Am I going to need snow tires? (living in, shop)

[Honest Bob]

My opinion is - with maybe 4 major snow storms in the last 10 years, most people were not prepared for the storm of the century. In the 1970's when most cars were rear wheel drive, a person knew that when winter rolled around you had to invest in a good set of tires.

When front wheel drives came along, and El Nino weather, where we did not get cold temperatures for long periods of time, and where we did not get snow measured in feet - everyone forgot the lessons learned in the past.

Trying to blame a city street crew for a problem which they had no control over, wasn't going to solve the problem. How many times I saw idiot drivers with bald tires, trying to navigate the streets and highways - because they did not invest into a good set of tires, because they believed that Front Wheel Drive cars would go anywhere - even if the tires were not adequate.

Then we had idiots that got stuck, and abandoned their vehicles. I don't know what they expected the city to do? Tow them for free? And we saw many people who merely parked their vehicles in parking lot's as close to their homes as possible. When the store managers got fed up and had their vehicles towed, the owners became irate.

If these same people would have invested in snow tires, if they would have carried a snow shovel and if they would have been willing to work - shovel snow, there was very few places along the main streets in Allegheny county, where you wouldn't have been able to travel.

Our problem is - everyone wants everything provided for them, free of charge if possible, and if it is not done to their satisfaction and in the time frame that they wish to have it done, then the citizens gets irate - because they demand that you do their work in front of their house first. That would have almost required one city crew per every 10 blocks of area.

Because it was so cold, the ice layer on the road built up to the point of where salt and calcium chloride only made it worse and it elevated the road sometimes by feet - not inches.
The only resolution to the problem was to get everyone off the roads and get all the cars off the roads and get all the streets cleared one street at a time.

This same level of storm happened once before - the Great Thanksgiving storm of 1950?

Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Historic storm of Thanksgiving 1950 remembered as 'fun, magical' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

[Retiredcoach]

You should be fine on most days with all-season tires in the snow and/or slush. If your all season front tires are below 5/32nds, though, I would think about replacing them. If you have never driven in snow before, though, be aware that that neither snow tires nor all seasons will do very well on ice.

[Honest Bob]

I was remodeling my grandparents house 4 years ago and when I took up the linoleum in the bedroom, I found a Pittsburgh newspaper from November 1950 which had the storm in the headlines.

The paper was crisping and i kept it for about a year before I finally threw it away.

[bbrian12]

in the suburbs the streets were fairly clear for the most part. but the city of pgh did nothing and most people did not see a plow for 4 or 5 days after the initial snow, and by then it was a total mess. bald tires or brand new tires if there is no plow for a week you are not going anywhere

[fleetiebelle]

The advantage to living in the city in a situation like what happened in February is that after the crisis has passed, if you can get to a main drag in your neighborhood you can fairly easily take the bus. After the snowstorm, I don't think I moved my car for several weeks--I took the T and the bus.

[Geeo]

I've never had snow tires in the 29 years I've lived here. And we only get the type of snow storm we had on February 6 once about every 15 years.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by purplesque

Hi!

So I moved to Pittsburgh a month ago and I LOVE this city. Are snow tires for my Nissan Versa hatchback a good idea in Pittsburgh winters ? I live in Shadyside and drive to Oakland/Squirrel Hill for work. There are a couple of steep hills in Oakland (particularly where the parking garage is) and also a ramp-y driveway in my apartment complex. Thanks!

Good idea? Yeah. Absolutely necessary? No. All-seasons are adequate -- but only adequate.

[greg42]

It's going to hinge I suspect on which all season tires and how much tread depth you have left. Fairly worn all-seasons are going to be not too good in winter even though they would still be good for the rest of the year. In that sort of scenario you could be faced with either buying a new set of all seasons early, thus wasting the remaining life of the old ones, or buying a set of snows and saving the all-seasons for spring and getting some more use out of them.

Which of those makes more sense depends upon how long you plan to live where it snows a decent amount in the winter. Snow tires could last probably 3 winters, maybe 4 if lucky and well-kept, so they could extend the life of the non-winter tires quite a bit. As long as you don't move into the sun belt in the meantime, the investment won't really be a waste. The snows will be even more efficient if you "minus size" them (taller tires on smaller diameter wheels) and get them mounted on dedicated wheels. The wheels (just get plain steel ones; Tire Rack will sell you a winter tire and steel wheel set mounted, balanced and delivered at a decent price) will pay for themselves quickly if you do the swap work yourself. It's pretty easy, and all the tools you need are already in the trunk of the car! If you haven't done it before, you can learn the useful skills of using the jack and removing and replacing the wheels. (Seriously, it helps to know this, rather than wait for ages for roadside assistance when you can put the spare tire on yourself in 10 minutes if you get a flat.)

If your current all seasons have decent tread depth left on them, then you can just play wait and see. You can always get snow tires later if you find them necessary. You can do this even if you don't have much tread left on them. Who knows, you might make it through a mild winter. But it's not the greatest idea.

[bbrian12]

ive had snow tires for every car i had and even if you dont need them they are nice to have. it will cost you up front but they well last you a few winters cause you will only have them on for about 4 or 5 months. i got an extra set of rims so ill just switch them in november and then in april

[eastwestman]

Snow tires are great! Even if you only take advantage of their added traction once or twice a year, if it saves you from having an accident, they're worth it.