ARFlyer
En-Route
So a surprise snow storm hit AR this afternoon. Yesterday it wasn't even in the forecast. Well, I ended up doing my first ever winter driving. This is a write up about my experience. FYI, I drive a Subaru Forester. Please feel free to give me tips or advice. I apologize upfront if I'm a little long in some areas. This is a new thing for me.
I found myself staring into snow at about 3000' this afternoon with a student and didn't think twice about it. I slowly got back to the airport, finished up with the student and head to my apartment. I was planning on heading to the parents house this weekend about 70 miles north. So I left after filling up with gas about 5:45 and got home about 7:45.
The interstate was dry for about the first 10 miles. Then I noticed that the trucks were leaving behind tracks along with blowing snow. The interstate only started to get slick after I saw the road a ghostly white but could still make out the lines. I decided at that point I was crazy to be around semis that were sliding around and idiots doing 80+ in their BMWs. At this point I was only doing 50 to keep the AWD from flipping out.
At the next exit I got onto a US Highway that parallels the interstate. I found it to completely covered in snow. However, I found it easier to drive and had no problems with sliding. I figured this to because the snow had already packed onto the road surface. I used 3-2 gear on hills and found hills to be a non issue.
Getting into the city proper I was force to get back on the interstate as the US Highway ended. I was extremely surprise to find this section to completely dry with only blowing snow. 10 miles south the interstate was impassible. I can only guess that increased traffic kept the dry snow from sticking. Only after merging onto another interstate I found the road to be snow covered with near white out conditions.
My only issue the whole trip was getting on a county road that switch backs up a steep hill. You gain about 400' in about a half mile. I found about 20 cars stopped at the bottom for no apparent reason. Only after sitting for 20 minutes, I found out the locals were tell people they were idiots to attempt going up the hill. About 10 cars had tried and ended up sideways blocking the road. However, I had no issue climbing it in 2 second gear. I even stopped to see if a friend needed a lift. However, people were cussing me out and saying f*** you as I passed them. I was able to stay around 30 MPH with out causing any danger to myself. At the point I got home the roads had about 2" of snow.
I was taught by my parents to always stay moving, stay slow if needed and don't change anything over bridges or turns. I applied all of that and my pilot training and found it to be a fairly easy. So is this a one off lucky event? Or my "training" and car got me through?
I found myself staring into snow at about 3000' this afternoon with a student and didn't think twice about it. I slowly got back to the airport, finished up with the student and head to my apartment. I was planning on heading to the parents house this weekend about 70 miles north. So I left after filling up with gas about 5:45 and got home about 7:45.
The interstate was dry for about the first 10 miles. Then I noticed that the trucks were leaving behind tracks along with blowing snow. The interstate only started to get slick after I saw the road a ghostly white but could still make out the lines. I decided at that point I was crazy to be around semis that were sliding around and idiots doing 80+ in their BMWs. At this point I was only doing 50 to keep the AWD from flipping out.
At the next exit I got onto a US Highway that parallels the interstate. I found it to completely covered in snow. However, I found it easier to drive and had no problems with sliding. I figured this to because the snow had already packed onto the road surface. I used 3-2 gear on hills and found hills to be a non issue.
Getting into the city proper I was force to get back on the interstate as the US Highway ended. I was extremely surprise to find this section to completely dry with only blowing snow. 10 miles south the interstate was impassible. I can only guess that increased traffic kept the dry snow from sticking. Only after merging onto another interstate I found the road to be snow covered with near white out conditions.
My only issue the whole trip was getting on a county road that switch backs up a steep hill. You gain about 400' in about a half mile. I found about 20 cars stopped at the bottom for no apparent reason. Only after sitting for 20 minutes, I found out the locals were tell people they were idiots to attempt going up the hill. About 10 cars had tried and ended up sideways blocking the road. However, I had no issue climbing it in 2 second gear. I even stopped to see if a friend needed a lift. However, people were cussing me out and saying f*** you as I passed them. I was able to stay around 30 MPH with out causing any danger to myself. At the point I got home the roads had about 2" of snow.
I was taught by my parents to always stay moving, stay slow if needed and don't change anything over bridges or turns. I applied all of that and my pilot training and found it to be a fairly easy. So is this a one off lucky event? Or my "training" and car got me through?
