Well that was fun.....

[groupw]

It's snowing today. Temperature has been around 30 degrees all day. Makes for a wet, heavy snow that gets greasy on the road surface. I had to drive 40 miles to a rural client today. Router issues. We had a couple inches of snow and the roads had not been plowed. I was driving about 10-15 mph below the posted limit, yet quickly caught a guy driving 20 below at best. His speed changes were erratic. I didn't like the idea of having to brake to avoid him on those roads. There was a paved county road that would add about a mile or so to my drive, but it beat following this clown! Plenty of tire tracks on the county road going North. I was able to drive at the speed I had been driving on the highway. Then I had to turn West. No one had been on that road yet. Solid snow cover! At this point, turning back wasn't a great option. I decided to drive carefully as it was only about 3-4 miles on this road. 

Initially things went well. I was keeping the speed below where the traction control would light up and staying towards the middle so I could straddle the crown of the road. Kept my inputs to a minimum. Tried to keep things steady. The car veered left. I got off the gas and kept steering more to the right, but it was not responding. Shit, shit, shit, shit! I was figuring I was going to have to call my boss to let them know I was in a ditch. Just then the front tires bit and, you guessed it, it veered to the right. I think at that point, the car had slowed enough, and the drag had increased on the tires to where I was able to collect the car again. I crawled along the road until I connected with the highway. This highway didn't get the same amount of traffic as the first one. There were tire tracks and you needed to stay in them. if you didn't, it would pull your car to the ditch or oncoming traffic. Based on the swerve marks, I wasn't the only one experiencing this!

I drove out of the worst of the snow about 5 miles from my destination. Took care of the client and headed back. In that hour, a good portion of the highway snow had melted down. It was much safer driving back. Only the last 7 miles to town still had significant cover. Got back to the store safely. Luckily most of my work has been remote sessions since then..

[Further]

Glad you made it

First snow of the year is always an experience

[Bikeguy]

Hydroplaning on water is bad enough, but wet heavy snow can be the worst for traction.  

I've lived in rural IL for a while now.  When the snow gets bad, it best to avoid some of the country roads.   Unless you like driving by the brail method.  If you are too far to the right it gets bumpy. Too far to the left it gets bumpy.  No bumps... you are probably on the road.

[Longjohn ★]

11 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

Hydroplaning on water is bad enough, but wet heavy snow can be the worst for traction.  

I've lived in rural IL for a while now.  When the snow gets bad, it best to avoid some of the country roads.   Unless you like driving by the brail method.  If you are too far to the right it gets bumpy. Too far to the left it gets bumpy.  No bumps... you are probably on the road.

That method doesn’t work on my road. If the bumps go away you are in trouble because you are off the road.

[groupw]

39 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

Hydroplaning on water is bad enough, but wet heavy snow can be the worst for traction.  

I've lived in rural IL for a while now.  When the snow gets bad, it best to avoid some of the country roads.   Unless you like driving by the brail method.  If you are too far to the right it gets bumpy. Too far to the left it gets bumpy.  No bumps... you are probably on the road.

This was a paved road. Just no traffic on it yet. Buick has improved their driving dynamics in many ways, but handling in snow is not their strong suit. 

[Bikeguy]

9 minutes ago, groupw said:

This was a paved road. Just no traffic on it yet. Buick has improved their driving dynamics in many ways, but handling in snow is not their strong suit. 

I purchased all season tires rated for snow for my Subaru.  It still hasn't snowed here.   

WoBG's Honda Prelude gets parked in the garage for most of the winter.  She knows... if it's snowing, she wants to use the Subaru.  

[Further]

The best car I ever had for driving in snow was an Isuzu Trooper, that thing would just dig in and go. 

[Ralphie ★]

7 minutes ago, Further said:

The best car I ever had for driving in snow was an Isuzu Trooper, that thing would just dig in and go. 

It was a real trooper.

 

[jsharr ★]

What planet do y’all live on

[groupw]

45 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

I purchased all season tires rated for snow for my Subaru.  It still hasn't snowed here.   

WoBG's Honda Prelude gets parked in the garage for most of the winter.  She knows... if it's snowing, she wants to use the Subaru.  

The Enclave is a company car. Owner likes Buicks. I would rather have an AWD Mazda CX-5 like WoW’s. Only thing better in the Buick is the power tailgate. Mazda gets nearly 10 MPG better mileage too. So much better in the snow. 

[MickinMD ★]

It was cold and 30F at the Raven's game Tuesday afternoon and snowed in northern Maryland, but by Thursday it was 52F (felt like 55F) and I walked Jake a few miles in great weather.

It's supposed to be 60F tomorrow, and well walk a few more.

[MickinMD ★]

1 hour ago, Bikeguy said:

I purchased all season tires rated for snow for my Subaru.  It still hasn't snowed here.   

WoBG's Honda Prelude gets parked in the garage for most of the winter.  She knows... if it's snowing, she wants to use the Subaru.  

My Honda Fit does not do well in snow.  Fortunately, I never have or have had to use my car until the roads are plowed.  That used to drive my sister into a jealous fit when I was a teacher, off on snow days, and she was a key Johns Hopkins nurse where the National Guard would pick her up and take her to work if the snow was too deep.  She's always owned all-wheel-drive cars, partly so her husband could drive to Johns Hopkins and pick her up on days the National Guard took her to work.

[maddmaxx ★]

I can't believe that I survived working in Middletown CT, getting out of work at midnight and driving 30 miles home in winter snow storms and hilly country.  There were some epic hours long trips and scary stories.  The midnight hour seemed to be when the plow trucks took a break between the previous days work and the next morning rush hour.

Hated it.

[BuffJim]

2 hours ago, groupw said:

This was a paved road. Just no traffic on it yet. Buick has improved their driving dynamics in many ways, but handling in snow is not their strong suit. 

I did about 10 years of Buick LaCrosses. Great cars, but felt like steering a boat in the snow. 

[donkpow]