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
When walking with a lot of ice, always walk on the snowy, cloudy, and/or crunchy looking areas. You’ll get more grip with the crunch of the ice and snow than on just ice. If it looks slick didn’t step on it.
If you’re just going to pop out to the store, don’t neglect your wardrobe! Dress for the ditch, not your destination. If you slide off the road you don’t want to be freezing to death in your sneakers and hoody trying to dig your car out. Bonus points for bringing a shovel, trying to dig your car out with an ice scraper sucks.
If you’re stuck in a parking spot, and you can’t seem to rock your car out, turn OFF your traction control! (It should be a button with a car and wavy lines that you probably have never pressed before). The traction control takes power away from slipping wheels so if they’re both/all slipping, you get wheels that barely move as you’re stepping in the gas.
Just remember to turn it back on once you’re free
Nothing upsets me more than people driving with a pothole carved into their windshield and 6 inches of mobile smoke bomb/death shelf on their roof.
Mesh shirt against your skin is the shit. It keeps an air layer between your skin and base layer which helps you stay warm and feel dry while wicking the moisture away.
Swede here, when driving, drive as if there is a raw egg between your foot and the pedals.
Also, winter tires makes a huge difference, here they are mandatory, but you should get/use them as well even if they are not.
Do brake tests! Make sure you have a clear road ahead and no one behind you, break hardish, and remember how far you slid.
If you know you need to stop just after a hidden bend in the road, make sure to start braking before the curve, this is to light up your brake lights, giving other, less attentive drivers the chance to stop earlier.
Remember that you don’t HAVE to drive the speed limit, you should adjust your speed to suit the conditions.
Unless in an emergency, never ever make a quick, sharp turn when driving in snow
And for the love of all things good in the world, do NOT throw hot water on your car to melt the ice/snow. The glass -will- crack from thermal expansion. Use the defrost and sit there until it’s melted enough for your ice scraper to slide it off. If you have plain water in your wiper fluid compartment, drain it or it’ll rupture the lines when it freezes. If you can get low-temp wiper fluid you can use that, otherwise it’s probably best to leave it empty or maybe throw some isopropyl alcohol in it. Not super sure, I’ve always used low-temp fluid.
I watched my ex from Texas throw hot water on their windshield after they followed me to my very northern-tundra state. They had never really seen snow before, outside of occasional falls that melted by noon. Not even close to the same thing as a sustained hard freeze. I did tell them not to do it but they knew better. They were an abusive asshole so meh. Lessons learned the hard way are valuable. For me as an onlooker. That popping sound as it shattered was just 👨🍳💋.
And turn the defrost and the fan on before the car gets warmed up. If you forget to turn the fan on, and only turn it on when the car is warmed up, you will also crack your windshield.
Good advice, I’ve genuinely never done that, just habit from a lifetime of winter.
That does remind me, though, I did find out years back that if you already have a crack, in my case a tiny crack from a rock, that hasn’t been sealed with a glass repair whatever it is they do, any significant amount of heat directed toward the glass in freezing conditions will cause the crack to spread. Bit. By. Bit. Suuuch a shit feeling to watch.
You can buy repair kits to fix those little bullseye chips from getting hit by rocks. They basically force a clear resin in, binding it together and making it clear again. It’s worth keeping one around just in case.
Bonus SLPT: make sure to clean out your local store of milk, eggs, and bread ahead of the storm. It’s very important to have French toast available during a storm.
A helpful list! I think an additional point worth mentioning is that a heated blanket can keep you warm while consuming much less electricity than a space heater can.
There are heated clothing as well that use regular power banks as energy source. Not that expensive but makes quite the difference. Another benefit is that you can turn it off when you go indoors instead of undressing to not start sweating like a pig.
We have a heated mattress pad, keeps all of the heat inside the blankets
Question for people who live in colder climates - why is it always so hot indoors? When I’ve been in new York, Chicago, Milwaukee, etc. in the winter it’s miserable inside. It’s 12 degrees outside and you step into a restaurant or shop where it feels like it’s 80 degrees. You’re immediately sweating because you have a jacket, gloves, etc. and you have to find someplace to put them.
Finland the normal indoor them I think is 21-22C
If you are coming directly from outside to a heated space, it’s likely the space near the door Is over-heated because of the loss to outside.
Hotels, big stores, event spaces, and other things with frequent entry/exit usually have a double door setup, meaning you walk through two doors and an air gap to enter, to minimize fluctuations in the main building. That space usually has heat going whether the door is open or not, so it gets rather toasty. Places that don’t have the buffer space will often have heat vents near the door cranked up to account for heat loses.
If it’s a small shop, it may be because the door is constantly being opened and they’re trying to keep the store warm for the people working there.
Sometimes it’s because of the temperature delta. Really cold outside and warm inside might feel hot, comparatively. Apparent temperature stuff.
Other times it’s probably over compensation for the thin skinned.
My wife and I keep our heat pretty low, usually 60°F, which is usually pretty damn chilly for indoors
But when you step in from single digits outside, 60° feels downright toasty.
I had the opportunity to experience a masterclass in how to handle extreme weather events in Saskatchewan.
-Bundle the fuck up
-Check on / help your neighbours
-If you see someone stuck in thier vehicle help them for God’s sake.
In terms of unstucking a vehicle, the trick is to “rock it” out. Once you even get a little bit of motion, you’re in a better spot. If you are bring pushed, or are pushing, make sure the driver’s window is open for communication. When pushing, still be thinking about the task as rocking out. You push and they apply (a little) gas, till they hit the limit. Let them roll back after, then coordinate another push.
Another thing with getting your car out of snow is to put something with traction underneath the tires. E.g. some gravel if you have it, a blanket, or the car mats under each wheel. That little extra traction can definitely mean the difference.
I tried the car mat trick once. They immediately shot out from under the tires when giving it gas.
Gotta channel your inner Happy Gilmore and just taaaap the gas. Tap, tap, taaaap the gas.
Too much gas eh. Or ice/crispy snow underneath. Then you need something more grippy.
avoid cotton fabrics
Why?
If walking, keep your feet underneath your center of gravity
In fact, do the ‘penguin shuffle’ whenever in doubt!
Why?
Once cotton gets wet it offers no thermal protection. If wool (and other fabrics) is wet it will still keep you warm.
I’ve found having a cotton t-shirt as a base to actually help when wearing layers, as the cotton wicks away any sweat from my skin and keeps me feeling generally drier and therefor warmer (and I don’t sweat enough to completely soak the shirt, YMMV if you sweat a lot). Also helps if you find wool or other outer layers itchy. You’re right to not wear additional layers of cotton fabric, though.
Cotton doesn’t wick anything, it absorbs it. And if you’re sweating enough that it’s a problem, remove layers until it isn’t. That’s the point of them.
Basically anything that’s wet is less than useless as insulation. cotton socks, gloves, jeans, and sweaters tend to develop wet spots from your sweat or puddles and conduct the cold right into those areas.
- hire a Canadian driver
