{"id":64580,"date":"2023-01-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/?p=64580"},"modified":"2022-12-15T13:40:50","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T18:40:50","slug":"how-to-drive-in-bad-weather-like-a-mainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/how-to-drive-in-bad-weather-like-a-mainer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Drive in Bad Weather Like a Mainer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The criterion for a snow day is, first and foremost, the inability of school buses to operate safely on their routes to school. Here in Maine, the third coldest and second snowiest state in the U.S. according to the World Population Review, where we receive an average of 77.28 inches of snowfall per year, the potential for impromptu neighborhood snowball fights is high. But if we\u2019re seeing fewer of these nostalgic-laden days off, it\u2019s not, according to Charlie Lopresti, chief meteorologist at WGME Portland, because there\u2019s less snow than there used to be. (Though remote learning could certainly be to blame.) \u201cThe road crews in Maine are amazing,\u201d says Lopresti. \u201cYou always hear from old-timers who say, \u2018When I was a kid, the snowbanks were so much higher!\u2019\u201d In reality, Lopresti says, that\u2019s not the case. \u201cTwo things are happening there,\u201d he says. \u201cFirst, you\u2019re a kid; you\u2019re small, right? So the banks look higher.\u201d But what\u2019s really happening, he explains, is the advancements in technology. \u201cThe hydraulics on these big plows, they\u2019re blowing snow, sending it deep into the woods. They\u2019re not making those big snowbanks that you once saw when you were little.\u201d These days, Mainers are remarkably comfortable driving in snow. \u201cIf there\u2019s two inches of snow on the ground in southeastern Massachusetts, people are gonna stay off the roads,\u201d says Lopresti. \u201cIn Maine, we just call that Tuesday.\u201d He says that in his 20-year career there\u2019s only been half a dozen times when he\u2019s told people to stay home, such as the blizzard of 2013 (\u201cmy favorite blizzard\u201d) where Portland got 15 inches of snow in just six hours. So, for people who pride themselves on staying on the road, how is it done? Does moving to Maine mean you have to purchase, say, an SUV? \u201cObviously something that sits higher is going to do better in deeper snow,\u201d says Lopresti, who recommends not trying to blow through the snowplow-made berm at the end of your driveway in anything other than a truck. \u201cYeah, I got stuck on the top of one of those in a Subaru Forester,\u201d he explains. But other than that, all one really needs is front-wheel drive, less than six inches of snow on the ground, and some snow tires. \u201cI\u2019m not an expert on tires, but you don\u2019t want a regular old tire you bought in Florida,\u201d he says. Feel yourself starting to skid? \u201cThe recommendation is, once you start skidding, you turn into the skid,\u201d says Lopresti. \u201cYou can recover that pretty easily in snow,\u201d he continues. On ice? \u201cUm, you might just keep turning, and before you know it, you\u2019re doing a 360.\u201d When it comes to ice accumulating on the windshield and blocking visibility, though, Lopresti has a tried-and-true trick: crank the defrost on high and, in order to keep from sweating yourself out, crack the windows a little\u2014the operative word being \u201clittle.\u201d Finally, drive slowly. \u201cThe faster you drive, the faster and the farther you\u2019ll probably go into the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t

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