There’s nothing quite like moving to a new area with much colder winters than you’re used to. Moving somewhere with a hotter climate can come with its own challenges of course, most often heatwaves and the need for good air conditioning, but many of us have experience of relaxing in those environments on vacation anyway.
However, a snowy environment with intense blizzards, snowstorms, and icy roads require diligent management of your property and the people who live within it. It means stocking up on goods just in case you can’t make it to the grocery store on a day in winter, or it means outfitting your house with insulation and even better water runoff to prevent floods from harming your home.
It’s important to be safe, secure, and warm in cold winters, and to slowly adjust to normal. For example, a British citizen who has lived in England all their life may be astonished by how cold it can get during a Canadian winter, where below 50 degree centigrade temperatures are not unheard of. Somehow, the mailmen still wear shorts.
With that in mind, let’s consider how to prepare yourself, your family and your home for an area used to biting winters and heavy snow:
Prepare Grit For Your Driveways
Ice can be very dangerous on roads, but also on your driveway and garden paths, turning a simple walk to your mailbox into an experience that could injure you if you’re not careful. Grit, or salt, can be purchased in large bags and kept in your garage until then.
Gritting your driveway can help melt the ice and give you the appropriate traction underfoot and for your car. A generous sprinkling after you’ve shoveled snow can help dry out the path and prevent unnecessarily slips, but be sure to walk slowly, use handholds where you can, and be mindful of your footing all the same. For steep driveways this isn’t a warm recommendation either, it’s an outright prescription.
Learn To Shovel Snow
Shoveling snow is one of those tasks that might sound kind of fun if you’ve never done it before, yet when it’s freezing outside, and you’re trying to clear a path through several feet of snow, the novelty can wear off pretty quickly. Still, it’s a great workout and will wake you up more than any coffee can each morning.
A proper snow shovel is balanced to hold heavy snow without injuring you and can scoop a good deal up. Better yet, you only need to clear driveways and you may be responsible for the sidewalk or pavement, and of course garden paths are worthwhile too. You can just scoop it onto the snow on the garden if you like. Also, if you have a dog, scoop an area for them to conduct their business as needed, it’s only polite.
Be Mindful Of Icicles
Icicles can look beautiful and many people take them as a picturesque sign of the winter. It’s why we might decorate a house with false icicles for the festive season. But unfortunately, they can grow large enough to cause injury if they fall, and they’re often a sign of a bigger problem such as ice dams against your roof or guttering. Ice dams happen when the snow on your roof melts and then refreezes at the edges, causing water to back up. This can lead to leaks inside your home.
But of course, the real danger is that they can actually grow quite sharp. If they melt and fall, that’s like a pointed spike potentially falling on someone. People have been hurt and worse because of that. Luckily, it’s quite easy to purchase long extendable poles to knock them down, either from a hardware store in your area or just with a broom or something else you have on hand. Be safe about it of course, and lament the loss of the beauty, but feel assured that you’ve potentially saved someone from harm.
Prepare Your Car Or Truck
If you’re unused to it, driving in snowy, icy conditions can be one of the most nerve-wracking parts of living in a snow area. It’s wise to make sure your car or truck is ready for the winter weather so you get ahead of any issues. You can start by swapping out your regular tires for winter tires, which will be better for traction on snow and ice. You can find the best options via tire retailers that provide fully inclusive kits. It’s also smart to keep an emergency kit in your car, including items like a blanket, extra gloves, a flashlight, and some snacks, just in case you get stranded. Remember that when it’s snowing hard and visibility low, even being stuck a mile from your house can be a real issue.
Regular maintenance is also something you should keep up on, such as making sure your battery is in good shape, your windshield wipers are working, and your antifreeze levels are topped up. It’s also a good idea to keep your fuel tank at least half full throughout the winter at the very least. Having some spare fuel in appropriate tanks in your garage can also help if needed.
Have Enough Food For Weeks & Prepare For Power Outages
Sometimes, getting to your local grocery store just isn’t going to be possible. But it’s nice like we hibernate through the winter like bears do, as convenient and comforting as that might be. Even if you could get to the store, some might be closed on particularly bad days or cannot accept deliveries to restock their shelves. That’s why having non-perishables and frozen items can be key (some people even place frozen goods outside because the winter weather is cold enough for it, though we won’t recommend that to you).
Also make sure you prepare for power outages – a wood burner, camping stoves, candles, and even installing a generator might be a good place to start.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily cope even if you’re moving to an area with heavy snow. Before long, you’ll be just as capable as any Inuit.