The Midwest and East Coast regions of the country are currently experiencing a period of wintry weather. The Midwest has been receiving heavy snowfalls and the northern part of the East Coast has seen high temperatures in the 20’s over the last few days. That spell has made its way down South, as well. The mercury has dropped into the high 30’s and low 40’s during the day and as low as the teens overnight. These are some of the coldest temperatures seen down South in approximately 10 years.
News reports highlight procedures and customs that people claim to be “tried and true” to survive this rare (for below the Mason-Dixon line) occurrence. Now the idea of reporting tips and tactics during a weather phenomenon is nothing new. I can remember news stations up North broadcasting people in their neighborhood supply stores buying up as much salt and as many shovels as they can carry. Don’t they still have the shovel they bought last year or is there the need for the latest and greatest, new tech version that I am unaware of? And video of barren supermarket shelves due to the sudden need for milk and bread.
But down South, perspective plays even more of a role. The rare cold weather has prompted some rather original methods for survival. One network station discussed rolling towels and placing them at the bottom of your doors to block the cold air from entering. This is practical for a temporary fix. I’ve even witnessed a wireless thermostat advertisement, passed off as a news report, of course, that allows you to control the temperature in each room, potentially lowering your monthly heating bill.
But such a wintry spell has caused locals to resort to more witchcraft-like practices when it comes to their cars. Well, maybe it’s not that bad, but it definitely is different. A recent report suggested that owners layer their windshields with newspaper, and then cover the newspaper with towels. This, as it was reported, would keep the frost and ice off of your windshield. Okay….but what if there’s precipitation? The towel would then freeze, and would the newspaper, in turn, freeze to the windshield, negating the entire purpose? This one was new to me. And growing up in the N.E., we could expect to scrape our windshields every morning from mid-December till late March.
Maybe that hardware store shopping list should include an ice scraper, because there’ll be a lot more scraping to do if it rains.
Feel free to share your own winter automotive advice in the comments section. Of course, the weirder, the better.
