Yay snow!!!

[Starbug]

For anyone interested, there are 5" of snow to be had if you head up I-90E and take exit 42. I just got back from playing on the backroads up there, and it was a blast! Beware of potholes, for they are many and some are gnarly. But it was fun! We put Glenda through some rally-style cornering maneuvers and she took them like a champ. I ended up kicking myself for not bringing my Nikon, so bring your camera because it is so beautiful up there.

Go, my fellow Tercels! Go forth and 4x4 to your heart's content!



PS: the snow is too powdery for making snowmen. I tried.

[blade]

hahahah yes the snow is falling here now and we are sapose to be geting a good amount. and thow the snow is not good to make snow men you can make snow angles instead.

[toughtercel]

same here , two nights ago , it was snowing about 3 inches my place then yesterday when up the mountain , drive till 12 inches of snow , can't continue any more ,total 18-20 inches at the end of the off-road .

[Matt Starbuck]

We got pounded here in Western Colorado yesterday. 6" at 6000ft. I was delivering and going up into the mountains and visibility was 0 and the accumulation was heavier and heavier. I think we might have an epic year of snow this year, we are long overdue!!!

[Petros]

we got 1.5" at our house on Sunday, at only 500 ft! First day of snow. We got some more this morning. And of course to celebrate the fist day of snow, on my way into town this morning, my Tercel started running on 3 cylinders, and making a bad sound. Arrgh.

Looks like number one cylinder is out, I will change the spark plug, but I suspect I burned another exhaust valve. Oh well, looks like I will be pulling the head off again tonight...in 22 deg weather.

[ARCHINSTL]

And it hit 77° in STL today - quite atypical for three days before Thanksgiving! It should be in the upper 30°s.
But a cold front is moving in with precip, so it should be normal tomorrow.
Good thing - today was too reminiscent of tornado weather (and for Dan Quayle - tornadoe...).
Tom M.

[splatterdog]

Weak! We already had an official foot just over a week ago(best in state for that storm). Real wet and heavy stuff too. Dusting today with more forecast for wed-thur. This last saturday there was a pretty good ice storm and no trucks salting. Unusual for this state. Timed perfectly for bar rush too. Body shops gotta be lovin it.

Tercel sat it out both weekends in the comfort of the garage and the burb came out instead. The T4 doesn't have quite the same cargo capacity. I would rather dissolve the burb anyway!

[toughtercel]

[quote="Petros"] on my way into town this morning, my Tercel started running on 3 cylinders, and making a bad sound. Arrgh.

Every morning I start the car,it ran medinum hi idle for long time , run great but last Thursday ( beginning cold weather) it goes not hi idleand little loud knocking too till 30-45 second later then slowly build up RPM , some time almost stall, is it something to do with the cold temperature and timing little out like 5 drgree advance or ??

[hberdan]

No real snow in Boulder so far this season, but up above 9000' there's some really serious storms going on, no doubt the same storms hammering the Colorado western slope.
It is cold, however, tomorrow the low will be around zero farenheit.
My new Hankook W409 snow tires are on the car, along with the ski rack! Yaa-hoooo!

[Starbug]

As of yesterday I have 7" of snow here at home. I'm sooo happy! The roads are solid ice packed with snow. I have my studded snow tires on (as of Sunday when the snow first hit), so I'm all good. I just happily drive along and enjoy my snowy commute. Even lastnight on my way home with whiteout conditions, I enjoyed the whole long slow drive. We are SO overdue for some good snow! Hey Petros, remember the snow storm of a couple years ago ('08?) when we got 18" in a week? And the snow stuck around for a solid month of non-stop snowfall? Wasn't that awesome? I had 5 feet of it; I want that again!

It was 24 degrees today, and is going to dip into the single digits tonight for me since I live in one of the "cold pockets". Everybody else gets 15 degrees. Unfortunately the weather's going to warm up in time for thanksgiving and be rainy and in the 40's. Lame!

[ARCHINSTL]

I DO NOT regret living in a Sometimes-It-Snows-But-Usually-It-Doesn't state. We here in Eastern MO get a couple of snows per Winter, with 4-5" being an All-Schools-Closed-For-The-First-Day situation.
I can't imagine the stories you guys are telling - same with the temps*. And STL ain't The South.
Mentioning the whiteouts, though, beggars a question: How do you see (or BE seen) in such conditions? Do most people add big yellow auxiliary lights to cut through the stuff (at least for the 'being seen' part)?
I can't imagine that all drivers in your areas are cautious in these conditions.
Tom M.

* Just waiting for splatterdog or emma to channel Crocodile Dundee and weigh in with "Cold? You call THAT cold? Now this is cold..."

[Petros]

19 deg F when I got up this morning. I had to leave the Tercel 2 miles below the house last night. I was only running on three cyl, I hit a snow packed hill as fast as I dared to keep my speed up, and I slid off the edge into a soft muddy ditch. the road was packed snow and ice, I needed studs for that. IT was running a bit hot so I truned it off and I could not get it restarted. A neigbor pulled be back onto the roadway. I spent several hours this moring trying to get it started, no luck. Number one cyl was full of anti-freeze.

So as soon as I can get it towed to my house (after the snow melts off, we have 20 percent grade to our driveway) the head is coming off again. I have pictures I will post soon.

Great sunny day today, but it never got above freezing.

[Starbug]

I DO NOT regret living in a Sometimes-It-Snows-But-Usually-It-Doesn't state. We here in Eastern MO get a couple of snows per Winter, with 4-5" being an All-Schools-Closed-For-The-First-Day situation.
I can't imagine the stories you guys are telling - same with the temps*. And STL ain't The South.
Mentioning the whiteouts, though, beggars a question: How do you see (or BE seen) in such conditions? Do most people add big yellow auxiliary lights to cut through the stuff (at least for the 'being seen' part)?
I can't imagine that all drivers in your areas are cautious in these conditions.
Tom M.

* Just waiting for splatterdog or emma to channel Crocodile Dundee and weigh in with "Cold? You call THAT cold? Now this is cold..."

My boyfriend had removed the thermometer from outside back into the house, so I'm not sure how cold it ended up being this morning, but my face tells me it's frick'n cold! I'm warming up my Tercel so I can go to work. It sure doesn't like starting in this cold, it's very difficult to start. Can't blame it!

As for being seen in whiteouts, nobody takes any special considerations with their headlights/foglights. You just have to drive at a snail's pace and hope you don't hit anything or fall off the road. There's nothing you can really do to see any better, as far as I know. I'm not sure if yellow foglights help others see you any better, since most people stay home when it snows real good here, so I haven't actually passed anyone with yellow fogs when I'm driving in a whiteout.

Bleh, off to work now.....

[Highlander]

Whiteout driving is an experience type of thing. A few of the things that you consider in how fast you drive blind are:
How well do you know the road? (I've been driving my canyon for nigh on 30 years)
How good are your snows? (Studs!)
How much room are you leaving between you and the dink crawling along in front of you?
How much road edge can you see?
How much balls do you have?

Whiteout driving is easier in the dark to some extent, Yellows don't help much, they are better for rainy nights, they lower the glare. You can't use your high beams in those conditions, it just blinds you.
I've got around 5" on the ground, but we had winds last night and into tonight, so there were some drifts to cut through this morning (I'm about 3000' above Hberdan). and we're supposed to be around -10*F (-21*C) tonight with 30-45 mph winds (at my elevation) -just a fall zephyr. We sometimes have winds up to 150 mph- and mostly in the winter- makes for BIG drifts!
Now I'm teaching my eldest to drive in the snow with the T4WDs. No problems yet!

[Matt Starbuck]

Sounds like Colorado is getting covered all over. We got another 4" last night, that makes 10" this week so far with more in the forecast. The ski hills up here are all opening earlier than they have in 20yrs. Glad I got my Tercel just in time for the fun to begin!!!