Snow day in DC

[SamirD]

I'm not actually convinced tracks are better. I used to live on a mountain about a mile high and our fire department had half-tracks in their fleet for winter use. I recall them once coming to an accident in one and I asked a fire fighter if they were good in the snow. He shockingly admitted that they were not that good and that he preferred a 4x4 vehicle with chains.

The best traction probably comes from rally-grade snow tires like these:


For street use, mildly studded snow tires:


I personally prefer chains because you can take them off when the roads clear up (usually the case if you live in a region with light snow or focused areas of snow like mountains).

Interesting that they said tracks weren't that great. I can see that as you're 'floating' on top of an unstable surface.

Those ice rally tires are awesome. I'd want to have some spikes on my helmet to go along with them.

I'm going to have to really think about chains. I don't think they're allowed, but neither are studs. But in really bad conditions, I could care less what is allowed as long as it keeps me safe.

[KuroNekko]

Yeah, when the weather gets really bad, you just have to do what you need to do.
I was in DC for the "Snowpocalypse" about 5 winters ago. It snowed several feet of snow which was way out of the ordinary for the mid-Atlantic area and literally shut things down in DC. I did not go to work for 2 weeks straight because work was called off. The Metro shut down and roads couldn't get plowed fast enough. People in DC simply did not know how to handle it.

At some point, there was so much snow that they stopped plowing the roads. I had a Mazda3 with All Seasons so I was shit out of luck about getting around once the snow got over two inches deep. To my dismay, I learned then that the DC area did not sell chains.

However, I had sold my good buddy in the area my former ride: a 1995 Subaru Impreza with AWD. Not only that, I gave him the chains in the trunk that I always carried because they were required for winter in the California mountains where I am from.
We threw on chains on top of his All Season tires powered by AWD.
The result?

We snow rallied through DC when everyone was walking. We romped around Rock Creek Park which no one dared to drive through.
The Capital Beltway was empty save for few cars crawling at 25 mph (including the police and ambulances). We blasted around the Beltway at 50 mph. Even if the police wanted to cite us for chains, they couldn't keep up with their chainless RWDs.

I remember people staring at us when we pulled up to places because of the noise the chains made. I recall one woman asking us if chains worked and we demonstrated by blowing snow kick-up all over her as we took off.

After that, my buddy became a believer in Subaru AWD and the pounding traction of chains. Basically, stuff mountain folk already know that "flat-landers" just got to learn.

[SamirD]

That story made me LOL hard! It reminds me of the time back in 2011 (maybe the same storm) when Alabama got 8 inches of snow overnight.

I called up my buddies in the local Subaru club and we had a 'snow day' where our local SCCA holds Rallycrosses:


The highways were officially closed and anyone driving would get a ticket...if they could be caught.

[SamirD]

OP

Mean while in North Dakota.... temperatures range between 0 and -40 with wind chills around -70F to -100F

School buses run one hour late. (slightly exaggerated but I have been in school buses in the following conditions more than once.)

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Toss some extra winter cloths in your car and you'll be fine.

My father told me all about North Dakota. He was so happy to get a scholorship to do his Masters in mechianical engineering in Fargo (he was in India). When the university sent information on the campus to him, noticed -70 for the low and wrote them back telling them they have a typo on their low temperature. They wrote him back saying that it was correct. He finished his masters in 9 months.

This morning we were talking about wind chill and he told me how he once walked (no car) to class in -70 wind chill. I don't know how he did it. He had never even seen temperatures below freezing growing up, and he survived in this without any help.

[SamirD]

People have said it gets like that here too, so we need to get ready.

As long as you (kinda) bring it up SamirD, what the heck is HSV and MKE?

Airport codes. Guess which one I'm talking about?

[Woodie]

Alright, I had already come up with that, but as they are 600 miles apart, I threw it out. I guess you have two homes and spend half the year in each?

[SamirD]

Alright, I had already come up with that, but as they are 600 miles apart, I threw it out. I guess you have two homes and spend half the year in each?

LOL. Yep, something like that.

My parents' businesses are in the HSV area as well as my business. But my wife has a job in MKE. And we just moved from NYC after only 2 months there. Once things settle in, I'll be spending at least one week a month in HSV, if not more. But MKE will be home.

[jono6406]

You still didn't answer the question. I'm still in the dark?

[SamirD]

You still didn't answer the question. I'm still in the dark?

My parents have a home in HSV and I moved in with them with my wife a year ago. But a few months ago, I moved to NYC with my wife as her job interviews were all in Manhattan. Then we moved to MKE two months ago because of a job offer here.

I'm in MKE, but I need to be HSV where my stuff and work is. I'll be splitting time each month once things settle in.

Clearer?

[sx4rocious]

I think he was wondering exactly where MKE and HSV actually are..... now I'm curious too LOL