Finally got to drive in the snow

[y_p_w]

I needed to get home last night from Lake Tahoe along US-50
West. It was clear for several days when it started snowing.

Pretty much the only cars that were let through were 4WD or
AWD. A chain installer set up shop just before the Caltrans
checkpoint, and charged $20. There was about maybe an inch
of snow on the road, and the white stuff was absolutely
pouring down. On second though, I should have just turned
back got a room in Tahoe, and call my boss in the morning.

At the checkpoint, the Caltrans inspector took a look at my
car, checked the tires, and told me I was OK. The tires were
Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S, and they were almost new.

I knew there might be snow, so I bought chains before I left.
I bought them before I left so that I could try installing
them once. They were also near impossible to find (in my size)
in late March in the SF Bay Area; every gas station and drug
store sells them along the route to Reno or Tahoe. At the
checkpoint, when I asked about chains, I was told that every
car has to carry them in those conditions, but I wasn't asked
to show them.

I had my fogs on, and was crawling at anywhere between 15-25
MPH, and apparently it wasn't fast enough for some other drivers.
A big SUV going in the other direction plowed into an embankement.
I don't think anyone was hurt, but a Caltrans truck was helping
the driver get out. I felt a little skittish at times on the
all-seasons. If I lived in the area, I'd definitely get real
snow tires. And after the snow stopped, I ran into some nasty
fog and heavy rains, and other drivers still wouldn't slow down.

 

[Frank Logullo]

I needed to get home last night from Lake Tahoe along US-50
West. It was clear for several days when it started snowing.

Pretty much the only cars that were let through were 4WD or
AWD. A chain installer set up shop just before the Caltrans
checkpoint, and charged $20. There was about maybe an inch
of snow on the road, and the white stuff was absolutely
pouring down. On second though, I should have just turned
back got a room in Tahoe, and call my boss in the morning.

If that is the main road into Tahoe, I've been on it. It was after a snow
day and there were signs that said chains only but by the time I got there
the road was perfectly clear and there could not have been much snow because
there was also none off the road. Strange place.
Frank

 

[y_p_w]

If that is the main road into Tahoe, I've been on it. It was
after a snow day and there were signs that said chains only but
by the time I got there the road was perfectly clear and there
could not have been much snow because there was also none off
the road. Strange place.
Frank

Well - one usually doesn't expect snow this late in March. I
saw a plow going the other direction, and they certainly help.
I guess the AWD in my WRX helped a bit since there was a little
slippage in some of the inclines. The biggest worry with 2WD
cars is likely that they'll just stop moving when traction
conditions suck. The signs look like they're put up by hand,
and they probably needed to be taken down, or they hadn't
declared chain conditions over yet.

Strangely enough, I was looking forward to learning how to drive
in the snow. It was actually more dangerous later on when there
was only fog and rain from just before Placerville to Sacramento.

Here's the Caltrans video. Highway 50 at Meyers is where they
set up the chain checkpoint. Right now the camera box is covered
with snow. 50 at Ski Run is pretty clear.

<http://video.dot.ca.gov>

 

[MK IV]

I needed to get home last night from Lake Tahoe along US-50
West. It was clear for several days when it started snowing.

Pretty much the only cars that were let through were 4WD or
AWD. A chain installer set up shop just before the Caltrans
checkpoint, and charged $20. There was about maybe an inch
of snow on the road, and the white stuff was absolutely
pouring down. On second though, I should have just turned
back got a room in Tahoe, and call my boss in the morning.

At the checkpoint, the Caltrans inspector took a look at my
car, checked the tires, and told me I was OK. The tires were
Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S, and they were almost new.

One inch of snow? That's it? That's all it takes to have people thinking
of putting on chains down there? Why is it that up here in the northeast
where snow is measured in feet, not inches, you can drive all winter with
even plain all seasons tires, not be required to carry chains, not even
have to put on winter tires (which I have) and not worry about it? Is the
snow more slippery in California or something?

 

[y_p_w]

One inch of snow? That's it? That's all it takes to have people
thinking of putting on chains down there? Why is it that up here
in the northeast where snow is measured in feet, not inches, you
can drive all winter with even plain all seasons tires, not be
required to carry chains, not even have to put on winter tires
(which I have) and not worry about it? Is the snow more slippery
in California or something?

All I can say is that it was coming down pretty hard. Visibility
sucked big time and the wind was blowing the snow almost horizontally
Eastward. 1 inch was only an estimate on my part. It was probably
more. When I got my car out of the Harrah's parking lot, there was
already about 2 inches of snow on my hood, roof, and trunk that I
cleared off, and it had been snowing for less than an hour. It
wasn't snowing earlier Sunday, but it was extremely windy in my
drive from Reno to South Lake Tahoe. Apparently it was 18 inches
overnight. Also - it was raining before it got cold enough for the
snow, so eventually it was going to get icy.

<http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4323536/detail.html>

US-50 West of Tahoe is a windy undivided mountain road with a normal
50 MPH speed limit. If there weren't chain controls, I'd imagine
there might be people stupid enough to go 60 at night in inclement
weather. I couldn't make out where the lines were, but the road
is lined with "rumble strips" along the shoulder and divider, and
I could tell when I was veering off the correct path.

And like I said, it was bad enough that one guy plowed into an
embankment and had to be pulled out.

 

[Bonehenge]

Well - one usually doesn't expect snow this late in March.

We do here in the Northeast! <G>

The biggest snowstorms I remember have been during March madness.

Barry

 

[ismlv]

One inch of snow? That's it? That's all it takes to have people thinking
of putting on chains down there? Why is it that up here in the northeast
where snow is measured in feet, not inches, you can drive all winter with
even plain all seasons tires, not be required to carry chains, not even
have to put on winter tires (which I have) and not worry about it? Is the
snow more slippery in California or something?

An inch???? I have to agree with MK IV - I don't even bother measuring that. I'm in Northeast PA. Last Wednesday nite it took me 11 hours
to get home from Hershey PA (normally a 2.5 hour trip). THAT was snow worth talking about (didn't help that they closed 81 and I sat and
didn't move for 6 hours).....

 

[Generic]

y_p_w <(e-mail address removed)> scribbled:
One inch of snow? That's it? That's all it takes to have people thinking
of putting on chains down there? Why is it that up here in the northeast
where snow is measured in feet, not inches, you can drive all winter with
even plain all seasons tires, not be required to carry chains, not even
have to put on winter tires (which I have) and not worry about it? Is the
snow more slippery in California or something?

CA drivers are *terrible* in bad weather. The restrictions are totally
appropriate! They drive too fast in the rain and hydroplane. They drive far
too aggressively in ice or snow.

Most never learn because it's possible to avoid freezing weather in the big
cities, and most years (not this one) it's pretty dry. You'll only encounter
snow if you drive over the mountain passes.

-John

 

[ZZ]

<http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4323536/detail.html>

US-50 West of Tahoe is a windy undivided mountain road with a normal
50 MPH speed limit. If there weren't chain controls, I'd imagine
there might be people stupid enough to go 60 at night in inclement
weather. I couldn't make out where the lines were, but the road
is lined with "rumble strips" along the shoulder and divider, and
I could tell when I was veering off the correct path.

And like I said, it was bad enough that one guy plowed into an
embankment and had to be pulled out.

Amen to that. I am always surprised that there aren't gaping holes
from vehicles that went through the stone wall that runs along the
right side of HWY 50 as you drop into the Tahoe Basin. (After the
horshoe bend just past Nebelhorn to the HWY 89 cutoff).
It's where you can see the airport off in the distance. Must be at
least a 500 foot drop.

 

[Frank Logullo]

We do here in the Northeast! <G>

The biggest snowstorms I remember have been during March madness.

Barry

It was maybe 15 years ago, early September. We drove from Orange County
where it was 105 deg. F. to Yosemite where there was snow on the peak of the
Valley. Donner Pass was snowed in so we had to drive around Sacramento to
Tahoe.
Snow had cleared but not all signs had been reversed. On top of this there
was a minor earthquake which caused a rock slide blocking half the road on
our return. Guess you can find any weather you want in California.
Frank

 

[MattB]

One inch of snow? That's it? That's all it takes to have people thinking
of putting on chains down there? Why is it that up here in the northeast
where snow is measured in feet, not inches, you can drive all winter with
even plain all seasons tires, not be required to carry chains, not even
have to put on winter tires (which I have) and not worry about it? Is the
snow more slippery in California or something?

I also live off Hwy 50, but a bit further East in Colorado. We regularly
get several feet of snow at a time (Monarch Pass for example), and I
think a single inch of snow often IS more slippery. Once you get six or
so inches it gives the tires more to bite into (assuming they have tread
that can bite). March is also typically the snowiest month of the year.
That said I just use all weather tires on my Forester and it does very
well all year. If the chain law comes into play is usually just for
commercial vehicles. Even when I've beaten the plows up and there's a
couple of feet on the road. I kind of like to see the snow flying up
over the hood. Face shots in the car - wee!

Matt

Matt

 

[PHIL]

Huh? A lousy inch of fluff on the roads & your forced to go
through an INSPECTION B4 BEING ALLOWED TO PROCCEED??!!

~~PHIL~~ 1997 OB
'Laughing his ass off/ routinely gets hit with 6"-8"
snow dumps in Michigan winters.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[y_p_w]

Huh? A lousy inch of fluff on the roads & your forced to go
through an INSPECTION B4 BEING ALLOWED TO PROCCEED??!!

Read further in this thread. It was actually 18 inches overnight,
and I saw the result of one car that veered into an embankement.
There was another foot Monday night.

The big worry is that drivers from areas where it almost never
snows won't SLOW DOWN. There are some pretty deep drops along
the area if one manages to end up off the pavement.

<http://www.modbee.com/local/story/10219052p-11033115c.html>

 

[Ken Teich]

Huh? A lousy inch of fluff on the roads & your forced to go
through an INSPECTION B4 BEING ALLOWED TO PROCCEED??!!

~~PHIL~~ 1997 OB
'Laughing his ass off/ routinely gets hit with 6"-8"
snow dumps in Michigan winters.'

You may want to look more carefully at the thread and consider the elevation
around the Tahoe area before laughing too loudly; you've heard of the Donner
party. Many times I was very glad to have my 01 VDC there in the
Sierra's. The original post didn't give much context for folks not familiar
with the area. They are quick to call for chains because snow dumps (in
feet, not inches) can happen suddenly and lots of people who think snow is
something to laugh at wind up needing to be rescued, even folks with all
wheel drive.

For a sense of it:

http://thestormking.com/Weather/weather.html
http://thestormking.com/Weather/Records/records.html

 

[Paul Knudsen]

Well - one usually doesn't expect snow this late in March.

I used to live in Atlanta. The one big blizzard while I was there was
in March...Late March! After some of the trees had bloomed!