Record Colds in many places

[vdeane]

The "four wheel drive handles snow better" myth needs to die.  It doesn't matter how many wheels are powering the car if the tires are skidding.

Except if you're driving uphill or accelerating from a stop. Then it really does handle snow better. It just doesn't make a difference once you're at speed and you try to slow down.

The myth that you can drive as if the roads are dry when the roads are snowy in 4WD needs to die, but 4WD does handle snow better. If you drive a 4WD car the same way you would a FWD car, you'll have a better time. You're as likely to end up in the ditch, but you're less likely to spin your wheels a shit ton when accelerating from a stop or have to corrective-steer your way up hills, so it does handle better. But don't drive differently.

And that is one reason why I have a manual with snow tires.  And most of the people who talk about four wheel drive refer to skids.

[empirestate]

The "four wheel drive handles snow better" myth needs to die.  It doesn't matter how many wheels are powering the car if the tires are skidding.

Except if you're driving uphill or accelerating from a stop. Then it really does handle snow better. It just doesn't make a difference once you're at speed and you try to slow down.

The myth that you can drive as if the roads are dry when the roads are snowy in 4WD needs to die, but 4WD does handle snow better. If you drive a 4WD car the same way you would a FWD car, you'll have a better time. You're as likely to end up in the ditch, but you're less likely to spin your wheels a shit ton when accelerating from a stop or have to corrective-steer your way up hills, so it does handle better. But don't drive differently.

And that is one reason why I have a manual with snow tires.  And most of the people who talk about four wheel drive refer to skids.

Those people may actually be thinking about traction control technologies that can be added to a four-wheel drivetrain, which intelligently transfer power to the driving wheels and away from the slipping wheels. That could indeed help prevent a skid, or even correct for a low-speed skid in some cases. But in and of itself, four-wheel drive gives its greatest advantage when starting off in slippery conditions.

[Desert Man]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" and what we have is temperatures feel to the lowest in two decades for some states (LOL). The 2009 Old Farmers' Almanac said the next 30 years will be a cooler period, due to a climatic cycle the earth experiences every three decades. The period from 1980-2010 was the warming cycle and it's winding down. The 1970s was known for cold winters in the Eastern seaboard, while the 1930s had the infamous "Dust Bowl" in the Great Plains region and super-hot summers. 

CA had a fairly warm and dry spell in January, and highs hit the 80 degree mark a few times in the Palm Springs area (naturally a desert climate). The state, esp. Northern CA is in a drought and in need of some extra rainfall. The deserts had monsoon rains dump up to 3 inches of rain in Aug-Sep. to caused some flooding in the area.

[corco]

The "four wheel drive handles snow better" myth needs to die.  It doesn't matter how many wheels are powering the car if the tires are skidding.

Except if you're driving uphill or accelerating from a stop. Then it really does handle snow better. It just doesn't make a difference once you're at speed and you try to slow down.

The myth that you can drive as if the roads are dry when the roads are snowy in 4WD needs to die, but 4WD does handle snow better. If you drive a 4WD car the same way you would a FWD car, you'll have a better time. You're as likely to end up in the ditch, but you're less likely to spin your wheels a shit ton when accelerating from a stop or have to corrective-steer your way up hills, so it does handle better. But don't drive differently.

And that is one reason why I have a manual with snow tires.  And most of the people who talk about four wheel drive refer to skids.

Those people may actually be thinking about traction control technologies that can be added to a four-wheel drivetrain, which intelligently transfer power to the driving wheels and away from the slipping wheels. That could indeed help prevent a skid, or even correct for a low-speed skid in some cases. But in and of itself, four-wheel drive gives its greatest advantage when starting off in slippery conditions.

I hate that technology. My reflexes are well-honed to correct when things start to go awry, so traction control scares the crap out of me if I don't expect it. I remember driving a rental car down an onramp in Colorado Springs once, in one of those situations where the ramp is nasty but the freeway is fine, so I wanted to get up to speed even though the surface on the ramp was bad. I started slipping, expecting that I'd probably slip a little bit (that is quite likely to happen when you try to accelerate 0-75 on packed snow), but that's fine in the name of getting up to speed, gently started corrective-steering, and then traction control came on and the corrective steering didn't do what it would normally do because the wheels were also correcting for me, causing me to overcorrect, making a not-bad (even expected- I've done that dozens of times. Losing traction isn't scary when you expect to lose traction.) situation into a fairly scary one. Fortunately I was going uphill so it was easy to recover. I immediately turned traction control off and enjoyed the rest of the trip, though I did merge onto the freeway a bit slower than I planned.

Moral of the story- if you have no idea what you are doing, traction control is good. Otherwise you may be better served just to shut it off.

[Scott5114]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" and what we have is temperatures feel to the lowest in two decades for some states (LOL).

[realjd]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" and what we have is temperatures feel to the lowest in two decades for some states (LOL). The 2009 Old Farmers' Almanac said the next 30 years will be a cooler period, due to a climatic cycle the earth experiences every three decades. The period from 1980-2010 was the warming cycle and it's winding down. The 1970s was known for cold winters in the Eastern seaboard, while the 1930s had the infamous "Dust Bowl" in the Great Plains region and super-hot summers. 

CA had a fairly warm and dry spell in January, and highs hit the 80 degree mark a few times in the Palm Springs area (naturally a desert climate). The state, esp. Northern CA is in a drought and in need of some extra rainfall. The deserts had monsoon rains dump up to 3 inches of rain in Aug-Sep. to caused some flooding in the area.

Did you really just cite the farmers almanac as an authority on climate? Really?

Yep, cold weather here is proof that global warming is false. Never mind the fact that Europe, and Russia in particular, have been having record heat all winter. They're not American so they don't count.

[DaBigE]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" and what we have is temperatures feel to the lowest in two decades for some states (LOL). The 2009 Old Farmers' Almanac said the next 30 years will be a cooler period, due to a climatic cycle the earth experiences every three decades. The period from 1980-2010 was the warming cycle and it's winding down. The 1970s was known for cold winters in the Eastern seaboard, while the 1930s had the infamous "Dust Bowl" in the Great Plains region and super-hot summers. 

CA had a fairly warm and dry spell in January, and highs hit the 80 degree mark a few times in the Palm Springs area (naturally a desert climate). The state, esp. Northern CA is in a drought and in need of some extra rainfall. The deserts had monsoon rains dump up to 3 inches of rain in Aug-Sep. to caused some flooding in the area.

Did you really just cite the farmers almanac as an authority on climate? Really?

No. He citied information from a book, but I don't see anything in his post claiming it was the end-all-be-all of climatological information.

[1995hoo]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" ....

This is one reason why "global climate change" is a more precise term.

[realjd]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" and what we have is temperatures feel to the lowest in two decades for some states (LOL). The 2009 Old Farmers' Almanac said the next 30 years will be a cooler period, due to a climatic cycle the earth experiences every three decades. The period from 1980-2010 was the warming cycle and it's winding down. The 1970s was known for cold winters in the Eastern seaboard, while the 1930s had the infamous "Dust Bowl" in the Great Plains region and super-hot summers. 

CA had a fairly warm and dry spell in January, and highs hit the 80 degree mark a few times in the Palm Springs area (naturally a desert climate). The state, esp. Northern CA is in a drought and in need of some extra rainfall. The deserts had monsoon rains dump up to 3 inches of rain in Aug-Sep. to caused some flooding in the area.

Did you really just cite the farmers almanac as an authority on climate? Really?

No. He citied information from a book, but I don't see anything in his post claiming it was the end-all-be-all of climatological information.

I didn't accuse him of claiming it was the end-all-be-all of climatological information. I accused him of claiming it was a valid source of climate data at all. If someone cites a BS source, I won't hesitate to call them out on it.

[Brandon]

The constant polar winter in most of the country is ironic, because we hear so much about "global warming" ....

This is one reason why "global climate change" is a more precise term.

The only problem I have with that, as a geology type, is that there is no "stable" climate.  It's been 4.5 billion years, and climate's sole constant is that it changes.  I'd much prefer to see the term "human-influenced" over "human-driven" for climate as we do not and cannot drive the climate.  That's solar and tectonic, not human.  We, like every other lifeform on this planet, influence climate for better or worse.  And even then, our influences are mild when you compare them with blue-green algae.  Those little buggers so completely modified the atmosphere, they added all this potentially flammable oxygen to it.

Do we influence climate?  Heck yes.  It is worth panicking about?  Heck no.  We better learn to adapt to climate changes (as they are a constant) or else.  Just think, this conversation could be moot if Yellowstone went off tomorrow.  Now that's real, sudden climate change.

[Molandfreak]

Do we influence climate?  Heck yes.  It is worth panicking about?  Heck no.  We better learn to adapt to climate changes (as they are a constant) or else.  Just think, this conversation could be moot if Yellowstone went off tomorrow.  Now that's real, sudden climate change.

Yes, costal Floridans better learn how to live under water, or else.

[KEK Inc.]

Dipped down to 12ºF last night here in Seattle.  Mother Nature's way of celebrating the Seahawk's victory?  Regardless, my California-raised ass can't handle this weather.   

[corco]

It was thirty degrees farenheit below zero this morning here- still twenty below. When I started my car to go to work this morning the power steering pump was so frozen I couldnt even manually turn the wheel. My Jeep has a brand new battery so started right up, but I am not even going to try starting the other car until it warms up. My house heater is going nonstop and barely holding 55, so I am scared of my gas bill this month. I sit by a window at work, and it is probably in the high fifties in here too. I like cold, but I am freezing my balls off right now. At least there is no wind.

[KEK Inc.]

Apparently it's snowing in the Portland area (where I went to high school).  It's sunny and not school-canceling conditions up in Seattle.  :\ 

[corco]

They cancelled class at University of Montana today because of the cold and  couple armed robberies, which never happen in Montana. I guess this weather is perfect for armed robbery- nobody is going to chase you. Stealing a car would be cake too since most folks leave their cars running if they are only going to be away from is for a couple minutes when its this cold.

[agentsteel53]

They cancelled class at University of Montana today because of the cold and  couple armed robberies, which never happen in Montana. I guess this weather is perfect for armed robbery- nobody is going to chase you. Stealing a car would be cake too since most folks leave their cars running if they are only going to be away from is for a couple minutes when its this cold.

these sorts of opportunistic little shitstains need to be thrown in an outdoor jail cell.

[vdeane]

Dipped down to 12ºF last night here in Seattle.  Mother Nature's way of celebrating the Seahawk's victory?  Regardless, my California-raised ass can't handle this weather.   

Incidentally, this also provides an explanation for why snowstorms in the northeast follow I-95: road rage.

[kurumi]

Dozens of editorial cartoons, all saying the same thing: http://ifglobalwarmingisrealthenwhyisitcold.blogspot.com/

[empirestate]

Dozens of editorial cartoons, all saying the same thing: http://ifglobalwarmingisrealthenwhyisitcold.blogspot.com/

You've hit on the most important point of the matter, there...global warming or climate change, real or fake, our fault or not our fault, what really matters is that it's a really worn-out, stale joke and people seriously need to get some new material!

[J N Winkler]

It was thirty degrees Fahrenheit below zero this morning here- still twenty below. When I started my car to go to work this morning the power steering pump was so frozen I couldnt even manually turn the wheel. My Jeep has a brand new battery so started right up, but I am not even going to try starting the other car until it warms up. My house heater is going nonstop and barely holding 55, so I am scared of my gas bill this month. I sit by a window at work, and it is probably in the high fifties in here too. I like cold, but I am freezing my balls off right now. At least there is no wind.

Down here in Wichita, conditions have not been nearly that extreme, but we still have wind chills below zero and temperatures are not forecast to rise above freezing for a further five days.  We have a lot of condensation even on double-glazed windows.  The heating system holds 72° F and still manages to cycle off, but I have noticed my feet and fingertips get cold after dark even though I wear double layers inside the house.  I grow increasingly convinced that extreme cold is a productivity killer, even within well-insulated environments maintained at a steady temperature.

Regarding cars, a Canadian friend (grew up and now teaches in Winnipeg) assures me that engine block heaters are indispensable.

[ET21]

There is somewhat of a pattern change possible, and I emphasize possible. The ridge out west has broken down a little bit and California finally got some rain and snow. If it continues to breaks down, as many of the models are now pointing towards next week, a more zonal flow will ensue for the country. This means more snow and rain for the California Desert and a more moderate brand of cold for the eastern US (more average temps and precip).

Or nothing changes, the ridge reinforces itself, and we stay the same through next week. Only time will tell.

[seicer]

Durham, N.C. celebrates 2.5" of snow:



Via: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1xqxbp/so_this_is_how_raleigh_nc_handles_25_of_snow/

[agentsteel53]

just what business did these people have thinking they should be on the road?

[hotdogPi]

Where are the lane markings? (Especially the center line!)

[Alps]

I've driven over 60mph in heavy traffic in Toronto in worse than that. Words fail me.

(Quickly ETA: Everyone else was ALSO doing 60. We all made it through fine.)