Actually snow is more likely to come Jan/Feb. We still get some in MArch and are known to have surprise snow too.

You prob dont need to salt your drive way.

Clear it good and the a bit of sun will bring it down to asphalt. Trick is, clear it well so ice doesn't form.

Salt and sand are good for a walkway. Pay attention to what your walkways are and the salt you get as some damages concrete.

But salt is at any hardware store.

Winter tires aren't usually needed. What do you drive for a vehicle?

Maybe this is just trolling.

If not:

Snow can happen anytime from about December 1st through May 1st, typically with melting in between. Dates and accumulation can vary widely year to year. A dusting to 3” is fairly common. Three feet happens very rarely but can happen.

Don’t put salt on your driveway, it’s hard on your pup’s paws and kills plants.

Snow tires are much safer. Not everyone can afford them.

Shovel out your dryer vent, your oil fill pipe, your mail box, and a path for your meter (if it’s not automated).

Never sit in your car with the engine on and windows up in snow if your exhaust pipe is not shoveled out.

Best to shovel snow before it freezes. You will shovel your driveway then a plow will come along and create a barrier. You get to shovel that too. There are times when shoveling is a waste of time because it will melt soon.

Get a scraper to get ice off your car window. If your car is not garaged, flip your windshield wipers up in the air when snow/ice are in the forecast (or all the time), that will prevent them from getting frozen in place.

It’s dangerous and illegal to drive around with snow/ice on the roof, hood, trunk of your car.

Give snow plows plenty of space.

Have a power outage kit with a battery radio, some candles and matches, etc. you can find a full list online. If the power has been out for a days, and you can afford it, just go check-in to a hotel.

Have some lock de-icer available.

Get some high-quality hot chocolate, (maybe chocolate liqueur, peppermint schnapps, or coffee liqueur to add to it), Netflix, a cozy blanket, Heat Trapper socks, Yak Trax, water-proof boots, thermal-lined gloves, and a sled.

Find a winter sport you love.

Take some photos.

Don’t eat dirty snow. Melt some in a glass, you’ll see why.

When you drive, leave more space between you and the car in front of you. Don’t freak out. You’ll be ok. Don’t be the fastest car on the road nor the slowest. Side roads tend to be slipperier than highways. Bridges freeze first. Black ice is no joke but it’s rare. You really can’t do a whole lot to avoid it except stay home if possible if the weather forecasters are predicting it. Use your brakes a little less. The accelerator (gently) can help grip the road.

Find yourself a scarf, hat, stones, carrot and sticks and make a snow man, catch a snowflake in your mouth, have a snow ball fight, make snow angels. Find a sleigh ride. Look on line for photos of individual snow flakes (close-up), each one is unique.

Keep kitty litter in your trunk. You can use that for traction if you get stuck.

Go easy on shoveling. A lot more heart attacks during snow storms from over-exertion.

Ask around where the best sledding hill is and go. Doesn’t matter what age you are. This is a must.

Welcome to winter. Real winter.

It can snow as early as October and as late as May. Or it can not snow at all. There's really not a set pattern.

Snow tires are better than all season tires but it depends on whether you're going to be driving much on unplowed roads during the storm. If you have the ability to limit driving during the active storm and immediate aftermath, snow tires might be overkill.

Salting a driveway is a waste. Having icemelt is good if you don't clear it completely and it freezes over or something.

This answer was through and pretty great ^

It’s not trolling, I did not grow up around snow so I don’t know. Thanks for all the help!

Best sledding hills: https://www.rimonthly.com/sledding-hills/

Snow tires aren't a necessity but the type of rubber is also better at reacting to both going and stopping in colder weather as well as more channels to displace water and snow so it's ideal if you have space to store your summer tires, also with having both you extend the wear of both sets of tires. I really like my general altimax arctics for great snow tires at a good price. On my Subaru it was unstoppable and they're great on my VW. Everyone thinks AWD is the savior but FWD on snow tires will usually be better than AWD on all seasons and also your stopping will be better. If you've never tried to come to a stop in snow or dealt with feeling ABS kick in you really should find an unplowed parking lot and slam in the brakes to get used to what it feels like, you will be amazed how long it can take to stop in snow.

This was a really good breakdown. To add to this, layer, layer, layer. Learning to layer properly is an important part of dealing with the cold.

Lol just caught the username make me literally lol

I wonder where on earth the misconception that all snow is supposed to happen in December comes from. My husband repeated it to me a few weeks ago talking about he was disappointed that the snowy part of the year was over. I was like "it's New Year's Day??!"

People might imagine a white christmas? Which there's only a 22% chance.

You can get salt, sand, shovels and even snow tires at Benny's! Oh shoot...

Where in the world did you get the idea that January is late for it to snow in New England?

I was under the impression that I would see some more snow by now.

Sorry, I didn’t understand that you meant late for the first substantial snow.

I thought you meant that you were surprised it would still be snowing here in January.

That said, yes, this is a lot less snow than a normal year, but it really varies year to year.

Walmart has good prices for ice melt. If you can't find any there, next stop try Advance Auto but be prepared to pay much more than Walmart.

Historically, February is our snowiest month.

We are below the normal seasonal snow amount so far this winter in RI. This happened about 7 years ago, and we ended up with high snow totals after getting several big storms. The weather is fickle here. We got 24” on April 1st about 30 years ago. If you do get enough snow in Newport I recommend sledding at Fort Adams on inflatable tubes. It’s a nice hill overlooking the harbor.

I feel like February always ends up being the snowiest month. We hardly have much snow in December nowadays

Very thorough! Second most of this. Especially sledding. But you can also find pro snow tubing at Wachusetts if you're up for a half day trip and have the $30 - if I'm remembering correctly, they bring you up with a rope tow.

I will say I've never owned snow tires and haven't had any issue, even during my several years in Western MA where we had considerably more snow. But if you can afford them/have that expendable income, they are helpful.

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If you are in Newport, you will see a lot less snow overall year to year. Near the water, you can expect warmer temps into fall (and later leaf changes) due to the relatively warmer water. In the spring, inland will see far warmer temps in early spring than Newport due to the cold (relatively) water.

Towns like Newport and Narragansett typically are affected more by what storms they get. We are in Northern RI and our town has 3 or 4 highway snow plows. I think the south coast of RI towns have a few pickups with a plow. Big difference. The Worcester MA "snow belt" extends down to Smithfield RI or so...this is where the big snow is in Southern NE.

https://www.almanac.com/what-are-snowiest-cities-us

**Note: don't get "clumping" kitty litter. You need the non-clumping kind.

Something I’d like to point out about all season tires.

An all season tire sold in Canada is the same all season tire sold in Houston, TX.

All season tires just means the tire will survive the harsh cold and also be fine in the heat.

The only good tire in the winter is a winter tire and there is no way around that.

Snow can happen as early as October and as late as April. We've had a very mild winter so far. Some of the coldest days i've experienced in 34 years of living here have been in February. I wasn't alive for the blizzard of 78 but I specifically remember growing up with the blizzard of 96 and having to crawl through windows in my house at the time because there was too much snow outside to reach a storage room from the outside.

Re snow tires. Never used them but we do have a friend with a compact car and a sloped driveway who swears by them but yes they are an expense. And you’d have to have a place to store the other ones during the winter so unless you have space in your garage and about 400 bucks every six months….. If you lived on rochambeau or a similarly sloped street I’d consider them - maybe- if I had the money and a small car but I temper that by trying to drive as little as possible. And also complain to the city via 311 when they don’t plow / salt your side street (east side coverage for that kind of thing is terrible).

Ocean State Job Lot is your new best friend. They have everything you’ll need for winter.

Just don’t drive like you’re overconfident that’s all I can say. Like I’ve heard many times before: don’t drive like an ass if you don’t see the asphalt.

That was epic. Can't add a thing. Gotta ask, which town do you live in?

This is the way.

Get a friend to bring you to a parking lot to drive in, before you try the highway... You have to get used to steering out of the slide, and how your abs feel...

Now they can go to where bennys used to be: ocean stage job lot

Just buy all the bread and milk and you’ll be fine.

> Snow tires are much safer. Not everyone can afford them.

I think you're overselling them; I don't think snow tires in RI are so necessary that anyone who can afford them should have them. We don't have particularly extreme winters, nor any elevation to speak of. Besides that, unless OP is a first responder or something, simply not driving when weather is bad is the way to go. Even then, just driving like a sane person is fine. All seasons will get you where you're going, just a bit slower.

> Welcome to winter. Real winter.

This is clearly subjective, but I don't consider us to have "real winters". In my personal definition, "real winter" includes constant snow cover the whole season, and late January temperatures below 40, unlike us...

No tires at Job Lot though

Agreed re: just drive slower and leave plenty of space.

I didn’t have snow tires on the front range of Colorado (awd car) and did fine. You definitely don’t need them here.

That’s fair.

“Real winter” is relative. Maybe we can agree: RI is more real than FL but less real than Alaska, no?

Even in our immediate area, we have the mildest winter weather in all of New England and New York.

>I have all season tires but was wondering if winter tires were a necessity out here?

No, you'll be fine with all season. I have a rear wheel drive truck with all season and get along just fine with some sand bags in the back of the bed to avoid fishtailing. I grew up in MN where it snowed almost every week, sometimes every day for months, and am used to driving in snow. Winter tires would be helpful for those in areas with TONS of snow regularly, like further up north.

Just make sure you have boots, a blanket, a candle, waterproof matches, some water, etc in your car/truck in case you ever get stranded. Snow can be slippery so if you lose control and end up in a ditch late at night, you might be there for a while. A candle can be the difference between life and death as it can heat your car enough to survive for as long as it burns. A small shovel is a good idea too. It can help if you ever get stuck.

>Also, does it usually snow like this and so late? I was under the impression winters in New England you guys would have like several snowstorms in December alone but I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen it actually snow and be blanket white.

It varies. For the time I've lived in New England (almost 10 years) its varied. It varied in MN too. This winter has seemed light on the snow so far, so I wouldn't be surprised if the next couple months will make up for the lack of snow in November and December. One year, there was a big snow storm in the beginning of April that left feet of snow for weeks.

>Lastly, where can I buy salt for my driveway?

Almost aby hardware/home store like Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc. We store ours in the big Home Depot buckets so it's easier to move and store during non winter months.

All-weather tires are also better than all-seasons in the snow, though not as good as winter tires. More of a compromise.

If I was choosing between all season or all weather, I’d go with all season.

All weather aren’t nearly as a comfortable tire and usually a bit louder.

I think most people outside of New England are generally unaware of the weather differences between inland and northern New England vs coastal Southern New England.

Most tires these days are considered all-weather. Hopefully you have all wheel drive or 4wd? If not stay put til the roads have been cleared. Most people just shovel or snow-blow their driveways. You can buy sand or salt for steps at Home Depot or Job Lot. Hiring a plow isn't that expensive either so you can get on a list. As for hills to sled on that depends on where you live? I warwick Kids go to Gorton School or Toll Gate High School. Fun hills at both.

It's weird we haven't had a big storm yet. I'm ready! Welcome!

>Maybe this is just trolling.

More likely a bot.

Tbh, the only thing I'd recommend against is putting your wipers up, I'd rather them be frozen and have to thaw then have them break from the weight of snow pushing them in directions they weren't meant to go

https://www.providencejournal.com/story/lifestyle/travel/2021/02/18/5-cool-sledding-spots-ri/6760935002/

Yep, and March typically has more snow than you think.

Are you in Newport? There’s good sledding at Fort Adams and Middletown High school but there has to be more than a dusting on the ground. So far this winter it’s been really mild, I hope things pick up. I can remember as a kid getting so sick of seeing nothing but white for like 4 months but that doesn’t seem to happen anymore. Having 4-wheel drive is definitely much easier than two wheel but more expensive. Just drive super slow and cautious. I always hear about these 20 car pile-ups in places like Virginia when they get a dusting of snow. I guess they don’t know how to drive in snow there because that does not happen here. Maybe they just don’t know to salt the roads. All roads here are salted except dirt roads and around reservoirs.

This comment deserves extra attention. Great post!