To everything there is a season
 

And the season at hand is winter! :eek2:

Middle name is Murphy here. I am just beginning my solo career and have absolute no experience/perspective of driving in snow other than in a four wheeler. I have a pocket or two full of common sense, but any advice to drawn on while I am gaining experience would greatly be appreciated. :bow:

Thank you in advance. :thumbsup:

OK I'll start. Don't run your defroster when its snowing. The hot air on the windshield melts the snow but the cold air outside refreezes it to your wipers which is why they get caked with ice and won't work. Run the heat thru the floor and your windows should stay clear and your wipers won't freeze.:thumbsup:

Well, when things get bad, i prefer to pull off if I have any doubts in my ability to keep things under control. Often, when things start to get slick, I feel comfortable slowing down and staying on the road. Other times, especially when wind is involved, I just don't think it's worth the risk.

Whatever you do, DON'T EVER let other drivers, be it 4-wheeler or otherwise, try and intimidate you into driving "their" speed. You drive ONLY as fast as YOU feel comfy doing; they'll just have to wait. Remember, THEY aren't going to be paying the bills if you pile your truck up. Furthermore, they won't pay the medical bills for you or anyone unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident, nor will they likely employ you if you lose your job due to said accident.

Somewhere along this thread, I think someone will come on to try and tell you not to set your trailer brakes... ;)

Not having much experience myself the only advice I can offer is to ask for runs going south. ;)

I learned to drive truck in the winter last year. Snow in and of itself isn't so bad. You are safer in a big truck when you have a full load than you are in any other vehicle. Just take it easy and don't worry about everyone passing you. You have to watch out for a combination of snow, wind, and if you have a light load you have to be very careful how you brake because you have an increased risk of jack-knifing.

Ice is the real problem. Black ice especially since you can't see it. You have no control of the truck on ice and you need to find a safe place to stop until the conditins improve. When the weather is shitty I keep my CB on because Ch. 19 will keep you posted pretty well about road conditions.

Make sure you keep your windshield washer fluid full. You will need it when deicers take effect and turn everything into a mushy, filthy slurry! :D Also make sure your wipers are in top condition.

I disagree. Even heavily loaded, you can lose traction. The difference between a car and a tractor-trailer is size, and the fact that it's a combination vehicle. When you break traction, you can jackknife...and a jackknife can destroy the tractor, trailer, and kill you...all without hitting a thing.

I have a friend who went through orientation here at Con-way truckload back at the beginning of October. He was fired before the end of the month, due to a single vehicle jackknife...never hit a thing, but tore the trailer in half, and heavily damaged his tractor. He did this with a 44,000 lb load.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...6/DSCN2443.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...DSCN2438-1.jpg

I know that'd I'd rather come across I-68 with a heavy load than I would empty. If you lose traction when pulling a hill, you can get screwed really quick. If the weather is too bad (aka you don't feel comfortable driving in it), find a place to park.

When the roads get bad, you may have to use the diff. lock to get going. Once your speed is up to between 5 and 10 mph, UNLOCK THEM. The "4-WHEEL-DRIVE" theory is fine for a 4-wheeler, but doesn't work as well with a combination vehicle. If you break traction with your drives, you have a much better chance of spinning all drives if you have them locked in. That will make the back of your tractor slide sideways and risk a jackknife. With them unlocked, you have a much better chance of spinning only one, and the rest just roll and keep you in line. Back off on the throttle, and then feather it enough to maintain your momentum. Absolutely, do not try to use an engine brake. But, when you approach a hill, try to have enough momentum at the bottom to be able to make it over the top. Many drivers spin out because they approach the hill too slow, then try to "power" it over the top. You want to incorporate "COAST" along with a feathered throttle to get over the top. If you apporach a hill at 35 mph, and slow down to 10 by the time you reach the top, that's fine. YOU MADE IT!!!

Ask Golfhobo about his run across I-40 to Amarillo, in December, a few years ago. I don't know what he was carrying, but I had a very light load, and there were drivers chaining up to run flat land. (I didn't have any trouble at all.)

No sudden moves with the throttle, wheel, or the brakes. Drive like you have no brakes. That means a much greater stopping distance... And far more "SAFETY ZONE" in front of you.

There's always a lot of talk about "BLACK ICE". I was once told that what makes black ice so bad is the fact that you can not tell if it's road surface or ice on top. I was also told that it does not include "WET ICE". Being from MN, I'm sure you've had the chance to step out of a car in the rain, and promptly slide under it. If you have to run through freezing rain, and a layer of water on top of the ice, feathering that throttle is far more important than any other time. And, choose a higher gear to reduce the torque of the engine and reduce your chances of breaking the drives loose. You'll also want to keep a check on your airlines under the trailer. A small hammer comes in handy to knock the ice off of them so that the weight does not drag them to the ground. You can rub a hole in them and be stuck with no way to release the trailer brakes. It requires a service truck to come and repair the lines.

And, being from MN, I'm sure you are also aware (and many other drivers are not) that the closer to freezing the temp is, the more slick the snow cover can be. If you can pack a snowball, expect the snow covered road to be very slick. Also, under trees and overpasses, look for ice. Any area where the sunlight is blocked.

The theory of keeping your windshield cold works only if the temp is below about 27 F. If it's snowing at 30 F, and it's a heavy, wet snow, it won't matter if you have your defroster on or not.

This kind of info is what makes CAD.

You know I am printing all this great advice off and keeping it in my binder! :thumbsup:

Keep your lights clean, not your head lights but your tail lights. Snow will build up and the entire back of your trailer will get covered making you virtually invisible to the guy behind you in a storm.

Those flexible air lines going to your trailer tandems can pick up a lot of snow, I check those everytime I stop.

I try to kick off any snow I can actually, if I can kick off a big chunk then it can just as easily come off when I hit a bump which could be bad news for the guy behind.

A couple of really good threads
http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/n...need-some.html
http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/n...r-driving.html

Agree to disagree. I saw a lot more cars in the ditch last winter than I did trucks. Undoubtedly most of the trucks that were there were probably avoiding 4-wheelers that lost control in front of them. And where is the winter weather in those pics. Looks like your buddy just lost control on a nice dry sunny day.

Of course any vehicle can lose traction but logic and the laws of physics tell me that a heavier vehicle will be more affixed to the ground than a much lighter one.

What you say is very true, however, there is often a little distance between where you decide that it is not safe, and a safe place to pull it off. For this distance, that "KNOW-HOW" still comes into play.

A major part of being a professional driver is KNOWING HOW YOUR EQUIPMENT WILL REACT TO VARYING CONDITIONS, and KNOWING THE LIMITS OF YOUR OWN ABILITY.

One day in TX, on I-40, I counted more than 30 trucks off the road in a 36 mile stretch of hiway. That was from the NM line to Vega. And, there is one more thing about getting off the road. Before you start down a ramp (or up), make sure the way is clear. More than once, I've seen ramps blocked by rigs that jackknifed near the end, at the stop sign. If the way is blocked, and the ramp is that bad, you could join the other rig at the end. I've also seen one spun out on a ramp, and a second one tried to go around... And their trailers met.

More than once, I've had to stay on the road because it was actually safer than taking an exit ramp. PA, some years ago, had a guy stationed at the enterance to the rest areas waving all traffic away, and someone on the CB saying that everything in the rest area was jackknifed.

It's fine to say you're going to get off the hiway, but can you do so safely? If not, you're destined to keep going until you can.

Keep a bunch of cans of de-icer in your truck. Try to keep 1 in the warmth of the driver compartment so the cold doesn't make the can lose pressure. This is the best stuff for de-icing glass, mirrors, and light. I don't climb up to remove ice from my windshield...ever :D

Keep your following distance. There is no saftey in numbers, drive your truck.
Find an empty, snow covered paking lot and "try some stuff" to see what to expect when you get out of your "normal driving envelope". I have found it would take a LOT of stupidity on my part for things to get "out of hand".
...The same things that keep you safe in everyday driving {speed, distance, relative speed, ect} keep you safe in bad weather.

Keep your 5th wheel well greased, so the trailer does not "steer the tractor".

drive safe talk to drivers going the other way and no load is worth your life

when you see yellow snow, it's best to go around it. :)

Unless it's very, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY FRESH... Then you might want to go through it and see if you'll have meat for lunch...:eat::eat::thumbsup::smokin:

I love lemon snow cones.

Never hit a thing...but his trailer,and destroyed over 100k in equipment .

Heavier gives better grip ,and if evenly loaded you stand less chance of sliding..But if you break traction heavier is harder to regain control of ...

Actually it's the same with both ,and it boils down to a wheel that has torque applied to it will break traction b4 a wheel that does'nt ,and that applies to any vehicle .

heavy load is great in snow. that fella in the picture was out of control on black ice.
i have run in lots of snow and on uphills go 45-50 mph to keep up the momentum. i go down hill slower than most so if trailer tries to come around i can accelerate and straighten it up with out gaining too much momentum going downhill.
it takes me too long to do that full chain thing. i wont be without raingear. rubber or snow boots, rubber gloves and a good lantern.its just too miserable chaining when your wet and cold and your in the way
you get some lousy trips if you park that load and your co-workers run those chains for 5 miles and deliver on time

Good point. The momentum required to get to the top depends on the height and angle of the hill you're climbing. The bigger the hill, the more momentum needed.

The rubber gloves come in handy for more than just chaining up. For the guys that work flatbed, if you run through salted slush on the road, and the temp is down around 20 F, the straps will be soaked, but not really frozen. A regular pair of gloves will get wet with the first strap you handle. A good pair of rubber coated gloves (and you can put another pair inside of them) will keep your hands dry. The first part of keeping your fingers from freezing.

A couple of years ago, when PA had most everything shut down, I made the trip from FL to Boston ON TIME. The return trip was also ON TIME. Care to take a guess on just how long it took me to get runs away from the east coast, and out to the mid-west where I much rather run?
Come to think of it, that was also the run that I got there and was told I don't have an appointment. I had to have dispatch make a real appointment for me for the following day, and I asked dispatch just who was responsible for the 22 HOURS OF DETENTION TIME on that run. Wonder if that's why they ran me east so much after that?

But, your chances of breaking all drives loose is far greater with the differentials locked in than with them unlocked. If you break one drive loose, you simply release the throttle and re-apply pressure on the throttle, just enough to try to keep most of your momentum going.

If you have the differentials locked in, your chances of spinning out with all drives is far greater, and when that happens, gravity will pull the drives toward the lower side of the highway. It's far more difficult for you to try to keep tractor and trailer in line.

I've talked to a number of drivers that have jackknifed, and in most cases, they could not understand how it happened. "I even had the differentials locked in to give me more traction, and it still went." To get started, the differential lock is an asset. Once you are rolling, it becomes a liability. There's a good chance that if they had not locked them in, they would not have jackknifed.

If any of you ever have the chance, try it out on a skid-pad and see just what the effect is. But, make sure it's a skid-pad with a crown to it like the crown on the road.

Like I said a wheel with torque will spin b4 a wheel without...now a drive wheel will break loose when you put more twist to it than you have traction which is hader to do with 2 live axles than 1 since the torque is now applied to 2 drive wheels not 1 , But if you use 2 much skinny pedal you are now breaking loose 2 tires not 1...and 4 if you have a locking differential ...NON OPEN CARRIER...as both drive shafts will receive equal torque regardless of what wheel has most traction unlike open where the wheel with the least traction get the torque ,as energy always follows the path of least resistance ... So if you srew up with diffs locked it's worse b/c you break loose more rubber,and if you spin a tire loose it loses traction in every direction so you will slide to the down hill side of the road ,because it's the path with least resistance...Until you find a few large trees .

And, if we keep this up, we'll have the new drivers sitting in their trucks UP-SIDE-DOWN so that when they lose it on ice and the truck comes to rest, they'll be sitting right-side-up...:D:D

Use your time wisely and watch the weather closely. This is where an air card (or new generation phone)can become priceless. Weather forecasting isn't all that different today than it was 20 years ago . . you get some "reader" reading the same forecast over and over again even while you're watching the weather change before your eyes. An air card gives you realtime access to numerous sources and images. For instance, the WADOT site offers real time chain status and traffic cams for all the mountain passes. If it's currently clear and you have the choice of spending the night on this side or the other, run like hell to get to the other.

Slow and steady wins the race, said the tortoise to the hare. If you find yourself on a rotten roadway, don't be afraid of it . . manage it. On a narrow two lane posted 35, you might set a target speed of 25, which, depending on your truck is probably the high side of 5th or the low side of 6th. In any event, you want to "gear" yourself so you can add or reduce your speed by 5 mph without shifting or braking. Accelerate a little as things look better, back off a little at the first sign of trouble. Add a little speed as you approach an upgrade and back off a little as you approach a downgrade. You'll be in a better position to downshift if you find you need to do so quickly.

Always be prepared to stop. Probably one of the hardest things to do on any slick road is to watch the super truckers and 4x4 4 wheelers blow by you because they somehow got it in their heads that they won't have to stop. They are wrong. Sooner or later, everyone will have to stop. If you're approaching congestion, an intersection, ramps, rest areas you have to anticipate and assume someone is going to do something foolish and you have to be prepared to stop.

Be prepared to stop for awhile. Keep plenty of extra food that doesn't require any preparation. Keep plenty of extra water. Keep plenty of extra warm clothing and bedding.

Stay with your truck . . it'll be a lot easier to find than little bitty you.

Stay ahead of your fuel. When in doubt, ask for more.

If you can avoid trouble by getting off your fuel route, by all means do so as long as you're sure you're not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

If you do find yourself in need of assistance, wave your VS foundations aggressively to attract attention.

Some one needs to photoshop a swift logo on that truck an trailer .

" Care to take a guess on just how long it took me to get runs away from the east coast, and out to the mid-west where I much rather run?"

yea, we got a driver thats good buddies with the dispatch boss and i done lot of chaining cuz he whines so much. and he got the new equipment
it also sucks when you chain up and your coworker gets through barefoot and they want to know what took so long

I never knew that..........great tip. I tried to give a + comment, but I have to spread it around more.

YankeeTURBO said:

I hate to disagree with Turbo, as I'm sure he has more experience than I, but my OWN experience has me doing just that. When conditions warrant locking my diffs, I keep them locked. When the weight in your box is pushing against your drives, I want that force to be countered by traction on ALL drive tires, not just one or two. Force distributed over a larger area of rubber and road. Ice can be "spotty." What he says about breaking loose ALL drives may be true, but feathering the pedal is meant to avoid that. It is not the "action" that I fear and contemplate, but the "reaction." The very reason that starting off with them locked works is that the torque is distributed over a larger area of contact. This theory should also apply to "resisting" the outside force of trailer weight and centrifugal force rounding curves.

Try "hill climbing" in a two wheel drive vehicle vs. a 4 wheel drive. No matter how much momentum you have, you will never make it to the top without applying torque to EVERY drive wheel you have. I fail to see how the theory of all wheel drive would apply to 4wheelers but not combination vehicles.

Yes, I was in that "battle." Trucks and 4wheelers were wrecked everywhere! (most of the trucks were single screw.) I was approaching Amarillo from the East. The roads were slick, but not completely iced over. There were places where the pavement shone through, and I wanted SOME drive tire to have traction on those spots. I locked my diffs at the OK line, and kept them locked, going about 40-45 mph, and passing everyone. Some might say that was too fast, but I was continually "testing" to see if it was safe. (more later.) For the record, I was heavy. 44k lbs of .... you guessed it.... BEER! :lol2:

On the surface, this sounds right. But again.... I do things differently. 99% of the time, I would drive with this in mind. However.... I "test" my traction by doing JUST this. If I have any question as to whether I am "tracking" or "gliding," I will make a quick but LIMITED jerk of the wheel to see if my steers are steering or just playing along. If the truck wobbles a little, I am in control. If it doesn't react, I am over the edge, and I slow down. Same with the throtte. Most of the time, I am "feathering" it like Turbo says.... forcing the engine to be either pulling gently, or decelerating gently. But, if I am not sure of my contact with the road, I will make a quick but LIMITED jab at the throttle. If I can "feel" the truck trying to respond, I'm in control. If it seems more like the engine is "racing," I am over the edge, and slow down. I also like to know if I have the ability to stop the truck if I need to. To "test" this, without risking breaking traction on my drives, and ONLY on a straight stretch of road, I will quickly "jab" my trolley bar. If the the tandems have enough traction, the truck will immediately slow down a bit. All of this is part of MY "Smith System." I want to know the level of my control at all times.

A quick but LIMITED jerk of my steering wheel, when I am expecting it and ready for it, will tell me this.

And diffusing that torque over a larger area (all drive tires) will do this, too.

It's not JUST the temperature. It is also the moisture IN the snow (which is determined thousands of feet up in the sky.) Western snow is usually much "dryer" than Eastern snow. Know the humidity levels where you are driving. If the snow is blowing and/or drifting across the roadway, it is obviously much dryer than snow that lands and just lays there. ;)

Dry snow requires "packing" to make it icy. Wet snow will ice up due to "freezing" the moisture contained therein. I would rather drive in a foot of Western snow than an inch of Eastern snow.

What someone said about paying attention to weather forecasts is right on! KNOW what you will find ahead of you. And KNOW whether it started as freezing rain or as a dry snow.

One more thing. The Western and Northern slopes of any mountain is MORE LIKELY to have a lower temperature and therefore an unexpected snow. Just because you climbed UP a mountain in dry weather OR rain, does not mean that is what you will find once you crest the mountain! Anyone who has ever gone through the Eisenhower Tunnel going west from Denver knows exactly what I mean.

This is a really, really big myth. People see one wheel spinning on an axle during slippery conditions, and people assume all of the torque is ONLY going to one wheel...this is false. Has to do with friction. There are two relevent coefficients of friction for an object, which are static and sliding. Static means the object is NOT sliding, sliding means...well...you get it. The static coefficient is ALWAYS greater than sliding...always will be. This is why your truck will stop faster if all wheels are braking heavily but ARE STILL ROLLING than a truck that locks up all 18.

The simple truth is, an open differential sends EXACTLY EQUAL torque to both ends. This applies both if it's a differential within an axle, OR a differential BETWEEN two axles, aka inter-axle differential. When one wheel breaks traction and starts spinning, it is gripping the ground LESS than the other wheel(s) that is gripping. This means that it is now handling less torque, which in turn causes a torque reduction on the other side, which is why you almost never spin both wheel sets on an axle. any attempt to feed more power yields no gain, since attempting to increase torque only spins the spinning wheel faster, while not putting any MORE torque or power to the wheel that is not sliding.

The same concept applies to an inter-axle differential. Same device, same effect, just a different application. This time, when the inter-axle is NOT locked, it acts as an open differential between the axles. Meaning if one wheel spins up on one axle, it will also limit the torque going to the OTHER axle, which means in practical terms, that one wheel will likely be the only one spinning. The APPLIED TORQUE is the SAME across all wheels, however since 3 are now gripping and can handle more, the one that CAN'T handle more, the spinning one, is the one limiting everything.

All of this changes when you lock the inter-axle diff. This allows one axle to recieve MORE torque than another, in the event that a loss of traction occurs. For example, if one of your front wheels breaks traction, FULL POWER can still be applied to the rear axle, UNTIL a wheel set on the rear axle breaks traction, and thus, you end up with TWO spinning wheels. This is why people think that when the diff is locked, you are under TWO WHEEL DRIVE...which isn't the case. Each wheel is still having the EXACT SAME applied torque, and the exact same forward force acting on the truck...but ONLY as much as the slipping wheels!

Windwalker nailed it right on the head, in regards to why you DON'T want the inter-axle diff locked in while moving down the road. When a wheel breaks traction, it can no longer control lateral movement, as the full effect of it's friction on the road has been spent trying to turn the wheel, leaving nothing to keep the rig straight. With the differential unlocked, you will likely have 3 other wheels that AREN'T sliding, and thus have some of their friction availible to keep you on the road. When the diff is locked, and traction is lost, you have AT LEAST two wheels spinning...which puts you at grave risk for a jackknife.

Great post, windwalker...I probably just confused everyone...:lol:

Not at all Tom! Great post! Some valuable and relevant infro from both you and WW. I think it may be time to pass the mantle back..............

As for Golfhobo? What can I say? Some things never change.

Good job Tom. According to Hobo we both drive in eastern snow. Which is way worse, kinda like a dry heat!:roll:

Just to clarify, that post was not intended as an affront to BJ...unlike a certain other thread...:whistle:

But it seems like it's almost come to be a commonly accepted principle that only ONE wheel is driving the vehicle at a time...which is far from the truth...and it's much easier to understand how a vehicle's going to react in less than ideal conditions if you understand the dynamics behind it...for those who care!:D

On edit: Belpre, sent you a PM...not used to this forum software, didn't realized you replied until yesterday!:o

You can say you're sorry.

Check these quick videos:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-rQTHMVAuw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6_kOlUXYoI

then go to this link.

http://www.tpub.com/content/trucktra...283-10_110.htm

But, before you leave it.... check the FIRST paragraph concerning use of the trolley brake to avoid jacknifing. This will vindicate my position in the "debate" with RockyMtnPro many years ago. Also, if you click BACK once or twice, you'll find interesting info on how to use the engine retarder on icy roads. [I am not advocating this. I just found it interesting.]

I am not arguing with Tom. He does sound like he knows what he's talking about, and I have never claimed to... concerning this issue. I do recall that I was taught that there are different types of diff interlocks on trucks. I only know about the ones I've driven.

Also, there may be a disconnect on what type of road conditions we are addressing. A solid sheet of ice may substantiate Tom's position. I am referring to roads with "patches" of ice, or "patches" of pavement, or even "patches" of sand or slag, where ONE tire may lose traction but others might NOT.

There are all kinds of ways to find traction on snow covered roads. ONE is to move to the right and make use of the "growler." I am not driving YOUR truck, or Dobry's. I am driving mine. I have driven in snow for many years of my life. You guys can do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I was only relating MY experience and MY opinion. And unlike many who post here, I have never lost control of my truck, never hit anything, and never asked HOW to drive in snow.

I almost didn't get into this thread, as I don't like telling someone else how to drive their truck. I drive my truck in a manner that I FEEL gives me the most control at the time. I have had 3 "close calls" while driving on slick roads. I came through all 3 with exactly the results I expected by employing the tactics I believed in. One involved running with the diffs locked, and two involved the trolley brake to straighten out my trailer (or to increase braking from the most rearward axle.) But, I am no expert. I'm just a driver. A professional driver, and a SAFE one.

I know (or I think) you were just razzing me, Bel. And, I am NOT responding in anger or indignation. I'm just not using smilies.

I thank Tom for his explanation. Yes, it confused me somewhat. So I went to Wiki for more info. I am still (somewhat) confused. I am not the most mechanical person in the world (but I AM capable of understanding theory.) Probably that low testosterone level that someone accused me of. :lol:

But, I drive by "feeling" the road and my vehicle. And KNOWING the conditions I am in.... or may encounter. And I have every intention and belief that I will retire from trucking accident free. I hope the same for you and all my other "friends" here.

Hobo,

I was just attempting to explain why it's easier to go sideways when more wheels break traction, that's all.:nana:

Strangely enough, I agree with you on how you check the amount of control you have. No, I never have used the steering wheel, but I do every so often tap the brakes a little bit, just to get a feel for the level of traction availible to me. This is NOT something I'd recommend to someone who's not comfortable with the way their truck handles in snow, or someone who feels uncomfortable with doing it.

It's the way I've always driven my car in snow, and it's something that subconciously carried over into this thing.;)

From www.about.com:

Differential: A special gearbox designed so that the torque fed into it is split and delivered to two outputs that can turn at different speeds. Differentials within axles are designed to split torque evenly

Yes, Snowman, it IS way worse IMHO. When wet snow is traveled over, it melts due to friction and release of the moisture content. Then, with temps falling late at night, it tends to freeze into ICE. More snow falls over this icy mix, and you have a "foundation" for disaster. Dry snow tends to drift across and even OFF of the road. That which stays on the road and gets packed, is often.... how do I say this.... "bumpier." This gives added traction to vehicles, similar to riding on the growler. Not to mention that beneath the "western snow" is a dry pavement.

And yes.... there is a big difference between a "wet" or humid heat and a "dry" heat. I'll take 100 degrees in Arizona over 85 degrees in the Carolinas ANYTIME! And so will most people with Asthma or other similar conditions. Why do you think doctors recommend dryer climates for some people?

All I am saying is that a driver should understand how weather and conditions are different in various parts of the country. You cannot expect the same conditions you are "used to" when you drive in a part of the country with which you are NOT.

Here is an extra credit question for you. WHY is eastern snow wetter than western snow? And for that matter.... WHY is western heat dryer than eastern heat?

Because the hot air coming from your mouth out West travels in an Easterly direction, causing the snow to partially melt, and the humidity to rise.

What do I win?:clap: