A lot of people are about to be hit with a big winter storm who are not used to this kind of weather. Here are some tips from a Minnesotan:
Keeping warm:
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avoid cotton fabrics.
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Use layers, take them off if you start to sweat.
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I like tight gloves with thick mittens, which allows use of your hands sometimes without skin exposure.
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A face mask works as a scarf or another layer in a pinch
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Warm up your home in case you lose power. Power outages may happen after the snow/freezing rain stops
Snow removal:
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Lift with your legs, not your back.
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Don’t save all of the shoveling for the very end of the storm, it’ll be more difficult and will start to create an ice layer (especially where walked on)
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if you have a car, lift up the windshield wipers before it starts snowing/freezing rain
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Completely clean your car soon after the storm. In most places, it’s illegal to drive with a lot of snow/ice on your car and super dangerous.
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If you’re parked on a street, move the car to a plowed area when possible so they can plow where you were parked
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If you have a driveway, clear off part of the street in the direction the plow will come from, so that doesn’t end up blocking your driveway
Driving
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stay home until streets are plowed if possible (thank you healthcare workers and emergency responders!)
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Turn on ABS brake and traction control settings, if available
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accelerate and take turns slowly
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Have more time/distance to brake
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Speed up before going up an incline, getting stuck and sliding back down is not fun
Sliding on ice:
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If walking, keep your feet underneath your center of gravity
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If driving, switch to neutral and steer in the direction that the back of the car is sliding, but don’t overreact on steering. Slamming brakes will make sliding worse.
Car stuck in snow:
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turn off traction control
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don’t just let the tires spin out
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try shoveling, sand/kitty litter, and rocking back and forth
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Once you get moving again, don’t stop
Edit: if you do lose power, have a faucet or two drip water to prevent the pipes from freezing and bursting
Edit 2: if you see ICE, follow these steps
Learn where the water shutoff is to your house.
If the worst happens and you lose power for any significant amount of time with no way to heat your home, and you face leaving your house find someplace warm, shut the water off. Some might suggest leaving taps trickling, and that might work for sinks, but won’t for toilets and other pipes.
Open the lowest spigot in the house to drain as much water as possible. Flush the toilets enough times to empty the tanks. Pour cheap vodka in the toilet “S” traps and sink “U” traps as a cheap antifreeze.
I’ve had to winterize a house on several occasions, learned the hard way on a couple occasions when I came back to a busted toilet or cracked drain.
E: oh, and clean your damn car roof off. I’m tired of chunks of snow flying off cars into mine, or almost as bad, the clowns that hit the brakes and the snowpack slides forward completely blocking their windshield. Now they can’t see and are blocking the road.
to add: get the proper rated winter wiper washer fluid.
once forgot I had the summer stuff still in (because it doesn’t smell like shit like the stuff with antifreeze) and I turned it on mid drive while it was freezing outside.
that was fucking scary, having suddenly no view at 40 mph.
luckily the road was straight, but I was driving like Ace Ventura in the freezing cold until I could safely pull over.
learn that one from me, so you don’t have to learn that lesson yourself, and hopefully never at freeway speeds.
stay safe out there you all! (and best of luck all Minnesotans, stay strong, together!)
Good tip on prepping the drain pipe traps, that should help. I’m sure there are better options if you have the right tools but as a stopgap solution, it would help lower the freezing point and gives you better odds of not coming back to a cracked pipe.