slides forward completely blocking their windshield. Now they can’t see and are blocking the road.
to add: get the proper rated winter wiper washer fluid.
once forgot I had the summer stuff still in (because it doesn’t smell like shit like the stuff with antifreeze) and I turned it on mid drive while it was freezing outside.that was fucking scary, having suddenly no view at 40 mph.
luckily the road was straight, but I was driving like Ace Ventura in the freezing cold until I could safely pull over.
learn that one from me, so you don’t have to learn that lesson yourself, and hopefully never at freeway speeds.stay safe out there you all! (and best of luck all Minnesotans, stay strong, together!)
Good tip on prepping the drain pipe traps, that should help. I’m sure there are better options if you have the right tools but as a stopgap solution, it would help lower the freezing point and gives you better odds of not coming back to a cracked pipe.
Waddle like a penguin on ice. They rarely fall over
Walking like Captain Jack Sparrow is another great trick. Turns out it’s great for keeping your balance, and it gives you a great excuse to hum his theme song.
i do that naturally
Bold of you to assume there will be a plow.
We never used to get studded tires BUT the climate has changed dramatically. It used to get cold and stay cold but now it may be 40 and rain then drop into the teens, leaving a slippery ice coating. Studded tires help a lot. A 4-wheel drive vehicle can get you going but they cannot stop or steer any better than a 2-whell drive vehicle.
- turn off traction control
In some cars to turn off the traction control and ABS, you have to push and hold the button on the dash (usually depicted with a wheel and two squiggly lines). You will know it is off if the ABS and/or TCS alert lights appear on the dashboard.
