Do you folks carry chains, just in case, during the winter or solely rely on the snow tires that you change every time during winter?
Howdy Seek -
Very few folks from the Northeast carry chains. Many folks don't even change over to snow tires (or use Mud & Snows year round, either). I'm no expert but I've always thought the following contributes to this:
- In the Northeast, you often find yourself driving in snowy and/ or icy conditions pretty frequently throughout the winter and folks get used to it.
- Northeastern snowstorms tend to not be quite as deep (per snowstorm) as storms in the higher elevations of the West - this means that your tires are more likely to cut thru the snow down to the pavement (or at least pretty close to it) - if you have more snow and your tires can't get down to the pavement then chains are going to give you more traction within the snow that your tires are churning thru - if you can get to the pavement all your chains are doing is chewing up the pavement.
- Northeast snowstorms tend to not be as dry and the wet snows seem to allow tires to reach the pavement more easily (depends on how wet and what the temperature is, of course) - see previous for reasons this is easier for traction.
- Northeast snow tends to happen at most altitudes throughout the winter and the municipalities tend to get going on clearing it pretty quickly or risk having whole cities and towns shut down.
- Western snow tends to happen at higher altitudes where there are less people and there seems to be less resources devoted to clearing things right away.
- Freeze thaw cycles in the Northeast often allow for melting shortly after a storm (creating conditions that aid traction) but also then supporting freezing come evening (creating conditions that are detrimental to traction) - all of this means that the authorities tend to try to clear the roads before the freezing happens, if possible.
- Snow at higher altitudes (more common in the west) tends not to melt as much between storms and therefore piles up on an already snow or ice covered paved surface making traction, once again, that much more difficult.
Zach
P.S. Or maybe folks in the Northeast are just cheap!?!?