Find an empty parking lot before it snows. Verify there are no obstacles in it or find a large area with no obstacles. Wait until it snows. Hit that bitch up and learn about how your car handles and how to recover when you fuck up.

Make sure to bring a shovel and maybe some boards or whatever others suggest in case you get yourself stuck.

Ask a local to show you some of their winter clothes or to take you winter clothes shopping. Your warmest clothes right now are not warm enough. Capacitive touch gloves will let you use your phone.

If you have a car, get a snow brush and ice scraper (for windshield and windows). There is winter windshield fluid, get and use it when it’s snowing. Get winter tires, it makes a difference. Insurance companies give a discount for having them. If there’s snow on the road, go slower than you think you should, and start braking at least twice as early as when it’s dry. Accelerate and brake slowly. If your car is sliding on ice, resist the temptation to keep pressing your brakes, try your best to steer the slide instead.

If your car gets stuck in snow and you need to run it to keep it warm, make sure the tail pipe is well clear of snow (carbon monoxide). Keep an emergency blanket, hat, gloves in the car in case of breakdown. If the wheels are stuck in a snowbank (just spinning in place), some sand or non-clumping cat litter can give you traction. You can sacrifice your floor mats for this, too.

If you walk instead of drive, consider crampons for your boots for if it gets icy out.

There’s different textures and density to snow. Wet snow is dense and heavy, dry snow is light and fluffy. Shoveling can be very different depending on the snow. Lift/push with your legs, now with your arms or back. Take breaks if needed.

If you wear glasses, they will fog up when you go from outside to inside. Sorry. You could get anti-fog stuff used for snow and ski goggles, but most normal people just wait for them to warm up.

A scarf makes a big difference.

Wool can keep you warm even when wet.

Be prepared for power outages especially if the area does not bury power lines. Heavy snow, or worse, ice, can make tree branches heavy and fall and snap power lines. If this happens, be mindful of carbon monoxide. People, families have died trying to keep warm by running generators, stoves, etc indoors without proper ventilation.

Snow reflects sunlight; wear sunglasses if the sun is out and there’s snow on the ground.

Go outside and listen when the snow is falling. It makes everything quieter and it’s really ice to hear.

Snow that’s warmed slightly then frozen again is crunchy and fun to walk on.

If you’re north enough, the sunlight will not be sufficient for creating vitamin D. (Plus you’ll probably be indoors more, less daylight in general.) Consider a supplement.

Consider a SAD light if lack of daylight affects your moods.

From the top of my head:

Everyone forgets how to drive when it first snows. Try to avoid driving as much as possible during the first few days of winter.

Stick to busy roads if it recently snowed as they get plow priority, and the heavy traffic will help pack down the snow which will make it less slippery.

Fresh snow is a heck of a lot more slippery than snow that fell a few days ago.

4 wheel / all wheel drive is great, but you don’t actually need it. If your car has traction control and a good set of tires, then you’ve got everything you need to drive in the snow with confidence.

Snow tires are a worthy investment. People think that you don’t need snow tires if you have all seasons, but there’s no comparison to tires that are specifically made to be driven in the snow.

The posted speed limit is for ideal weather conditions. If there’s snow on the ground, then that’s not ideal, and you need to drive slower than the speed limit if you want to be safe and not fly off the road. One time a car passed me and about 2 miles later I saw that exact same car in the ditch. You don’t want to be that person. If you are that person, then everyone that passes you will be silently judging you while you sit there and wait hours for a tow truck because 30 other people all did the exact same thing at the exact same time.

Not really snow related, but cars with old batteries have a really hard time starting when the weather is at or below zero. If your battery is more than a few years old, it might be time to get a new one.

Bridges will freeze before anything else when the temperature gets below freezing. Just because the roads aren’t slippery doesn’t mean that any bridges you go over will be the same.

Aside from all the practical tips… It’s very pretty at night – snowglow. Also sledding is super fun and can be done for cheap/free.

Keep one of those brush/scraper things in your car.

Clean the snow off your car before driving.

CLEAN THE SNOW OFF YOUR CAR BEFORE DRIVING

All of it

If it is going to be a lot of snow, don’t wait until it is over before you start digging out.

Salt/pet friendly ice melt for your walkways

Have a snow blower? Don’t wait until the day before to see if it still runs. Make sure you have gas for it

Slow drip on a faucet to prevent pipes from bursting

If you get an office job find out what the work policy is on snow days. Plenty of employers will let you work from home without question even if it’s a job where you would normally go in. For me any place that doesn’t would get a hard no. It means they DGAF about you.

When there’s snow on the ground, drive like you have an open cup of coffee in your lap. Turn, brake, or accelerate too hard and you spill steaming hot coffee on your bits. Winter tires will help a lot, but drive like you don’t have them.

So you spent the day outside shoveling snow, maybe you had to walk 20 minutes to get to a friend’s house, maybe the cold itself just took it out of you because your body was burning calories just to stay warm. You finally get home and you are out of breath and just wanting to dry off and get warm again- and that’s when you thank your past self for what you did on meal prep Sunday:

French onion soup.

You can look online for recipes, but here’s what I improvised last Sunday (probably not definition french onion soup, but at least a variation on a theme). Mine takes about 1 hour to make (10 min prep, 50ish minutes to cook)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon fat (I use leftover bacon grease)
• Onions (I used 4 but you could do more)
• garlic (I used 1 bulb, but you could always do more)
• Apple (I used 1, but you could always do more)
• veggies (I like zucchini and carrots)
• mushrooms if you like em
• protein (stew beef, ground meat, chicken, turkey, hell even sandwich meat will do)
• cardamom
• Curry powder
• vinegar (I use white balsamic, but apple cider vinegar or anything flavorful will do)
• chicken broth

1. Cut up the onions into thick chunks, no need to get precise, just hack 'em quick so you have less time being in a tearful agony
2. Peel the bulb of garlic, but leave the cloves whole- don’t crush them.
3. Heat up your butter and fat, then add in the onions and garlic. Let it sautee for like… 30 minutes? If you have time to do a proper caramelizing then do that, but it’s still good if you want to make it faster.
4. While the onions and garlic do their thing, prepare your meat in another pan. Of course if you use ham or something pre cooked you can skip this step.
5. Slice your apple(s) however you want, I like thin slices but cubes are good too.
6. Add in veg and apples, let them cook for 15 minutes or so
7. Add meat
8. A couple dashes of cardamom and curry and also pour in your broth to desired consistency
9. Give a taste then add a dash of vinegar to see how it really cuts through the fattiness

Dish and serve! If you want to really clog those arteries, go ahead and add some cheese on top, I like smoked Gouda. I also use a pipe sweater to torch the cheese and give it a little melty/ crispy texture. This soup should be thick and hearty to restore your energy and give you the gumption to brave the elements again. If you were link in legend of Zelda, you’re getting at least 10 yellow hearts from this.

That and a hot tody will give you the coziness that will lift your spirits in the dark cold months.

Good luck!

Clothing

• Make sure to have a good winter coat, neck gaiter, hat, gloves and boots. Staying warm and dry is important.
• Hand warmers can be handy if you expect to be outside for a while. There are several variants (chemical, reusable, rechargeable)

Driving

• Winter tires. It may seems like an extra expense, but it will make your summer/all-season tires lasts longer. In some provinces, they are mandatory for residents (ex: Quebec)
• Make sure to clear the snow from the car, INCLUDING the roof (aka don’t leave a snowhawk). Keep that snow brush in the trunk.
• Make sure to keep your windshield washer fuild filled.
• Have a small snow shovel just in case you get stuck in snow.
• Keep one of those metallic safety blanket, and those emergency candle in case you get in an emergency.
• A car battery booster might come in handy. A drained battery isn’t fun.
• Drice defensively, it’s easier to lose control of the vehicle.

Homeowner

• A good shovel to clear out the driveway isn’t a luxury
• Some sand in a bucket with a lid, to put over ice patches when it gets slippery. You don’t need to put a lot, just enough to not fall.
• Be sure to keep the temperature above 18°C. If the temp inside the building drops too low, ice can form in water pipes, and you can imagine the mess it can make when a pipe bursts.

Many people mentioned clearing ALL the snow off your car, but I didn’t see people mentioning why. Here are some videos to elaborate how terrifying and dangerous it can be when people don’t do that.

One, two, three, four

It takes a lot of energy to clear the car off, but it’s critical. Don’t be the person that harms someone else just to save a bit of time and effort.

Don’t dive in head first, it will break your neck.

A lot of people have pretty well covered how to drive in snow and ice, but here’s a little secret they won’t tell you:

• Over the summer, the locals forgot how to drive on snow, too.

The first big snow will bring the car fairy to sprinkle wrecked cars along the side of the road. Most of these are given by people with plenty of experience driving on snow.

Stay home that first time. If you absolutely must drive, be the one going too slowly. After that, you can kind of do as the Romans do.

Have good boots for winter, because ice or packed snow is slippery and often unavoidable. And when you’re picking the boots, make sure they have enough space for thick socks.

If you are walking down a very snowy hill or something, I’ve found out that stepping with your heel first, so that your foot creates a stair-like step helps. Useful if it happens to be a path you use often.

Think about warm clothing and plan ahead. Especially in fall or spring, having extra warm clothing with you is super useful even if you don’t need it at the moment, because you can never know when it gets suddenly colder.

Dress in layers. For example, the upper body could have the following layers:

1. shirt you wear indoors

2. thicker shirt/sweater

3. possibly another sweater

4. jacket/coat

Mittens are warmer than gloves.

Winter shoes must fit a woolen sock and not be too tight, otherwise the insulation gets compressed and doesn’t work.

Better to wear many layers rather than just one layer of super thick clothing

• learn how to drive on a slippery surfaces
• building on the previous one - buy a set of winter tires and if needed chains
• always have spare warm clothes in the car
• make sure your house gets enough warmth and ventilation to prevent mold
• keep a huge bag of road salt in a garage
• get yourself few sets of breathing underwear
• depending on the outside temperature learn how to dress like an onion

Last but not least, learn to ski/snowboard. Best way to spend time outdoors. Also, develop a taste for a mulled wine.