I'm loving this thread! Internet was down nearly all weekend except for a handful of short bursts. Just read both pages of this.
I'm laughing my a** off about the argument of RWD vs. FWD vs. 4x4. It's obvious that none of you have ever driven 4WD in real snow, nor have driven FWD in real snow. In short for all you snow noobs, FWD will move better than RWD. FWD will move until the road is at an odd angle and the front wheels slip. Then your front end washes out and lands you in a ditch. RWD is difficult to get moving. Once moving, if it slips you just get the standard tail hanging out. Countersteer, recover, and you're back on your way. 4WD, real 4WD and not this AWD garbage, it just goes. It moves, it stops, it turns. If it slips, you slip on all 4 wheels. You just give it some heavy juice, really get the tires spinning, then it starts to come out like a RWD, only it is a bit easier to control because you have the front trying to pull it straight.
3 weeks ago we got dumped on with about 14-16 inches of snow. We got an additional 6-8 inches the following day. The next weekend we had 4-6 inches and even more throughout that week. It's been below 20 F (-7 C)for 3 weeks, mostly around 4 F (-16 C) for the majority, of which salt on the roads only work down to about 25 F (-4 C). All the road crews could do is clear off the deep stuff from the roads. Where cars had already driven was packed down. Yesterday it was 35 F (+2 C). I was outside working a bit on the driveway in a t-shirt and jeans. Felt like summer
. Yesterday is the first day we've seen the road surfaces for 3 weeks.
The news on TV like to exploit the winter storms. If we are expected to get 1-2 inches, they act like the world is going to end. For 3 weeks now it's been nice because now if we expect anywhere below 3-4 inches of snow it is barely mentioned. Now 3-4 inches is,
"Meh? Expect a light dusting of 3-4 inches overnight tonight..."
Funny funny thread. Made me smile reading it
As for school closings, they rarely close school. Usually it's just a 2 hour delay. I'm in the Pittsburgh, PA viewing area of TV coverage and everything is operating today under a 2 hour delay down in Pittsburgh. It's not from the weather, it's from the Superbowl, LOL. Half of Pittsburgh's schools and workforce is probably still in Tampa, FL.