Cold weather people!

[ilovelamp]

Beans- I'm right outside of Cleveland.

I think I will need a constant IV of Xanax when I am driving. Just thinking about it makes me anxious.

[moolarkey]

I hope you like a lot of snow..... unless we have an unusual winter you're going to get a lot of it if you live in the Cleveland area.... it's the "lake effect".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

[doombunny]

The IN/OH area can have a rather mild winter just as easily as it can a stormy/icy one. However, this year the conditions are suspected to be snowy, since the last 2 have been mild.

Definitely the car safety kit, as well as practice driving. Just don't go out in an ice storm, snow driving is typically safe enough once you've practiced, but full on ice storms... it's not worth going out. They're rarer than snow storms, thankfully.

Also, not only stocking up on winter clothes, you'll want to stock up on canned goods and dry food stuffs. We always had 2 weeks worth of food in the house (minus veggies and fridge stuff)... we went through the entire stash a couple times growing up.

Also a good idea to keep a bag of concrete salt in your garage/storage, especially if your drive/walkway has any slope to it. Salt before a big storm, it'll keep your driveway from icing up.

Keep your gas tanks at least half full. The lines can freeze. Same for your indoor plumbing, on nights below 32F you want to leave your sinks trickling lightly, the moving water will keep the lines from freezing and bursting.

If you do get slammed and your power goes out, don't let your freezer goods go bad. Put them in the snow outside! Some people go so far to get a small generator... probably not necessary unless you want to be prepared for an Apocalypse Storm. But you do want to consider having an alternate-to-electric heat source available. A fireplace or wood stove? Those little chemical heat squares for putting in gloves & socks?

Just to toss one more thing out there... keep an eye on any elderly neighbors. Lots of them won't ask for help if they need it.

Btw, Beans... my central Indiana native answer to the subjective "nothing too bad" is "The snow didn't reach your knees." But that also means you can't dig an underground snow maze in the drifts or build a giant snowman on top of your dads car.

[brandienee]

I remember collecting snow to boil on our wood-stove when we would lose power in a blizzard. I actually miss those days.