Last year's blizzards are still fresh in memory and I'm fond of recalling how deserted the streets were around my house. I loved being out with Gidget (Samoyed) at the height of the storms when the snow was blasting sideways and there was nary another soul out and about.

I felt like we were alone for blocks --trudging along in the middle of the streets -- but we were no doubt seen from the vantage points of toasty living rooms.

Alas, major arteries criss-cross the city so we didn't have to walk far to see a few determined drivers and there are always police cruising.

Let it snow!

Wow, you guys did really get hit last winter! I'd forgotten how much snow you guys had.

Love the patriotic graphics on the K-9 SUV.

How did the vehicles parked on the streets fare? I'd worry they would become victims of sliding cars.

We had snow like that in the 08/09 winter here in the PNW.

As for the gloves: Thick mittens is really the way to go for prolonged periods outside. Having all four fingers inside a mitten is A LOT warmer than a glove.


Every single glove I've tried is either too thin to keep my hands warm or too thick to give me the finger dexterity I need. Or both (surprisingly often the case, at least if you're outside for long enough). IMO, the perfect "glove" compromise between dexterity and insulation simply doesn't exist for very low temperatures.


Those "Glomitts" sure look nice, but not having tried them I can't vouch for them. Thanks for the tip, the glommits I have tried so far were of inferior quality and performance.


I have nothing against gloves, and I use them frequently. But when it's really cold I consider them a short term solution only. If I need to be outside for a long time in -10C (14F) or colder I go for thick wool mittens inside a wind proof outer shell.

Though a pain to get in/out of, when I was in Alaska 2 years ago, I used a pair of REI liners, overlaid by some thing glomitt-type in wool, covered with a waterproof Marmot shell. Worked great down to -5, on a snowmobile.

Wasn't able to get them off fast enough to shoot a fox, however!

I don't know of anyone's parked car being hit. Mine didn't move for two weeks. Even if your vehicle was capable, you didn't want to lose your parking place that you'd spent hours digging out.

That becomes a big bone of contention after snowstorms. The shopping cart in that photo was later used for several days to "reserve" a parking space for someone.

Our first big snow last winter occurred on December 19. I hope and hope.... right now the forecast for the 19th is just flurries.

I had forgotten that I had parked my work truck at the back of our lot prior to the recent storm event. This afternoon I dug a Ford width, 100' long trough through 4 feet of drifted snow, it took 2 hours but I got it out! I was prepared for the weather except my pants were not wind or waterproof, I should have put my Goretex overpants on. Mike

Yipes! Lotsa snow. Thanks for the pix.

I've got a couple of pairs of the glo-mitts, one wool (a bit heavier), and one fleece (a bit lighter). I like them, although they're not perfect. Sometimes the glove part flops down into what I'm doing which is a pain, especially when cooking.

BUT so nice not to have to take gloves on and off. With the tops folded back, I have fingerless gloves. With 'em down, I've got mittens. Add a pair of Gore-Tex overmitts, and you've got a pretty good cold weather set up.

HJ

For this evening's pup-walk, I wore glove liners under the Glomitts.

Perfect.

It's in the 20s here, dropping to 20 overnight. And breeeeezy! Brrrrr.

When I lived just outside Iowa City in the 70s and 80s, several times per winter we'd go from being able to freely travel into town or out to interstate 80 within 5-10 minutes, to being snowbound for 3-4 days. The lane to my farmhouse was about a block long, and I had a 4WD Subaru. Even if I could make it out to the asphalt road in front of the house, within another block or so there were deep roadcuts in both directions that would drift full of snow to 8-10 feet or more within a few hours. Neither the city nor Johnson county claimed us, and even when they got it worked out who would come out to snowplow, they had to wait for big snowblowers to come from some distance away that could blow the snow 60-70 feet up over the power lines to clean out the roadcuts. We always had to be ready for these impromptu confinements in the wintertime, and had a nice Lange airtight woodstove and plenty of oak treetops harvested by our own hands (and with a permit that cost $5 per year) from the big commercially logged timbers in nearby Amana. The lumber companies would take the big trunks and leave the treetops for locals to chainsaw up and haul away. Amazing firewood. Once dried, the hard oak logs would basically burn twice. Once with a flame, and then a second time as a big log-shaped red-hot glowing coal which would slowly crumble into fine white ash.

Hey Dagny, that is the same way I wear my mitts when hunting. Dark coloured wool flip-mitts over polypro liners, it keeps your hands warm but leaves your fingers sensitive enough to function. Mike