Anyone from Connecticut?

[mthopper]

Is anyone around here from Connecticut? I'm moving to New Haven from Athens, GA of all places. I'm wondering if the winter is all that bad. I know it's New England, but CT is not one of the states that comes to mind when I think of driving snow (Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Buffalo) and blistering cold winds (Chicago, Boston). It seems like, during the worst of CT's winter, the temperatures are just a little lower than those during the worst of GA's winter (30's), just that it lasts a whole lot longer there: i.e. from December through March, whereas it's only really cold in GA for a few weeks in Jan and Feb (although in GA, even in Jan and Feb, it usually only drops into the freezing temps during the night and warms a bit--into the 40's--during the afternoons [although it gets windy as hell in late Jan).

[mewantyblu]

A good friend of mine just moved to Danbury about 2 months ago , I would guess the winters are somewhat bad but not like New Hampshire , Maine or Upper New York bad

[Slec]

Just depends on the season. I live 90 minutes away in RI. There was a lot of snow this past winter, but 2 winters ago was easy. Having gone in college in SC, please head some advice. When it snows in your first winter. Go spend 30 minutes in an open parking lot learning how to drive in inclement weather. The types of snow can vary, especially from the brief freeze and thaws that occur down south.

I hope the move is a welcome one! i think overall you'll enjoy New Haven, it's a pretty cool town. What brings you nawth?

[NJ_RAMS_FAN]

Originally Posted by Slec

Just depends on the season. I live 90 minutes away in RI. There was a lot of snow this past winter, but 2 winters ago was easy. Having gone in college in SC, please head some advice. When it snows in your first winter. Go spend 30 minutes in an open parking lot learning how to drive in inclement weather. The types of snow can vary, especially from the brief freeze and thaws that occur down south.

I hope the move is a welcome one! i think overall you'll enjoy New Haven, it's a pretty cool town. What brings you nawth?

+1.. I live upstate Jersey, no more than 45 mins or less from CT and if you havent driven on snow before, practice. There are tons of goons up here that don't know how to drive in snow.

[Musashi]

I'm from Manchester, CT. I myself drive strategically in snow, but I do try to stay in when its really bad.

I sometimes say CT has 2 seasons: Winter, and July. Having a good leather coat will help, as will head and hand armaments.

[xtop]

awd ftw

found this..

Average winter snowfall in the Northwest Hills is 50 inches
Average winter snowfall along the coast is 30-35 inches

50 inches is nothing imo

[mthopper]

Originally Posted by Slec

Just depends on the season. I live 90 minutes away in RI. There was a lot of snow this past winter, but 2 winters ago was easy. Having gone in college in SC, please head some advice. When it snows in your first winter. Go spend 30 minutes in an open parking lot learning how to drive in inclement weather. The types of snow can vary, especially from the brief freeze and thaws that occur down south.

I hope the move is a welcome one! i think overall you'll enjoy New Haven, it's a pretty cool town. What brings you nawth?

Yes, I'm looking forward to it a great deal. I can't wait, especially since I've lived in the Southeast my entire life. I'm starting a graduate degree at Yale. I think your advice about practicing in an open parking lot is good. I will definitely do it.

[Slec]

Originally Posted by mthopper

Yes, I'm looking forward to it a great deal. I can't wait, especially since I've lived in the Southeast my entire life. I'm starting a graduate degree at Yale. I think your advice about practicing in an open parking lot is good. I will definitely do it.

Congrats! what will you be studying? The connections you make over the next few years will carry you throughout your career.

[mthopper]

I specialize in religion studies.

[nick1091]

I've lived in CT all my life but for 2 years and it seems like the winter's are never quite as bad as advertised. Usually you've got like 3-4 heavy snowstorms a year and maybe 8 days of lighter snow, though last year we had a lot more days where it was snowing, but less actual volume of snowfall.

New Haven and the surrounding towns do a pretty good job of clearing the roads, so you should be fine. It's up North and East where it's a little more treacherous.

[phlydude]

advice for driving in the snow

1 - easy on the accelerlator - to much spin on the tires will dig you into a deeper rut
2 - carry a bag of kitty litter and/or rock salt in the trunk along with a shovel - helps you have traction over the rear tires and can be used to put under the tires if you get stuck on ice
3 - keep your distance from the cars in front of you
4 - if you have 4 wheel drive, it might help you go but it doesn't help you stop (I prefer not to use it unless it is really bad and I can't get going in 2 wheel drive)
5 - low gears are your friends
6 - the ice is 10 times worse than snow
7 - if you can stay home, do it
8 - if it snows and people are leaving work/school early, don't leave with them - when rush hour comes around, the traffic is lighter and the plows have had a chance to clear the roads
9 - keep your distance from the plows
10 - under carriage wash when the rain washes the salt/sand/cinders away
11 - keep a sleeping bag, a couple bottles of water and some energy bars in the backseat area - if you go off in a ditch and can't be rescued right away, you can survive through the harshest cold/wind/snow - not pleasant to think about but rather be alive than a popsicle (or like James Caan in Misery)

[DigitalfreakNYC]

I was born in New Haven...

Lived in CT until i was 18.

[U4K61]

Originally Posted by mthopper

Is anyone around here from Connecticut? I'm moving to New Haven from Athens, GA of all places. I'm wondering if the winter is all that bad

Originally Posted by mthopper

It seems like, during the worst of CT's winter, the temperatures are just a little lower than those during the worst of GA's winter (30's)

Temps here can be a lot lower then 'GA's winter in the 30s'. It is sometimes 30deg colder here then in Atlanta.

It depends on where in CT you live. Winters can be tough and leave you stranded for days without power. New Haven is a costal city, so winter temps are moderated by the ocean - up to 15deg or more on cold clear cloudless nights over what inland areas such as Ridgefield get - the town where I have lived since 1971. "Rain along the coast, snow inland" is often the forcast. The rain/snow/wintery mix often depends on where the ol Nor'easter tracks up the coast, which is a low pressure area the rotates in a couterclockwise direction. This brings up warm air on the eastern side, and colder canadian air on the western end. If it moves inland, there will likely be more rain along the coast. If it starts to track out to sea, then there will be less snow, but much colder temps and the bitter New England winters you read about.

CT snow fall average is 48" for the north western portions of the state, where Atlanta gets around 8". Our record snow was 120"+, it seemed like we were out shoveling every other day that year. Lowest temp I remember was minus 25 but 0 is typical of late Jan cold snap where the average nighttime temp is 13deg. You will have to learn to drive in the snow. Every year is different. It can start as early as October and end as late is May, or it begins around X-mas and is finished up by March. The great storm of 78 left the state highways impassable for 3 days. The blizzard of 69 left drifts in open fields that looked like whitened sands of Arabia. A few unlucky homes in the right spot got drifts up to the 2nd story window. Thats were I learned what it meant to be snowed-in.

On cold winters, where Jack Frost has left his mark, it can be really peaceful. Walking out on the frozen lakes, listening to the heaving and cracking of the ice in the near zero degree foggy morning air; the surface dotted with holes and red flags by people catching fish, it's lots of fun.

1978


Weather Links:

• Weather New England.com
• Danbury, CT
• New York CIty
• Atlanta, GA

[pBLU-RAYs3]

Originally Posted by phlydude

advice for driving in the snow

1 - easy on the accelerlator - to much spin on the tires will dig you into a deeper rut
2 - carry a bag of kitty litter and/or rock salt in the trunk along with a shovel - helps you have traction over the rear tires and can be used to put under the tires if you get stuck on ice
3 - keep your distance from the cars in front of you
4 - if you have 4 wheel drive, it might help you go but it doesn't help you stop (I prefer not to use it unless it is really bad and I can't get going in 2 wheel drive)
5 - low gears are your friends
6 - the ice is 10 times worse than snow
7 - if you can stay home, do it
8 - if it snows and people are leaving work/school early, don't leave with them - when rush hour comes around, the traffic is lighter and the plows have had a chance to clear the roads
9 - keep your distance from the plows
10 - under carriage wash when the rain washes the salt/sand/cinders away
11 - keep a sleeping bag, a couple bottles of water and some energy bars in the backseat area - if you go off in a ditch and can't be rescued right away, you can survive through the harshest cold/wind/snow - not pleasant to think about but rather be alive than a popsicle (or like James Caan in Misery)

Great tips phy. Oh oh oh, stay away from that haunting in connecticut.