Thinking from moving from Florida to Maine?

[mainegrl2011]

Originally Posted by michael_atw

I'm not sure if there was a point where I said I didn't like Maine winter...I think you're mistaken by my point.

I proclaim myself no expert, but I come from a place where winters are often just as bad - if not worse. Like I said, only difference is in some areas of Maine it is colder. But out in the Allegheny foothills the temps can drop like a rock. Along the coast the winters in Maine could actually be considered much better (with variations year to year).

I think I had two original points. One was that vehicles don't make people good drivers. One has to learn how to drive in the snow - at least, I think that was the original point, heh. Snow can make a good driver better or a poor driver worse. I think the other half was about people who like to overrate things they don't know - or things they do know, but wish for a better story.

I actually meant that last winter (or should I say, last last winter) - they were calling it the worst winter in decades but when I got there halfway in the snow was gone in 3 weeks. The irony being the worst winter I never saw. This past winter (I might be discerning more clearly) was what one could call a "joke". There was no snow on the ground that I found, except for one storm in April (I got here in late winter again). It was in the 70's during part of March - but even then back in Western NY they were getting snowstorms and cold snaps while Maine was in the 50's.

Hi I didn't mean to imply that you didn't like Maine winters. I agree that vehicles don't make people good drivers, etc.....and retiredtinbender makes a good point--not much snow or "the worst winter in decades" could mean a bad winter to some people--150+ inches of snow means a bad winter to others. I guess my point was that you haven't really lived through a significant number of Maine winters to have had much experience with them....you said half a winter. The winter this past season will most likely prove to be very different compared to the one to come...and I've heard several people refer to this past winter as a "joke." Maine winters are kinda like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates.

[Submariner]

Maine has many regions, 'micro-climates' if you will.

One time we had a foot of snow in our forest and the roads were totally clear. We helped a friend move into their new home in Milo [30 miles North] and the snow there was up above the mail boxes. The next day we went to church down in Bangor [30 miles South] and their lawns were cleared, the grass was green.

Our first two years we needed no more than a pushbroom to clear the snow. Then we had a couple years that gave us isolated 'dumps' of 12" to 18" in one day. Our climate is not consistent. What one region sees is different from what another region sees.

In our little township, our biggest 'issue' is black ice. The road follows a river, which makes fog, sometimes the fog settles on the pavement as a layer of invisible ice. 4X4 makes no difference, you would be in just the same hazard as a rear-wheel vehicle. The only thing that makes a difference on black ice is studds.

The biggest advantage that I see when winter driving is to have studded tires on your vehicle.

4X4 is good for off-road mudding. But off-road mudding is begging to get stuck anyway.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Maine has many regions, 'micro-climates' if you will.

One time we had a foot of snow in our forest and the roads were totally clear. We helped a friend move into their new home in Milo [30 miles North] and the snow there was up above the mail boxes. The next day we went to church down in Bangor [30 miles South] and their lawns were cleared, the grass was green.

Our first two years we needed no more than a pushbroom to clear the snow. Then we had a couple years that gave us isolated 'dumps' of 12" to 18" in one day. Our climate is not consistent. What one region sees is different from what another region sees.

In our little township, our biggest 'issue' is black ice. The road follows a river, which makes fog, sometimes the fog settles on the pavement as a layer of invisible ice. 4X4 makes no difference, you would be in just the same hazard as a rear-wheel vehicle. The only thing that makes a difference on black ice is studds.

The biggest advantage that I see when winter driving is to have studded tires on your vehicle.

4X4 is good for off-road mudding. But off-road mudding is begging to get stuck anyway.

"Gotta spread it around..."

FB, you're dead on right. I live in a little valley with a creek running by and hills all around. I can be getting dumped on, snow or rain, but if I drive a couple of miles out there's nothing. Works the other way 'round sometimes too. Same with temperature, it can vary drastically from what Bangor has less than 20 miles away.

[michael_atw]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Maine has many regions, 'micro-climates' if you will.

Hate to talk the "home port" up (or down...depending on how one views winter) but Maine's 'micro-climates' pale in comparison to Great Lakes snowbelts. You're polishing the rims on the tires in your sunny yard and your neighbor is shoveling a tunnel to his front porch.

10 miles down the road, they'll get 4-5 feet of snow and you'll see 6-8 inches. 30 miles (or even 5, my grandparents live on airport hill) up the hillsides they'll have 60 MPH winds and -20 wind chills while you bask in winter sun. Neither is hyperbole. The weatherman says 6 inches, you get 2 feet. The weatherman says 2 feet, you get a dusting.

The wind shifts 2 feet southeast, your neighbor has some shoveling to do while you stand and watch. Fun times. It is even worse in the Syracuse area. They would get relentless pelting, 6-7 feet of snow...while 10 miles north or south they would get a few inches.

[mainegrl2011]

[quote=michael_atw;25114730]Hate to talk the "home port" up (or down...depending on how one views winter) but Maine's 'micro-climates' pale in comparison to Great Lakes snowbelts. You're polishing the rims on the tires in your sunny yard and your neighbor is shoveling a tunnel to his front porch. [quote=michael_atw;25114730]

Your next door neighbor?

[michael_atw]

[quote=mainegrl2011;25125025][quote=michael_atw;25114730]Hate to talk the "home port" up (or down...depending on how one views winter) but Maine's 'micro-climates' pale in comparison to Great Lakes snowbelts. You're polishing the rims on the tires in your sunny yard and your neighbor is shoveling a tunnel to his front porch.

Originally Posted by michael_atw

Your next door neighbor?

Hyperbolically

Legitimately though, it would be the equivalent of Belfast getting 2 feet and Camden getting 2 inches. That's not hyperbole. I'd hate to be a Great Lakes weatherman.