I dug my winter boots out this morning as I noticed our home temperature gauge was showing it was -5°C.
Some of the snow that fell in the last few days has decided to stay and I believe winter has arrived.
Last Saturday driving was a bit crazy in the Williams Lake area because snow was falling and several vehicles went off the road.
I drove up Dog Creek Road at around 9 a.m. to pick up a friend and was inspired to drive very slowly.
Recently driving over the Blueberry Paulson between Castlegar and Christina Lake to attend a friend's funeral in Nelson, I encountered a big snow fall.
It was only October 17 and I really wasn't expecting to deal with winter driving, which is why I had decided to make the quick trip down and back.
Someone ahead of me on the snow covered highway had their flashers on and was driving super slowly.
I remembered that and decided to do the same on Saturday morning as I drove back down Dog Creek Road toward Highway 20.
No one was behind or in front of me, but it did give me a sense of security knowing I was doing my part not to drive faster than I should and perhaps inspiring others to do the same.
Local tire shops confirm residents are still coming in to get their winter tires even on Nov. 19, which surprised me because our deadline for winter tires is October 1, especially if you want to travel any mountain passes.
We got our winter tires put on in mid September this year, the earliest we've done yet.
We needed to go out of town and as our winter tires were better than our summers we decided to get them changed for the long drive.
I wasn't always a convert when it comes to winter tires, although my experience was limited because my family never owned a car.
When I lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba for seven years and owned car for the first time, radial tires were the norm, perhaps because of the flatness of the land.
During our 16 years in Prince Rupert, when faced with travelling out of town for hockey trips we bought winter tires and I became a believer.
I noticed how much better the traction was and felt more secure on the road.
It was not until this year though that I learned what makes winter tires so effective.
According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, once temperatures dip below +7°C, winter tires provide superior tire performance compared to summer and even all-season tires.
Their website shares some more valuable information, I've included here.
Winter tires use a rubber compound that is less stiff and more flexible in colder temperatures and have a better traction at -30°C than all-season tires do at +4°C. Treads have deeper grooves and irregular edges to improve traction on wet, slushy, snowy, icy and dry cold surfaces. A car with winter tires on an icy road needs 6.4 metres to stop compared to 12.1 metres for a car with all-season tires. Winter tires are important because crash-avoidance technologies such as electronic stability control don’t work if tires have inadequate traction.
So if you see some woman hunkered close to the steering wheel, driving with flashers on an unplowed roadway, don't be surprised if it's me.
Safe winter driving everyone.
