People who live in small towns in very cold areas, such as Canada and near

[raccoon]

the Canadian border, can they get to the nearest city in the winter? I mean, even if there are paved roads around, there must be tons of snow on the road in the winter. Even with 4-wheel drive, could you drive to the nearest city?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. why do you think that most canadians were born in July?

[Canuckistanian]

2. I live in a small Canadian town

Actually, in the country side NEAR a small town.

And I drive 45 miles every day in winter to Ottawa, our nearest city. And I've never owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

We pay people to keep our roads free of snow and ice - and they're very good at it.

[raccoon]

6. They snowplow the roads way out in the sticks? I am surprised.

I wouldn't thought it would be cost-prohibitive.

[Canuckistanian]

7. It's a necessity

If there were no snowplows, we wouldn't be able to live in "the sticks".

Our taxes pay for snow removal. And all of our snow is removed by (gasp!) UNIONIZED GOVERNMENT WORKERS.

[tanyev]

11. You're not by any chance near Perth, are you?

That's where our people are.

[Canuckistanian]

12. That's exactly where I am

About 10 miles north of Perth. You have relatives around here?

[tanyev]

18. Yes, my mother-in-law lives in Perth

and my sister-in-law and family live a little ways out in the country. Maybe even north of Perth. Hubby does all the driving when we're there, so I'm not too clear on their exact location.

[meow mix]

3. i usually change my tires before it starts gettin nasty lol

makes a big difference!

[melm00se]

4. yes

why do you ask?

I have relatives who live near Blue Sea Lake in Quebec and while it's not an everyday thing, they can and do plan/take trips to the "big city" in the winter.

[raccoon]

8. Why do I ask? Because I've always lived in a very hot climate.

Cold areas (and dry areas, such as the Southwest) fascinate me.

Especially when we have recently had 100+ temperatures. At night, I hope that I'll dream I live in Canada or a state near the Canadian border. (And sometimes I do, usually when I get cold.)

[msedano]

17. I didn't enjoy the cold much

being a lifelong southern californian, the snow in my remote korean home presented an adventure i care not to repeat. but it was an adventure. and no, there were no snowplows so we were stranded up on the mountain for a couple of days at a time, or down in the admin area cut off from supplies. c rations are good for you.




http://readraza.com/hawk/pages/ahootch_jpg.htm

[melm00se]

30. you acclimate to whatever

your weather is.

your definition of "hot" and "cold" change depending upon what you are exposed to.

I used to live in Buffalo (now in NC) and I went golfing with some buddies a couple of years ago. They were all staggering around the course complaining it was "SOOOOOO HOT" when it was 85 degrees...to me that was comfortable. I am the reverse: they will walk to their cars in shirtsleeves when it's 30 degrees...me? I put on a coat and hat.

[LWolf]

45. Having lived west of the Rockies for 43 of my 50 years,

in southwest and northern deserts, I understand the fascination.

Deserts are not all just heat. There's heat in the summer, of course. Deserts can also get bitterly cold. Part of being a desert is the extreme temperature fluctuations. For example, where I live now, we can see frost on any day of the year. It can be in the 90s during the day and the 30s at night. More often, 90s during the day means 40s at night, but that's still a 50 degree difference in a 24 hour period.

Other advantages: low humidity makes all temperatures more comfortable. No fleas.

Disadvantages: plant growth is less lush, more spartan. When I lived in the southwest desert, the days were monotonously clear and sunny in all seasons. Precipitation fell very infrequently, and often created flash floods. (Here in the north, it's spread out over more days, it's gentler, and we get more cloudy days; more distinct seasons.)

But all that is somewhat off-topic. :D

Generally, communities have the resources and procedures to manage whatever conditions they live in. Places that get regular snow and ice will manage snow and ice much more efficiently than those for whom it's a novelty.

[zipplewrath]

5. Yes, but not every day

People in Florida are prepared for hurricanes.
People in California are prepared for earthquakes.
People in the midwest are prepared for tornados.

Places that get "tons of snow" are prepared to deal with it. Yes, you can lose power, and the roads can be blocked, but ultimately one can get around. The more remote one is, the more likely they'll have a vehicle to deal with the extreme nature, 4WD and the like. They plow the roads, snow melts, cars and trucks compact it, life goes on.

[izquierdista]

40. Locals prepare for local weather

If you've ever been in the South when it snows, you can tell all the transplants from colder climes. They go about their daily business as if it was just an ordinary day while the locals stay at home, afraid to venture out until it melts.

[tanyev]

9. We visit Canadian relatives every other Christmas.

Hubby's mom lives in a small town, his sister's family nearby, but out in the country. We've never had any problem getting around. They have snow plows and know how to use them. Also salt.

[sarge43]

10. The concept is snowplows, snowblowers, shovels and studded tires.

Don't know about Canada, but here in NH the plows are out and running before the second flake hits the pavement. Plus, the roads are kept salted and sanded.

The horror is ice storms. They can shut everything down. Not just the roads, the ice knocks out power.

[Cal Carpenter]

13. Spent some time in a tiny town in New Hampshire

in the foothills of the White Mountains.

Being from Michigan, I have to say I was very impressed with the snow removal in NH. Obviously right in the midst of a snow storm or the immediate aftermath, you had to sit tight, but the roads always got cleared in good time.

And people are expecting it, so there is always plenty of food and water on hand in case it's a day or two before travel is feasible.

Lots of people have generators too, for back-up power if the electricity goes.

The real problem for driving on the rural roads was 'frost heaves', where the roads bend and buckle and get really weird from the freeze cycle..

Dunno that I'd want to spend all my winters in such a climate but it wasn't as bad as I had expected. And shit, what with global warming it'll get mellower from here on out, fwiw.

[sarge43]

16. At Warp Nine, frost heaves aren't a problem.

:evilgrin:

[trotsky]

14. Even the nastiest Republicans can't cut snow-removal services.

You'd be surprised at just how efficient we are at getting our roads clear after a big storm up here. (I'm in Minnesota.)

[elocs]

32. Oh yes they can and it's been done in my city here in western WI.

At night snow plows will not go out until after midnight to save on overtime costs. We have Republicans here who resent any money spent by government unless it somehow directly benefits them and they squeal like stuck pigs when after a winter snow storm their street does not get plowed as quickly as they think it should (in other words, "their" street should be a priority).

[carlyhippy]

15. The plows are out in full force after a snowstorm

if they are pulled from the roads, that means it's bad enough that people don't need to be out anyway. I have no problem getting to bigger towns, surprisingly the roads are usually very clean and free of ice/snow, the plows are very thorough.

the 11th commandment around these parts are "Thou shalt go to the grocery store if a blizzard cometh" :) We stock up on food if there is a blizzard, and just sit it out.

We get alot of snow in the northern plains, the snow, for me anyway, is not as bad as the below zero temps, snow I can deal with, we have 2 4wd vehicles.

And I grew up in the southwest, so I went from one extreme to the other ha.

[carlyhippy]

22. oh yeah, nothing around here is cancelled unless it's one heck of a blizzard

school gets cancelled if it's a pretty nasty blizzard, but snow, nah...below zero temps...nah...

Once you learn to drive in the snow, it's not that hard. Usually the first snow people havent gone into the winter driving mode yet, and there are accidents. But after that, it's slow driving, braking waaaay back, it becomes second nature. I was surprised my first winter here, I figured that there would be car wrecks all over the place, but there isn't.

[eilen]

19. White-Outs and black ice are our main concerns when

driving, even when the plows have been out. It can get too cold for the salt to work on the ice. Most people here (upstate NY-- snow belt) are used to it. In the past few years I've noticed that people are driving as well in it, more reckless and more accidents. I attribute that to cellphone use.

When we lived in the sticks we drove at least front wheel drive cars. Kept blankets, flares, rock salt and kitty litter in the trunk. If we had a pickup, we weighted it with rock salt backs in the back to prevent fishtailing. Some of the more remote roads took time for the county to come and plow. Many farmers had plows on their trucks to keep their way clear to the barns and road. The winters have not been as severely cold has they have been in the past-- our cold snaps are fewer and shorter. We seem to be getting lots of snow, but it melts. A lot of homes have fireplaces or woodstoves and we keep our pantries stocked in the winter. Once you learn to drive in the snow, it doesn't keep you down. It is rare for anything to close down because of it. Once in a while a big blizzard will cancel things like school and eldercare activities. In the county North of me-- Oswego, they get much more snow and it can take time to dig out. One winter I remember the town of Central Square ran out of places to put the removed snow.

One year a doctor from Arkansas came to work here and he could not believe we were still seeing patients after it snowed. He was literally flabbergasted. He didn't last long here.

[sarge43]

20. Toward the end of March, finding a place to put the snow is a big problem. n/t

[raccoon]

21. If you're totally unused to that kind of climate, you can be really clueless.

Speaking as one who is both.

"One year a doctor from Arkansas came to work here and he could not believe we were still seeing patients after it snowed. He was literally flabbergasted. He didn't last long here."

I used to think ice fishing houses were just little shacks like outhouses. I had no clue until I came to DU how elaborate some of them are.

How our experience, or lack of it, shapes the way we look at things....there must be a sermon/moral here someplace. :-)

[sinkingfeeling]

23. "How our experience, or lack of it, shapes the way we look at things..."

Yes, take that thought and then think about the entire world. The more you roam away from your 'comfort zone' and explore other places, countries, and people, the more 'liberal' one becomes.

[carlyhippy]

24. My DH has one of those "clam" fish houses, to me it looks like a plastic tarp on a sled

I always hope a big gust of wind doesn't come over the lake and push him across the ice in his little fish tent. I myself don't like to go out on the ice, I know it's 3 feet thick, but it makes creaky noises and freaks me out.

[sarge43]

25. The ultimate clueless.

Building a home at the top of small mountain with a half mile driveway on 9% grade to the tertiary road.

The view must be great, but the heating bill and getting in and out in the winter has to be stunning.

"Don't get out much in the wintah, Cousin?"

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. aren't ice fish somewhat inedible?

I laugh every time DC has a snowflake. The whole town shuts down.

A long time ago, Chicago lost a mayor because of a snowstorm. MIke Bilandic (later on our state supreme court) was mayor when we received 8-13 inches overnight. Lots of wind, many snow drifts, and even public trans could not move. He got on the air and told us all streets were plowed. uh huh. not. All he had to do was go outside and he would have known better. His performance gave us Good Jane Bad Jane for the next four years. All one can say is that she kept Mike Royko busy.

[raccoon]

27. I guess they thaw them out before eating. :rofl: nt

[eilen]

31. Similarly, I visited TN and

had difficulty figuring out just where to go when the tornadoes were coming and no one had a basement. Also, I have trouble managing the heat.

[MineralMan]

33. Ice houses are a religion with some in MN.

I was in one last winter. It was a trailer that had a hydraulic system that lowered it down to the ice and retracted the wheels. It had a big-screen TV on the wall, recliners, a bathroom, and a full-sized refrigerator inside. A generator in an almost soundproof enclosure powered everything. What a deal. I asked the guy about the cost. $30,000 plus.

Amazing. I fish in good weather.

[pipi_k]

28. I don't live anywhere near Canada, but...

I do live in a small town in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, and because of the altitude we can often get feet of snow while a town five miles away...at a lower altitude... only gets a few inches.

It's rare when we can't get into town. The worst type of storm out here is an ice storm. Otherwise, the roads are plowed pretty well and even the neighbors who share my very steep dirt road with me don't miss more than one or two days of work each winter because of the snow.

[Bitwit1234]

29. I live on the Iron Range in Minnesota

and it is 30 miles north and 30 miles south to the next biggest cities. And the minute there is measurable snow on the road, out go the cats and start scraping it off. We had really really deep snow about 5 years ago and you should have seen the roads...they were cleared in record time. I also lived outside DC and I will tell you this, the roads here were cleared ten times faster than the small town I lived in in Maryland. It was amazing the speed with which the get going here. But it could be because they are used to such snow and have the correct equipment. Back in MD the plows BARELY made it thru snow drifts.

[greendog]

34. Unpaved county roads get plowed too!

I lived on a gravel road close to the Canadian border in Montana. It was 30 something miles to civilization. After really bad snowstorms it might take a day for the plows to dig you out. I did just fine with a two wheel drive pick-up and tire chains.

[Brickbat]

35. I live in Northeastern Minnesota. We know how to clear snow here. Not only that, but the snowmobile

trail grooming machine is in the municipal parade every year. Which is just a little bit awesome, IMO.

[MineralMan]

36. I moved from a little seaside town in California to Minnesota

six years ago. I really had no idea what to expect from the winters here. We bought a house in Saint Paul, so we were in a big city.

In August of 2004, the year we moved, I took my truck down to the big farm supply store about 15 minutes from my home, and bought a big-assed snowblower, a collection of snow shovels, and all the stuff I figured I'd need. I'm still using them all. I'm the first guy out in the morning after a snowstorm, blowing the snow off the driveway and the sidewalk in front of my house.

Once I finish that, I shovel the other walks in my yard, then run the snowblower on the city sidewalks in front of some neighbor's houses who I know don't have snowblowers. It's great fun, really, I think.

The most interesting thing I had to learn, though, was dressing for the weather. I discovered that I needed three different jackets and parkas. A light one for autumn weather, a medium one for temperatures down to about 20 degrees above zero, and a big-assed puffy one full of goose down for weather that sometimes hits 20 below zero. I also had to buy some flannel-lined jeans and even a pair of puffy snow pants.

Each parka and jacket has it's own pair of gloves, that match the temperatures when the jacket is used. The ones with the big down parka aren't even gloves...they're mittens, again stuffed with down. I also had to buy one of those stupid-looking hats with the furry ear flaps...the same ones I used to laugh at.

Now, here's the deal. If you have the stuff you need, winter's not that big a deal. Both of our cars have cords and plugs under the hood to run the engine block heaters. There's winter oil, too, that makes the car crank more easily, and batteries only last about three years here. You need those, once the temps go below about 5 degrees below zero. One car gets the garage, the 4WD one, so it stays snow and ice free. The other one? Well, it often sits for a day or two after a snowstorm, until I take the time to get the snow off it and the ice off the windows. I discovered that I can use the big plastic snowshovel to clear the car of snow and use a full size pushbroom to get the rest.

The streets? The city plows them PDQ after a storm. The highways get plowed continuously during the storm and are drivable the entire time. You have to drive more slowly, and start stopping way ahead of time because of the ice, but it's all doable.

I had no idea when I moved here what winter would be like. Now, I just shrug it off, pretty much. It's just another chore. Plus, I don't have to mow the damned lawn. :rofl:

[Historic NY]

37. My experience has been those areas have a super snow removal program...

I recall traveling north in a blizzard all night I got up the next morning the main roads were clear out side the motel. I've been caught in a few blizzards but somehow they manage to keep the roads open. Normally people hunker down during the storm which is probably the best advice.

[snooper2]

38. Canada is a small town?

:)

[raccoon]

41. Compared to China, it is! I could have worded it better. nt

[Submariner]

39. Canadian Police car chases are wild in the winter

http://vodpod.com/watch/1440813-canadian-police-chase-fail

[LWolf]

42. I'm not on the border, but it gets pretty cold here.

Being desert, we get snow, but not really enough to make the snow so deep we can't go places. People here drive 4wd vehicles, or awd subarus, or use studded tires in the winter.

What's the urgency with driving to the nearest city?

[raccoon]

43. I was thinking of a medical emergency. nt

[LWolf]

44. Our roads are plowed.

And regularly cindered, rather than salted, to provide traction on ice. Gravel roads obviously don't need the cinders. ;)

It's rare here for schools to close down. When the roads are bad, they simply put us on a 2-hour delay to make sure the roads have been attended to so buses can run.

Our town has a satellite medical facility connected to the hospital in the small city to the south; it includes an emergency room.

[Mopar151]

46. Well, I can only speak for NH and VT

But smaller town ambulances are usually operated by the fire departments, or allied with them. They are equipped for winter - with automatic "kind of a tire chain" gizmos, and some have AWD. My Dad had to be transported in the middle of a snowstorm, and they sent one of the town plow trucks out with the ambulance to plow their way into the side road the folks lived on.
Technology has been a good deal out in the sticks - we have Enhanced 911, regional dispatch for police, fire, and ambulance, and "mutual aid" agreements for emergency services as well.
Then there are the DHART helicopters http://www.dhmc.org/dhart.cfm


With them, except in the most ghastly weather, you are within about an hour of a top-shelf hospital anywhere in NH and VT. There are helipads at most all the local hospitals as well, so evacuation if things take a turn for the worse is 'most always an option.

[sarge43]

47. Yup. If the rescue services can get people off Mt Washington mid winter,

anything else is a piece of cake.

Bless those men and women; they do heroic work.

[krispos42]

48. Yes. They plow the roads.

It goes into the ditch and generally stays there. The DOT crews do a good job of scraping the roads and shoulders with the plows. There might be some drifting across the roads the first few days after light, dry snow as fallen, but at some point it hardens into a styrofoam-like consistancy. The traffic blows the roads clean, and in fairly short order you have bare pavement. Even in sub-zero temps the highways get down to pavement fairly quickly.

The back roads might have delays in getting plowed out, and drifting snow is more common so you can get stuck a couple of days after a major snowfall, but usually it's not something to worry about.