[quarsom]

Hi. Can anyone tell me how easy it is to traverse the city in you average winter snow? I understand that you get a trace to several inches per day. I have the Michigan Tech snowfall totals page bookmarked and have a pretty good idea of how things are weather-wise. I have heard several coflicting reports and would like some clarity. If you happen to have any info concerning Hurontown as well, that would be helpful. I currently work for Walmart, so hopefully I would be transferring there. I currently live in Philadelphia Pa so I'm used to high volumes of traffic. If you can give me an idea of how your busses work there that would also be helpful. I'm spoiled here because ours pretty much run 24/7. Thanks for any info you can give!!!

[MICoastieMom]

Can you cross-country ski? That's how my brother got to classes for four years and he lived on the other side of the canal.

[Wulf67]

It's not just the snow. The wind and cold can make it pretty miserable to be outside for just a few minutes. I visited a few times in winter and this was a bit on the cold side (February). But nothing really unusual for that area.





It sure is nice though with fresh snow.

[Peter B]

It is cold & snowy from November thru March usually. On occasion, it will get very cold ( hi temps a bit below 0F). The area is well prepared to deal with any kind of winter weather. YOUR responsibility is to dress properly, DO NOT leave the house w/out a hat, have wool socks, insulated waterproof footwear, thermal underwear, and good gloves. As long as u are dressed properly, check the weather forecast before you leave the home for any length of time, make sure your vehicle is winter-ready, you will have no problem.

Originally Posted by quarsom

Hi. Can anyone tell me how easy it is to traverse the city in you average winter snow? I understand that you get a trace to several inches per day. I have the Michigan Tech snowfall totals page bookmarked and have a pretty good idea of how things are weather-wise. I have heard several coflicting reports and would like some clarity. If you happen to have any info concerning Hurontown as well, that would be helpful. I currently work for Walmart, so hopefully I would be transferring there. I currently live in Philadelphia Pa so I'm used to high volumes of traffic. If you can give me an idea of how your busses work there that would also be helpful. I'm spoiled here because ours pretty much run 24/7. Thanks for any info you can give!!!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Wulf67

It's not just the snow. The wind and cold can make it pretty miserable to be outside for just a few minutes. I visited a few times in winter and this was a bit on the cold side (February). But nothing really unusual for that area.





It sure is nice though with fresh snow.

I love the Downtown picture! It certainly exudes a nostalgic feel with the antique streetlights and the yellow backed stoplights.

[MTUCache]

Originally Posted by quarsom

Hi. Can anyone tell me how easy it is to traverse the city in you average winter snow? I understand that you get a trace to several inches per day. I have the Michigan Tech snowfall totals page bookmarked and have a pretty good idea of how things are weather-wise. I have heard several coflicting reports and would like some clarity. If you happen to have any info concerning Hurontown as well, that would be helpful. I currently work for Walmart, so hopefully I would be transferring there. I currently live in Philadelphia Pa so I'm used to high volumes of traffic. If you can give me an idea of how your busses work there that would also be helpful. I'm spoiled here because ours pretty much run 24/7. Thanks for any info you can give!!!

As for the snowfall/weather, I'd say everyone is pretty right-on. The city facilities are honestly pretty impressive, and it will be rare that you won't be able to get anywhere once you get used to driving in the snow. Walking will generally be limited to downtown and on the MTU campus. As long as you're dressed warmly and have your Sorels on, you'll be able to get anywhere around there (probably up to a mile) pretty comfortably. Well.... "comfort" is kind of a relative term in Houghton.

As for your "high volumes of traffic" comment... that honestly made me laugh. Houghton is going to be a shock to your system if you're from a big-city. This place is tiny, even if you count Hancock and some of the other surrounding areas... there's barely any traffic to speak of, and probably less than a dozen traffic lights within ten miles of downtown. The only place where you could possibly use the term "traffic" (at least in the city-dweller's sense) is going across the lift-bridge or driving through campus between classes.

However, if you're working for Walmart, that leaves you in a kind of predicament. Being outside of "downtown", it's not exactly a walkable location (even in the summer honestly, it's quite a hike from downtown, and especially from campus).

If you're going to be driving, you're going to learn very quickly how to drive in the snow. It's honestly not all that bad once you're used to it, even with some of the very steep streets.

But, if you don't have a car, things may get very difficult. I haven't been there in a few years, but unless things have changed there isn't much in the way of public-transportation. In fact, my sister-in-law's step-father (say that five-times-fast) may still be the only taxi driver in the area.

I hope for your sake that you've got some wheels. Walking to Walmart from 90+% of the places in Houghton, especially during the winter, will be pretty miserable. The summer months there were my favorite, when most of the student population left and the place really felt like a small-town. The rest of the year it's still small, but there's a few thousand future-engineers mixed in.

[quarsom]

I'm planning to live in central Houghton. I may work at walmart or MTU,that hasn't been decided yet. When you say miserable, what are you referring to? I plan to be decked out in weather protection clothing from head to toe. Are you referring to the distance of the walk itself? The hills? The cold, or a combination of all three? It was recommended that I get snowshoes and cleats, which I plan to do. I also walk about 4 miles a day here in Philadelphia. I expect the hills to be a challenge, but I can stand to lose a few pounds. I really just need a clearer picture of miserable and a pain or flat out impossible. Anything in the middle can be handled to a point. Thank you to all of you and any further info on the walk or the city would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. How early do they plow in Houghton??? Especially the side streets? What about Hurontown? ( also a possibility to live there)

[Sparrow_temp]

Get a car or snowmobile. There are a lot of times that walking will be downright miserable with low temps, windchills, and snow coming down. I hated walking just from DHH to the ME building on campus with the windtunnel effect there. I didn't have any form of transportation for a while and walked from campus to downtown Houghton and even to Hancock but there are days that you won't want to walk any farther than across the street.

Houghton does a very good job of plowing snow but they have to considering how much they get.

Originally Posted by quarsom

I'm planning to live in central Houghton. I may work at walmart or MTU,that hasn't been decided yet. When you say miserable, what are you referring to? I plan to be decked out in weather protection clothing from head to toe. Are you referring to the distance of the walk itself? The hills? The cold, or a combination of all three? It was recommended that I get snowshoes and cleats, which I plan to do. I also walk about 4 miles a day here in Philadelphia. I expect the hills to be a challenge, but I can stand to lose a few pounds. I really just need a clearer picture of miserable and a pain or flat out impossible. Anything in the middle can be handled to a point. Thank you to all of you and any further info on the walk or the city would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. How early do they plow in Houghton??? Especially the side streets? What about Hurontown? ( also a possibility to live there)

[MTUCache]

Originally Posted by quarsom

P.S. How early do they plow in Houghton??? Especially the side streets? What about Hurontown? ( also a possibility to live there)

Lol... you're obviously going to have to adjust to the amount of snow you're going to be seeing.

Plowing in Houghton is generally a 24/7 operation from November through March, although admittedly they do a GREAT job of getting most of it done at night.

If you're driving anywhere in the morning make sure to set your alarm for a half hour earlier so you can dig out your car/driveway. And don't skip any days either, once it gets heavy you'll need a backhoe to dig out.

[MI-Roger]

1. It is not uncommon for local residents to remove the dock from their cottage in the Fall, then re-install it on their front yard as an elevated sidewalk for winter. This allows the first 48 inches of snow fall to be swept aside rather than shoveled.
2. Houghton actually uses Oshkosh Sno-Gos for snow removal on city streets. These are 8ft to 10ft diameter snow blowers usually only seen on airport runways in the rest of the country's snow belt.
3. In the 1970's Michigan Tech required all incoming freshmen to take an "Arctic Survival" course. One key message was to NEVER walk anywhere on campus other than sidewalks. The snowy lawn that appears to be a tempting short-cut betwen buildings may actually be a deep drop-off completely filled with loose snow. One step and you will disappear into the snowy depths until Spring thaw.