It's going to rain tonight, and then it's going to get below freezing and ice up the wet roads, and then it's going to snow on top of that ice. Even if you're used to driving in snow, this isn't gonna be like what you're used to.
Last time we had similar weather, I personally witnessed two car accidents in one day. Stay safe
But if you do drive, make sure to post about all the bad drivers you encounter.
And include in the post how “people shouldn’t even be out there” while being one of the people out there.
I love that about traffic posts in general. You aren't "in traffic" my man, you are the traffic!
Please, we’re all so desperate to be lectured!
The only lecture I’m going to give is, for the love of the abominable snowman, turn your effing lights on!
And clean off your entire vehicle, please and thank you!
And be sure to absolve yourself of anything in the process!
While driving if at all possible. We must know immediately!
PREFERABLY WITH DASH CAM VIDEO SO WE CAN WATCH
Do not drive. Instead, do donuts and power slides.
Seriously though, be reasonable.
Excuse me…. It’s pronounced “whipping shitties.”
Found the Minnesotan lol
Edit: Actually, "excuse me" is pronounced "ope"
Also, it's Whippin'
We Minnesotans drop/eat the "g" sound on the end of "whipping," and only really pronounce the "n" sound at the end.
Outstanding! Lolllll
Between this and Kitty Corner, I don’t know what’s the most ridiculous saying, as someone not from here lol
How the heck else are ya gonna describe the house that's located diagonally across the street??
I’ve heard people say “caddie corner” but I say kitty corner. Originally from Illinois so maybe just a Midwest phrase? 🤷🏼♀️
They don’t use that phrase elsewhere? I thought that was a universal phrase!
Someone Minnesota’s.. thank you for the correction here
It ain’t much but it’s honest work.
Power slide using E brake? Asking for a friend….
Pick any brake, it will probably work
Or the gas. Sometimes the only way out is to throttle out
Slow before you enter the curve, and then you power through it!
Emergency Brake. I strongly suggest not trying this unless you have a hand brake, not the foot brake.
I've whipped plenty of shitties with the floor parking brake, I'll have you know. The trick is to kick the ass out first
Until the time you tap it back out and it doesn’t release. Then you swing the other way and hit a tree. $400 and a front control arm later, ask me how I know.
This guy shitties! Fuckin legend
Ha! Ya, that wasn't really intended for pro's.
Power slide generally implies you're using the throttle to slide in a RWD/AWD/4WD vehicle.
Ding, ding, ding ;)
Powwwwwerrrrrrr
Someone knows what’s up. Speed and power. My genius, it generates gravity.
I’ve got a 3 hour drive coming from the north to MSP for a 9PM flight. I’m leaving at 7am to try and beat the ice.
Edit- anything fun happening tomorrow that can help me burn some time? So far my best idea is Sweden vs Switzerland world junior hockey game.
If you’re parking at the airport and can deal with your luggage somehow, take the light rail over to MOA to kill some hours all kinds of ways. You won’t have to be “outdoors” in it at all.
There are nice luggage lockers at the MOA Light Rail station for exactly this purpose!
I forgot! Good catch!
Definitely check out the WJC. Tickets are super cheap anyway.
Attendance is hella low. Go show some support!
Where are you finding “super cheap” tickets? $30 a person is cheap, but I wouldn’t call it super cheap, for nosebleeds.
I guess I’m basing it off NHL standards of well over 100 for decent seats but I got two for tomorrows Sweden game for 25 each in the lower bowl via the tournament website and I bought two for Mondays team Canada game for 30 each at Mariucci. Extremely cheap for hockey standards here
Don’t expect your flight to be on time and make contingency plans in the pretty likely event of a cancellation
World Juniors for sure. You can go to the MOA anytime.
Don’t listen to MOA advice. Go to the world juniors.
MOA should be fairly slow with the weather forecasters. Get a wrist band and ride the awesome sponge bob coaster 5-15 times.
I'm a grown man and I'm too scared of the Rock Bottom Plunge. Did the other rides but that dive is too much to look at.
We looked, everything seems to be sold out!
Drop in at the mall of America you can take light rail there and back.
Football games at noon?
I work in the ER at HCMC... if you do decide to drive, and shit goes down, we'll take care of ya... but I'd much rather not see you in our trauma room
Thank you for what you do🤍
Aye I work there too and hope to be the only person on the road when I have to come back for my 7pm overnight. Thankfully I live in town but I'm not looking forward to it.
Thank you for what you do. I hope I never need to see you :)
Right back at ya! I never wanna see people in there
This is the hospital my cousin ended up in after a horrible winter accident. Major brain injury, coma, the whole thing. Shes definitely not the same, but shes closer to her old self than any of us imagined she would be. She went on to have 2 more kids, and lives independently. She even remembers some of the sweet things said to her by the staff while she was in her coma. Such an incredible hospital full of the best doctors and nurses. Thank you for everything you do.
I love hearing that!
National numbers were recently released and we are in the top 5 for trauma survivors
Very excited to be “forced” to stay home and watch it pour snow all day tomorrow.
Blizzard checklist:
Hard cider
Library books
Crochet supplies
Guitar hero
Lego Rivendell
Coffee
Four cats
I moved here from TX in July. Am I forgetting anything?
Wild Rice Soup from Byerlys!!
I'm making wild rice soup for dinner tomorrow. I've been looking forward to it for days. It is a snow day essential.
Ah darn! Next time!! I love the random progresso wild rice soup so I’m sure this one being local is legit.
Progresso is not wild rice soup.
Where are you located. Pm me if you are near NE Minneapolis and next time boss lady makes a crock pot I’ll bring you a bowl.
You’ll never eat the canned stuff again. (Also I’ll give you ingredients to make sure there isn’t allergy issue)
Though Progresso isn’t the worst if you gotta do canned. And it is a locally owned brand — General Mills.
But Lunds/Byerly’s or Kowalski’s is CB only best by homemade, of course!
Oh for sure, I’m guessing it’s an abomination compared to home grown stuff here, but if I like that I can only imagine what I’ve been missing.
We’re up near Maple Grove but my spouse teaches in the Whittier area and I teach in the St Paul area.
We recently discovered she can’t do gluten but no other allergy restrictions. I’d love to try a recipe if you’d be willing to share! We got a programmable crock pot so dinner can cook while we teach and we’re on the hunt for good recipes.
Wild rice soup is generally gluten free so that’s easy. I’ll get the recipe from boss lady and send it to you. It’s a lot of measure with your heart from her though. So forewarned
Baking needs to be measured for real. All other cooking is measured with the heart. I will do my best to follow the love in the recipe from boss lady.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Beer Cheese and Creamy Tomato Basil will also do, if the Wild Rice runs out!
Don’t forget the Killer Brownies. Microwave for 12 seconds. Not a second longer.
I've got some pasta salad! So glad I shopped earlier today.
No snow storms you make your own soup and have it simmer all day
Chicken. The ham version is too salty IMO. But best wild rice soup I have ever have had in the cities so far.
Catnip and snacks for the cats.
They did not pay me to say this.
FINN!
(He’s the instigator.)
Good thing we’ve got those covered too.
Damn straight. Please give them a Churu from me
I’ll let him know. He will not really slow blink at you, but he’ll hook his paw around your arm when you rub his ears just right to say thanks, and he purrs like a monster.
Make sure the car and snowblower (if you’re the one dealing with that) are gassed up before the storm hits.
Then you can hunker down, maybe go out to occasionally scrape off the first round layers. (Doing 3-4 inches several times is easier than waiting until it’s all done and having almost a foot to shovel.)
Oh man, I sure learned this the hard way over thanksgiving.
We got a snowblower that plugs in since we just have our little driveway and I’m doing the one next door because he’s an older fellow I haven’t seen outside since August who has family come by frequently.
My wife’s car is in our garage and mine is in our driveway, though I debated putting it in the normal parking spot. I figured it would be better to have it by the house for less plowing, but would you keep it there or move it to a parking spot?
Edit: just want to add, I think this is what the real spirit of MN nice can be, too. I’ve got the passive aggression worked out, but I think this good spirited excitement to share local recommendations on the eve of a snowstorm is a truly Minnesotan thing. I love tracking the weather and storms, and finding a bunch of people to be excited with me before my first potential blizzard has just made a really special evening. Genuine thanks to everyone for being so kind and welcoming here. Really grateful to be part of this community.
You could throw in some tater tot hotdish if you want to up your game
Oh man! We have that too! Definitely looking for hotdish recs beyond meat, cream of __ soup, cheese, and tots on top for next time if you’re willing to share.
If you want a really good one, there’s one with frozen broccoli as a base layer, cream of mushroom soup (you’re kinda stuck with cream of something soup for most bakes unfortunately I think) with some shredded cheese in it on top of broccoli, then more shredded cheese, then stuffing, then a couple other things that I don’t remember. I learned it at a job I had when I was like 18. It’s called an Amish broccoli bake :)
I also learned a bit about making cream of ____ bases from scratch. It’s not as complicated as you might think, and it’s a game changer for recipes if you have a little extra time for it.
It totally changed the boring holiday ‘green bean casserole’ to do it all with fresh ingredients instead of canned. I’m sure it would upgrade TTHD as well.
I'd add one thing to that list. My advice to thee is to consult the r/trees.
oh hell yeah baby
My first night here in July, I consulted the trees. Took a bath in our porcelain tub, then looked out our window over a bunch of pine trees with light lingering at 9:30 and thought, “I can live a slow life here”.
Try to capture and live by that peace daily. It’s profound.
I went and picked up my “emergency groceries”. In other words, I picked up enough jets pizza to cover all my meals for tomorrow LOL I also have enough craft supplies and organization projects to get me through several apocalypses.
My adhd hyperfixation finally swapped back to crochet and I have like 20 skeins of yarn, so feeling pretty good on that front.
Only wish we’d grabbed a couple of Spencer cakes from Hold the Wheat today for snacks tbh.
Four cats club! Bonus that we're also nerdy transplants! 💖🐈🐈🐈🐈
Ours are all black with one being a tuxedo. Yours?
Ours are exceedingly fluffy if I had to describe them in one word . All long hair... Well one medium. You can see them in my post history. Our last two himies were foster fails; I just couldn't let them go! Are your cats enjoying the climate difference. Our big boy loves spending about 2 minutes in the snow then straight back in, the others can't be bothered but they love watching it fall.
What are you currently reading? Anything good?
I got into puzzles after moving here.
In the “international foods” at cub, there are powdered miso soup packs that I love. I keep them pretty well stocked for “oh crap, I didn’t prep and now I’m stuck inside for a couple days” days and on-the-go
Ooh, I’m on the hunt for a good puzzle table with drawers for sorting secondhand so I can get started on many puzzles. Just can’t imagine spending over $100 for a brand new one.
This is REALLY good to know about the soup, especially if they are gluten free. Saving for reference for the next round! (Costco has some great gf ramen noodles that I think would be great for this.)
Lego Rivendell is gonna get a firm “hell yeah” from me
It got a resounding hell yeah from me when I found out it was my Christmas gift. I’ve been savoring it for just an occasion such as this.
Need to know the library books that are prepped
So many!
Finishing The Rose Garden by Philip Pullman.
Then choosing between a re-read of The Book of Koli by MR Carey, or:
Dragonfall, LR Lam
Furyborn, Claire Legrand
To Clutch a Razor, Veronica Roth
Or re-reading Project Hail Mary
Any recommendations?
Blankets just In case the power goes out.
If you are in a house there might be other things needed.
Also I have 4 cats and am a native Minnesotan. Glad transplants also love those little buggers.
We’re renting a townhome that’s thankfully incredibly well insulated.
We do have a bunch of 3 wick candles if the power goes out, but I think compared to the TX grid failure a while back we’ll be just fine up here. That had us climbing furniture to hang blankets from the ceilings.
I know we don’t need to right now, but if the power does go out, should we drop our faucets then to keep the pipes from freezing?
The little buggers seem to love being transplants as well. One especially likes to go outside and roll around in the snow.
They’re all boggled by the wild turkeys that prowl around though. (As are the humans.)
In my house I've never had my pipes freeze, maybe some older homes that's a thing to watch out for. Maybe other native Minnesotans would know. My family never taught me about the water freeze, but my husband's family home they needed to watch out for it since he lived in a mobile home park.
It seems like things are just much better insulated here and built for the cold.
I guess I might be built for it too. Today we hit a couple of Half Price Books locations and I was out in just a t-shirt which seems crazy to family in TX (and to me a year ago), but just felt nice and cool today.
Really think I’m just meant to live here. I’ve never felt so much peace in general in my life. Very, very grateful to join this lovely state.
Wool blanket
Tea
Netflix
Comfy chair
This is adorable. Especially Lego Rivendell.
Looks like you’re all set.
Came from NM in June!
Isn’t it the best here?
Coworkers are like, “are you doing ok with driving in all this?” And my answers are, “it’s snowing! It’s foggy! It’s delightful!”
Hoping my sense of wonder at how beautiful and ephemeral things are here never wears off.
After being traumatized in a red state for years, it’s nice to slow down and feel a sense of wonder about the world again.
How are you liking it?
Bread…milk!
(If you know, you know)
We are prepared to make the sacred milk sandwiches to the best of our ability.
I moved here from SC in 2021. Currently I’m pet sitting so I have two dogs, and five cats 😋
Put on some boots and snow pants and take a walk in the snow!!!
I am not sure Lego Rivendell and Four Cats mixes.
While I agree that ‘ice under snow’ is the worst variant, and care and caution is great, there’s an important difference now vs the icy ‘first of the season’ storm we had in November.
Because it was quite warm as that one started and the ground was completely unfrozen, there was no point to road pretreatment, since it would only wash away until the rain changed to snow.
This time, the subsoil and pavement is cold and the air temp will be close to freezing. MNDOT and their county/ city pals will be out there (are out there already in some places) trying to mimimize the ice as much as possible.
It’s true that if you don’t HAVE to go out there it’s not worth it, but we have a lot of great ways to make it less horrid, too.
And yeah — everyone stay safe!
Just wanted to say thank you - this made an internet stranger feel better!
I get to enjoy the cozy house with pups, but my spouse has to work closing and our overnight guests have no choice but to drive 3 hours home tomorrow. I'm worried sick about them all and this helped. :)
I hope all have safe travels. But everyone should also know when/if it’s the best choice to not travel at all.
I get the impulse to just go “no matter what” because we have to go to work or something. But it’s not worth injury or death to try it.
Everyone should take a very careful look before taking that 3 hour drive tomorrow. Going earlier or later or not until Monday could save lives. It’s possible this storm will play out differently than current forecasts.
I get to work 4am-6pm. Great drive in, terrible drive out.
If the timing is right, this shouldn’t be a massive dump of snow all at once, but a long period of snow. Stay home if you can. Act like a grown up if you can’t
I'm doubling this weekend in the ER. So work until 7am, then go to work at 3p and work until 7a the next day. Please, for the love of God stay home. If you think you have the flu, you do. Just sleep, drink plenty of fluids, and please take Tylenol and Ibuprofen. That's all we're gonna do for you anyway.
I really wish we could get clearer public health messaging about who does/does not need to be urgently seen for flu like illnesses. And for post illness fatigue. So many people could avoid the hassle.
I do too. I think covid fucked a lot of people up and they can't be uncomfortable anymore. We've had so many this week patients who are 20-60 years old and want to be admitted for the flu. It's like they think we have some magic pill or can wave a magic wand and make them feel better. Many of them would come back 2 or 3 times with the same complaints
Oh, but why not go into the office and infect the masses now that no one can telework any longer???
Because it's Minnesota, and tradition dictates that we share the love with our co-workers. Only slackers take time off to be sick.
/S...inspired by IRL experiences
Thanks to all you folks who staff emergency services
Ditto I’m 10-10
cries in hospital worker
And for fucks sake don’t order in food.
But if you do, give a fat tip
Gonna scotch-tape 40 grit to my wheels and head to Starbies holding a Hamm’s with my window down and defrost cranked. Doesn’t get any more Minnesotan than that.
Dude you mean caribou
Haha honestly I should go to Dunn Bros. Caribou sold to the Germans.
Dunn Brothers buys better beans than Starbucks or Caribou and most shops roast their own. I’ll go out of my way for a Dunn Brothers but won’t stop at either national chain unless I’m desperate.
damnit it I guess I have to stay inside all day with our new PS5 while the gf and I swap back and forth between minecraft and oblivion remastered 😔
i’ll have to venture out at least 4 times (briefly) for our husky mutt but that’s it
Get Stardew
And It Takes Two and Split Fiction
Counterpoint:
DRIVE FAST TAKE CHANCES!!!
If you drive fast, you're in the bad driving conditions for less time, so statistically you're less likely to crash!
WITNESS ME!
LET 'EM CRASH!
I am in Birchwood, WI, need to get home to the cities with 2 toddlers. Had planned to leave at noon so they could nap in the car. Instead I guess I’ll be waking them up to leave at 6am. Yay to a 2.5 hour drive with 2 hungry, wide awake kiddos. Wish me luck.
We find travel goes easier if we do it first thing in the morning. Our 7 am flights go smoother than later ones usually. Hope you find the same thing tomorrow. Good luck!
Doing a similar drive with 2 under five tomorrow. May the odds be in our favor!
Godspeed 🫡
This happened just a few weeks ago. I had to drive home from work in Maplewood to Eagan. The roads went from stiff slush to completely snow covered by the time I got to the Wakota Bridge. I was cautious and respectful, and so was everyone else, and I very much appreciated that.
Mom? I didn’t know you had a Reddit account.
Oh so you have time to reply to your mom's reddit posts but no time to give her a call? All those years raising you and this is the thanks I get...
But we just saw each other today! (By the way, I got home safe. Thanks again for the socks!)
Well someone has to take my parents back to the airport for their flight home so….
Dude… same. Their flight is at 3 😒 I suggested they reschedule their flight to Monday but they refused.
You forgot about the wind being the worst part since it’s gonna blow everything around
But I have a 4 wheel drive, 2.5 ton pick-up with a black plate that must go 80 on the highway to pickup more beer!
2 in 1 day? Wow
Would ya look at that
First thing I do is I just look at it
Then I think wow, there’s anotha one over there
Too bad I have to work 🙃
There was a day like this when one son was 16 and learning to drive. When it was safe, I took him to a large church parking lot not plowed yet and let him give it a go. Good practice, and I got the coolest mom award.
LOL, I did that with 16 yo daughter, I didnt know you have to do donuts backwards in a front wheel drive car, broke my husbands power steering ! I may have gotten the cool mom award, but definitely he wasn’t happy with my efforts..
I'd love to, but i have a job to do unfortunately. Driving as slow and safe as possible and most importantly keeping distance between vehicles. Just hope someone else doesn't ruin my day by crashing into me
This is not abnormal. We are from here. It’s 6 inches of snow. Do what you do, but be safer about it.
Everytime I check, the NWS has raised the snow amounts and projected wind speeds, extended the timeline, and/or widened the areas impacted. Now they’re saying 9” with blizzard conditions following a period of ‘wintry mix’ (rain changing to freezing rain to sleet as temps plummet.) They think this one’s gonna be ugly for at least some of us.
The intense wind and temp change is what’s different this time compared to usual storms
Got a bunch of fresh vinyl. A fridge full of beer. And plenty of snacks. I'm really looking forward to a good excuse not to do shit.
And tip your delivery drivers triple
If you order delivery in these conditions you're an asshole, but if you order delivery in these conditions and don't overtip your drivers, you're actually going to hell lol
I mean, agreed, but most delivery is done through services like DoorDash these days and the drivers choose to be out there and decide which deliveries to make. It’s not like they have a boss forcing them to do anything.
That said, yes, they do so expecting a big tip and they deserve it.
It’s a slow t Decline of temperatures from what I’m seeing. I’m not so sure about ice, but it will be heavy snow. Be careful shoveling. I keep hoping for a shift in trajectory
I work so, tell that to my boss
Headed to Welch, get bent.
Spirit Mountain for us. Going to try to leave early and get ahead of the storm. Happy shredding!
check first, sometimes they close because they are supposed to get a lot of snow. I wish I was kidding.
I’ll be bothering them early and often!
🤦♂️...or let's just see what happens and use caution.
Just do this
https://youtu.be/WbIY3Iy_nZU?si=jPyEAtMPoJnoRk97
I’ll have fun in 4H, thank you very much.
Give plenty of space, Slow down, brake and steer gradually and see what happens…
And make sure you use the bathroom before you leave.
Do we think the roads will be okay by Monday morning?
Glad I went home today
I love to kill time at IKEA and they have good coffee sometimes. Check out Nordstrom Rack for shoes
MN ppl don’t give a fuck. They look at me odd when I act like I don’t wanna go out in unsafe driving conditions
Everybody! And I mean everybody should be on the roads tomorrow, make sure you get stuck in the entryways of all parking lots, block two lanes of traffic whenever you are in an accident and just cause as much congestion as possible so us that are out trying to plow and clear the roads, driveways, parking lot, sidewalk simply cannot do our jobs.
That way we can endure phone call upon phone call and email upon email asking why the parking lot hasn't been plowed yet or why the sidewalks haven't been shoveled yet.
For the love of God, if you need to go anywhere, take transit. I beg you.
Minnesotans gettin SOFT
This is my thought lately too. Sure, there are a ton of bad drivers out, and the last two winters have been nothing and people lost their skills and nerve, but even MN lifers are sure they need to get in a bunker anytime there's anything over about 1.5 inches.
I'm convinced this is caused by the news/weatherman hype cycle to keep up engagement. Every fucking time it snows is "snowmageddon". We live in a place with incredible resources and infrastructure to deal with it. On top of that, with some milder winters, they're extra prepared and capable to handle it.
Stay off your phone, go slow, use your mirrors and look through the windshield of the person in front of you.
Super soft.
Fuckin 10 ply, bud
I was up north seeing my dad, brother and sister in law, and my grandma today. It was really foggy up there. My dad’s girlfriend was insisting that I leave in the morning instead. I would rather drive in the dark fog than the snow, plus I work tomorrow early afternoon. My dad agreed with my decision.
Also people please turn off your high beams/brights when following or approaching someone, that was by far the worst part of my drive home late tonight, I couldn’t see numerous times of the two hour drive home because of people ignorantly keep their brights on.
Okay, but what is with the number of people suddenly using high beams when it isn't necessary?? I swear in the last two or three years I've seen so many more people using them at night, and in suburban areas where I've never even thought to use mine before and it isn't necessary. Just last week someone was using them on a neighborhood street in WSP at 6:30 in the morning. Yes, we have less street lights around that area, but there is still plenty of light and half the block has outdoor lights and Christmas lights on which helps too, and it wasnt foggy that morning. I literally had to hit my breaks because dude came over the hill with his brights on and blinded me. This happens all too frequently.
And as you said, even when using them in an appropriate setting, the number of people that don't dim them when approaching or coming upon another car is wild. It's so dangerous and nerve-wracking. People need to be paying attention and more mindful of other drivers. Uffda.
Bro acts like life long Minnesotans haven’t driven this weather thousands of times.
I was gonna drive but some random redditor told me not too
Can’t wait to drive everywhere
i dont have to drive anywhere til Monday night, hopefully roads are alright then. gl everyone
here’s hoping for good sledding snow bc after the last dump of snow we couldn’t get our sled to glide on top the snow. they just sunk in and even after attempting to groom the tracks we had no luck.
my kids already have cabin fever from the first week of Christmas break so the thought of another whole day inside with no where to go sounds like hell.
Are you saying I shouldn't drive my Ford focus from Eden Prairie to Maple Grove tomorrow afternoon? Nah, I'm sure I'll be fine😬
Oh man this brings me back memories of how awful one of my first cars was in snow (05 focus).
Never had a worse car for snow than that one ha
i fly in tomorrow at 3:00 PM and i have to drive a hour home. wish me luck 🫡
Yeah, that flight’s gonna be canceled.
Great I work 20 hours tomorrow
StP to Nisswa in the AM. Taking this fucker head on. FULL BORE AND INTO THE ABYSS!!!
So… turn on your headlights, right? I just want to beat all those PSAs because of the oblivious.
i have work tomorrow… at 12 and i’m so scaredddd 😓
... But if you have a metal disc or even a plastic disc and some WD-40 it is going to be a fucking blast!
I see this post was made 3hrs ago. I haven’t seen another social media post about this, is it still happening?
I need to drive from Saint Paul to Mankato Sunday morning to afternoon and back time window frame. Any thoughts???
No plans to drive at all, I didn't even charge my car. I really need to go to Costco but I know that would be extra stupid so I'll "suffer" with the food I have haha.
Best part about a snow day on the weekend is the great naps I dont feel guilty taking.