Weather blogging isn't usually my thing, but...
SNOW.
Snow! Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow!
It was snowing, and sticking, when I woke up, tiny little flakes It was snowing bigger flakes when we ate breakfast. It had pretty much stopped and was starting to slush by the time we got to shul, but then it started blizzarding down again by the time we left to meet the Renaissance Woman at the craft fair where she was singing with her choir.
It was snowing and snowing as we inched slowly and cautiously up Cambie. It was snowing and piled up nicely and all powdery and soft when we got out of the craft fair and we noodled about for a while throwing snowballs at the walls. It was snowing as we drove home and I hydroplaned once or twice on side streets into the soft snow on the edges before heading for the main road, traffic be damned.
I decided not to go to my job's Christmas party tonight on the North Shore, where the snowy mountains are.
It is snowing outside now. Deeper and deeper and deeper, and whiter and whiter. When we look out the windows at our View it's like being inside a Currier & Ives print. MG thought the sun was coming back up when she looked out the window, but it was just the pale glow in the sky from all the snow. I lost the camera cable again but here are some other people's photos.
In Seattle, when it snows the tiniest little half-inch, everyone dithers and panics and cancels school and just stays home. The city owns about two snowplows, and they don't salt roads so's you'd notice.
Here, they've been salting for days, even side streets, and I saw plows around and about all day clearing things off. Obviously they have some idea of how to Handle snow, here.
The bad thing about living in a city that knows how to Handle snow is that they obviously expect residents to Handle it too, and to be able to suit up their cars so they're fit to drive, and to go on showing up at work and all that.
I think the Mermaid Girl will need snow boots.
I think we will need snow tires.
I hear it will all turn to rain by Monday. We'll see.
Snow! Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow!
It was snowing, and sticking, when I woke up, tiny little flakes It was snowing bigger flakes when we ate breakfast. It had pretty much stopped and was starting to slush by the time we got to shul, but then it started blizzarding down again by the time we left to meet the Renaissance Woman at the craft fair where she was singing with her choir.
It was snowing and snowing as we inched slowly and cautiously up Cambie. It was snowing and piled up nicely and all powdery and soft when we got out of the craft fair and we noodled about for a while throwing snowballs at the walls. It was snowing as we drove home and I hydroplaned once or twice on side streets into the soft snow on the edges before heading for the main road, traffic be damned.
I decided not to go to my job's Christmas party tonight on the North Shore, where the snowy mountains are.
It is snowing outside now. Deeper and deeper and deeper, and whiter and whiter. When we look out the windows at our View it's like being inside a Currier & Ives print. MG thought the sun was coming back up when she looked out the window, but it was just the pale glow in the sky from all the snow. I lost the camera cable again but here are some other people's photos.
In Seattle, when it snows the tiniest little half-inch, everyone dithers and panics and cancels school and just stays home. The city owns about two snowplows, and they don't salt roads so's you'd notice.
Here, they've been salting for days, even side streets, and I saw plows around and about all day clearing things off. Obviously they have some idea of how to Handle snow, here.
The bad thing about living in a city that knows how to Handle snow is that they obviously expect residents to Handle it too, and to be able to suit up their cars so they're fit to drive, and to go on showing up at work and all that.
I think the Mermaid Girl will need snow boots.
I think we will need snow tires.
I hear it will all turn to rain by Monday. We'll see.
posted by elswhere | 11:06 PM
8 Comments:
Now, see, I know it's better than Seattle, but I just can't agree that Vancouver knows how to handle snow. Nobody owns a snow shovel. The sidewalks stay slippery long after the rest of the snow melts, because pedestrians have packed it into ice. I've seen people pouring hit water on their cars to clear the snow off, or scraping their windows with credit cards.
But I dunno, maybe that's just Kits. I think you get more snow out Burnaby way.
HOT water, that is!
Aha! Something I know about.
You don't want snow tires, you want all-weather tires. Snow tires handle terribly on dry roads and wreck your gas mileage. If you were driving on snow-covered roads in the mountains daily, it might be worth it, but otherwise high-quality all-weather tires should do. Some cars just don't handle snow well, no matter what tires you have, though. My little Toyota handles much better than my big SUV (though the SUV gets me through the pile of snow at the base of the driveway that the snowplows push up).
We got five inches yesterday, plus a bunch of ice. Peanut wants to get out and make a snow-princess.
Thanks, Carrie! That's very helpful. I think it's possible that neither of the cars we're using (borrowed new-ish SUV-like Voolvo and big old VW camper van) handles snow very well, in which case we're kinda screwed. It's supposed to be the coldest winter in 15 years, too.
Oh, well. At least there's the bus down on the corner.
Rachel, I bow to your greater experience, and what are you doing up at 5:30??
I love snow. I love the fact that I can visit it up in the mountains but that I don't have to deal with it down here on the flat!
Cheers
Heh. I'm ALWAYS up at goddamn 5:30. I set the alarm for 6, but wake up before it goes off.
Carrie's right, all-seasons are the way to go.
If you go out and drive in it, you'll see, Vancouverites get very freaked out by snow. We don't know anything about driving in it.
Rachel, we do own snow shovels (most of us), but we are lazy. We expect the inevitable rain to do the work for us.
As a Pittsburgh gal (and we do know how to handle snow here), and as the driver of an old Volvo, one piece of advice:
Load the back of the car with multiple bags of salt. They weigh it down even more and that's key on bad roads. This is one instance when heavier is better. Also, if you get stuck, you can open up a bag and throw a bunch of salt under your tires, which should help to get traction.
Although, during a snow storm that turned into an ice storm last year, I got stuck on my street and even the salt trick didn't work. What did work? Towels. Under each tire. The towels were ruined, natch, but I got the old boat out.
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