How much snow would it take for Dallas to be "snowed in"? (Irving: apartment complex, buying)

[BigDGeek]

I've lived in places like Germany and Poland which have winters more like Chicago's. I can drive on snow/ice just fine, and so can many of my Texan friends/family members.

However, the roads here are dangerous when iced over because there are few sand/salt trucks to treat the roads and we have so many elevated roads/overpasses that a route home can be very treacherous. Plus, no matter your skill level, you can still spin out on black ice when you're driving on a surface designed for a hot, dry climate and when the tires on your car are not winter tires. I've seen enough canned news footage of blizzards up north with drivers spinning helplessly out of control on snowy/icy highways to know that not everyone up there can handle it either!

If roads are iced up here, the city doesn't shut down. I've never seen the city shut down entirely; Austin yes, Dallas no. Schools might close, your business might close for the day but it's more likely they'll have a delayed opening. The only snow/ice days I've had in the last 5 years have been by choice; I either took the day off or worked from home.

Best advice is if it's going to be snowy/icy the following day, take your laptop home if you have one and plan to work from home the next day. That way you don't have to risk even getting out on the roads.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

It also depends on where in the metroplex you live. The northern cities got more snow. My patio table had about 6" on it but some of that was wind-driven not a straight fall total. My street had a good 3-4 inches over ice b/c it rained so much before the temp began dropping.

[FalconheadWest]

In my book, the worst ice days were Thanksgiving of 1993 as I worked in a movie theatre my senior year and theatres don't close for any type of weather, and I had two co-workers sleep on my couch that night since I lived closest...

and then New Years Eve 2000 into 2001. It took 4 hours to get to a party 30 minutes away, and then another 3 hours to get home.

[Rakin]

Usually if the weather dude just talks about it, we freak out and have a home day.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Plus, no matter your skill level, you can still spin out on black ice when you're driving on a surface designed for a hot, dry climate and when the tires on your car are not winter tires.

Agreed, and you also have to watch out for people with little to no experience driving in bad weather conditions. I have driven in just about everything from Monsoon flash flood storms to Blizzards and although I consider my self skillful in such conditions, I try and avoid it as much as possible. We was outta town when the storm struck Dallas and we stayed gone and extra day. I've made that trip once before (between Midland and Dallas) during an ice storm and lost count of the wrecks. People would drive as if it was a summer day.

[compSciGuy]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

And, as others have said, people here think that just because they have a 4 wheel drive pickup or SUV, that means they can drive normally on ice! Years ago, I worked for a Swedish company, and when we had an icy day, our new North American President, who had just moved from Sweden, didn't close the office because he thought the roads were fine. Well, on his way into work, his brand new Volvo was totalled in a wreck with a local who didn't know how to drive in snow!

Shout out to the ex-Ericsson employee. Years ago I remember it being snowed in and almost everyplace closing down. A noticeable exception was the Swedish company who was employing me. I lost control of my car in the parking lot exit going less than 20 because people driving out melted the snow into water, only to have the temperature refreeze it as ice. I decided to go super slow on the backroads to get to work. Better safe than sorry.

[BigDGeek]

I'm grateful that my company lets me work from home pretty much whenver I want so if the weather gets nasty, I can stay home where it's safe.

[stan4]

Yeah.
I just bought a new truck (it's my second vehicle and the one I put the car seat in but also the one I drive in bad weather) and people were making fun of the fact that I made sure this one had 4 wheel drive.

Four wheel drive in Texas? Pointless!

Oh? Yeah, these are the people who don't have to drive 54 miles round trip to work REGARDLESS of weather conditions.

[rantanamo]

As a sociologist, I've read many a story about how "heat waves" affect the northern cities. Lots of deaths, brownouts and unusually high water consumption. They actually send researchers to figure out what keeps happening. Its just a matter of rare occurrence and how much you want to spend for that as well as some of the neighborhood layouts. Every place has their Kryptonite.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by stan4

Yeah.
I just bought a new truck (it's my second vehicle and the one I put the car seat in but also the one I drive in bad weather) and people were making fun of the fact that I made sure this one had 4 wheel drive.

Four wheel drive in Texas? Pointless!

Oh? Yeah, these are the people who don't have to drive 54 miles round trip to work REGARDLESS of weather conditions.

4WD/AWD is almost a standard option in my old home back in West Texas. Try driving around the oilfield with 2WD trucks. Just say there is a reason why I drive a Ford Raptor, not because it look cool, but because it comes in handy...especially the factory E-Locker.

Now with that said, 4WD is made for loose or slippery road conditions but I would shift in and out of 4WD only using it for icy or snowy parts of the road. Another good option is AWD (All Wheel Drive). AWD is basically full time 4WD designed for daily driving on paved and non-paved roads. AWD is VERY good on icy, snowy, and wet roads...even trucks with AWD. A lot of these people talking about handling icy/snowy conditions up north are probably using AWD or FWD vehicles.