WEBlue

Wow, 2 AM is early! I guess they have a lot of ploughing to do for people?

We've been through one snowstorm in this property. Luckily the driveway is dead flat and not very long, so the husband and I managed to shovel it between us with the two shovels we have. Actually we didn't even need to shovel the whole length of it, because the snow wasn't too deep and the car's wheels got a grip after we'd dug about half the drive clear.

But I'm not looking forward to winter. People around us say last winter was mild compared to the winter before when there were alternating snowstorms & icestorms for months on end.... Fun!

Mr Weeze

For me it's a sign of Armageddon. I would hide in the house eating any pork pies I may have.

WEBlue

That sounds good to me! Unfortunately this is New England, where the folk are hale & hardy and don't let a few feet of white stuff stop work....

I assume those of you who advocate waiting for it to melt work from home?

Pulaski

Understood, it's similar round here at least some of the time, but there has to be a water phase, ice cannot sublimate at anything close to normal atmospheric pressure. It would have to be about 0.006 atmospheres or less for sublimation to occur.

Pulaski

Often, yes, in any inclement weather, now I have access to all my network applications and files from home, but it is rare that an overnight snow fall doesn't melt by lunchtime. I did shovel off the driveway once, and the neighbors must have wondered WTF I had done that? I did too by the end of the day.

Weeze

Remember that snow day 2 years back. Such fun. No actual snow but a snow day. Houston doesn't really understand cold.

kins

2am is pretty normal for our guys too. The plough guys will work 30-40 hours straight in a big snowstorm, which worries me.

My first two winters here we had 9 feet of snow each winter. Last winter we probably had about five snow days and the total ended up quite high although we did have Nemo which gave us 3 feet in one go so that pushed it up.

SultanOfSwing

They are out plowing when the snow is falling. Most snow removal contracts have a trigger as to when service is required, be it 1", 2" or even zero tolerance, which is essentially one snowflake.

If the snow is falling, or the trigger is hit at 2am, then the guys will be out clearing snow at 2am, or else they'd be in breach of contract and then the poor bastard doing collections (i.e. me) would have a fun time still trying to get paid for the work in June

Bob

Last winter was a breeze....just long.

Thing with snow, it's easier to clear it to the ground and scrape it clear when it's fresh rather than when it's frozen and compact and you'd want to do that because a bit of sun melting it and then re-freezing over night is a mare to clear and it's that slippery stuff that gets you in trouble.

Those chemical ice removers are good, but I wouldn't recommend them if you've got pets but are handy on steps.

It's the drive ways that get ploughed in by the road crews that do my head in.

Bob

When we were in Maine and there was a 6 foot snow blizzard, work didn't give her a snow day and had to go in.

When there was less than 2 inches of snow expected in Georgia, that whole site was shut down

SultanOfSwing

Right - it's much better just to get it over with and clear it as soon as it builds up, otherwise it just gets harder to remove. The only thing I can't control is when the village comes through and clears the roads and we get a big bunch of icy blocks of snow at the end of the drive. No matter how far out into the road I shovel (even though I'm not 'supposed' to), it still happens. It is what it is, though.

Calcium chloride is good for ice on paths and walkways, especially for when it's down at 15F or below. It's just the calcium halide salt version of rock salt (sodium chloride), used for roads and drives.

jeffreyhy

I agree with shoveling early and shoveling often. It's much easier to remove 1-2" of snow 3 or 4 times than 6-8" of snow in one shot.

I shovel a bit the street to the left of my driveway (the direction the town plow comes from) so that the edge of the plow will not be picking up snow as it approaches my drive. It helps a bit, but does not solve the problem entirely. And needs to be done before the plow comes through the first time.

Regards, JEff

Bob

That salt stuff on the roads ain't so great, it attracts the deer/moose which lick the stuff and cause accidents.

It seems it's a grit/salt and something else mixed in that gets used around here and more so up in Maine these days rather than just the salt.

SultanOfSwing

A lot of highway agencies and villages have been mixing grit in because salt is getting expensive. I believe out your way (or out Northeast somewhere) they have been shipping the salt in from the salt mine in the town I grew up in. I heard that our suppliers got ours from Chile, though.

Salt is better because it actually lowers the freezing point of water so it allows the snow to melt at temperatures much lower than 32F.

AilsWallace

How much snow are we talking about here?!?!?!?!