Winter - How it affects normal life

Storm - 19 December, 2012

Well we finally got snow and it came in the form of a pretty decent storm, called Winter Storm Draco. It started with rain, then turned to sleet (horizontal at that) and then turn to snow. Combine all that with the high winds 25-35mph the roads were awful.

Thursday was when I first heard the storm was coming and I admit I didn't really think much of it. I didn't realise the impact it would have. I didn't really want to drive in it, but wasn't too worried at the same time either because, I thought, I'd just pull over, or drive slow. I totally forgot that my truck needs weight in the bed (goodbye traction without it!) and the size of my tyres make for good aquaplaning.

Storm Draco Begins 20 Dec, 2012

It was first supposed to hit at 6am (around the time I get up to get ready for work) but as it turns out it didn't hit till 11am and it continued through the day and I couldn't tell you when the wind really died down. I can tell you I left work at 3-3.30pm and didn't get home till 5.30pm-ish. It took 2-2 1/2 hours to drive 30 miles (which normally takes me 45-60 minutes).

I knew what was going to happen, but that doesn't help when it's actually happening. A few times I lost traction enough to fish-tail my truck. Once up onto a median strip (narrowly missing the pole because I jerked the wheel in time.. which incidentally is usually a big no-no in this weather... smooth fluid movements, nothing sudden.. no sudden acceleration or braking or turning), another time into the opposite lane of traffic (where thankfully the guy was at a stop sign and just laughed at me as I said "SORRY!!!"), and the final time I "ditched my truck". I lost it on the interstate and was headed for a ditch. It wasn't a small one either so I was forced to alter my trajectory as best I could and fling my steering wheel the opposite way. I still got stuck, but this time sideways and not a nose-plant into a big ditch. Thankfully a good samaritan (Ryan) drove past, saw I was still in my truck, and turned around (risking his own safety I will mention) and asked if I was okay. He called my husband for me (my phone battery was dead), and then asked me if I had anything like a chain and he'd pull me out. Luckily I still had some ratchet straps and though it ended up sacrificing itself, he got me out and I drove the rest of the way, very gingerly home. When I got home my husband and our neighbour were digging out our driveway. My back and neck were sore (from sitting so tensely) but I was oh so glad to be home, thankful I didn't roll my truck, thankful Ryan stopped to help and that his truck was strong enough to pull mine out, thankful I didn't ditch on the way home (and it was BAD... I couldn't see the roads at times but you can't pull over or you'll never get out so I just followed the tail lights ahead of me), thankful I've driven that path enough that I could guesstimate where the road was, and thankful it wasn't bad enough to incapacitate my truck.

ANYWAY before all this happened, I was talking a friend one morning (around midnight Aussie time but more like 7am central time in the US) and I had to run outside to start my truck. While out there (and still on the phone) I noticed my windscreen had iced over as well so I had to scrape it (it hadn't snowed yet but we'd still get ice on the windscreen). While telling my friend this (and a few other winter issues) I realised I hadn't addressed this on here yet and it might be interesting to some of you to read what winter can sometimes mean for daily life (outside of freezing our bits off!).

Winter in my area of the US means snow. I'd never really seen snow before I moved to Iowa, once for about 5 minutes as I drove through some random snow fall on the way to Melbourne, but that's about it. I thought in places where snow was common, it snowed daily/regularly during winter and I had no concept of what it really meant to have a white winter!

I thought (in my innocence) that when it snowed it pretty much snowed constantly. A few breaks here and there but mostly constant, how else does it stay on the ground? Well, that's because it's FREEZING! You might see on the weather report it's 35F but then it'll say "feels like 20F" because with the windchill it feels much colder. It can be sunny out with the nice hot sun feeling great when you're inside, but as soon as you step out the windchill.. brrr!

It doesn't snow all the time. It's like rain, only instead of rain it's snow. So think of how much it rains and imagine that being snow instead. That's what it is.
There's a few things to address so I'll do them in numerical point form to make life easier (hopefully) in case anyone wants to specify a particular number to ask questions or comment:

1. Getting Up Earlier -You're never quite sure if you're up "early enough" or "too early" but if you have somewhere to be, you better make sure you give yourself at least an extra 1/2 hour (depending how bad the weather was the day before) both to be able to leave the driveway, and also to get to work/wherever you're going on time. The next few points will explain why...


2. Start Your Vehicle Early - You will need to start your vehicle early to give it time to warm up. Not just inside the vehicle but also the engine itself. Driving on a cold engine isn't good at the best of times, but worse if it's frozen... but lets be honest, mostly it's about making sure that heater is working before you head out!


3. Digging Your Vehicle Out - You need to make a path out of your driveway so that you don't run over too much snow, compacting it into a slick surface (makes getting out harder and sometimes dangerous and almost impossible to shovel later). Just about everyone owns a snow shovel, but some really lucky people have snow blowers (makes it SO much quicker to dig out!). You will need to dig around your vehicle, as well as making sure your license plates and lights are visible (don't forget the brake lights including the "top one" if you have one).


4. Scraping Your Windscreen - Whether it's snowed a lot or not, almost every day you will have to scrape your windscreen, whether you're going somewhere or not. The reason for this is if it gets to the point where it melts then refreezes you could end up with a hard shell on your windows etc that you can't scrap off easily and you CANNOT use water (no matter the temperature) because cold will freeze, and too warm may crack (it's that cold) so scraping is your only option (eventually salt may work too...)


5. Wiper Fluid - It's funny how used to using wipers you get without realising it. You cannot use them in winter unless you have a special fluid in them that doesn't freeze otherwise, you guessed it, it could freeze on your windscreen and make a huge mess. You can buy special fluid (make sure you check what temp it freezes at, it'll usually say on the bottle) that will only freeze at really low temps (we just got some that'll be fine to -27F) and can even sometimes help melt the snow.


6. Digging Out Paths - Some towns will have rules about whether you MUST dig out your footpath/sidewalk or not. Failure to do so in those areas can result in a fine. However I know that some towns while this might be a "suggestion" there is also a law where if you've dug out and someone slips and hurts themselves it's your fault whereas leaving it alone it's "natures" fault. so you need to make sure you know so you don't end up regretting it! 





#7 Roads Being Plowed

7. Snow Plows - Governments, and even some people, have snow plows. The city workers will plow the main roads after a snow fall (sometimes during depends on how long it's been going on) to keep the roads clear and safe. The regularity of plowing depends and the time as well, so some mornings you might be "snowed in" because you can't drive your vehicle on the roads until they're plowed, and sometimes even the plow can cover your vehicle making it hard to get out, so be careful where you park! Some people own attachments for their trucks as well either to earn money by digging out people's driveways for them, or for personal use because they live on a road that doesn't get plowed by city workers.


8. Salt - Something totally new to me... salt melts snow! There are different kinds of salt too. Some are gentler than others (for example I was warned to avoid walking my dogs because some salt is so harsh it can burn the pads of their feet... so snow shoes for pets seems to have a practical purpose as well as being cute!). Just today I saw some coloured salt on the ground (not entirely sure why it's coloured.. maybe so you know it's there?). There are also big tanker type trucks that carry a salt water solution to salt down the freeways and highways. It doesn't work too well when the road has iced over and while it helps with the roads.. it leads to the next point...


9. Rusting Vehicles - The salt they put on the road, like when you live in a town near the sea, ends up rusting your vehicle. So while rust is a bad thing of course, I don't know of anyone that wouldn't buy a vehicle for everyday use simply because it has some rust (of course the amount matters), because it's going to keep rusting. My husband has a vehicle, a camaro, that he doesn't drive in winter for this very reason.


10. Warm Clothes - Something that perplexed me was, what do you do with all the winter clothes you're wearing to get from A to B and entering a warm building, like say, Walmart? Your tolerance may vary but I wear snow boots, gloves, a beanie, scarf (or facemask), and a big heavy coat... when you enter a building with heating that gets HOT and while the snow boots can stay on, what about the rest? I thought I'd see people carrying backpacks so they could stuff their winter gear into it... I haven't yet though 'cause most people just shove the gloves into the pockets of the coat or hold the gloves and beanie in one hand with the coat slung over their arm and the scarf loosened.


11. Cheaper Winter Clothes - One bonus of it being winter here 3 months out of the year, winter clothes are MUCH cheaper here than in Australia. I bought a coat that I can wear 4 different ways (there's a reversible inner coat that I can wear by itself or with the outer coat). It was only $60 when something comparable in Australia would be hundreds of dollars!


12. Shoe Spikes - I fell only once last year but one of the dangers of snow is black ice. Sometimes just a surface that doesn't look slippery but is. You can buy they spikes for your shoes that you slip over the sole of your shoe to make walking less dangerous. I don't personally use them because often there's not enough snow and you'd need to keep taking them on and off to walk on spots where there's no snow. Also out of interest, nearly fell on my butt the other day because i didn't see the submerged cement corner :S


13. Emergency Pack - The morning after the storm hit, I put my dolphin torch in my truck (http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=12292 - I love it!). I already had an emergency blanket (you know the silver ones) and also an airplane blanket I appropriated from my last United flight. It's also best to make sure you carry food and water but of course water freezes in the cold so you need to take it out and put it back in again. You should also put a chain or tow rope in just in case and, unlike me, make sure your phone is charged or have an emergency phone that can at least dial 911 or 112.





#14 Going Into a Ditch

14. Going into a ditch/Getting Stuck - There are government vehicles that drive around during storms (or after) checking vehicles for people. This is usually on the more main roads so try and drive on the main roads unless you're comfortable with the idea of waiting hours before someone drives past to rescue you.


15. Filling Your Vehicle With Fuel - This is probably the weirdest part... you don't shut your vehicle off when filling up. I remember all the signs at the petrol stations in Aus with their "do not use a mobile", "make sure your vehicle is completely off" signs and here there is no such thing. You leave it on to keep it warm.


16. Parking - There are some places where you're not allowed to park when it's snowing, and some places you shouldn't because vehicles can get plowed in (i.e. when plowing the roads the snow covers your vehicle and good luck getting it out!


17. Snow mobiles - Just like some people have four-wheelers, some people have snow mobiles at well. The interesting part is there are actually specific snow mobile routes and signs for them. I think it sounds like fun but it's also dangerous because you can't see what's under the snow, that's the main reason for the routes, so you can be more sure it's not dangerous.

Out of interest, snow isn't always "pretty" either. The salt from the road causes the snow to go from pretty white to grey/brown sludge.