Winter driving in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, TN? (states, years, husband)

[sera]

There is a Thread mentioning some of the states, curious about driving conditions in the winter; from reading various Posts, icy it can be south of Asheville. When it does snow here on the Olympic Peninsula, WA stay home!

Prefer to drive where I am familiar and/or have someone with me; suggestions for driving though major
cities, getting used to unfamiliar roadways/towns would be appreciated.

Thank You!

[Sam I Am]

You don't have to be concerned with driving in the winter in Arkansas. We roll up the roads.

Seriously - our Highway Dept. is NOT cut out to deal with a lot of snow, but we rarely get that nice fluffy stuff that blows around. No, it's wet, and sometimes sloppy, and sometimes has ice or sleet. And seriously again - few people decide to drive. Everyone takes a sick day, and lots of businesses just close down.

It's messy.

EDIT: The ones who do decide to drive are featured on the 5:00 news.

[nmnita]

Winters here can be anything from snowy and icey like the 2011 or dry and mild, like this year. Driving can be a pain or a breeze. Normally, Jan and the first week or so of Feb are the times to stay put or understand it will take you much longer to go from point A to point B, The rest of the time, enjoy...

Nita

[Cattknap]

Sometimes we get snow, sometimes we don't. Since we have lived here there have been 3 or 4 times that the roads were icy - but the roads are salted and plowed regularly. This last winter (2011) my husband never shoveled snow and the roads weren't icy.....if there is ice/snow, it usually melts in a day or two....snow never sticks arouind long and we rarely get more than a 2 or 3 inches at a time. I think our annual total snowfall (Louisville area) is 8 or 9 inches but we often have much less than that.

[Ark90]

In my part of the state, it might snow once or twice a winter. But it usually doesn't even stick. The last good snow we had was 2 years ago, I think. Ice is never TOO bad. Most of us just don't know how to drive on it, haha.
I think it's usually colder in southern Missouri. They usually get a lot more snow than us, it seems like.

[sera]

Sam I Am, thank you for the humor.

Thank each of you again for your Posts. Arkansas, retirement/good town for a senior person, preferably not a major city, walk to most amenities?

[Sam I Am]

Wow - that would be a tough one. Not a major city - how large (or small)? Do you drive, because the public transportation system isn't that great even in Little Rock? I'm not sure about public transportation in northwest Arkansas, someone else would have to chime in, but I'd think only perhaps Fayetteville...and that's the second largest area in Arkansas.

By amenities, do you simply mean grocery stores/the ever-present Wally World, a movie theater and health care, or do you mean theater and parks and fine dining? Please remember that so much of Arkansas is rural - which has it's own charm, but doesn't lend itself to very much excitement either :-)

You might post in the Arkansas forum, too - folks are very helpful. I can think of a couple of smaller towns but want to make sure we are on the same wavelength. My waves frequently target my tinfoil hat, so I'm giving you other sources of input.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by sera

There is a Thread mentioning some of the states, curious about driving conditions in the winter; from reading various Posts, icy it can be south of Asheville. When it does snow here on the Olympic Peninsula, WA stay home!

Prefer to drive where I am familiar and/or have someone with me; suggestions for driving though major
cities, getting used to unfamiliar roadways/towns would be appreciated.

Thank You!

In 2010 we had quite a bit of snow - up to about 10 inches of accumulation once. Last year maybe a 1/4 inch, once. Our MO DOT is on the ball and usually has the roads cleared in amazingly short order, even the more minor ones here in the boonies where we live. Given that our rural roads turn and twist in the Ozarks you have to be careful but in our experience, most people are. It's really not a major concern.

[wawa1992]

In Tennessee snow and ice are a fairly rare concern. So Tennessee shouldn't be bad for driving during 95% of the winter. East Tennessee, it does snow and ice more often but it's still not terribly common.

[Midpack]

Having lived in the south (TX, FL, TN) and north (NJ, OH, IL) there's another thing to consider. While driving on ice & snow is less frequent in the south, it can be noticeably more treacherous because many southern natives don't know how to drive on ice & snow. Nothing whatsoever against southerners, they just don't have the experience, and underestimate stopping distances and overestimate what 4WD can do for them.

Drivers up north have learned how to drive on ice & snow, there are techniques to make it safer, and 4WD and cars/trucks better suited to winter driving are more common up north. Winter driving up north is probably safer than down south (when there is snow & ice). And northern states tend to have snow plows & salt at the ready, whereas southern states simply can't justify having the equipment since snow is less likely/frequent - which makes roads themselves more treacherous (when there is snow & ice).

The saving grace down south as another member mentioned, many people just won't drive when it snows or gets icy. Whereas up north, in many places a foot of snow is just another day where you have to get up a little earlier to shovel and leave home 5-10 minutes early to make it to work on time (as expected)...