Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I’m in Lafayette Louisiana and it’s 20 degrees Fahrenheit or -6.7 Celsius and patchy ice on roads from freezing rain last night. I know people up north look at this and laugh at us because it’s a normal winter for you. Our homes aren’t built up to such cold weather ratings so it’s not uncommon for pipes to freeze and burst. Tire stores don’t even carry winter tires nor any snow and ice products like tire chains and window ice scrapers. Clothing stores only carry lightweight to medium weight coats and gloves. Most have a light wind breakers, fleece hoodie, and some midweight jackets. Some will have a few jackets that approach heavy weight level but those are so low in stock that there’s hardly any selection in sizes to choose from. Winter undergarments is also a rare find in stores here. Utility crews and police have to go to specialty uniform stores or online ordering for cold weather protection. Snow plows and salt? Try sand trucks dropping some sand on certain iced over roads or completely closing the road entirely.
If I had to go to work today I would do so very carefully. I work at a hospital boiler room and help maintain the hospital’s HVAC system, emegency generators, medical gas system, fire alarm system, elevator entrapment, and general repairs including the nurse call systems. Sadly many unnecessary businesses are opening this morning causing worried parents to decide if their teenager should touch it out or personally call the boss and say their kid is staying home. I understand businesses that sell emergency supplies (food stock, emergency heating, blankets, gas, diesel, water, propane, etc) but fast food doesn’t count as emergency.
I was in Ohio in early March and had "winter boots" that I'd bought in Texas. They were fur lined boots. They were TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE WEATHER and I had to stop and buy boots that went down to below zero temps! My gosh, they don't even rate boots that way here in NE Texas.
Oh, and here's another gem of truth. I went on vacation in early September in Maine. All the summer stuff in all the touristy shops was on sale. For them, their summer stuff was like our winter stuff! Hoodies and all that! I racked up! LOL The down side was that I went to the LL Bean outlet and couldn't buy anything at all, because I couldn't imagine wearing anything as hot as all that in Texas. I think I bought like maybe a magnet or something.
That ain’t not excuse. I live in a Brazilian town with poorly built houses and no structures built to resist snow and cold.
At least you lot can travel to northern states to buy winter gear and winter tires. Try finding that in Brazil.
A few years ago in june the temperature was -8C and the road was icy. No commercial activity stopped, schools didn’t close and people still went outside.
I’m in Lafayette Louisiana and it’s 20 degrees Fahrenheit or -6.7 Celsius and patchy ice on roads from freezing rain last night. I know people up north look at this and laugh at us because it’s a normal winter for you. Our homes aren’t built up to such cold weather ratings so it’s not uncommon for pipes to freeze and burst. Tire stores don’t even carry winter tires nor any snow and ice products like tire chains and window ice scrapers. Clothing stores only carry lightweight to medium weight coats and gloves. Most have a light wind breakers, fleece hoodie, and some midweight jackets. Some will have a few jackets that approach heavy weight level but those are so low in stock that there’s hardly any selection in sizes to choose from. Winter undergarments is also a rare find in stores here. Utility crews and police have to go to specialty uniform stores or online ordering for cold weather protection. Snow plows and salt? Try sand trucks dropping some sand on certain iced over roads or completely closing the road entirely.
If I had to go to work today I would do so very carefully. I work at a hospital boiler room and help maintain the hospital’s HVAC system, emegency generators, medical gas system, fire alarm system, elevator entrapment, and general repairs including the nurse call systems. Sadly many unnecessary businesses are opening this morning causing worried parents to decide if their teenager should touch it out or personally call the boss and say their kid is staying home. I understand businesses that sell emergency supplies (food stock, emergency heating, blankets, gas, diesel, water, propane, etc) but fast food doesn’t count as emergency.
Oh man…
Here’s the same story, in reverse.
I moved up to western New York. As a person, living where I’ve lived, I have had neither opportunity nor need to build up basic cold weather skills. I don’t, apparently, know how to select cold weather clothing, I’ve never driven in snow (it’s terrifying, quit driving so aggressively), I’ve never shoveled snow, never used a snow blower, or even seen one in the flesh, never used salt on a walkway, never had to defrost or de ice a windshield, and I’ve fallen a half dozen times, tweaking some nerves twice and getting a good bruise another time. Cold, snow, and winter is a skill y’all northerners/easterners don’t even know you really possess. You just do it. If it has never been your thing, it’s a really big deal, and not something you just…do.
That said, when cold comes south, it’s a lack of infrastructure. Nobody’s going to invest in clearing snow they don’t regularly get, it’s cheaper to shut down when it comes (and I question how hard y’all northeasterners push asking/obligating people to be out in hazardous conditions just to stay open. It seems neither nice nor moral to put people at risk like that). Nothing else is built for the cold, either. Why would it be? Would you build for extreme heat up here? No. It doesn’t get hot here.
So northerners, don’t laugh at our foibles. It’s actually not that easy. It costs money for gear, time and effort for skills, and it’s just not really normal enough to assume that people not from cold climates really know how to cope in any meaningful way.
Plus, we like not having cars eaten up by salt. Do better on that front, please.
That ain’t not excuse. I live in a Brazilian town with poorly built houses and no structures built to resist snow and cold.
At least you lot can travel to northern states to buy winter gear and winter tires. Try finding that in Brazil.
A few years ago in june the temperature was -8C and the road was icy. No commercial activity stopped, schools didn’t close and people still went outside.
That town is about a mile in length and sits on a plateau. Not the same thing as driving up and down hills with long sustained slopes.
The South is woefully unprepared for snow and ice. But also people drive like idiots down there even under warm and dry conditions. Anytime it rains or there's snow the geniuses put on their hazard lights on as if that makes it better.
Not to mention the landscape is not meant for the cold. Friend of mine in Houston had all his Palms and landscape damaged in 2018 I believe it was. He replanted everything only for it to happen again in 2021.
He gave up replanting his tropical plants because they keep dropping below 20F (-6.7C) there, again this year
I was in Ohio in early March and had "winter boots" that I'd bought in Texas. They were fur lined boots. They were TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE WEATHER and I had to stop and buy boots that went down to below zero temps! My gosh, they don't even rate boots that way here in NE Texas.
Oh, and here's another gem of truth. I went on vacation in early September in Maine. All the summer stuff in all the touristy shops was on sale. For them, their summer stuff was like our winter stuff! Hoodies and all that! I racked up! LOL The down side was that I went to the LL Bean outlet and couldn't buy anything at all, because I couldn't imagine wearing anything as hot as all that in Texas. I think I bought like maybe a magnet or something.
The South is woefully unprepared for snow and ice. But also people drive like idiots down there even under warm and dry conditions. Anytime it rains or there's snow the geniuses put on their hazard lights on as if that makes it better.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Mild winters
