please tell me about snow (Columbus, Cleveland: buy, to live, most dangerous)

[aca1]

i know people dont like non-controversial threads, but I'm from Alabama trying to move to one of the three big cities in Ohio, and I noticed that Cleveland is in a so called snow belt and that sort of scares me. It quite literally doesnt snow at all in Talladega, and to get to the point I was just wondering what you do with snow, do you have to have snow chains, does salting roads rot out the botton of the car, do you have to shovel the snow from your sidewalk and driveway everyday, does the snow stay on the ground for 6 months without end. if anyone could just post one reply at least, it would be really cool of you.

[andrew61]

Don't eat it when it's yellow.

[ogre]

do you have to have snow chains [quote, aca1]

Most people in cities, towns, and suburbs use snow tires. You might find that chains would come in handy if you were to live well out in the country where you'd be doing a lot of driving on really back roads. Otherwise, you'd just use snow tires.

does salting roads rot out the botton of the car [quote, aca1]

Well, yes, certainly when compared to a place where you get no snow. It helps to visit the car wash frequently. Maybe once a week, once every couple of weeks in general. Also, after a storm it's a good idea to give the road crews time to clear the roads, so there's not still a bunch of slush on the roads, then visit the car wash as soon as possible. Once the roads are clear and basically dry from being plowed and cleaned, then you're not going to get a bunch of salty slush spraying up onto your car. Unfortunately you will get dry bits of fine sand and salt kicked up, which is why you want to hit the car wash with some frequency even when it hasn't snowed in a while. There's no way around the reality that northern winters are rough on cars, between road salt and potholes. Take care of your car, keep it as clean as possible, and you'll at least reduce the effects. If you're picturing cars being rusted out in a year or two, don't worry about that. If you take proper care of the car, a car you buy new should still be putting along as a creaky old bomber ten years later, if you like to keep your cars that long.

do you have to shovel the snow from your sidewalk and driveway everyday [quote, aca1]

The more typical weather is that it snows, sometimes a little, sometimes a few inches, occasionally a lot, then you get a number of days, sometimes even a week or two, when it's clear, or cloudy without snowfall. That's an average. Sometimes it might snow once every few days, one storm right after another, but it doesn't snow every day over the whole winter, or even close to it.

does the snow stay on the ground for 6 months without end. [quote, aca1]

It varies from one winter to the next as to how frequently it snows, how many mild spells you get that melt a lot of it, etc. Typically, you're talking more like about three months or a little more--from late Nov. or early Dec. into early March when the ground will stay covered with snow. Sometimes it might snow well into April (you might recall the baseball games that were snowed out in Cleveland in the first couple of weeks of this year's season), occasionally maybe even in October. This isn't going to happen every year. If it does happen, though, it will be an isolated storm, and the weather typically warms back up within a day or two so it all melts quickly.

Something to keep in mind, since you said you're considering all three of the big C cities, is that the snow belt is a localized phenomenon that results from the "lake effect," as it's known, when air masses pick up moisture over the lake, then dump the moisture as snowfall when the moisture condenses as the air moves east over the land, which in winter is colder than the water. This phenomenon occurs toward the east end of Lake Erie, starting right around Cleveland and becoming more pronounced as you move around the east end of the lake up toward Buffalo. In northeastern Ohio, once you get, what, maybe twenty miles south of Cleveland the lake effect begins to diminish. By the time you get down to Columbus and Cincinnati, you're well outside the snow belt. These cities average half the snow of Cleveland, maybe less. It would still seem like a lot if you're used to no snow at all, but the bottom line is that Ohio, even up around Cleveland, is not an Arctic wasteland where dog sleds ply the tundra. It just has a typical middle-American four-seasons climate. Winter's unpleasant a fair amount of the time, but once you get used to it, it's vary do-able. A lot of people even come to appreciate the pleasant respite of the occasional mid-winter mild spell, and the brilliant, sunny days that occur here and there during the winter, when the sun sparkles brilliantly across the snow.

[Cat Woman]

Some areas get more snow than the others. The "snowbelt" is where the majority of the snow falls. The snow blows off the lake, over the low ground and dumps it all in the higher ground. The city itself isn't too bad. Cuyahoga and Lake counties aren't bad. Stay away from Geauga and Summit. The west side of town isn't too bad either. Don't let the snow scare you. No, it doesn't stay on the ground for 6 months and frankly it's hard to say what you are going to get since no one can really predict the weather. They use cinder and salt on the roads and yes, the salt does take a toll on the car. When are you moving? I just moved from Cleveland...grew up there. Feel free to send me a Direct Message if you want instead of using the open forum. I will help you in any way I can.

[BelieveInCleve]

The snowbelt is NE of Cleveland all the way up to Buffalo and there is also a ton of snow in central NY. West of Cleveland usually only gets about 30-40 inches, the city of Cleveland gets 50 inches, and some areas NE of Cleveland get over 70 inches. Compared to Buffalo and Erie, PA which both get over 90 inches a year. The snow will definetly not stay on the ground for 6 months or even 2 months on end. About half the time that it snows here, it melts in less then 2 days so it wont stay on the ground long. It will rarely snow here from April to November, the only months you have to worry about really are january-march. Sometimes it doesnt snow at all until january.

[xwideopenskyx]

Winter's unpleasant a fair amount of the time, but once you get used to it, it's vary do-able. A lot of people even come to appreciate the pleasant respite of the occasional mid-winter mild spell, and the brilliant, sunny days that occur here and there during the winter, when the sun sparkles brilliantly across the snow.[/quote]

Get used to it? Well, maybe some do, but from my experience and those that I worked with, starting in November everyone would dread each approaching winter. Those brilliant sunny days are so rare in the winter time. The usual norm is the color gray. If you like a sunny climate this would not be a good place for you. I got tired of the lousy weather and moved to the sunny southwest. I should have done it sooner!

[xwideopenskyx]

Cat Woman

Summit county is not in the snowbelt, I lived there. Eastern burbs of Cleveland (eastern Cuyahoga county), Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula are in the snowbelt.

[Cat Woman]

xwideopenskyx

It is considered the secondary snow belt..Twinsburg, etc.

[twange]

You can get acclimated. You might not like it but it won't kill you. We have friends that moved from Alabama to Cleveland 7 years ago and they adjusted OK. The problem most people have is not the snow, but the gray, dreariness of Cleveland winters. Some folks get UV lamps to supplement their sun deprivation.

I actually prefer a winter with more, quality snow instead of the up/down ice/slush conditions Cleveland's had the last several winters. That way, you can learn to enjoy winter recreational activities like downhill/cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ice-skating, ice-fishing, sled-riding, snow-shoeing...really great stuff Doing that stuff will keep you fit and feeling good as opposed to sitting around in front of the TV getting fat which will add to your depression

I'll will miss those things this winter now that I'm in the SW...then again I'll be hiking, riding my bike, kayaking etc..

As far as driving goes, ice is the most dangerous and it often lurks beneath the snow. You need to drive cautiously, slowly and defensively even if you have a 4WD SUV. Every year I see idiots flying around in their SUVs, thinking they're immune from the conditions only to see them end up in a ditch or even worse, causing someone else to end up in a ditch.

[xwideopenskyx]

Originally Posted by Cat Woman

xwideopenskyx

It is considered the secondary snow belt..Twinsburg, etc.

You are right! According to this article the secondary snowbelt is :

"The secondary snow belt usually gets 40 to 80 inches of snow per winter and consists of the western half of Cuyahoga County, Lorain and Medina counties, plus the portions of Summit, Portage and Trumbull counties north of Interstate 80. It includes the cities of Cleveland, Bay Village, Westlake, Lorain, Strongsville, Oberlin, North Ridgeville, North Olmsted, Brook Park, Medina, Broadview Heights, Brecksville, Brunswick, Twinsburg, Hudson, Aurora, Garrettsville, and North Bloomfield."

Where Exactly Is The Snow Belt? - Weather News Story - WEWS Cleveland

I am honestly, not going to miss the white stuff. I've had enough of it to last me a lifetime.