So many stories...
... here's the first, and by chance the most recent.

Living in Boulder, Colorado, has much to recommend it. The weather is (we're at 5300 ft) for the vast majority of time, damn near perfect, and even in mid-winter, when it snows, it rarely lasts more than a day or two. The catch is that immediately to the west of the city begin the Rockies, rising fairly steeply and consistently to 10,000ft, peaking out at the odd 14,000ft summit. Snow stays up here a lot longer, and it snows a lot more frequently.

Couple of weeks ago we were coming down off the mountains in the wife's all-wheel drive Town & Country soccer-mom mobile, and the local plod turned us back; a bad multiple-vehicle accident had blocked the road, and we'd have to take a different route. Off we toddled, just as the snow started to fall. We were about 8500ft, and there was still snow on the ground. New snow falling. Graded and gravel road, not asphalt. Nightmare. The Flatlanders were also out in force - people who haven't got a clue how to drive in conditions like these. Shit-box pieces of tin, so lightweight that on standard tyres they couldn't negotiate a mild incline, and gracefully pirouetted down the hill, engine racing, wheels spinning, until they came to a stop against a tree. A huge Ford Expedition (seriously, it's freakin' huge) losing grip and fishtailing up the hill (I saw him a little later, pulled over and putting on snow chains).

But my favorite is this. Good lady wife lived in upstate New York for many years; a place so cold that the US Army moved their cold-weather training there. From Alaska. I lived in Norway and Sweden for a while (though I remain a loyal citizen of the UK.) We're no Flatlanders, and know how to get through. Low gear, low speed, stop for nothing. 20mph all the way, we're doing great.

From behind, at ramming speed, comes a twunt in an LR3. He overtakes at, I'm guessing, between 40 and 50mph. Gestures at us in a non-too friendly manner. Not 5 minutes later we pass him, huge skid-furrows in the snow leading to the vehicle, front-end concertina-like, in the ditch. He was standing alongside it, scratching his head, wondering how to get it out. As we passed, I waved at him in a very friendly way. I must say, he had a very poor attitude and got quite angry.

25 minute journey took 4 hours. But we made it home without incident.
(IHaveComeAmongThee__Twice Tissues on the left. Self-esteem on the right., Thu 22 Apr 2010, 21:12, 1 reply)

I know exactly what you mean
Poland can get to -30 centigrade in winter, with foot-deep snowfall in a night. And despite growing up in this, some people still insist on racing through it at 50mph and then being shocked when, as a corner approaches, the steering wheel and brakes turn out to be useless.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Sun 25 Apr 2010, 19:30, closed)