8409 Snow

There is thick snow here in Abruzzo too. It is very beautiful and my dogs really enjoyed them selves on their walk today!

We are just off a small provincial road and the snowplough has just been through. This amount of snow would cause chaos in the UK but they seem much more geared up for it here.

Word to the wise... if you have cantilever balconies it is a good idea to clear them and not let the snow get too deep as the sheer weight could cause problems.

I’m really pleased we stocked up the canteena and the freezer and have a good pile of wood.

Now I am off to sit in front of the roaring fire, roast the last of our chestnuts and catch the end of Gremlins on the telly. It’s a hard life! :smile:

[quote=Angie and Robert;78746]We now have deep snow falling around us, (close to Montegiorgio). Its been snowing all last night and is due to continue for the next two days. We could not get out of our road but thanks to neighbours with 4x4 have everything we need, and are very cosy with the stufa and the central heating. Its very beautiful have not see weather like this since I lived in Derbyshire when much younger. had a snow plough down this morning, but now that is covered.

I think the main roads are clear, so really just want to wish friends who are due out soon a safe journey, will be getting my tin tray out tomorrow for a bit of sledging.
A[/quote]

Must be great having neighbours like that :laughs:

Glad its snowing [B]now[/B] - that means everything should be in order by 8th Jan when I arrive. And it will all be looking lovely too.

We returned late from Bologna today ( went to the Motor Show ), and had to try out our new 'snowsox' on the way back up to Montalto. They worked brilliantly, and we managed all the steep curves, albeit slowly & in the dark, until we finally made it home.
The house looks beautiful with Christmas lights on, 12" snow outside the front door, and a snowman outside. Nice & warm inside now.
Thoroughly recommend those 'snowsox'. AM

[quote=Angie and Robert;78746]We now have deep snow falling around us, (close to Montegiorgio). Its been snowing all last night and is due to continue for the next two days. We could not get out of our road but thanks to neighbours with 4x4 have everything we need, and are very cosy with the stufa and the central heating. Its very beautiful have not see weather like this since I lived in Derbyshire when much younger. had a snow plough down this morning, but now that is covered.

I think the main roads are clear, so really just want to wish friends who are due out soon a safe journey, will be getting my tin tray out tomorrow for a bit of sledging.
A[/quote]

Thanks Angie. See you soon!

Annie.

We've had a pretty constant light snow. Nothing exciting but the town looks nice. The cloud cover is making it feel warmer then last week even if it isn't.

Hi
We have had constent snow since very early Saturday morning, maybe 7 inches so far, with no sign of letting up, there are no contour marks in the garden and no sign of a snow plough, but loads of food and wine in the house so not to much to worry about ..have to go now as there is a monkey at the front door asking if we have a welding machine.........:laughs:

I managed to avoid the last heavy snow fall when David and George were snowed in for a few days. Now David is in the UK and I'm a real wimp with regards to driving in it! Luckily stocked up with food and essentials on friday which is just as well as we now have around 18 inches!!!

It looks fantastic, absolutely breaktaking.... however here we were (Mum, Sheryl and I)ready for a bit of r and r - you know watching pointless american tv series, chilling on the sofa, no guests.... BUT the sky dish must also be full - so no TV. Its back to the DVD collection that have been watched almost to extinction. Now writing my christmas list for some new titles!!! and will be forced into doing some chores.

Looks like it could all be over by wednesday according to the web forecasts, and anyone passing with dvds, call in for coffee.....

Auguri and Merry Christmas to all

Please could someone tell me what "snowsox" are.
Thanks
A

[quote=Angie and Robert;78779]Please could someone tell me what "snowsox" are.[/quote]
A link, courtesy of Gala Placidia who gave it in an earlier post:

[url]https://www.proidee.co.uk/shop/SID_0123456789_02_GB/F=produkt_formular/P=02_GB_HPN571349/MODUS_SEITENANSICHT=druck[/url]

I've seen these things in the L'Aquila Brico, so assume they're widely available.

As for snow reports, about 40cm of the stuff here on my hilltop below the Gran Sasso. It started yesterday morning and it's still falling. As long as the electricity stays on, we'll be happy enjoying the lovely views - when the flurries die down enough to see more than 10 metres. It's a little hard to believe that only four months ago we were sweltering in 40° heat. :bigergrin:

Nice to live in a place with four real seasons.

Al

[quote=Angie and Robert;78779]Please could someone tell me what "snowsox" are.
Thanks
A[/quote]

Like snow chains but they just wrap around the tyres.....but if you have a UK plated car you must sandles on them as well

"It's a little hard to believe that only four months ago we were sweltering in 40° heat."

Oh happy happy days!!! I just hate snow and having to wear layers of clothing and fuel bills to boot. Yuck!!!

Have a look here.

[url=http://www.snowchains.co.uk/main/weisssock.htm]Weissenfels WeissSock Snow Traction Aids[/url]

I was out picking oranges this morning, until it started chucking it down with snow. Of course our boss didn't want us to go and doesn't want to even pay us either, but we all left anyway.

We took our dog to the beach as she had never seen snow before and the sea looked really strange. We couldn't see more than 20metres out and it looked it it was evaporating once it hit the surface. So we could see pools of mist rising from the surface.

Anyone with olive trees would be well advised to go a knock the snow off them if possible. Because they are in leaf they are carrying a huge weight and the branches are beginning to break.

We have two very ancient trees in our garden and have already lost one large branch, but I've been out and given them a good thrashing so hopefully we wont lose any more.

We now have about a meter of snow and it’s still snowing!

Does anyone know if there is information from the Italian government on the use of snowtires? Several members on the Forum have told us they are illegal but we find that very difficult to believe. I would like to know if anyone has an idea of how to research this. They work very well in snowy New England and when we move to Italy we would like to purchase them. The only downside is that you must have them put on in the winter and taken off in the spring so they are much more costly than chains.

Lisa

I forget the name of the Italian auto club is but I'm fairly sure they have a website and email.

Why would snow tires be illegal?

Thanks for the suggestion, Nick. I went online and found the link in case anyone else is interested: [url=http://www.aci.it/]Automobile Club d'Italia: Home page[/url]

The people who told me they were illegal said that they cause road damage, but only tires that are studded can do that.

Lisa

Road damage? Snow tires are so soft if the road is dry they wear out. Thats the big downside with them they wear out on dry roads. I can't imagine using them in much of Italy because of that. Fine if you're in an area with steady snow cover. But if it's a day of snow and six of dry those tires aren't going to last long.

We think that snowsocks are terrific. We have used them for the past couple of years in Europe. Apparently, they are a Norwegian invention.... and I think that the Norwegians know quite a bit about snow....
There was some doubt raised in another thread about whether they had been approved for its use in Italy and we never got any confirmation about this. Any news?

Hi Nick,

I hadn't thought about the wear of snow tires before as our usually last for 3 years in Vermont. We do have many days where the roads are clear. Probably the difference is that we have the cold weather so much longer and since the road is colder as well, tires would last longer here than in Italy. I guess chains or snow socks it is! Thanks!

[quote=Lisa C.;78814]Hi Nick,

I hadn't thought about the wear of snow tires before as our usually last for 3 years in Vermont. We do have many days where the roads are clear. Probably the difference is that we have the cold weather so much longer and since the road is colder as well, tires would last longer here than in Italy. I guess chains or snow socks it is! Thanks![/quote]

gomme thermiche or thermal tyres have the softer rubber mix and help grip in icy wet conditions better than normal rubber but when there is a lot of snow they are little better than normal tyres.thermal tyres can be used over the winter period and are supposed to be removed by end april by law.in the snow the studded snow tyres are great but with this road cleaning habit they are v.rough when the road has been cleared of snow and can be little used on clear roads.Chains solve the problem but again when you get on a cleaned road it's slow and rough again but it's a real hassle putting them on and taking them off continually.where i live we need snow chains more or less to go to the house but not on the main road so i'm avoiding any journeys till the snow starts going cos i don't want to keep putting the chains on/off

[quote=Gala Placidia;78813]We think that snowsocks are terrific. We have used them for the past couple of years in Europe. Apparently, they are a Norwegian invention.... and I think that the Norwegians know quite a bit about snow....
There was some doubt raised in another thread about whether they had been approved for its use in Italy and we never got any confirmation about this. Any news?[/quote]

Snowsocks are great but have not yet been legally approved where the conditions [U]demand[/U] the use of chains,. So... be warned.
:winki: AM
PS: Snowsocks don't damage your wheels like chains can.

Had attached pic sent to us by our house managers on Sat - looking at the forecast for this week it seems its not going to last. Has it started to go yet? Driving over to Marche from Rome on Sat (thanks for the tip about cutting across before Comunanza Sebastiano) and have chains ordered but these snow sox look great. Have ordered a golf or equiv and guess I can't get hold of any sox here (if thats even possible in manchester!) until I know exactly what car we have.
Does anyone know if the big supermarkets at Fermo or Piedripa are going to be open on Sunday Dec 23?

Cheers

M

Thanks Sebastiano! We are hoping to eventually purchase a house in the general area where you live (hopefully at a little lower elevation) so now we know what to expect. Yesterday, we just had about 12 inches of snow where we currently live and could go nowhere without our Nokia Hakapaleta snow tires!

The Fiat Panda 4x4 Climbing comes equiped with M+S tyres as standard.

[quote=Marinaw;78844] Has it started to go yet?[/quote]
It snowed a bit more during the night here, but it stopped early this morning. Over the weekend, midday temperatures at 550m on the Adriatic side of the Apennines were around -3°. Today it's around +2°.

Given the amount of snow lying around, I suspect it will take some time to all melt, but the local (very) minor roads are more black and grey than white at the moment.

Al

It had been thawing a bit but now its started snowing again, not a lot at the moment just a slight cover where it had thawed.

Stribs

I saw these for sale in a petrol station near Falconara airport about a year ago

Ciao Allan,
Thanks for the info re your area. It's snowing still at 580m in Montalto, but forecast to slow down tomorrow, sunny on Thursday & Friday. Have to drive to Ancona to pick up my brother on Sunday, so keeping fingers crossed.
Water pipes have broken here in town, so no shower this morning!:eeeek:
Hope they get onto it quickly! Va be'.
Annmarie

Traveling out on Friday to Monte San Martino (via Rome) - what's the situation regarding snow - kids are hoping to try skiing for the first time up at Sarnano but given I got hit for excess baggage by Ryanair last week on a work trip back from Barcelona I don't want to waste weight taking ski paraphernalia if there's not enough snow (not planning on taking skis etc just skiwear).

A local perspective would be helpful (but we leave home at 4am on Friday!)

Chris

If you are worried about excess weight take some skis. They seem to be a bargain as far as excess weight is concerned. A one-off charge and no weight limit so you can stuff the bag with everything. We have taken two pairs of skis in one bag, packed if out with all our ski stuff and only paid something like 16 pounds. It must have weighed more than a standard weight allowance on its own!

Thanks for reminding me of the old trick which I used to use when I skied regularly - we're only planning to go for one or two days skiing (if there is enough snow - just so that the children can try it out) so it's probably not worth the additional charge for a ski rack etc - definitely will do it next year though when we plan to go out for a couple of weeks.

chris

[quote=jepsonclough;79320]Thanks for reminding me of the old trick which I used to use when I skied regularly - we're only planning to go for one or two days skiing (if there is enough snow - just so that the children can try it out) so it's probably not worth the additional charge for a ski rack etc - definitely will do it next year though when we plan to go out for a couple of weeks.

chris[/quote]

yes,all the piste in the marche are currently open.
by the way ,you know you can hire the skii's etc quite cheaply in Sarnano from the same person who runs the ski lift at sasso tetto.there's no snow in MSM at the moment,neither is it forecast over the next five days.

Thanks for this - looks like we will need to bring the ski stuff with us. Not really bothered about snow in MSM but good to know the pistes are open.

Chris

Hi if you desire have a great holiday contact Gianluca at the address [email]gianluca@mymarca.it[/email] or visit the web site [url]www.mymarca.com[/url] where ou can find solution of your touristic problems. There are many standard or 'tailor made' touristic solution.
Thanks
E.

Really late thanks but we did go up to Santa Maria Magdalena where the children had their first skiing lesson. Son (9) has been desperate to learn as a few of his friend ski, daughter (7) wasn't keen, thought she'd be scared (& we thought she'd be a wimp about the cold) but who was the better skier? Kitty picked it up really well & looks like she could be good (she does ballet & so is used to controlling her arms and legs) - Dominic was Ok but no where near as good as his sister. (mind you he was much better at ice skating)

Husband doesn't ski (yet!) so took pictures; I had the norovirus so didn't want to go off skiing. But my dad & I (who have skiied for 30 years, although I've not done much in the last ten) thought it looked a lovely place to learn - nice wide slopes & not full of nutters or poseurs! We'll definitely have a more serious go when we are out there next Christmas (assuming the house is finished). We're coming out for a week at Easter so as it's early & there's been good snow maybe we'll get a day then.

Chris