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Winter weather can wreak havoc on travel plans. Every year we read of canceled flights and closed roads due to ice and snow. It’s always a good idea to check the weather before a road trip, but severe winter storms don’t always follow predictable patterns.
An unexpected wind shift and temperature change can turn a small flurry into heavy snowfall in no time. Snowdrifts and icy conditions could cause you to be stuck in your car until help arrives. It’s already happened to many people. Recently, winter weather shut down I-83, causing several people to be stranded in their cars.
If that happened to you, would you be nice and warm, or would you be cold and scared? Here are some tips to help you stay warm in case your car gets stuck in a winter storm.
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Supplies To Get
Here are some supplies to have in your vehicle as emergency preparation.
- Blankets – Keep several warm blankets in your car. Emergency thermal blankets are also a good idea. These compact blankets help you retain body heat and are reusable, windproof, and waterproof.
- Extra Layers of Clothes – Stow hats, gloves, jackets and scarves in your vehicle. You can layer them on top of what you’re wearing or use them to replace wet items during a storm.
- Emergency Road Kit – You can create your own or buy a pre-assembled emergency kit that contains booster cables, road flares, flashlight, first aid supplies, electrical tape, and small tools.
- Tire Sealant – Let’s face it, winter is hard on tires. A container of tire sealant can help you get to a safe place where you can change your tire or get help.
- Hand Warmers – These single-use hand warmers provide up to 18 hours of heat. You simply shake them to activate the warmth.
- Emergency Candles – When you can’t run your car for long stretches, the darkness can be overwhelming and a bit depressing on long winter nights. These emergency candles are just as useful when stranded in your vehicle as they are during a black-out at home. They have storage caps to prevent spills.
- Non-perishable snacks and plenty of water.
Here is a longer list of winter survival items to keep in your car.
What To Do Before You Leave
Although we can’t always know when brutal weather can strike, there are some common-sense steps you can take before you leave on a road trip.
- Check weather reports before you leave. Don’t go out if bad weather is coming.
- If you must go out, tell someone your route, destination, and expected arrival time.
- Make sure your cell phone is fully charged and you have a battery-powered charger.
- Remember to heat up your vehicle for a few minutes before you leave.
- Ensure your tires have adequate tread or that you have chains or studs if required where you are traveling.
- Try to keep your gas tank full. Never let it go below half empty.
- Fasten your seatbelt. This should become a habit if it isn’t already.
Winter Driving Tips
Here are some winter driving tips to help keep you out of harm’s way.
- When driving on snow or ice, accelerate and decelerate very slowly. It takes a long time to slow down on icy roads.
- Drive slowly. Saving a few minutes by driving fast isn’t worth the risk. If the people behind you don’t like it, they can go around or get over it.
- Keep plenty of space between you and the car in front of you.
- Don’t try to speed up on hills, as this could cause your tires to spin. Instead, get some inertia going before you reach the hill and let it take you to the top. Never stop on a hill if you don’t have to.
- Be careful on bridges as they ice over more quickly.
- Never use cruise control on a slippery surface, whether from water, snow, or ice.
What To Do If You Get Stuck
Now that all that’s out of the way, it’s time to talk about what to do if your car gets stuck in harsh winter weather.
- Remain Calm – The first step is to assess the situation calmly. If you’ve been in a collision, first check to see if you and your passengers are hurt. Next, check your vehicle for damage and determine what is preventing you from moving. Call 911 or a tow truck depending on the severity of your situation.
- Stay In Your Car – If you can get your vehicle running and need to wait for help, it is often the safest option to stay in the vehicle. Unless it is in a location where it could be hit by other moving vehicles, your car provides needed shelter during a storm. Place roadside flares near your car, so other drivers and rescue vehicles can find you.
- Signal For Help – Tie a brightly covered cloth to your antenna or put it at the top of a rolled up window. At night, leave the dome light on as it doesn’t take much power. These things will signal rescuers that you need help.
- Don’t Waste Gas – A car’s interior can lose heat quickly, though, so one of your first concerns will be staying warm. If your engine is in working order, you can run it to get some heat. However, you should not run it longer than 15 minutes each hour to save gas. Be sure to turn off lights, radio, and accessories when the car is not running.
- Check Your Tailpipe – Before you run your engine, however, take the time to check that snow is not blocking your exhaust pipe. Clear any snow or ice away from the area, since a blocked tailpipe can release poisonous monoxide gas into the car. If it is still snowing outside, re-check the tailpipe every time you turn on the heater.
- Bundle Up – The more you cover up, the better. You should have blankets in your vehicle, but if you don’t, use anything you can find–newspapers, floor mats, etc.
- Keep Hydrated – Did you know that staying hydrated can help keep you warm and lessen the chance of getting hypothermia? If you don’t have enough water in your car, however, you can collect snow for melting and drinking. Avoid eating snow in solid form as it can lower your core body temperature. Instead, wait for it to melt.
- Huddle Up – Sitting close together will help you and your passengers stay warmer. (If your dog is along, cuddle up with Fido for warmth as well.)
- Move – Encourage each other to move arms, legs, feet and hands at frequent intervals to keep circulation and to help stay warm.
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A wax candle will light no matter how cold it is. At the USMC Cold Weather Training Battalion we used a candle to heat our two-man shelter. It was reported to us that night time temps reached -23°F at night. Whatever the temperature was, it was darned cold. So cold that the sleeping bags didn’t keep one warm, even fully dressed with just our Mickey Mouse boots off. The sleeping bag kept us from freezing to death. All night long one was chilly. Not cold enough to shiver but still chilly enough to not sleep soundly.
If running your vehicle’s engine while trapped in snow, be sure to keep the exhaust pipe exit clear of snow. A blocked exhaust pipe will force CO into your car and even if it doesn’t kill you, CO poisoning will leave you brain damaged for the rest of your life. Children are especially susceptible to CO poisoning. Be especially careful not to block your vehicle’s exhaust. The the area around it well cleared of snow.
Unless you are absolutely positively certain how far some occupied building is from your vehicle and are absolutely positively certain that you know the exact path you must follow to that occupied building and that you have sufficient warm, waterproof garments to make the journey which will take at least twice as long as you think it will, stay by your car. It is far easier to spot a motor vehicle than it is to spot a body face down in the snow and perhaps partially or totally covered with snow. Even covered with show, your vehicle will stand out better against the terrain than your body will.
It’s a Hobson’s Choice whether it is better to brush the snow off so that your vehicle is easily spotted by potential rescuers or to leave the snow on to act as insulation against frigid outdoor temperatures. My personal choice would be to leave the snow on while it is falling and only brush it off after it has stopped snowing. The chances of a rescue being mounted during a snow storm are small. That’s just my personal opinion, thinking about the problem.
At Cold Weather Training Battalion we spent one night sleeping in snow caves. It might have been psychological as opposed to physiological, but I think the snow cave was just a tad warmer than the two-man tent. Someone with more than one night’s experience in a snow cave might have a more valid, different opinion. The snow caves we slept in were self-prepared. They weren’t something the Marine Corps provided. We had to have the hands-on experience of making the snow cave and actually spending the night in it. Again, not one of my more restful nights.
Heated seats or a heated seat cushion can help keep you warm until help arrives. Even if you can’t run the engine.
I can never understand the mentality of folk wanting to live in such disastrous places where you will be dead if falling off a boat; or stuck in the car snowed under without blankets & roads impassible. For goodness sake emigrate to California or to Hawaii or Australia.
Who needs PROBLEMS so badly?? We’re 85 & 70 on a Paradise Island near Brisbane – look it up – where it is seldom cloudy, bananas ripen in mid winter when sun heats the house to 30C = upper summer temp. Food trees grow food all year. No radiators or costly warming needed, only slow ceiling fans for summer – sometimes. Long winter swim OR stuck in the car in remote bush & you won’t freeze to death = very civilised. In Cornwall UK, the big glassed-in veranda heated entire home for hours all day + after sunset. Nobody needs guns. We have about the most self-sufficient solar 12volt home nationally & thrive on 5% pension + all free medicals etc. Far more Civilised- – – In this country You can have everywhere from your freeze or sizzling TROPICS. New Zealand same tho slightly cooler, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledonia etc = mountain coolness, tho largely tropic. Heating & cooling costs ZERO!!
Seriously?!?!
This old boy is living in la-la land, and will fail to flourish when SHTF…sad thing is, he does appear to be serious.`
So, you’ve survived 85 and 70 years so far. You are so desperately wanting to seem relevant…truth be told, when SHTF you two will be the first to die because you’ve gone to seed and have gotten s-o-f-t. Just the way it is, old boy.
Just stop, everyone. Dr. Pat does Dr. Pat and Mary does Mary. We all choose our own path. Leave it be.
I would added a several reflector vests to the list of supplies to keep in you car. This can help you being seen if you are out of you car.
I drive across 3 states for work ever 2 weeks. I was driving across Illinois’ Sunday in to the blizzard. I keep a duffel bag of warm winter clothing and a sleeping bag in the trunk as well as winter boots, hat, gloves and wool socks. I have several soy wax candles in jars as well as a coffee can to set the candles in. One of theses candles burning really helps keep the interior of my car warm. I also have a small rocket stove, canteen cup, instant oatmeal and coffee and tea. do not forget the toilet paper. learned that from my father who was a long haul truck drive and sever time was forced off the freeway by the road closers and had to spend a couple of days in a rest stop. and you know that the rest stop ran out of all supplies very soon.
Dont forget sand in the bottom of the coffee can to keep it from tipping too easily
Telling funny stories or singing can make time go by and keep spirits up if you’re stuck for a while. Playing games like I spy or 21 questions is also good especially if you have kids in the car. I always keep a few torches and a tin with tea lights & matches in it, in the glove box. I use the tin to put the tea light in to keep it stable, but will add a jar this winter, which would work better
I purchased the emergency candles above. Though I have yet to actually need them I think it is important to know that I left one in my trunk for emergencies and found out that the fluid actually freezes, so in a freezing snow storm these are going to be useless. I do keep them in the house now though for possible blackouts.