I spent the winter of 1990-91 in Albuquerque, which I’ve since heard was particularly cold. All I can advise is just stay inside a warm building as much as possible.
Generic advice, probably much repeated.
Your car may require a shovel, cat litter, flashlight, flare, warm clothes, snow and ice scraper, small bottle of alcohol for locks, battery cables, AAA membership or similar. I personally find winter tires overrated.
Your wardrobe may require layers - long underwear (skiing base layer type), boots, a warm coat, scarf, toque, gloves, boots, possibly traction for boots.
Your house may require a snowblower, salt or sand, central heat, extra alcohol, warm comfort foods, extra blankets, a comforter or duvet, spare food or firewood.
Even better than cat litter, i bought a bag of something called “traction sand”. Good stuff. I don’t carry it in the car, but i don’t drive in challenging places. I do keep it in the garage and sprinkle it on the front steps.
I’ve been known to purloin a bucket of sand out of my granddaughters huge sandbox. She will even help me fill the bucket thinking we are colluding to put something over on her parents.
The things about cat litter is that if you have a cat, it will be used regardless–either for traction, or for your cat. But just as importantly, it’s heavy. I drive a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, and a couple of 40-lb sacks of cat litter in the back can help with traction in snow.
So we got a few inches of the white fluffy stuff. Now, how do y’all keep the driver’s side floor of your car clean?
I have some newspapers laid down, and try to clap the snow off my boots before getting in, but it’s already a wet mess.
I have a floor mat. And yes, i bang my shoes together before hauling them into the car.
Here’s my way:
[no connection with the company, etc., etc.]
My most recent set came with the (used) car. I’ve bought both from the car dealer and from aftermarket companies.
I’ve actually never considered not having them, though. Car floors get gross.
Yep, all weather (rubber) floor mats - bang your feet together - and it will still become a mess - but less of a mess. In the Spring, book a good full service car wash or even a detail. But at least cars don’t rust out from the salt anymore.
And any day its above freezing, expect the car wash lines to wrap all the way around the gas station. (I just let mine get disgusting for the Winter and worry about it in the Spring).
For car washing, don’t do it when it warms up because the streets will get sloppy and it will be a waste of time. Do it when a cold front is coming in. At least you’ll have a few days to a week without getting your clean car slopped on.
Mats. I’ve always used middle of the road aftermarket sets. I’ve found it helpful to have mats for the passenger side too FWIW. My extra trick? I open the door, sit sideways in the drivers seat with my feet out of the car and bang my boots together good and briskly before swinging around in the seat and bringing my feet in. If the snow is sticky or persistent I still have the scraper brush close to hand and I use it to finish cleaning off my boots and pants. Sale welcome doormats from Home Depot or Lowe’s work just as well as mats sold as automotive mats and are cheap enough that at the end of the season I just toss them. If you can find carpet sample or scraps to cut to size for your car, that’s a good, cheap solve too.
Which brings up another thing. Get some of those sale welcome mats for right inside the door to your house too-any door you’ll use during the winter. Right inside the door, where you will step in with snowy, icy, slushy boots. Take your boots off and leave them there to thaw and dry. Traps the gravel, sand and road salt before it tracks up your carpets and floors-the salt can be especially bad for wood floors and carpeting (and pets). Leaving the house I leave a pair of slippers (we know your secret Santa gave you a pretty purple pair) on that mat and put them on when I step back inside and take off my icky frozen boots. Lowe’s and Home Depot kind of places sell black ‘boot trays’ too-for a few dollars those work well also.
Now, if you go to all the effort to put all these suggestions and preps into place at the beginning of of winter, it will just about guarantee you won’t need most of them. However, if you don’t over-prepare, it assures you will need them and you will come up short. Funny how that works.
Did somebody suggest throwing a spare heavy blanket, a thick hat and spare mittens into the back seat just in case? Some chocolate bars and granola bars? A little bag of high energy nuts? If you do get stuck or stalled somewhere and need to wait for assistance in a big storm, those layers and calories can make a big difference. A votive candle in a empty soup can (pack a book of matches) can bring light and the psychological illusion of warmth while you wait, without running down your car battery. A scented candle in a little jar or tin from Target-perfect for the job.
Keep your phone charged to the top whenever you leave the house and plug it in the car charger when you’re driving. You may need every bit of that charge for calls for roadside help or as a flashlight if you get stuck. I don’t ever let my gas tank get more than half-empty during the winter either. Never know when you’ll need that gas to keep warm. even if you never leave the city to go out in the country.
A little background on me - I live a 11,200 feet in elevation in the Colorado Mountains. 25-30 feet of snow a year is expected and not at all unusual. My Wife and I both drive 4 wheel drives with snow tires (All season tires won’t cut it). I’ve a plow truck chained up on all 4 wheels. And 4x4 tractor chained up on all 4
There have been good suggestions here. I’ll throw in another two or three…
Your basic push broom is great for getting snow off of your car, we keep one right next to where we park at home (we don’t have a garage, property is too steep to build one on).
Insulated bib overalls are the way to go when you have to be outside for a few hours. North Face or similar.
I’ve never needed anything more than a good pair of hiking boots for winter for shoes. BUT a pair of gators for deep snow is an absolute must. They don’t just block snow, they help keep you warm.
The best answer to the OP is to just follow what the locals do. All climates are different. There are different types of cold too. You may be in wet slush and gloomy skies, or dry snow. It may vary. The climate I’m in is deep snow for months that has mostly bright sunny days and nights below zero.
I actually bought four small, flat, rectangular metal “traction surfaces” that go behind the wheels and work well on frictionless ice. I don’t use cat litter myself but keep dog food in the car which is more relevant to my situation (and could serve a similar function).
It’s been years since I lived in the northern states, but back then I lived in an apartment for four years where the (paid) parking was in a lot that was oriented just perfectly to be the coldest place in the whole city. My commute was a short one and I could never really get the battery charged up again after cold starting. I finally started taking the battery out and keeping it in the apartment. Quick connects helped me install it in just a few seconds…once I got the snow off the hood. A friend of mine saw what I was doing and suggested installing a cable with an external battery connector that could be tucked up under the front. I then kept a spare battery in the apartment and used it only for starting, trickle charging it at night about once a week. Boy, the engine would start without a bit of complaint, even on the coldest days. Plus, my radio didn’t keep flashing 12:00:00 at me every day. This may not be practical for you, but having a warm battery really makes a difference. (BTW, this was an older, carbureted car. Newer cars usually don’t have as much of a problem.)
a battery blanket would be simpler, if you can plug it in at your parking space.
Well, then there’s this option:
I mean, I guess puppy biscuits keep indefinitely.
Sure. I carry other stuff too. But they don’t freshen my breath nor give me a glistening coat.
And kind of by definition they are frozen in the car while they are in there.
Currently living in the lowlands (1800 ft above sea level) of Switzerland.
Winter tires are recommended from O to O (October to Oestern (Easter)). They are not required, but if you have the bad luck to be in an accident, they will be counted against you for the insurance claims. All weather tires are a bad compromise.
In certain areas chains are required. But Switzerland’s not exactly flat.
Buy different boots, gloves, head coverings, scarves and coats. There is not one solution. Depending on the weather I may wear nothing on my head, a lined headband (keeps my ears warm but my head doesn’t get overheated), a knit cap (keeps my head and ears warm, but will get soaked from precipitation) or a fleece cap (warmest option and doesn’t get soaked).
It’s just got down to freezing weather, and we’re mostly outside to go walking, so I haven’t been using a scarf. I have 3-4, of various materials and lengths. Make sure that it doesn’t get caught somewhere, especially doors and escalators.
Gloves also depend on my activity. If it’s cold enough, I’ll wear very lightweight gloves with waterproof mittens. I normally wear knit gloves for walking. If you’re going to drive with gloves on, make sure the gloves have leather (or fake leather) to make sure you have a good grip on the steering wheel.
Speaking of which, my husband never wears a coat to drive. He’ll wear it while the car is warming up, but takes it off before driving off. If your coat is too bulky, especially if it has a big bulky hood, it can interfere with movement.
When crossing the street, be extra careful about stepping into slush and watching for traffic. Slush can be deceptively deep, or hide a patch of ice. Neither is fun. A sufficiently fluffy hat may block your side view, so it’s a good idea to really look at the traffic before crossing.
I bought a pair of gloves that supposedly will allow me to use my phone while wearing gloves. It has not been that cold since I bought the gloves, so I haven’t really used them. If I was doing my usual commuting with public transportation I would be using them more.
Many have mentioned how to get snow off your shoes before getting in the car. This is not such a problem where we are now, but we had this problem in NW NJ where roads and parking lots were not cleared very well. This is also why we never wear shoes inside. The ice melt bleached the carpet in our first apartment.
SmartWool and DarnTough are both good brands of socks. If you’re going anywhere, bring extra socks.
Due to masks and weather, I now carry a glasses cloth in one of my breast coat pockets. Very useful for when I go into a store.
Actually, that’s another point. Be thorough when changing coats. Some coats have an incredible number of pockets (my fleece with outer water resistent layer coat has 6) and it’s easy to misplace chapstick, etc.
Speaking of chapstick. Wear something to protect your lips. They will get dried out. Since I have to wear a mask every time I go in a store, I’m taking the opportunity to wear colored lipstick on my walks. The one I have has a good moisterizer.
My knuckles get cracked in the winter. I have something similar to vaseline, that’s supposed to be for lips, which I use on my knuckles. This winter hasn’t been all that dry, so it’s not that bad.
If you do laundry, you can hang clothes inside, and use that to help keep the air humidified. This may be contra-indicated if there are cats. 