[Lvpunk]

Hi all,

I am moving to the Muskegon area of Michigan somewhere out in the "sticks" I'm originally from Las Vegas. I'll be driving up in December and I don't know what snow is Can someone hook me up with some statistics for the area, such as precip averages, etc. Also, I have a Mazda RX-8, it's a little sports car with "low-pro" tires, rear wheel drive, will this be a problem in the winter? I am very excited to move to MI, I hate summer (except in MI where it's nice!) and the heat and winter is my favorite season, so looking forward to max snowfall. Thanks!

[kimba01]

Hi!

Good luck with your move. I just moved from MI to LV! I hated the winters! Guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

As far as driving in the snow, it takes a while to get used to it, but it really isn't bad with common sense and a little practice. Your car may be tough-front wheel drive is better. I have basically had Explorers for the last 8-10 yrs and that was no problem. I didn't need 4 wheel drive much at all.

That said, I was in SE MI which probably gets less snow. Depends where in Muskegon you are. I think you will get lake effect snow and ice. I am sure you will hear from more people from that side of the state.

Enjoy the seasons there, they are beautiful. The humidity will definitely be a big change for you too! But you will have plenty of water to cool off in!

[funymann]

Out of all places to move... Muskegon is nice. It is very pretty there.

You will get ALOT of snow. You may have to get a different car. I lived in Grand Rapids and there was alot of snow there. Last year there was over 85 inches of snow for the year!! The previous year was 26 inches.

Thing is... you will get lake effect snows. The other person was telling you that because you get snow when the rest of the state doesn't. Good thing is you get more sun and the snow is light and fluffy. You can push it off with your arm or if you are good you can drive it off. Not recommended though cause of the blizzard you will create behind you.

Humidity is something you will have to get use to. The cold is COLD. It goes right through you at times. When pumping your gas you will get back in your car and when you bend your legs your pant legs will feel like they are frozen and will freeze your legs inside the pant leg.

I wish you the very best. Hope you enjoy the nights by the fireplace. Oh, get an electric car starter. Nothing beats having your car warmed up without going out to start it in the morning.

[kimba01]

The cold is COLD. It goes right through you at times. When pumping your gas you will get back in your car and when you bend your legs your pant legs will feel like they are frozen and will freeze your legs inside the pant leg.

Oh yeah! Forgot about that, but you are so right!!

[TNKY]

Muskegon averages in the neighborhood of 100 inches of snow per year. For someone who doesn't have experience with snow, this will be a learning process. Your vehicle will probably be fine unless you're real out in the sticks, just be very cautious. Your first "white out" will likely scare the heck out of you. Don't tailgate, which should always be the case. And make sure your tires have decent tread before winter starts, which can be around Halloween! Oh, and scrap your windshield off before driving. So many people try to use the windshield wipers for this and end up destroying their wiper motor because it isn't strong enough to overcome the snow/ice.

Welcome to Muskegon and all the best to you. Lived here for several years. Once summer gets here, which seems like forever, you'll have to go to the beach.

[xlabel]

You never know with MI weather, I remember when I left here in 02, it didn't even snow at all until about Christmas Eve. I live in SW Michigan just inside the lake effect area and commute from Paw Paw to Grand Rapids and sometimes it's fine here and a blizzard in GR and vice versa, although it's usually worse coming back this way. I prefer my RWD Ranger truck with about 250 lbs. of sand in the bed rather than my FWD sportscar on bad roads. You shouldn't worry to much I'm transplanted here from FL, take it easy, give yourself more distance to stop, watch out for icy bridges, etc. My general rule of thumb is when I see cars doing 360's on on I-94, I'm heading to the house.

[Peter B]

First thing you need to do is sell your vehicle.

[Lvpunk]

Originally Posted by Peter B

First thing you need to do is sell your vehicle.

Lol, I don't think so, but I am planning on buying an additional vehicle, a cheap truck or something.

Michigan summers are great, this summer I was up there for a couple of weeks and we went to Lake MI (too cold to swim, but we did it anyway) the waves were quite big for a lake of any size. We also did some tubing and kayaking down a couple different rivers, lots of fun. I will be up next week for phase 1 of my jobs hiring process.

[GlassPipe]

Keep the Mazda - you'll be helping to support the local tow truck drivers of Musky-Ville. LOL - I had a Jaguar for about a year. RWD Sovreign. Beautiful car - but on the snow??? Hell no - 1/4" of snow made that thing walk all over the road.

Seriously though, sell the car unless you don't mind waiting for a wrecker on a daily basis.

[Lvpunk]

I think I'll keep the RX for my summer driving, but yes I am looking to get a truck for winter.