Me and Jr. reached Seattle couple of days ago and Snow showers followed us. From the hottest humid Chennai to the windy, snowy Seattle – that’s not such an easy transition especially when you “want to try” and get back on track from jet lag.
Roads are all white. As much fun it is to drive, it is so much dangerous too. Seattle (rather Washington) is a hilly area and driving can be risky.
One of my neighbor did share some snow driving tips. Here they are for anyone who might find it useful
There are times when even salting, sanding, and plowing cannot help traction on the ice and snow with any car, truck or SUV.
I STRONGLY recommend considering snow tires or studded snow tires for your car AND have a set of chains. Les Schwab will refund your money on chains if you don’t use them.
Put the chains on the drive wheels. If you have front wheel drive, you put the chains on the front.
If you have rear wheel drive car, consider purchasing several bags of sand from Home Depot. Note that they are heavy. This serves 2 purposes,
1) to put extra weight on the drive wheels.
2) If your car gets stuck, just open one of the bags and put some sand down right underneath your drive wheels.
Going down the hill tips.
If you have antilock brakes, GO SLOW, and always point your car the direction you want it to go. Most of the roads are rounded in the middle to help move the rain towards the gutters. It’s called "crowning".
When going down the hill try and stay towards the middle of the road. Otherwise, folks slide their cars into the gutter and get stuck. If you feel the car start to slide, do not let off the brakes. They will pulse but this is normal. The steering wheel will probably jerk around so grip the wheel firmly.
If you don’t have anti lock brakes, put your chains on go slow and "pump the brakes".
Going up the hill tips
Again, stay on top of the crown of the road and go slow. If you press the gas too hard, your tires will spin and you will slide off into the gutter and get stuck, or spin out.
Take care and have a safe holiday
Cheers
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Some videos on whats happening around..
http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1509319618
http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1509319618
Dame's Galaxy 