I have a friend who moved from Chicago to Atlanta. She said that she was amazed to discover that half an inch of snow paralyzes the city.
Guess it's just what you are used to dealing with on a regular basis, though I wonder how they handled de-icing planes in that kind of cold in Winnipeg.
-------------------------------- When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
Posts: 38223 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
It's a lot about what you are accustomed to. The body adjusts to our surroundings over time. Not only that, but preparedness is different as well. Someone said there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
Agree with everyone else, it is totally what you are used to, but more importantly what the community as a whole is prepared for - how often the roads are plowed normally, how well your house is insulated (and what precautions you take in the wintertime when you know the temperature will be at a certain point) - and what kind of clothing you own. (I have so many more pairs of boots and warm hats now, after maine) I don’t even blink when the temp goes below zero here (in part because it usually goes up into the 20’s and even 30’s during the day) We’ve had snow on the ground since december, but I can walk to the bird feeder without snow shoes. Winter seems like a piece of cake here!
Yep, the city's response makes a huge difference. Portland has a policy of not icing roads (environmental concerns), and it's also very hilly. When we get ice, it sticks around, maybe thaws during the day, and refreezes at night. I don't care how good you are as a winter driver, or whether you have chains or good snow tires, no one is driving on an icy, hilly street. (I think they changed the law/policy last winter, after a really brutal period of ice the year before).
They also don't have a ton of slowplows, since our issue is usually ice, not snow. But we don't get cold like you guys do. Maybe in the teens for a few days at a crack, and that would be significant.
Posts: 35428 | Location: West: North and South! | Registered: 20 April 2005
Originally posted by Nina: Yep, the city's response makes a huge difference. Portland has a policy of not icing roads (environmental concerns), and it's also very hilly. When we get ice, it sticks around, maybe thaws during the day, and refreezes at night. I don't care how good you are as a winter driver, or whether you have chains or good snow tires, no one is driving on an icy, hilly street. (I think they changed the law/policy last winter, after a really brutal period of ice the year before).
They also don't have a ton of slowplows, since our issue is usually ice, not snow. But we don't get cold like you guys do. Maybe in the teens for a few days at a crack, and that would be significant.
All this, yes. Also, we tend to spread gravel rather than use salt on the roads.
We don’t really have a lot of plows; it’s a matter of how you want to allocate resources. Own a bunch of plows when we don’t usually have much snow? That’s just money sitting somewhere we can’t use it.
Originally posted by pianojuggler: The year I lived in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, it snowed. It snowed less than a 1/16 of an inch. The whole town shut down.
Jodi
