Howdy! I am planning to move to the southeast part of Michigan around this new years. I am excited to get out of my state and see what other parts of the USA have to offer. But one thing that really worries me, and that I wanted to reach out about, is the winters in the north.
I’m moving from Texas, so for the most part, snow or ice is rare, and it usually meant the whole city shut down for a few days if it happened that year. And now I need to coordinate a moving truck up to Michigan, which from what I know, snow is to be expected? Do y’all have any tips for dealing with this?
I’ll also be moving into a suburb area, is there anything I need to know about that? I’ve heard shoveling snow is kinda important, is that true? How often do you need to shovel snow?
Thanks y’all
You’ll want to have a snow shovel before the snow falls. Get an ergonomic one, with an oddly bent handle. Much easier to use than a straight-handled shovel. If your neighborhood has sidewalks, it’s your responsibility to clear snow from the sidewalks that border your property. If there’s a big snowfall, like 8" or more, a snowblower is a godsend. Might be worth it to get a used one for $100 on craigslist or FB marketplace.
You will also want a snow brush/ice scraper for each car. Get a sturdy one. If it’s freezing outside, turn you car’s windshield defroster on, with the fan on, as soon as you start the car. If you leave it off until the car is warmed up, and then turn the hot air onto the windshield, you risk cracking the windshield.
If there’s snow on your car, use your snow brush to clear the snow off of all the windows, and the headlights, taillights, third brake light, and license plates. If there’s a lot of snow, brush or scoop it off of the hood, roof, trunk lid (otherwise, it will blow off and obscure your or someone else’s visibility).
If there’s freezing with snow or sleet in the forecast, lift the windshield wipers up and let them stand proud. This prevents them getting frozen to the windshield. If they do get frozen to the windshield, free them before attempting to turn them on. It’s possible to break the plastic clips that hold the wiper transmission together, and then you have no wipers until that’s fixed.
Keep windshield washer fluid in the trunk. You’ll go through that in a sloppy winter in no time, even if it’s not actively snowing, because other cars will kick up wet road dirt that just smears when you use the wipers dry.
When the temperature falls in the autumn, and then again in the winter, your tire pressure will go down. Check your tire pressure to make sure everything is properly inflated for proper traction and more even tire wear.
When driving, be prepared to use your parking brake to assist with stopping in an emergency. My Ford Fusion is awful stopping in the snow, so I keep a finger on the electric parking brake at all times. If it starts sliding, adding the parking brake helps immensely.
Thanks for all the driving tips, it seems there’s a lot that goes in to driving in the north, beyond just worrying about ice. Just wondering, does everyone have a 4wd or awd car? Does that help at all on the road?
Snow tires are way more beneficial than 4WD/AWD. As already said, 4WD/AWD will help you avoid getting stuck, but it can’t help you with stopping or turning.
Just take it easy the first snow. Brake early, corner slowly, don’t go too fast. It seems like everyone forgets how to drive on snow the first time it snows, which results in more of a mess.
4wd/AWD will be useful in accelerating, and can offer better control generally, but can be a detriment to braking, since the mass of the extra drivetrain bits makes for a heavier vehicle. Same goes for an all electric car - those are famously heavy. Does everyone have 4wd/AWD? No, but AWD does tend to be pretty popular. Just remember to give yourself ample distance for stopping. The most important thing is to learn how your car behaves in inclement weather, so that you can adjust your driving techniques as necessary.
This reminds me - after a decent snow, especially a drier powdery snow, driving lanes may be relatively clear, since the snow has blown off them. But there may be a buildup of snow in between lanes, or down the center of a lane where wheels don’t contact as much. Be especially careful when changing lanes or crossing those snow ridges. You might be going faster on the comparatively clear wheel tracks, feeling perfectly safe, and getting a wheel or two on one side of the car up on a snow ridge can start an uncontrolled slide.
honestly theres hardly been any snow the past few winters :/ who knows what it could be this year. city roads will be plowed, you will have to shovel your own driveway if you hope to drive out of it unless you hire a snow plow. if youre in a neighborhood like my parents, people may pitch in to get their driveways plowed by the same company for a better rate. shoveling sidewalks isnt mandatory but some people (me) consider it polite so people can use it. if you have a dog and are like my dad, you may also find yourself shoveling out little patches of grass for the dog to do their business.
In some places, shoveling your sidewalk is definitely mandatory. I think my neighborhood you have about 24 hours to do so. No idea what the consequences are for not doing it.
Probably your neighbor will help you out. I normally do both sides of my driveway all the way to the next driveway so doing half of their jobs if I’m out before them. If not I’d guess they hire someone and bill you.
I got a big snowblower and I’m really happy I did about 1-2 times per year, but mostly it’s overkill and a small one would be fine. I don’t shovel. That shit is a fucking workout and would give me a heart attack, I’m pretty sure. Probably the worst I’ve ever felt in my life is after shoveling 8" of snow off a driveway by hand.
In terms of driving on snow and ice: pretend your grandma is sitting in the passenger seat holding an uncovered crock pot full of gravy, and you’ll be fine–try to avoid aggressive acceleration and braking. If you have the means, I highly recommend getting winter tires put on, it makes a big difference and will likely lessen the stress as you’re learning.
As others have said, we haven’t been getting as much snow, and the southern end even less. The thing you’ll want to watch out for is black ice, which can form even when there’s no snow (when the temps are below freezing). If you’re in an area that salts the roads regularly, it’s a lot less common (chat with a neighbor to find out).
In terms of shoveling, some people do it religiously and some don’t. It partly depends on what car you drive and how often you have people over. An inch doesn’t need shoveling, but if there’s more, consider shoveling at least a walking path to your door for package/pizza deliveries.
Unrelated to weather, but was confusing when I moved here: there are two colleges, both called Michigan, and they’re intense rivals. The only thing that unites them is their mutual hatred of Ohio State.
If you can avoid going out the first one or two heavy snows of the year, do it. We talk a good game about driving great on snow, but a lot of us forget between one season and the next.
If you’re moving somewhere fairly urban or in the suburbs, you won’t have to deal with much snow on the roads as we’ve got a lot of experience with snow and those plows will be out salting the night before and plowing at 4:30 AM. The further you are from the main roads, the later you’ll get plowed.
If you live in an apartment I’d expect the parking lots to be plowed as well as they can but of course a bunch of parked cars are hard to plow around.
Lately snow has been sparse. I think I only got out my blower twice the whole season. That’s very light compared to twenty, thirty years ago when snow would cover the ground in January and you wouldn’t see grass until late March. So if it’s a heavy year, watch out, but I’d say probably 2-4 times per month on average, usually clustered together into like a bad week or something.
SE Michigan isn’t nearly as bad as Northern Michigan as far as snow goes. A few inches usually doesn’t need shoveling, but a lot of people will do it to keep their driveways clear. Tire-tracks in snow will freeze into ice, making it harder to shovel later.
Growing up, we would almost never get snow-days off from school, even during a deep freeze + blizzard. Don’t expect things to shut down, and your boss will probably expect you to show up for work. Roads will get plowed and salted, but the first heavy snow causes driving problems until they clear it up. The last few years weren’t very bad for SE Michigan. Last winter, there were probably only a couple of mornings where I avoided the highway due to weather and the traffic problems it caused.
Is it common for roads to close or get backed up randomly during the winter? Like should I be planning additional time to get anywhere, on top of what google maps says?
Randomly? Nah. If there happens to be a real good snowfall and the plows don’t get out before you do I’d then expect a nice 10mph or so drive. Once they’re out they’re clear out the roads on priority on how busy they are. So in town your side streets might be neglected, bit the main roads should get cleared pretty quickly.
It’s not a random thing, if there’s more than an inch of snow overnight, expect a morning commute to take longer. If snow is coming in the middle of the day, expect a commute home to take longer. Especially the first couple snows, it can easily double or triple the time.
There are also seasonal roads, but that’s mostly ones that are on large hills that make stopping impossible in icy conditions, them closing isn’t random.
