Weather or Not

[Spidey2112]

Central Ohio...

We usually take January and February off... still rehearse, just no scheduled gigs.

Regarding the rest of the year, if it's forecast to rain, and we have an overhead covering, we usually go forward.

No covering? IMO, It's not worth the hassle... even if we all get partial reimbursement, that amount won't cover the potential damage to anyone's equipment, including the soundtechs.

 

[logdrum]

It's much different just to the east of Portland. I-84 going out to the Gorge can be world class hell, but once you get here it's more or less ski town mentality and I've driven to many gigs in similar conditions to my time in northern VT. But in my area it's all about altitude, and I live at ~200 feet ASL. My friends who live just up the hill may have a very different take, and with good reason.

Yeah, I get it but abandoning your fully capable Subaru 1/4 mile from the exit on the 26 just did not compute on any level to me. But each community have their own collective traits and way of dealing things and that's what makes the world an interesting place

 

[Passinwind]

Yeah, I get it but abandoning your fully capable Subaru 1/4 mile from the exit on the 26 just did not compute on any level to me. But each community have their own collective traits and way of dealing things and that's what makes the world an interesting place

You should see what happens in downtown Seattle...

 

[Pocket Dave]

We're going to get our first significant snow in about 10 years this weekend from the same system if it holds together like the models are showing. Here in the Western NC mountains, it means everything shuts down, and it's a nice respite. The main problems come from people who think they know how to drive in snow, and can't. It's safer to stay home and off the roads for that reason alone. We also don't have the plowing and infrastructure support to have 'business as usual' like in other areas. Most concerning is that we haven't had the potential for a foot or more of snow in over a decade, and certainly not since Hurricane Helene. Our power and water infrastructure are still very fragile, so we're preparing for the potential loss of heat and other resources if we get the major snow event they're forecasting. Thankfully we've got gas logs that can be powered by a battery backup start at our house, which is huge. Temps here are supposed to persist in the 20s and even single digits into early next week, which won't help. These extended super cold periods were not the norm 25-30 years ago when I was growing up here.

In short.... I'm staying home, staying warm, and if we have power, probably recording in my home studio. Super glad I don't have gigs booked, not that it's normal for this time of year anyway to have a slate of them.

Our events in North Texas tend to lean toward more ice than snow. Last 1'+ of snow was 2012. Even during the 2021 winter storm, we only had fresh snow maybe 3-4 days, though the hard freeze lasted 9. Not sure if you're familiar with Dallas, but that was only the 3rd time 1,000-surface-acre White Rock Lake froze over since the damn was built in 1911.

I know enough to drive, break and turn slowly in any kind of wet or winter weather, but it's others I can't control - North Texas drivers are notoriously bad snow & ice drivers. I've been hit in ice before by someone who was going too fast.

Plus, our home and street are on a hill - being able to get out and back may depend entirely on if the city spreads sand/salt in front of the house.

Current weather forecast looks like both Friday and Saturday gigs maybe a no-go, BTW. Sunday may be a wait-and-see.

 

[JazznFunk]

Our events in North Texas tend to lean toward more ice than snow. Last 1'+ of snow was 2012. Even during the 2021 winter storm, we only had fresh snow maybe 3-4 days, though the hard freeze lasted 9. Not sure if you're familiar with Dallas, but that was only the 3rd time 1,000-surface-acre White Rock Lake froze over since the damn was built in 1911.

I know enough to drive, break and turn slowly in any kind of wet or winter weather, but it's others I can't control - North Texas drivers are notoriously bad snow & ice drivers. I've been hit in ice before by someone who was going too fast.

Plus, our home and street are on a hill - being able to get out and back may depend entirely on if the city spreads sand/salt in front of the house.

Current weather forecast looks like both Friday and Saturday gigs maybe a no-go, BTW. Sunday may be a wait-and-see.

We too have tended to get more ice than primarily snow events in the past 15 years or so.... mostly because our winters have trended warmer overall, and moisture/jet stream patterns haven't been as favorable for Atlantic flow storms. That whole climate change thing has made verifiable changes in our winters in these mountains since I was a kid in the 80s and 90s. The mountains also tend to restrict snowfall unless the moisture and air mix from a Southwest flow up into the valleys. The last measurable snow we got here was in 2017 or so... before that, it was 2009/2010, with maybe another outlier somewhere in there. Good luck and stay safe.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Yeah, I grew up in Waco. When the ice/sleet hits, you just stay home. I live in the Midwest now. We have salt and snow plows. The worst were the few times we had ice during my years in Houston. You do NOT want to be anywhere near a icy freeway with Houston drivers on it.

I've done my Houston bit in short bursts - more than enough time over target, thank you.

Even in nice weather, I do not want to be on the freeway with Houston drivers on it.

 

[Fender_Bender]

 

[DennyOnBass]

I live in Northern Lower Michigan - Traverse City area. I mostly do festivals, concert in the park series, microbreweries, etc. with my main band, so this time of year we hunker down in the practice space and get work done. We're also doing a bunch of recording, trying to get an EP/album out by spring. While the gigs slow down up here in the winter, there are still plenty of people willing to go out and see music and plenty of places to play.

Jan 2nd I jumped in and did a duo gig with a friend at a little bar in a tiny nearby town - roads were icy the whole way there. I figured nobody was going out that soon after NYE, especially with the weather the way it was. The house was full nearly all night and I ended up walking out with over $300 between tips and pay. It was a long trip down slippery backroads to get home, but up here it's a regular thing to need to drive in this weather and you prepare for it. Slow and steady with 4 wheel drive and decent tires wins the race, and don't tailgate people if they're going slower than you...

 

[Pocket Dave]

You can handle snow, etc , to a certain point.

After that, NO gig is worth wrecking you car or truck and getting injured or worse.

This was a when you cook up a big pot of chili, gumbo, or chicken and dumplings and wait it out.

My Hot Chicken, Mushroom and Vege Soup Recipe for Inclement Weather.

Pan-saute two tablepoons of brown sugar in butter.

Prepare a cup of mixed fresh-cut spices including equal parts thyme, rosemary and sage.

Fill a big stew/soup pot a third of the way with water, add the brown sugar, half a stick of butter, a half cup of the mixed thyme-rosemary-sage and a minced clove of garlic.

Add 3 cups of chopped carrots.

Add 1 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms

Add two tablespoons of Better-than-Broth organic broth paste.

Add 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Central Market and H-E-B rocks for fresh organic chicken), boil then cook on low 20 minutes.

Start cooking some jasmine or dirty rice.

Remove chicken and cut - it'll be tender and easy - return it to the soup,

Add 3 cups of cut fresh green beans, 2 cups of chopped celery, another cup and a half of chopped mushrooms and the other minced clove of garlic.

Cook on low for 10 minutes.

Add the other half cup of mixed spices.

Add just enough tabasco sauce to spice it up without adding any noticeable "kick".

Cook on low another 15 minutes.

Then serve in bowls over rice. This is where my own bowl usually gets another dose of hot sauce - last batch, it was Melinda's Ghost Pepper sauce.

Note - adding spices and mushrooms at different times during the cook helps add some depth of flavor.

Option - add 3 cups of chopped spinach for even more depth.

And if you're sick with a respiratory virus, this won't cure you, but you will feel better.

 

[rjmsteel]

I believe snow tires are illegal, at least here in IL. We have not been allowed to use them in decades. The bigger Pickup trucks and some Jeeps have large studded tires but not snow tire level.

 

[turf3]

I believe snow tires are illegal, at least here in IL. We have not been allowed to use them in decades. The bigger Pickup trucks and some Jeeps have large studded tires but not snow tire level.

Studded tires may be illegal, but not snow tires.

 

[micguy]

What do you folks do in the midwest and northeast US to cope?

Every Sunday morning, about 5:30 AM, I get in the car and drive to the gig (at church - usually a half hour drive, longer with snow) - in the winter, that's in the dark. Weather? Our cars (and power grid) are well maintained, they work in cold weather, and we know how to drive on snow, ice, sleet, whatever.

Midwesterners are just plain tougher than Texans.

 

[Cardsfan85]

What did this mid-west guy do?


Moved to Florida

 

[H K]

Some of us live like this year-round

 

[turf3]

Every Sunday morning, about 5:30 AM, I get in the car and drive to the gig (at church - usually a half hour drive, longer with snow) - in the winter, that's in the dark. Weather? Our cars (and power grid) are well maintained, they work in cold weather, and we know how to drive on snow, ice, sleet, whatever.

Midwesterners are just plain tougher than Texans.

I guess that's why y'all keep the heat on 110F all winter long? Cause you're so tough? I thought that when I went to the SAE show in Detroit in February, I'd want a sweater and a wool coat. Nope! Yeah, OK, from the car to the building; everything else was practically summer temperatures.

But, if you want to pony up the money so cities like Dallas, OKC, Atlanta, etc. can have a full fleet of plows, salt trucks, etc. then go right ahead. Y'all love to tell us how we "can't drive in snow" but 'tain't snow, it's a faint wisp of snow on top of an inch of ice, which is wet as it can be at 31 F. Sorry but 4 X 0 = 0. All your vaunted skill can't make something out of 0.

 

[Pocket Dave]

We play. I have never cancelled a gig because of weather. It's Michigan, we expect the condition's. I've had club owners cancel but only a handful of times.

We've got two strong factors in favor of not here in N. Texas.

1. Where snow is the dominant winter event in Michigan, freezing rain and black ice are here.
2. Well, Texas drivers can't even handle rain.

 

[Low Key]

In greater Chicagoland, we show up and play unless the venue cancels it. We have plowing and salting of the roads, which makes it more plausible.

On rare occasions, the venue has cancelled due to blizzards. Customers won't come out and they want to allow their employees to stay home. My band also had a venue ask us to start and end an hour early due to snow conditions.

As others have said, I'd take a few things into account: your vehicle's capabilities, your city's infrastructure to handle snow, and just your overall confidence driving in snow and ice. No gig is worth a risk to safety.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Not exclusive to the southern US. The Ohio Turnpike in the eastern part of the state has some high-speed banked turns over terrain and during major snowstorms I've seen drivers struggle trying to find a speed that neither makes them spin out onto the median nor slide into the inside of the turn. Not the most brilliant bit of engineering because major snowstorms are not unusual in that part of the country.

While NASCAR embankments and doom-loop traffic circles are common everywhere, the south has a disproportionately higher number of elevated overpasses and fly-overs. These surfaces freeze almost the instant temps drop below freezing. Combine that with the south's higher number of ice storm events and defiantly stupid driving - been on West I-10 in Houston - and presto - you get statewide vehicle insurance premium increases this time of year - and during the Spring hail season.

 

[Pocket Dave]

In greater Chicagoland, we show up and play unless the venue cancels it. We have plowing and salting of the roads, which makes it more plausible.

On rare occasions, the venue has cancelled due to blizzards. Customers won't come out and they want to allow their employees to stay home. My band also had a venue ask us to start and end an hour early due to snow conditions.

As others have said, I'd take a few things into account: your vehicle's capabilities, your city's infrastructure to handle snow, and just your overall confidence driving in snow and ice. No gig is worth a risk to safety.

I'd add a 4th thing - other people's ABILITY to drive in winter conditions, regardless of their confidence.

 

[Pocket Dave]

This thread reminded me of one of my favorite gig stories. We were a pretty tight four piece country band in Arkansas in the early eighties and stayed pretty busy playing the bars and fraternal lodges as well as being the core of a weekly jamboree style show at an old theater. We agreed to play a dancehall for a cut of the door. $5 per couple. The snow began late morning and by showtime about 8 inches on the ground and roads but the owner didn’t cancel so neither did we. One couple showed up. We played four hours for them. I guess the owner felt bad because he “upped” our share to 80%. We each got one dollar, made it home safely, and had a story to remember.

Ever play on Dixon St in Fayetteville?

Late '70s driving through the Ozarks & Boston Mountains during the pre-I-49 era in the night snow.

Pulling an equipment trailer.

Good times.