For safety reasons I avoid driving anywhere when it is raining heavily if the trip is for something mundane. And I think most things are pretty mundane.
It’s way too cold for my liking here for five months of the year so I don’t have the luxury of letting mere cold keep me from doing what needs to be done. Heavy snow and/or moderate snow plus unplowed roads is the only thing that interferes that much.
Which isn’t to say I like it, though. It’s currently -2F with a wind chill of -20F and I’ll be heading out soon because my new car needs snow tires and it took a week to get this appointment. I’m not looking forward to stepping outside at all.
I grew up in eastern Washington State, where cold winters (snow on the ground for two or three months) were common. I now live in the western part of the state, where rain is common everytime outside of summer. So I had little choice of dodging bad weather by stalling.
In the poll, you forgot, “Getting Dressed.”
I don’t have a car. It’s a couple of hundred yards to the bus stop. You bet bad weather deters me!
It depends for me.
I’m not bothered by cold or rain and will run errands in either. But I live in TX and won’t go out if a severe thunderstorm is possible. I got caught in a huge hail storm in '81… left an impression on me.
No, unless it’s extreme weather for the location or it’s for something like walking to the local takeaway (only 5 minutes away and no parking, so faster to walk).
If there’s a freakishly heavy rain or hail storm, or snow, which is very rare here, I’ll leave the errand for tomorrow if I can. No point in braving dangerous driving conditions and the associated dangerous drivers for no reason. I’d never get anything done if I waited for it to be dry though.
If the errand is just walking to the chippy because I can’t be bothered to make something for dinner, bad weather changes the perceived effort/payoff ratio, so I’ll probably stay in and cook if it’s wet.
I briefly worked at a grocery store between jobs and found that poor weather meant more people in the store. Apparently everybody thought everybody else would stay home because of the weather.
I will not go out in the rain or extreme cold ( it’s been way below normal here for the last week- the low is usually around 30F and instead the highs have been under as low as 19F ) unless I absolutely have to. I’ll go to work, I’ll go to the drugstore if I need a prescription, I might stop at a supermarket on my way home from work (when I am already out) but that’s about it. Wouldn’t matter if I had an attached garage, because my destination won’t.
Under 10 and I think about how necessary it is. Not so much for me, but for my engine. Really cold weather starts with really cold oil I try to minimize when possible.
I live in San Francisco, so I’m dealing only with rain, and not severe cold. I have no car, so I walk or take public transportation everywhere. I am very rarely deterred by rainy weather. Certain specific errands, like going to get an ice cream cone that I would eat while walking home, or buying something that would be damaged if it got wet, would have to be delayed. I also sometimes check Accuweather to see if it says that the rain will stop in 30 minutes or something (might as well take advantage of the break in the rain to go out). But in general I just get out my boots, warm coat, hood and umbrella and go for it.
I also sometimes go for a walk in the rain just because I enjoy it – as long as I am properly bundled up.
These two, plus it also depends on whether I have appropriate clothing and on the architecture of the area: going out in a place with porticated mixed housing is not the same as going out in a place where sidewalks are an afterthought. I generally live in places where routine errands mean walking, so the garage is irrelevant.
Also, the same applies to other extreme weather conditions: my family lives in the kind of place where “oh gosh it really is windy today!” may mean “hurricane-strength gusts today in the Ebro Valley” in the weather reports and I’ve lived in Andalusia, which has this sort of yearly contest to see which location has gotten the year’s highest temperature, the lowest amount of nights with temps below 36ºC (96ºF) and the highest amount of highs over 40ºC (104ºF) and 45ºC (113ºF).
… And around here, it rains for 20 minutes at time, then stops for a while. And it’s cold rain. Unless I’m going to work, yep, I’ll wait until it stops.
I checked “Yes and I have a garage”. Most of my salad days were spent in outside jobs.
I spent a few years washing 18 wheelers for a freight company. Wintertime was miserable as you invariably get soaked before your shift is over.
I spent a few years driving a UPS truck. Eventually you give up and leave the doors open because it’s slowing you down. Again, miserable and wet during winters.
I spent a few years working as a deckhand in the North Sea. Outside in the weather 12 hours per day. Often within a few degrees of the Arctic Circle. About all I remember is shivering in the rain and wind, trying to handle lines with no feeling in my hands.
When I finally finished my degree and got an inside job, I swore I’d never be shivering in the cold unless absolutely necessary. In winter I wait for warm days to venture out, and spend the cold ones near the fireplace or in the hot tub.
I am a cold-weather wimp.
My grocery shopping secret is to shop when the Steeles are playing. I walk into an empty store and do my shopping.
I love foul weather and will brave the elements as long as I can safely get down the road… unless I just washed the car.
Only if we’re going to Costco for a school lunch supply run (we provide weekend lunches for some elementary school children). We usually have a large cart full of cases of canned food and don’t enjoy standing in a downpour to load it into the car. Otherwise, rain is a fact of life in the PNW winter.
Really cold weather has a mild deterrent effect on me going out, but not much.
Rain is a different story. I absolutely hate getting rained on. I’ve called in to tell folks at work that I’m not coming in because it was raining. (I’d been working there for a few years and had come in during blizzards when other people did not. I’m fine with being snowed on. The important point being I had reason to think they’d forgive me for not coming in due to the rain).
Now that I have an attached garage and live in a warmer state, I am much less likely to leave the house in the cold or rain. There are so few gray curl-up-on-the-couch-days, and I can expect better weather in a couple of days, at the most.
In my last home, I was within walking distance of restaurants and corner stores, so the weather kept me inside much less. And, as others have noted, it’s difficult to stay inside for several consecutive months.
weather does not affect my plans or errands that need ran, much. It might affect my plans if those plans include other people who do let the weather affect their plans.
Weather does affect my mood, so if it’s “stay inside in jammies with a hot cup of something and a book” type weather, I run my errands as quickly as possible so as to be able to get back into jammies and hot cuppa mode sooner.