Finally a normal winter!

This is IMO a normal winter! I´ve talked to several people who GREW UP here, and this is a normal winter...I fail to see why everyone´s up in arms about it. I mean really...Bundeswehr being called out, state of Emergency and all that, maybe it´s a sign of people being too used to weak winters. Even here where I live (within Munich city limits), the snow´s only about 5 inches deep...hardly jusfifies late S-Bahns, school closures, etc. Chill out people. Enjoy it while you can, in 8 weeks the grass´l be green and this white stuff´l just be a memory!

I'm enjoying it

I agree with you Lupo, but not everyone grew up in snow like we did!

funny as they are the ones that say 'Oh, it was much hotter' when cooler climes people complain in the summer about the heat!

You're absolutely right, it nearly always snows in Feb and usually at the beginning of march. They've got a bit more than usual out east but in Munich it's nothing unusual.

You should see it in the UK (mainly the south east) when there is 1cm of snow on the ground - its a national emergency!

I agree with you, its good to see winter hitting with all this snow. I haven't been here for a winter before, but I am impressed with this one for the fact that there has been snow on the ground since the first snowfall in November and that we have had some impressive snow-free cold spells that have properly frozen some big lakes around Munich..

If only it didn't rain at near 0.. there has been a number of times when it snowed nicely and then we had rain that wrecked it all and turned it to ice.. we could really do with it being about 2 degree's colder in my opinion..

well, you might think so, but the Sueddeutsche seems to think it's the worst winter for 25 years

a bit light of you ask me.

I have been here for 8 years and this isn't even close to a couple of those years as far as snow fall. Remember the year of the avalanche about 6 or 7 years ago? Then there was the winter of 2001, I shoveled snow almost daily from October to March. There was even more snow last year, albeit for all of 6 weeks starting in late January.

I just drove from Munich to Frankfurt 7 hours just past Inglostadt the traffic slowed to a halt, 2 hours to go 10K finally by The A81 it started to pick up. Anyways the difference between Munich and Frankfurt is telling, lots of snow in Munich and nothing in Frankfurt, was lovely running today, warm sunny and dry.

the article Topsy linked to is about Niederbayern, not Munich. The farther east you go, the more snow there is, and because it does rain when it warms up a little, the snow is getting too heavy, and roofs are in danger of collapse.

We're not all the way to Niederbayern, but we still couldn't get to Munich last friday. Some places we couldn't even see where the road was, and we had to turn back about halfway. Trucks were stuck in the snow, and it was hard to keep control of the car on hills. Trees are falling under the weight of the snow too, and landing on the road. We also noticed last week, when we did make it to the city, that it's generally about 8°C colder here in Dorfen than it is in Munich.

This is how it looks in Niederbayern about now, and that is not normal for the area.
[img]http://portal.tirol.com/system/galleries/upload/chronik/international/30046/20060209185904207img.jpg[/img]

Munich is actually in pretty good shape, and I'm glad y'all are enjoying it. It's pretty. But the army and the soldiers and the people doing all the complaining are not actually in Munich.

If you like snow, fine. More power to ya. But you WILL have that shit cleaned up and gone within 14 days. That includes the stupid traction stones.

Yeah, we're getting pounded here in DC. 8-14 inches expected by the time it's light again.

woof.

I wouldn't mind it so much if they weren't so crap about getting it and keeping it cleared. Ismaning is like a death trap obstacle course every day as we have to walk quite a distance to any public transport from the office. I wear far more clothes and winter paraphenalia here than I did for Canadian winters (mainly because back home we stay indoors when it is like this). I think it is quite a bit of snow...all at once...compared to past winters I have seen here (and from what others tell me). The weather patterns across the globe have all changed and as a result no one knows what to expect anymore. It seems to be all or nothing.

Just a curiosity...why do they not use salt instead of gravel? Gravel really does nothing except make a mess. Granted salt does too but at least it melts the dangerous icy crap that people break their ankles on

Cause it's Illegal in Germany to salt (execpt in Extreme Circumstances).. The Eco freaks passed laws on this
many many years ago, cause salt kills plants and is also no good for cars. And we all know how much
Germans love there BMW's,Audi's and Merc's...

The stuff you see the trucks putting on the roads is some kinda ECO friendly "Non-plant killing", chemial which is still only spread out in small quanities.

Here's some links

Canada to use new Tech instead of Salt
German Federal Environmental Protection Agency

Ah so the salt kills plants...and the ice maims people. I see the logic hehe.

thanks BG! i still don't have a pair of shoes i can wear in the winter w/o slipping & sliding around. but no ass landings yet!

Yes I too have been fortunate (this year) not to land on the ass (*currently looking around the flat for real wood to knock*). That said, we often walk in packs and tend to grab onto others for support. If I am going down I am taking someone with me hehe.

Oh and we'll see how long that salt puck thing lasts in TO. When I was back home in December there was still regular salt on the roads and the regular trucks salting them. Good in theory, not so great in practice.

I do feel bad for the fish, birdies and the plants...but I also feel bad for families losing loved ones due to hazardous conditions on the roads. It's quite the dilemma

Oh and Elf I just invested in a great pair of Nike Goretex runners...only 89 euros at the Sports Experts across from OEZ. Best grip ever. Not so fab when the snow is really high but great for the slippy slidy. Also surpisingly warm.

[img]http://mirror.altrec.com/images/shop/photos/NKE/20223_d.jpg[/img]

Do you really think that the gravel is rubbish?
I think it's quite effective, really. The only time I'm really in danger of slipping is when I'm walking on a bit of road or pavement that hasn't been liberally sprinkled.

I find the gravel quite grippy too. It is only shiny melted/refrozen patches which have not been re-gritted that seem to cause a problem for me. If they can keep on top of it (which, unfortunately they currently do not) then I think I prefer it to the mess that salt makes on everything - it ruins clothes and shoes in no time.

The Gravel becomes useless when the snow/ice under it starts to melt, at which time the gravel sinks down, and with the Re-freeze every night turns the Sonw/Ice back into an ice sheet with no gravel on top. This could be fixed by putting down more gravel in the AM, but most places
don't do this (They wait a few days between application). Thus making the sidewalk a hazzard.

Well someone needs to come out to Ismaning and show them how it is done. The problem is the thawing and refreezing...the gravel gets trapped in the ice and does nothing. The path we all take to the S-Bahn is a complete skating rink...gravel doing nothing. People have to walk on the road which is another danger altogether.

I agree the salt is messy but to a better end.

this might just help you out a bit.

I did 3 ass landings yesterday. With the new snowfall, you cannot see the ice underneath and the Gravel crap is useless, except for getting in your shoes and hurting your feet!