How are your weather conditions for riding.

[happyslug]

8. Just tennis shoes and thin socks, but I do have studded tires

The only problem I had was where someone was dumping snow from his sidewalk onto the road (That is ILLEGAL but it is a law no one actually enforces).

This was a COLD Snow. In the West they call it a "Powder Snow". It is light, fluffy and blows all over the place. A Cold snow falls when temperatures are below about 25 degrees. Rarely do we get more then an 1/2 inch of such stuff at a time, this time it looks like we may have had about a 1/2 inch.

In Pennsylvania, our heavy snows are "Wet Snows", snow at about 30 to 35 degrees comes down heavy and thick. Great snow for making snow balls, the wetness of the snow keeps the snowballs together even in flight. Good snow for making snowmen or other snow creatures. When we get a Wet Snow, you can get anywhere from six inches to three feet of snow in one snow fall (Nearer the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Oceans, six or more feet have been known to fall in one snow fall).

Now, I did not notice any Jack Frost. My Father called the situation when you can see the water droplets from your breath twinkle in the sunlight as the droplets turned to ice before your eyes, Jack Frost. . Outdoors when you see that you know it is VERY COLD in the single digits Fahrenheit. i.e. well below freezing. It is a sign one should be indoors sitting beside a warm fire.

Thus while the Weather Service said it was 6 this morning (January 13, 2016), I did not see any Jack Frost, so I believe the actual temperature was in the 10s or low 20s. I did not see any melting independent of Salt, thus temperatures were clearly below freezing. You start to see Melting when temperatures start to hit the high 20s, mostly do to sunlight hitting the ground just right to get some sections over the Freezing point even while most of the area stays below freezing. The difference is probably do to the fact the Weather Service collects its data and makes it prediction from the Johnstown Airport, which is atop of Allegheny Mountain, while I bike in the City of Johnstown in the valley below that mountain. Generally you have a five degree difference, but it looks like it was closer to 10 degrees today.

Now Salt works till temperatures get around 5 degree Fahrenheit. Another sign the temperatures were in the 10s not the single digits this morning. The main roads were mostly clear, it was the side roads that still had snow and ice on them and that was do to the fact the Trucks concentrated on those main roads (Salt does NOT work if you do NOT put any down).

Now, I do wear boots when the snow gets higher then three to four inches, but this being a Cold Snow, Tennis shoes were all if needed (Do to the fact such cold snow rarely produce more then a 1/2 inch of snow). Tomorrow I may break out my Schwinn, for it has slicks and those slicks make it easier to peddle then the studded tires I have on my Cannondale. The roads appear to be clear this afternoon and given how little snow actually fell, the Slicks may be all I need.

Now, my fingers did get cold and I had to use by Army Finger trigger mittens to keep them warm, but other then that no real problems biking, unlike a "Wet Snow" where the slush and show causes all types of problems biking. Yes, it is easier to bike at 20 degree Fahrenheit and snow then with 30 degree temperatures and snow, for the later is wetter, deeper and more dangerous. With a heavy wet snow you get more ice for you get more moisture in the storm. Much less problems once temperatures drop below about 25 degrees and stay there.