"Canadian Smalltalk" (weather - all nations included!) Thread

[Lindorm]

In retrospect, choosing the two days this week with winds of 15-17 m/s for the outdoor practice sessions with the trainees was perhaps a smidgeon too character-forming. Or perhaps not, since those who didn't dress for the weather certainly got extensive feedback on why that was a stooopid idea.

By the way, you get amazingly dried-out by standing outside in the cold winds and talking for a full day.

[Swatopluk]

Forecast is above zero for the next several days.
Farewell snow, welcome slush, I fear.

[Opsa]

We're above freezing here, too, thank goodness!
Rather cloudy, though.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

It has been a bit rainy for the past two days, nothing terrible (that happens in the summer), current temp is 25C/77F.
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Still amused with the "snowcalypse" in Atlanta and the tales of incompetence of their elected leaders. Not a chance of that happening here though, the last time it snowed in South FL it wasn't even 1 cm and it melted in less than an hour (and it happened 35 years ago).

[Opsa]

The real problem in Atlanta (besides their governor) was the ice. Mr. ops and I have been caught in sudden icy conditions and it is quite alarming. One minute everything's fine and the next everybody's going sideways. Luckily, Mr. Ops knew how to drive in between all the sideways cars and he got us home just by rolling slowly and steadily along without braking.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I was driving a monstrous truck (or what passes for a gigantic SUV, not my preferred drive mind you) in Colorado two weeks ago in the middle of a snow storm, and while I had AWD and -I assume- snow tires, if you don't drive like a crazy person you should be able to manage steep and curvy roads. It isn't particularly fun (and much less in that heavy beast) but nothing terribly hard.

Nevertheless, next time they offer me a "free upgrade" I will decline (I can't understand how anyone can feel safer in those things).

[Darlica]

It snows right now and last night a fine rain fell, the result very bad road conditions.
Other than that it's quite nice.

if you don't drive like a crazy person you should be able to manage steep and curvy roads.

As someone who experience driving in winter conditions 4 to 5 months a year I say that's not entirely true. Most of the time, yes. But bad weather conditions can make even a careful and experiences driver lose the grip and slide of the road, then there are always the other drivers and/or the condition of the tires yours, mine and everybody else's.

The worst is "black ice" with snow on top (like we have at the moment in the vicinity of Stockholm). A fine super cooled rain falls and lands on bare concrete/stone (pavements) or asphalt that holds a sub zero temperature. It creates a glass like glaze on the surface, too thin to create a layer that winter tires can get a grip in (like snow or thicker ice) resulting in very little friction/grip. Then as icing on the proverbial cake (*grunt* yes pun intended) it starts to snow. Light dry snow just a couple of millimetres is enough.
And within a couple of minutes one has no grip/friction whatsoever. Studded tires or not, experienced/careful driver or not.
The best thing one can do is not to use the car that day, or if one gets surprised by the weather, drive very carefully to the next proper parking space (like a gas station) and stay there until the heroes in the big yellow trucks scattering sand and salt has driven by...
Almost all other road conditions are manageable using good skills and good tiers. Good skill also imply that one knows when not to take the car for a drive.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

You are absolutely right, about when to drive and when not to. The only thing I might add is what Opas was mentioning before, avoid using the brakes, personally I was downshifting all the time and driving carefully slow, and even in those conditions I was losing grip at times (nothing insurmountable but good enough to keep me on my toes). Obviously if someone decides to do something harsh, you're bound to lose grip and keep going uncontrollably, which is why careful can get you so far and not going out is preferable in many cases (in mine I didn't have much choice so I drove as carefully as I could).

I know how to drive in slippery wet roads (what I get here in FL or I had back in Colombia in the wet season) and I already know what I can, and what I can't do. As for the infamous black ice, I can only hope not have to deal with it...

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Back when I was a late teen, and winter conditions were quite common, and parking lots on Sunday were both empty and free of anything like plants, barriers, obstructions or even light poles?  

My buddies and I would go practice on a Sunday afternoon-- driving on the very slippery snow/ice, in a nice wide-open space, just to see what a car could be made to do under those conditions.

It was quite entertaining, as well as educational.  You learned how to get out of a spin, how to stop, how to apply the brakes *and* steer too (pumping was a requirement in those days-- no fancy computers, no nothing).  

Those lessons turned out to be quite useful as I grew older.  I still respond by reflex in a spin (turning into the spin) and will feather/flutter the brakes just so, to stop on very slippery roads.   In spite of having modern anti-lock equipment, I still find myself doing that.

I also do the flutter the brakes after crossing through water, to dry out the pads, just in case I really need to stop.  A habit I learned back when cars had really crappy brakes (compared to the modern stuff).

I've successfully driven home on ice that was too slippery to walk on.  Slow and steady-- no sudden *anything* is the main ingredient here.  Carefully slowing down to let others by, but not actually stopping helps tremendously too.  Assuming that the other drivers not only cannot see you, but that they'd not stop even if they could, is also good practice.  

The worst thing that's ever happened as a result?  Once, when I was 18, my car slid into a hole in the road, and bent the rim (creating a flat).  Nobody was hurt, and a used rim was all I had to pay.  The tire was unharmed.   The rim bent, due to the wheel hitting the curb at the side of that hole-- it was a drain in the street that was placed too low relative to the rest of the pavement (I went back and looked, when weather cleared off).


Update:  the weather is in severe decline (towards cold/wet).  I'm not unhappy-- it's the weekend, and we so desperately need the moisture.  We've had fire-watch conditions for months.  The winter wheat crops are so going to be small, this year.

[Opsa]

Black ice is terrible- especially at night when you can't see it, or when it's under powdery snow, as Darlica mentioned.

Nice today here- near 50F!

[Darlica]

Snow!
About 15 centimetre fell last night. It's sadly enough the most snow we had this winter.
And it's -2°C right now.

You are absolutely right, about when to drive and when not to. The only thing I might add is what Opas was mentioning before, avoid using the brakes, personally I was downshifting all the time and driving carefully slow, and even in those conditions I was losing grip at times (nothing insurmountable but good enough to keep me on my toes). Obviously if someone decides to do something harsh, you're bound to lose grip and keep going uncontrollably, which is why careful can get you so far and not going out is preferable in many cases (in mine I didn't have much choice so I drove as carefully as I could).

I know how to drive in slippery wet roads (what I get here in FL or I had back in Colombia in the wet season) and I already know what I can, and what I can't do. As for the infamous black ice, I can only hope not have to deal with it...

Most of the time I actually find rain slippery roads harder to negotiate, because I guess I'm not really used to that. We usually don't have really heavy rains, not if one compares to places on a more southern latitude. Aquaplaning is one thing that's a risk even around here but not actual slipperiness (unless there has been an accident and there is oil on the asphalt ).
I'm very thankful for that. Perhaps it has something to do with how our asphalt is mixed too stone<>tar ratio or something like that.

Even speed ("drive like you have an raw egg between your foot and the pedal and don't want to clean out you car" mom said when she was teaching me how to drive on ice/snow ), downshifting instead of breaking and planning turns ahead so one can turn the steering wheel as little and as slow as possible is a very good strategy.
One problem though the car behind might not see that you are slowing down if you only shifts down (we have a lot of collisions due to that over here every winter), I usually touch the break just enough to trigger the breaklights even when I'm downshifting just to try to avoid to be hit from behind.

[Swatopluk]

Nevertheless, next time they offer me a "free upgrade" I will decline (I can't understand how anyone can feel safer in those things).

It's actually the fear to sit in a small car when having an accident with one of those. In case of crash it seems better to be the one sitting in the tank crushing the opponent than the other way around. In reality this perceived safety advantage seems to be a myth.

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Above zero even during the night. The snow is fighting a rugged rearguard action but is nonetheless in retreat. Drat!

[Opsa]

We'll be quite mild today at 50F, but tonight we expect wet snow.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

It actually snowed last night/early this AM. 

But it's about 28-ish, and it's all melting off the main roads-- ought to be mostly gone by the morning.  Side streets will be iffy, but other than that, no big dealio.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Nevertheless, next time they offer me a "free upgrade" I will decline (I can't understand how anyone can feel safer in those things).

In case of crash it seems better to be the one sitting in the tank crushing the opponent than the other way around.

An actual tank has MUCH better stability, suspension and handling than a cow SUV. If I had a couple millions I would design a street legal tank* and I'm sure I would sell hundreds of thousands in the States alone.

*Something like this, obviously not with a continuous track.
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80F/27C as zonoland goes back to it's regular programming...