That’s crazy. We do get a lot of snow in CO. We got about 15" in Golden. The temps were between 0-15F over the weekend. I was thinking of going skiing at keystone on Monday, but the low was -14F. That’s too cold for me.
I have an outdoor pond hockey tournament next weekend. It is forecast to be snowing all day and high of 18F. I haven’t ever skated in the snow. Should be interesting.
Almost any day in January-March the ski resorts get snow overnight and often during the day. It you really want a good chance near an international airport.
RMRRF has had snow both times. Even in late April. A lot of people from out of town hadn’t seen snow before. It is fun.
We have always done “all season” and they never really work that great in the snow. But this year we bought some “all weather” cross climate 2 tires for our subaru and it is a champ. The all weather seem loke they are designed for Colorado. They have the 3 snowflake rating but are rated and warranteed for year round use. I agree that the tires make a bigger impact than 4wd/awd. I used to drive my plymouth neon (fwd) through huge snow drifts and it was light enough it almost floated over them. I only got stuck twice. Once was a huge pickup driving in my lane (these were dirt roads) and I had to hit the ditch to not get killed.
When I was a younger, wilder me I got to know a bunch of local tire shops because the Frirebirds were always tire hungry (had something to do with my lead foot). One of the best I knew told me early on “All season tires are no season tires.” That was true then and is still mostly true now.
Back then you could still buy and fit studded snow tires down in the front range. I’d take a rear wheel drive car with studded snow tires anytime over almost anything except maybe my F150 (with studded snow tires ). As far as I know, you can’t legally mount studded snow anywhere but the high country today.
I still do the tire swap thing, have extra set for all of my vehicles. Real snow tires are still a huge advantage, but you’re the 3rd person to note a set you really like. Care to share the brand?
LOL…yup. Love seeing things like this (but it also terrifies me at the same time).
My take on AWD is that it’s amazing for the “go” part of the equation. It’s the “stop” part that is when the winter tires become a valuable asset. But I’m pretty sure you can’t get winter tires in Florida…
There’s a difference between “all season” and “all weather” tires.
The former are pretty much crap between October and March in most parts of Canada and northern US.
The latter actually work pretty well in most cases,.
The BC Lower Mainland is a unique case. The snow here is usually fairly thin, but the temperature hovers right around the freezing level, so any snow that we get compacts into a thin layer of ice with a layer of water on top. That is one reason why the city pretty much shuts down for even a light snowfall (buses are the worst on flat stretches, but on even a slight incline, cars and light truck will go into uncontrolled skids as soon as you touch the brakes.
The other issue with the BC Lower Mainland is that snow is very infrequent (maybe 3-10 days a year), so people don’t have a lot of experience with driving in it. Also there is a large percentage of the population that come from parts of the world where it NEVER snows, so they have even less experience in driving in winter conditions.
LOL. Today is a nice sunny day but was still below freezing this morning. Not much snow on the road where people had been driving but it was basically just a solid sheet of ice. That was interesting lol. Thankfully there were even fewer people out on the road and the ones that were out were being smart. Took my son to Cracker Barrel this morning (only place open, even Waffle House was closed They were open yesterday when it was snowing like crazy lol). On the way back home 98% of where people were driving was water/slush so no problem at all in 2wd. There was one intersection that I had to stop at that is on a decent incline (for around here anyways) and very much in the shade. When the light turned green I tried to ease off and nope. Let off and flipped the switch to 4wd and it was no problem after that. Figured that would be the case, but since there was no one behind me I wanted to give it a try
The tire manufacturers say the winter tires out-perform all seasons whenever the temperature is below 7°C or 45°F. For many years, I used all season tires, year round, the first time I used winter tires, I couldn’t believe the difference they made, I’m never going through another winter without them.
In my area, I think they made studded tires illegal on public roads way back in the mid 1960’s.
It’s in mid May this year- twice we’ve made plans and twice we’ve been thwarted, so I don’t want to say we’re trying to get there, but we are right at this very minute trying to reschedule some medical stuff. We’re keeping our fingers crossed (not just for the snow!)
I think many brands have similar tires to these. The key is the 3 peak snow flake rating that makes them all weather, not just all seasons.
I have never been able to justify storing an extra set of tires and I have been fine for a lot of intense winter driving. As I get older, it makes more sense to me though. The stress is worth some money to abate.
So much fun! I’m in northern Utah and we just got 4" over the weekend. This was the first snow to really stick down in the valley where we are. Most years we have had snow sticking off and on since November. I grew up on the southern Oregon Coast and only had 2 or 3 times getting snow down on the beach.
It looks like your dog is having an amazing time! Stay warm and safe out on the roads.
He did have a blast! Its all gone now. But its by far the most snow I’ve ever seen and the most snow on record for this area. And the first time I have ever seen it stick around for any length of time as well.
). As far as I know, you can’t legally mount studded snow anywhere but the high country today.
They were open yesterday when it was snowing like crazy lol). On the way back home 98% of where people were driving was water/slush so no problem at all in 2wd. There was one intersection that I had to stop at that is on a decent incline (for around here anyways) and very much in the shade. When the light turned green I tried to ease off and nope. Let off and flipped the switch to 4wd and it was no problem after that. Figured that would be the case, but since there was no one behind me I wanted to give it a try 
