The National Weather service is calling for high winds and blowing snow across Central Minnesota tonight.
The advisory area includes Alexandria, Glenwood, Little Falls, Mora, Morris and St. Cloud.
As a strong cold front moves across the area tonight, northwest winds will increase to sustained speeds of 25 to 35 mph, according to the weather service.
Gusts of 40 to 50 mph are possible.
The St Cloud Times is pointing out that:
The winds, combined with falling snow and snow already on the ground will create blowing snow and reduce visibility.
Snowfall from one-half inch to one inch is possible.
The Department of Public Safety and the Minnesota Department of Transportation DPS recommend the following for safe winter driving:
• Always use seat belts.
• Adjust speed to road and weather conditions — lower speeds minimize crashes.
• Keep a safe stopping distance between vehicles, and leave extra room between your vehicle and snow plows or other removal equipment.
• Accelerate and decelerate slowly on icy/snow-covered roads to retrain traction and avoid skids.
• Do not use cruise-control.
• Do not “power up” hills which may cause wheels to spin. Build momentum before reaching a hill and don’t stop while traveling uphill. Reduce speed going downhill.
• Know your brakes — keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of the foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.
• Give yourself plenty of travel time — don’t put your schedule before safety.
• Clear snow and ice from vehicle windows, hood, headlights, brake lights and directional signals.
• Headlights must be turned on when it is snowing or sleeting.
For weather-related road information, call 5-1-1 or visit www.511mn.org.
For winter driving tips and more winter safety information visit http://www.winterweather.state.mn.us/WHAH_Home.asp.
A founding partner with Bradshaw & Bryant, Mike Bryant has always fought to find justice for his clients—knowing that legal troubles, both personal injury and criminal, can be devastating for a family. Voted a Top 40 Personal Injury "Super Lawyer" multiple years, Mr. Bryant has also been voted one of the Top 100 Minnesota "Super Lawyers" four times.
2 Comments
Harvey McFadden
Loss of Control Accidents
When looking at the cause of loss of control accidents it is advisable to look at the predictability of the vehicle in question. Everyone is aware that pickup trucks with a weight ratio front to rear of 60/40 need the best tires on the rear to prevent the back from sliding out in poor conditions.
What is not evident to a casual observer are cars that have weight ratios more unbalanced than pickup’s. With a weight ratio of 65/35 a small car can weigh as much as a limo on the front and have only half as much weight on the rear. At this point the condition and the tread depth of the rear tires become’s critical to prevent the vehicle from getting sideways resulting in rollover or severe direction change. A vehicle with a weight ratio such as this will have four times the accidents of a 50/50 balanced car.
There are some good videos on the Internet showing how important the rear tires of a vehicle are. Also the Society of Automotive Engineers paper 2002-01-0553 shows any decrease of tread depth from new of the rear tires can contribute to an accident. Also on youtube “ front wheel drive stability test”
Mike Bryant
You are correct, tires are very important. A number of us here have addressed that topic. Thanks for reading and the comment.
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