The tire chain thread brought this to mind.

Hell on the Highway | National Geographic Channel

Those of you in the frigid midwest, northeast and much of Canada suffer colder winters than us out West and wonder us wimpy folks use tire chains. Isnt all of California just like Hollywood and Palm Springs? Mountain passes like Donner is why. We get deeper, heavier snow than any other place in the USA. Its called "Sierra cement".

Dedicated winter tires, like in Canada, are not enough and dont count for anything legally here. 4x4 and M+S tires with at least 5/32 tread can get by, but we are still required to have chains in the vehicle.

 

Growing up on Maine's coast, we suffered our fair share of cold weather and heavy snow fall but not to the extremes of Northern Cali or even Northern Maine for that matter.

Chains were not needed but dedicated snow tires and even the use of studs were recommended. Studded tires had to be off the vehicle by April 1st, IIRC.

Living in heavy snow country is a game of survival and requires good planning for your homes and vehicles.

 

I totally agree.....that's why it's a toss up over taking alot of snow or temps in the -50 degree celcius range in the winter...

 

i watch the show....i have to laugh at what they consider "dangerous". i'm sorry but i have to say in my humble opinion 90% of the issue is drivers not having correct tires, 4x4 or any sense of driving in snow/ice conditions(mix and match your combo). i have seen much worse then what is shown on tv. also all my life in alaska i've never once used a set of chains. studded snow tires and 4x4 have never let me down yet. we also dont shut down our highways for weather conditions very often.


btw, your snowiest city is in my state. the mountain pass above it see's even more snow then the town.

America's snowiest places? Weather.com lists them - U.S. News

 

i laugh at california will all them bikini girls talking about snow.. u know that show was about a comedy act with what they were calling dangerous, a 16 year old school girl with her first car drives thru to get to school in here.

take off your skirts cali and put on some big boy pants. the skinny pedal is go, the wide one is stop. less drugs more hugs please.

 

The average snowfall in Alaska is higher because your winter is longer. That doesn't mean you're getting more snow per storm.

The Coast Guard has taken me from the Maritime Boundary Line in Alaska to Nova Scotia, Canada and all points between. I spent the month of January 2003 in the port of Valdez, a month on Kodiac Island, a time on the Aleutian Islands and much further north patrolling the Bering Sea during the crab season.

Likewise I've spent winters off of George's Banks during the deep sea lobster and fishing seasons.
In both instances I've seen the snow and seas so heavy that we couldn't launch a helo or even make it into port.

I've been to Northern Cali, Minn, Michigan, etc. Snow is a dangerous event and the ability of a municipality to remove said snow says a lot for one's ability to deal with it's effects.

There's no room for any macho BS in the winter, period. Be prepared.

 

I have not run chains or studs in years...

I refuse to run studs. Period. They may help (marginally) with getting going from a stop and they may help (marginally) with stopping - but once you get going, it's like running on ice skates - no thanks...

Anytime I see idiots run studded tires on dry roads, after the snow season is over, I just want to smack them upside the head with something hard...

Chains, I don't have a problem with - if properly used, they can be beneficial - the key word here is "properly" - sadly, there are too many people out there who have no idea what they're doing...

My father trained me well in how to drive on icy roads, when I was a kid, and I've honed that skill over the years. I fully agree with the above sentiments that good tires are key and 4WD, while not a necessity in some cases, does help considerably - if used correctly...

 

i would say 40+ inches in a DAY is a pretty good storm. maybe you wouldn't.


on the studded tire opinion, everyone i have ran into that doesn't like them seems to live in a area that salts the roads and doesnt have ice/snow pack on there main roads/highways. the studs make a HUGE difference. after a recent freeze and thaw cycle our streets look like the picture below(taken a few days ago) tell me how studs don't help on a hot mopped ice rink of a road.

i run mine from october to april, not running them on dry pavement as it is the law them must be off by may 15th.

 

That's not what I'm saying at all and you know it sir. We've all seen storms like that but it's not a daily event. Over 300 inches of snow in a winter season is a hellacious amount to say the least. You're winters are longer than anything that we experience in the lower 48, would you agree? Caribou, Maine normally gets about 115 inches of snow in a 30-40 day period. If Northern Maine's winter was as long as yours, I'd say that the averages would be close.

I don't think the OP intended this to be a chest thumping thread but rather a more informative one. I've been to AK numerous times and all in the winter months, it's brutal as hell! Perhaps more so than anywhere else I've been.

I intend to rep the OP for a great thread.

 

actually the OP claimed i was just correcting him that is infact not correct.

Valdez does often get 10",20",30",40" storms in a day. then there are years like last year that brought a week long event that dumped 5 feet 8 inches in 5 days. so combined with a longer winter they also get more snow and it doesnt melt away after a few days or weeks.

Valdez AK Snowfall Totals & Snow Accumulation Averages - Current Results

Record snowfalls in Valdez Alaska sinks boat and Washington DC gets a new snowfall record | Watts Up With That?


My point was, if the worst of the worst is what is shown on TV. then Donner pass is closer to a cake walk then "hell" compared to some of the situations i have been in. that basically its not that bad. thats my point.

 

The show, as all "reality" shows is a bit too dramatic, and I think the some of tow operators shown are goofballs. Dons Towing, in my part of the mountains is a totally 1st class professional operation.

I 80 gets folks going from SFO to gamble in Reno, a big source of the stupid drivers. The stats I saw were over 400" of snow in Donner Pass, not a city. Truckee is down quite a way from the pass. If my stat is incorrect, it was not intentional.

I'm at 6300ft on a small two-lane highway, so conditions, and people, are a little different. We get much less snow per season, but can still get five feet from one storm.

I mainly wanted to point out that CA is not all Beaches and Desert. BTW, chain use is a legal requirement, not optional, no matter how good a winter driver you think you are. I'm sure that is partly due to the gamblers from SFO, but also due to the steep grades where icy conditions happen.

 

Dup post.

Moderator, please delete if possible.

 

its not all beaches and sand in cali, but in a hours drive it is. try that in alaska. you gotta fly outa state south to see ladys in bikinis.