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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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When we talk about snow storms, we use only that term - snow storms. They can be big or small, negligeable or "stuck inside for two days" big, but they're all called snow storms. When you talk about wind&water storms, there are a variety of names.
Are there different names for snow storms where you live?
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LATER EDIT:
Ooops, forgot to add that I was talking about French in the question above.
Doc. Bill sent me a note mentioning Blizzard, Arctic Cyclone, and Whiteout. Ooo, and Nor'easter.
I particularly like the term whiteout. So snowy that you can't tell where ground ends and sky begins.
I'm surprised that we don't have that in French. Instead we'd say "it's a storm where you can't tell where ground ends and sky begins." A bit long, no.
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Pooh-Bah
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We have flurries, brief stormlets where the snow is falling reasonably quickly and is tossed about by light often blustery winds and blizzards which involve a lot of snow and, usually, a lot of wind. Then there is the whiteout which is WAY TOO MUCH snow with or without wind. I don't want to think of what an arctic cyclone might involve. Can anyone think of any I've missed?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I thought a Nor'easter was just a storm with heavy rain and wind--but what do I know, I don't live there. I also don't live where we get many blizzards: our weather forecasters use the term winter storm--though that can mean sleet as well as snow. What we really need is a word for a "Oh my gosh we've had two inches of snow we'd better close the schools" storm.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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What we really need is a word for a "Oh my gosh we've had two inches of snow we'd better close the schools" storm.
Close the schools??? For two inches of snow??? [confused-e]
Two inches of snow only means it's time to consider taking out your winter boots.
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two inches of snow means its time to consider taking out your winter bootsTwo inches of snow means it's gone before you can find your boots, belMar. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Here in McDowell County, NC, betwee4n Jan 1 and about the end of March we had a total of nine cancellations of school because of weather. On five of those nine occasions it freaking never snowed. On the other four days the TOTAL accumulation was less than 6 inches.
Yes, dear friends, they closed school because of the forecast of snow!
My father alway swore that one time in Selma, Alabama, where we lived briefly when I was an infant, the city council voted to stop trains from running through the city because there was fear that the two inches of snow on the tracks would cause derailments.
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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When we moved to the flatlands of South Jersey in '73 I couldn't get over how the locals panicked whenever we got an inch or two of snow, closing schools, calling out from work, leaving work early, etc. I grew up in the mountains in North ersey (yes, there's mountains in NJ, the Kittatinnies in Sussex and Warren counties), and when we had a foot and a half of snow they were ready for it, roads were cleared, and everybody went their merry way to work and school...you needed two feet or more to start closing things down). Course, round 'bout '77 this area starting getting racked with some real winters, blizzards even, again, so folks aren't quite as jaded about light snow as they used to be, but.
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Course, round 'bout '77 this area starting getting racked with some real winters, blizzards even
They still remember the "big snow" in Buffalo round about that time. I remember reading that they were driving snowmobiles over the tops of some of the houses they were looking for.
Still, I wouldn't trade our big snows for the hurricanes down in Florida, the 2nd one ready to hit the coast in less than a month.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Maybe that's the difference WON. When you're used to snow, you're prepared for the worst when you get up in the morning. A foot of snow only means you have to shovel the driveway to get out your car, and not much more.
If you know it's coming from the forcast of previous evening, you wake up earlier. If you don't you get in a few minutes late. No biggie.
I imagine if you get a few inches of snow where you never get snow it could be an issue - no snow tires, no snow blowers...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The same blizzards of '77 that Juan talked about came through here (Chi-town) first. Of course, before it got to Buffalo it had to *cross the mighty Michigan and part of the Erie I'm sure... ... but, round these parts, snow is always compared to the "Snowstorm" of 1967, which was much more fun at my age then... ... more memorable for me was the "Blizzard" of '79. I like snowstorms more than blizzards, but they're likeable for the same *reasons. http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/disasters/snowstorms.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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When I lived outside of Pullman, Washington, home of the Fighting Cougars, I drove seven miles each way to and from the university. In winter, when there was always snow on the ground, we did two things which helped: (1) I had an electric crankcase oil warmer installed in the Buick station wagon I drove in those days. A stub of electrical cord protruded through grill and one hooked that up to an extension cord from the house at night, to keep the engine oil warm. (2)On REALLY cold nights, I had a quick-release on the car battery mount and a handle which allowed the battery to be carried into the mud porch for the night, such that, when it was reinstalled in the morning, it had maximum cranking power. Life in Western Washington is so much easier on my old bones.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's true, eh, you see things differently when you are a kid.
From Environment Canada: Montreal's Snowstorm of the Century - March 4, 1971. Montreal's worst snowstorm killed 17 people and dumped 47 cm of snow on the city with winds of 110 km/h producing second-storey drifts. Winds snapped power poles and felled cables, cutting electricity for up to ten days in some areas. In total, the city hauled away 500,000 truckloads of snow.
But from us kids' point of view, it meant a "SNOW DAY" the funnest two words of the school year.
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Father Steve, what you had there is a block heater. You can have them installed on most cars here. With the new car batteries though, you rarely need them.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It snows here sometimes;
Sometimes we have snowstorms;
And we also have blizzards, but rarely.
If we have ice storms, followed by snowstorms,
And the sun comes out and melts all of the snow in one part of the school district,
But fails to melt some of it in another where ice remains on a few bus routes...
Then conceivably:
School's out with no snow! (At least as far as my eye can see in my school's neighborhood.)
Crrraaaaaaaazy!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The more it snows
(Tiddely pom),
The more it goes
(Tiddely pom),
The more it goes
(Tiddely pom),
On snowing.
And nobody knows
(Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes
(Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes
(Tiddely pom),
Are growing.
~Winnie the Pooh
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Carpal Tunnel
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Charley and Frances are siblings
Raised off the gulfstream's heat
Neither white-out, nor blizzard nor woman scorned
Can lay greater wreck at their feet.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yeahbut®, a few inches of snow doesn't require any shoveling or plowing, if you know how to drive in snow. Therein lies the problem. I've seen people driving in a quarter inch of snow and slipping sliding all over the road in Washington, DC.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I've seen people driving in a quarter inch of snow and slipping sliding all over the road in Washington, DC.Aw, probably just Senators and Congressmen coming back from those 4-martini lunches. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Senators and Congressmen coming back from those 4-martini lunches
Well, one of em had stolen a bus, then.
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"Yeahbut®, a few inches of snow doesn't require any shoveling or plowing, if you know how to drive in snow. Therein lies the problem. I've seen people driving in a quarter inch of snow and slipping sliding all over the road in Washington, DC."
And here I thought the problem was people expecting other people to deal with a situation about which they are almost wholly ignorant. Last time I heard about folks in Chicago dying of heat stroke I went around these parts (Atlanta) trying to find people making fun of them for not drinking water and having air conditioning. Still looking with no results to report.
During the time I lived in Nashville it snowed heavily every winter. There was no equipment for dealing with it in spite of the fact that it occurred regularly. The really hideous problem was that a high percentage of Nashvillains drove pickup trucks. Big engine in front, no weight on rear axle. We could hear the tires spinning every winter night when we went to get the battery out of the car.
Block warmers aren't just for the protection of the battery, are they? Don't they also keep all the vital fluids from freezing and bursting the hoses and whatnot? We had one in our car in Ontario but we never needed it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Block warmers...don't they also keep all the vital fluids from freezing and bursting the hoses and whatnot?
I've never heard of hoses bursting. I do know that when it is extremely cold, in some cases, the humidity will freeze in a hose and keep the fluids from circulating. Thus preventing the car from starting.
I have a friend who worked in the Northwest Territories. I know they had a problem with starting cars. They'd just leave them running all night when it got too cold. Apparently, it made for a heavy smog in the mornings.
I'll try to contact her to see if she ever heard of hoses bursting.
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As to the making fun part. It's all good-natured ribbing since many of us have known each other for years.
I have no doubt, though, that you would not have found anybody making fun of the Chicago heat wave since there were deaths involved.
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>>>high percentage of Nashvillains drove pickup trucks. Big engine in front, no weight on rear axle.
I am a tad ignorant on car terminology so excuse me if I'm not saying this right...
I'm surprised that they haven't thought of front-wheel drives. It is much more convenient when it snows since the weight is on the tires that do the work.
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"As to the making fun part. It's all good-natured ribbing since many of us have known each other for years."
Bit of a knee-jerk response on my part. I've just heard it so much over the years when I knew it wasn't intended kindly.
"I'm surprised that they haven't thought of front-wheel drives. It is much more convenient when it snows since the weight is on the tires that do the work."
Having front-wheel drive sure kept me going on many occasions, but then I've usually had weenie little cars. Do any pickup trucks have front-wheel drive? The van I sometimes drive now does not. It seems like an obvious solution to me, but mainly my knowledge about trucks is confined to knowing one when I see it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>>>but mainly my knowledge about trucks is confined to knowing one when I see it.I know what you mean.  The big thing in trucks now is all-wheel drive. Get you out of anything. If one wheel is in a slippery position, the other ones will get you out.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The big thing in trucks now is all-wheel drive.
We have AWD on our little Subaru. Much better than 4-wheel drive because you don't have to think.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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because you don't have to think. Hoo, boy, Anna--you left yourself wide open on that one! [biting tongue e] 
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