You Should Know

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 👨‍🍳💋.

Note to add to the stuck part:

Keep two small lengths of wood in your trunk. When stuck, wedge them underneath your powered wheels in the direction your going, i.e. in front if your going forward, and behind if trying to reverse.

Edit: spelling

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.

Learn where the water shutoff is to your house.

If the worst happens and you lose power for any significant amount of time with no way to heat your home, and you face leaving your house find someplace warm, shut the water off. Some might suggest leaving taps trickling, and that might work for sinks, but won’t for toilets and other pipes.

Open the lowest spigot in the house to drain as much water as possible. Flush the toilets enough times to empty the tanks. Pour cheap vodka in the toilet “S” traps and sink “U” traps as a cheap antifreeze.

I’ve had to winterize a house on several occasions, learned the hard way on a couple occasions when I came back to a busted toilet or cracked drain.

E: oh, and clean your damn car roof off. I’m tired of chunks of snow flying off cars into mine, or almost as bad, the clowns that hit the brakes and the snowpack slides forward completely blocking their windshield. Now they can’t see and are blocking the road.

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.

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.

Something I picked up when driving in Wisconsin is if you are driving and need to change lanes take your foot off the acceleration pedal if there is a layer of Snow/slush/ice between the lanes. If the tires slip your not adding power to the wheels. Also take your time and slowly drift into the lane. It's not a race.

A tip someone gave me if you can't see the lane markers well is to slowly move towards the rumble strip. This can help you know where the edge of the road is.

I suggest you keep a reflective jacket or vest in the car just so you can be seen IF you need to get out of the car if you get stuck or putting on chains.

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 clear, didn't go near. (Or something like that)

Rocking back and forth doesn't help me when I watch the news, so I doubt it'll help me get out of a snow drift.

Lots of great advice here and in the comments. To add some clarity to driving carefully, imagine that you are driving with an open fish tank on the floor of the passenger side and you don't want to lose any fish.

Was that just all a set up for the ICE bit at the end?!

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.

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.

If you’re in a location that will get a significant amount of snow, 8” or more, find the fire hydrant closest to your house and clear an area around it to at least a couple feet.

Excellent advice.

Regarding windshield wipers: my mechanic advises people not to leave them up. He says that doing this too often can stretch the springs in your wipers, ultimately reducing the downforce that makes them effective. Someone else in the comments mentioned using a vinyl (or cardboard) cover for your windshield - this can be a good timesaver that is kind to your wipers.

avoid cotton fabrics

Why?

If walking, keep your feet underneath your center of gravity

In fact, do the 'penguin shuffle' whenever in doubt!

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

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 small one for driving: unless you need to stop/slow down, it's far better to just let of the gas/accelerator and coast that to touch the brakes and risk breaking traction. This goes for things like, unsure if person in lane a wants to move over? Unsure if person is going to pull out? Similar things. If its slick, you really don't want to overuse your brakes.

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.

Canadian here: Storm chips and whisky.

Waddle like a penguin on ice. They rarely fall over

• turn off traction control

In some cars to turn off the traction control and ABS, you have to push and hold the button on the dash (usually depicted with a wheel and two squiggly lines). You will know it is off if the ABS and/or TCS alert lights appear on the dashboard.

if you have a car, lift up the windshield wipers before it starts snowing/freezing rain

I'd say spend the $10-$20 and get a windshield cover. It will change your life, never having to scrape again.

Speed up before going up an incline, getting stuck and sliding back down is not fun

Do not stop on an incline either. If there's a red light, run it. (safely of course.)