Last week I was checking the weather forecast, and some snow was predicted for Saturday morning. Temperatures were supposed to rise, and the snow would turn to rain. I expected an inch of snow that would stick for a few hours and then melt away.
Well, it’s been snowing all weekend and all today. We have about a foot now. Not a great deal compared to some of you, but not usual here at sea level. Of course the forecast changed as the days progressed, but today it was supposed to rain and the weather radar is showing rain. Actually, right here, right now, it’s showing a ‘wintery mix’. The forecast/current conditions say it’s 34º and raining. I’ll tell you, those are some big, white, fluffy rain drops. That pile up.
The forecast calls for 51º tomorrow. I’ll see it when I believe it! Wait. Reverse that. Thank you.
Fortunately I was able to get the Prius out of the driveway yesterday, and the Jeep is in its place. So if we need to go anywhere, we can.
It can’t make up its mind here either. Yesterday was a balmy low 40s but now we’re back to 20s and windy.
I’m glad you’re navigating the driveway OK. Last week was the adventure of going into the ditch after not quite making it up the driveway to the garage. My car now has two nice dents from us rocking it over and over and over till finally out!
Priuses have this quirk… When a wheel slips, power is shut down to it. When both wheels slip, the car doesn’t move. (It’s actually a little eerie, pressing on the accelerator and hearing nothing.) The driveway under the car was dry, so I backed out into the snow and then forward back into the driveway. I packed the snow, and then backed out into the street where people had been driving. There was a bare space on the intersecting street, and I was able to back to there. Then just move the Jeep, and drive the Prius in its own tracks to where the Jeep was. I don’t think that would work today.
The Weather Channel still says it’s raining. Radar shows a ‘wintery mix’ that isn’t moving with the rest of the cell.
I’ve got a Corolla and whatever it does, if one wheel just spins, the other it does nothing. I’ve had one wheel in mud during mud season and I’m out of luck and have to get pulled out. Unless the heavy-duty floor mat helps – the one I had got mangled in this latest “adventure”.
Not so much around here. We do tend to get more snow than Seattle, but being next to the water and at sea level it’s usually pretty mild. Early February can be bone-chilling, but since I’ve been here there’s rarely been a lot of snow. Seems we got a lot in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007. (The latter season was enough to bring a tree limb down in the back yard.) But since then it’s mostly been light, and it goes away in a couple of days.
In any case, what I meant when I said it’s not supposed to be snowing is that the forecast called for morning snow turning to rain. Then the forecast was like, ‘OK, there will be snow. But it will turn to rain tonight.’ And so on. According to the forecast it wasn’t supposed to snow for three days.
Traction grates. Buy them, keep them in your trunk, use them. Don’t want to spend too much on them? Head to the nearest hardware store and check out basic expanded metal sheets - all you need is a foot wide by 3 feet long. Get a pair cut to that size, pop them in the trunk with a surplus entrenching tool, and a long towing strap and you are reasonably set for foul weather problems. Well, I would also add a set of chains, but for just humping you way out of the average driveway usually traction grates work just fine, and if you are plowed into a parking place, the e-tool works just fine. When faced by a slope up or down, then you put on the chains.
The SO took the Jeep to work. I’m telecommuting, so I snuck away from work to move her Tacoma, which is parked on the street. I thought I’d make some tracks so the mail lazy might deliver mail today. I got the snow off, went in through the passenger door (the driver’s door was frozen shut), and warmed it up. Backing out, I promptly got it stuck in front of the driveway. I tried putting cedar debris under the rear wheels, but that only helped for about a foot. I got some rubber floor mats, and they worked once and then I couldn’t get any traction on them. So I ended up shovelling tracks so I could put the truck back in its spot.
I got the snow off of the Prius. The driveway was clear where the Jeep was, so I cleared the gravel bit between the driveway and the street. (Apparently we’re not allowed to pave that because of County something or other.) I managed to clear just about to the middle of the street before the shovel broke. I can back the Prius out, across the icy/packed intersection, and to that kind-of clear sheltered spot I mentioned yesterday. And I can drive it back to the driveway. In theory, the streets should be navigable in it as long as I don’t stop (except on bare road). Not ready to try it, though. My entrenching tool is under the back seat of the Cherokee.
I am intrigued. I do carry a shovel but in this case I was far enough off that there was only snow beneath the passenger side, no land, so I just kept spinning and pushing myself further off the driveway. The tow truck couldn’t get up the driveway (!) so the driver was having my father try to spin me around with his truck, but he couldn’t get traction either. We had the driver give up but realized he had pulled the front end just far enough back onto land that we could put down sand and the mat and eventually get it back up the driveway. Five hours later, at 1 AM. Good times.
It’s easier… if the cars can be moved. The driveway itself was clear(ish). No snow under the vehicles. The gravel strip between the road and the fence has a foot of snow on it. Too much work to shovel it. Since the Tacoma got stuck, I had to shovel anyway. Anyway, I had to shovel about five feet on the gravel strip from the driveway to the street, and I was going to shovel the street too. Got halfway when the shovel broke.
In our case, it’s pretty long and we were hoping the plow guy would come and plow and sand. I can usually power through but there’s a little uphill at the end and that’s what I didn’t conquer.
