I grew up just south of Lake Michigan. We got a LOT of lake effect show. Anything less than a foot wasn't really considered significant. In addition to the nearly flat topography, the local snow removal crews were used to dealing with large amopunts of snow. We'd get two feet of snow overnight and the school busses would still be out and running their routes at 7:00am. Snow days weren't unheard of, but they were relatively rare. The county road department would have a fleet of snow plows out working non-stop through the night, and for the areas where the drifts were too deep for the plows to get through, they'd have huge front end loaders clearing the deep snow. The situation here is totally different. Snow really isn't that much of a problem, it's freezing rain, or melting snow that re-freezes. Combine that with the steep hills, and it makes driving exceptionally dangerous. The other big difference is there are more things to hit around here. In rural NW Indiana, we got so much snow that it lined both sides of the country roads several feet deep from late November through early March. If you slid off the road, all you hit was a big soft snow bank - much more forgiving than a tree, a telephone pole, or a parked car. BNM
I have a buddy who lived along Lake Michigan for a couple of years. Yesterday he was telling me stories about the snow storms blowing off the lake. Some serious, serious weather there. I like it here in the temperate NW. Life is just easier, except for maybe one week a year when it gets treacherous.
I live on Skyline and my driveway is maybe 50ft long, but steep. We have a 4WD. It took me and my Brother-in-law 3 hours to get our 4WD out of the driveway. No shovel on earth could have gotten the job done. Packed snow and ice. We ended up using huge buckets of hot water to clear the driveway so we could get out. Now the car is parked on the street because the entire driveway is solid ice (we knew that would happen, duh). At least we can drive now! Not looking forward to the next 5 days. I already have a slight case of cabin fever, and I'm NOT going to the Blazer game tonight. Boo.
PF, you need to stick rock salt on that driveway, mixed with gravel. That'll give you traction in the ice. Plan B would be to heat up gravel and spread it. It'll melt the ice enough to get a grip, and give you a surface you can drive on. iWatas
Oh yeah! In addition to some really crappy skiing, the lack of mountains in the Great Lakes Region means there is NOTHING to block the Arctic strorms that blow down from Canada across the Lakes - turning any moisture in the air into snow. Being due south the Lake Michigan, we always got hit the hardest. When Chicago got a foot of snow, we got two feet. The last three Christmas Eves we lived there (mid 1980s) the low temps were -26, -25 and -24 degrees - and that's the free air temperature. Combine that with constant winds of 40MPH, and the windchill was around -65 degrees - serious frostbite conditions When people here complaing about our winter rains, I laugh and respond, "at least you don't have to shovel the rain". My sophomore year of college, I got a part time job at a small drugstore. My very first day of work, I spent 4 hours shoveling 3 feet of wet, heavy snow off all the side walks and clearing a path for the delivery truck to get to the loading dock behind the store - and that was in April! So, I don't mind a little rain. Gorwing up there, I just assumed it was like that everywhere. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I moved to the NW. My family back home was surprised to learn how mild our winters are out here, even though we're further north. BNM
I lived in Fairbanks Alaska and drove on snow 5-6 months a year... and never once did I need chains. Here because the temperatures are closer to freezing and because of the hills already mentioned in this thread... the driving is worse. We still are weather weenies though. I don't know why we even have weather on the news. Look outside and you know the forcast for the next day 75% of the time.
N4P!!!...oh shit son! YO MOMMA so hairy she wears a Nike tag on her weave so now everybody calls her Hair Jordan.
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I take it you don't ski. Bridger Bowl was literally 20 minutes for me to reach after I woke up in the morning.
