What...fuck you, Mother Nature.

"NKato" (NKato) 02/18/2018 at 11:17 • Filed to: Crown Victoria, fuck you winter, new driver bullshit

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I woke up this Sunday morning to two inches of snow. Given that I live in the arse end of an apartment complex, the access road to the residential street is narrow, and full of parked squatter cars.

We’re expecting low 20's tonight, meaning the roads that are full of slush by midday are going to turn to black ice. Nope, nope, nope. I am not driving my 4,000-pound Crown Vic through that crap, especially not without winter tires.

I have barely a week of driving time with the car, and this curveball happens. How fun! I don’t even have an ice scraper - and my budget doesn’t have room for me to go get one.

It’s off to the bus for Monday and quite possibly Tuesday. Yaaaaaay!

Update: Local news says we’re expecting up to 9" and my town of Everett is squarely in the bullseye. Winter Storm Warning is in effect.

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shop-teacher > NKato 02/18/2018 at 11:30

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Not to be a dick, but you bought a car and don’t have $2 for an ice scraper?

You’re missing a golden opportunity to grab oppo at and and legal speeds. I drove through four Chicago winter’s in a rwd S-10 with an open different and crappy all seasons. It was a blast!

vicali > NKato 02/18/2018 at 11:33

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Good call, we got just over a foot of snow yesterday and I drove by a kid stuck on a hill in a panther.. it did not look like fun.

NKato > shop-teacher 02/18/2018 at 11:39

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While I wouldn’t mind driving in this weather, the exceptions take place when the exit road from my apartment complex has only just enough room for one car to squeeze through between the parked cars.

The risk of pinballing off of them is too high for me, so I’m keeping it parked.

NKato > vicali 02/18/2018 at 11:51

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Most Crown Vic Police Interceptors that are retired, often come with snow chains. I have a set in the trunk, but I have no plans to use them as the snow isn’t necessarily deep enough to strand me.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > NKato 02/18/2018 at 11:54

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Things that can be used as ice scrapers:

- credit card

- gift card

- turn the car on and let it defrost the windshield

fintail > NKato 02/18/2018 at 12:09

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Zero snow in Bellevue. I am mildly jealous.

wafflesnfalafel > fintail 02/18/2018 at 12:18

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looks like it all went north and south - we had sunshine for a bit this morning...

fintail > wafflesnfalafel 02/18/2018 at 12:29

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I have sun shining through the blinds right now. Damn.

I heard some areas around Marysville got like 6".

Chuckles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 02/18/2018 at 12:30

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Other things I’ve used:

-CD/DVD/Blu-ray cases (back when people owned hard copies of media)

- A broom

- My arm wrapped in a plastic bag

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Chuckles 02/18/2018 at 12:35

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Ohhhh right! I forgot about the “cee dee”

vondon302 > NKato 02/18/2018 at 12:36

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Driving these in the snow is a exercise in throttle control. The limited slip just makes you go sideways. Snow tires help somewhat.

Chuckles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 02/18/2018 at 12:41

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It’s a lot harder to scrape the ice off of your car with a Spotify account.

NKato > vondon302 02/18/2018 at 12:43

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You’re in a rural/suburban area though. Makes it easier to not hit something. I’m in an urban town, with a lot of narrow roads and lots of cars parked on either side. Not really ideal conditions for my first winter drive, so I’m staying out of it.

vondon302 > NKato 02/18/2018 at 12:47

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It’s most likely best. It is a handful in the snow.

Discretion is the better part of Valor.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > NKato 02/18/2018 at 13:06

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“Winter Storm Warning is in effect.”

Mother Nature: “Fuck you too!”

LOL

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > wafflesnfalafel 02/18/2018 at 13:09

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We still have sunshine where I am.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > NKato 02/18/2018 at 13:16

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For those that don’t know, this much snow is pretty serious for the lowlands of Western WA. We basically never get snow, let alone accumulation beyond a couple inches. This much snow is a total mess when it happens on a weekday...

Also, *wave*, you should join us for some Oppo meet sometime.

NKato > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 02/18/2018 at 13:23

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I plan to! Do ping me when one pops up. :)

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > NKato 02/18/2018 at 13:52

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I think you are wildly overestimating the difficulty of driving in the snow. Black ice, yeah you should probably avoid that if you have limited poor weather driving experience, but snow is easy mode. Just take it easy, avoid pressing either pedal really hard, and plan your moves 2x as far out as normal. The car isn’t going to spin wildly out of control because of 2" of snow, and it’s not going to hunt back and forth unless you are doing something dumb like spinning the tires. You’ll be able to get out of your apartment complex just fine.

I get that you haven’t done this before, but until you do anything for the first time you’ve never done it before. At some point you will have to learn how to drive in snow, and there is no time like the present. Also, spend the $2 to get an ice scraper. You can clear the snow off your car with your arm(just put a glove on and tuck it into the sleeve of your coat) and just wait for the defrost to clear the windows.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > e36Jeff now drives a ZHP 02/18/2018 at 14:06

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If the OP stays in the area or only moves south along the coast, they’ll likely very rarely encounter this much snow at a time. We usually get no more than 1 storm that produces snow a year, and it’s usually very small amounts that don’t accumulate. As a result, most of the area lacks proper snow removal equipment and many people simply don’t go anywhere when it is on the ground because it’s that rare.

Now, you’d be crazy to do that somewhere it snows often, but I did have a coworker once in a place it snowed often (SLC area) that flat refused to do it in spite of driving a 4x4 SUV. Someone had to pick her up or she would take a snow day if there was any on the roads in the morning.

NKato > e36Jeff now drives a ZHP 02/18/2018 at 14:20

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I plan on eventually taking the time to learn winter driving when I’m more comfortable with the car in regular weather. And I’ve obtained winter tires. So next winter.

And preferably in an area that isn’t going to have issues with space. This neighborhood is not ideal for learning winter driving.