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My brother has accepted a position in Minnesota out of desperation, or a very misplaced sense of adventure. I've been a Floridian 90% of my life, and lived in Georgia the other 10. I, like him, have no experience with these things you call 'seasons'. What advice do Northerners have for an immigrant?

Get some cool weather clothes and cold weather clothes. The difference is one will keep you warm in the breeze and other will keep you alive in a blizzard. Also a shovel and snow bruse is vital during the winter if you want to leave the house/apartment.

Bubba Gump's Shrimp in the Mall of America is delicious. If you need help with any generator based work, I got a guy. It gets to -60 in winter (it did this past season, anyway). Get long underwear.

for the love of whatever-you-hold-sacred, stay in florida! you'll die here!

lol, as a recent immigrant from SoCal (beach town about 30 minutes north of L.A.) it depends on a bunch. Is he going to have a house or apartment?

If it's a house then a snow blower is pretty much required. If it's an apartment then underground parking. Outside of that just make sure he has an emergency kit in his car and he'll be fine. Honestly, I still wear shorts and flip flops if it's over 0 and if it's below then I put on shoes and a jacket. The only days that were nasty were the -50 days when I just stayed the hell inside. Thankfully this was the only winter that happened in the 4 of them I've been here for.

Or tell him to stay the hell in Florida. At least he won't feel like it's humid here in Summer

Lol, all great advice so far- the thing to remember about Florida, especially South Florida, is that we have winters that last two weeks. The temperature can get as low as 60 degrees!

I'm pretty sure I'm saying my final goodbyes to him. He'll be a chunk of ice in no time.

What belongs in these car survival kits?

I suspect guava pastries and good cafe con leche and cafe cubano will be difficult to find, and lutefisk won't make a good substitute.

I would tell him to practice winter driving skills as much as he can out of heavy traffic. Find an empty parking lot or little used street somewhere in the first snows and get a feel for what a car feels like driving over snow and ice.
One thing I learned here in a Utah college town is to not to drive around too much the first couple of weeks after it starts snowing, since a fair percentage of the drivers are new to winter driving and find out the hard way, at the expense of themselves and others around them, that cars don't handle the same in snow and ice as they do otherwise.
Sirens are a common sound around here the first of winter.

Tell him to give this a listen (NSFW language!):

I went to minnisota once, Im sure every resident was carrying a personal flame thrower to fight the evil snowmen that come out at night and kidnap children

Jebus What's the salary he was offered?

I'm a creature of the great white north, who has lived in the South for many years as well.

I laugh at the hell your brother is about to experience. Winter is coming, and the White Walkers will take your brothers soul.

 djones520 wrote:
I'm a creature of the great white north, who has lived in the South for many years as well.

I laugh at the hell your brother is about to experience. Winter is coming, and the White Walkers will take your brothers soul.

I'll have you know that snow was only on the ground for 7 months this year! So yeah......

What was my point again....

Oh, keep the obsidian handy. The winter is long and cold....

I would take actual snow over this "Hey it's winter, here is a 6 inch sheet of pure ice that will cover everything" bs we get here...

Balls numbing cold
Balls shattering cold
Balls hiding deep inside due to cold

Hey its warm

Repeat

Used to live in MN, I loved it, friendly people. Bloody cold though, make sure your brother is good with ice driving, the black ice can kill.

Make sure he has decent tires before fall.

In warmer states you can get away with tires that are bald as hell, you can't get away with that come snow. If he has worn tires he'll be stuck going nowhere. He'll want to make sure he has a multi-tread style so that he can handle snow in addition to rain. I used to work at a tire place and we had tons of people from out of state come in for emergency tire replacements every time it'd snow and I'm only in Chicago and our winters are far more mild.

Also get a windshield ice scraper in advance, it's another thing people always forget about until their car in encased in ice, it's a good idea to keep one in the car and one in the house as back up in case you need to chisel your way in, where if you only have one scraper it might end up frozen inside the car.

It's also a good idea to keep a bag or two of salt or kitty liter in the trunk in the winter, the weight can help keep the car from fishtailing but more importantly you can put it under the ties for traction if you end up in a ditch or really slick spot. A lot of guys with rear wheel drive trucks will load down with an extra 200-300 lbs of salt in the winter.


Concrete or blacktop driveway he'll want a snow blower, gravel driveway and he's screwed and will need to do it all by hand as snow blowers and gravel turn into rock pitching machines.

Familiarize him with the concept of wind chill and dressing in layers, as well as most of the other serious advice in the thread here - especially tires and emergency kits in the car.

Learn how to make tater tot hotdish or he'll be shunned. SHUNNED.

If your brother drives, the single most important thing he can do is to put snow tires on his vehicle at the start of October.
While not exactly Minnesota, Ontario gets snowy winters, especially in the snow belt regions, and yet every fething year, the majority of motorists are too damn useless to put snow tires on their vehicles and it's complete & utter mayhem when it snows. Also, your brother should look into the local by-laws as well in this regard! Not sure if you southerners follow suit, but many regions up here legally require drivers to get snow tires!
Blowing snow is deadly. Canada is winter! The Trans Canada Highway routinely shuts down for half the season because you can see maybe 2-3' on a good day! If the winds are whipping the snow around, tell your brother to just stuff the whole idea of driving. It's not worth the risk, and even people who've lived in winter climates their entire lives can't handle driving 3 blocks in blizzard or whiteout conditions... If he really needs something like a few groceries for example, he should bundle up and walk.

As mentioned, dressing in layers is life saving. Also, DON'T WEAR FREAKING WHITE CLOTHING!!! (c'mon man, you're not trying to stealthily pick your way through enemy lines, there's no need for perfect camouflage!)
Minnesota isn't Winterpeg by any stretch, but it still gets cold enough that your skin can freeze within minutes of being exposed. And on those days where it does hit -30 to -40 or worse, tell your brother to just remind himself he's in Minnesota and NOT! freaking Toronto where it's a balmy -20, but the wind is whipping off the lake so despite those 4 layers of woollies, you feel as if you're standing naked in a walk-in freezer wrapped in a wet blanket...

Shoveling a lot snow can kill you. If your brother has a history of heart problems, (or if your family does), he'll either need to learn to shovel in shifts instead of leaving it to all pile up and just shoveling it all after the storm's done, or else get a snow blower.
Each year up here, dozens die across the country due to over-exertion combined with other underlying health problems.



Now, while winter may do everything in it's power to attempt to kill your each and every year, there's one amazing thing about it...

Tell your brother to hang a shallow wood box outside before a big snowstorm. Now go buy some maple syrup - the real stuff! (Quebec produces the best!)
Warm up the maple syrup just a bit, then drizzle it across the fresh snow.
Enjoy!

- Get a car that is not rear wheel drive. Otherwise he'll be in for a rough winter when the snow & ice hits
- Layers. Lots of layers
- Winter survival kit. My wife and I have a winter kit that contains blankets, water, granola, torches, etc.
- Sunglasses for daytime driving/shovelling snow
- Good waterproof boots
- A snowblower, snow shovel, and a roof rake
- Shovel often. Do not try and do it all at once
- Lots of salt and kitty litter
- Get used to checking the weather regularly. Be aware of road closures, or instructions from LEOs/Feds not to be out on the road
- Leave an extra hour before you think you have to

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I went to minnisota once, Im sure every resident was carrying a personal flame thrower to fight the evil snowmen that come out at night and kidnap children

the flame throwers are actually for the mosquitos

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
- Get a car that is not rear wheel drive. Otherwise he'll be in for a rough winter when the snow & ice hits

If you have a rear wheel drive, make sure you can run everywhere you'll need to be, because your car's not going anywhere.

Just moved up here from the South. First piece of advice I can give is that you'll need something more than Off! to fight these mosquitoes. They're persistent little bastards. I've been wearing long sleeves and pants every day I work outside and it works fairly well, since it doesn't get as hot as it does back home, at least not yet anyways. I've found that they'll still bite you through the clothes, but its better than nothing.

Second piece of advice is realize that its going to get very cold, and there will be a lot of snow. I moved up to Fergus Falls in March, and there was a two foot deep snow drift in my back yard. When I went up to Deep Portage, they had snow that was 3-4 foot deep in places. Again, in MARCH. We weren't truly rid of snow until almost the end of April if I remember right.

I also work (well worked, he's quitting soon) with a guy from Florida up here. He was not a fan of the weather, the hordes of mosquitoes, and the lack of attractive women in the 20's age range, although that last one I think is more of a Fergus Falls problem

Good luck to him. I plan on moving the moment my term ends in November. The people are nice and there's an awesome FLGS in Fargo, but I don't think the winter is worth it for me.

Basically instead of life being like a Carl Hiaasen novel it will be like a Lake Wobegon story.

Yeah, I suppose that is key, is he moving to the cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) or ... other?

That will make a serious difference.

Make sure you have a really nice fur hat. Nothing keeps you warm like fur.
Don't let people fool you, cold climates are awesome. There is nothing more fun than snow.
I miss snow. There rarely is any snow in Netherlands or Crimea :(
Sea climates. Now those really are the worst kind of climate you could possibly run into. Never really cold, Never really warm. Just wet. Very wet.

As a professional Minnesotan I feel I must weight in.

There are four seasons in MN of the four spring and autumn are really damn nice, autumn especially when all the leaves change and the air is crisp and clear.

Summer is very humid and actually pretty hot (gets up into the 90's easily) also there is this great huge flying bloodsucking thing that the locals call Michele Bachmann also the mosquitos can get kinda bad.

Winter driving is a pain if you don't know what to expect. Black ice is when a thin layer of moisture freezes on a road but is almost invisible but slippery as hell.

If the town you live in doesn't do a good job plowing the roads then expect to be driving on packed snow which is just as slippery as ice.


Anti-lock breaks... do you know how to use them? When you step on the breaks and your wheels begin to "pulse" do not panic and take your foot off the breaks. The anti-lock feature is meant to allow you to keep control of the vehicle when there is not enough traction to come to a full stop right away. Keep you foot on the breaks and steer the vehicle to avoid collisions. Note it will still take you awhile to stop.

Also slamming you foot down on the gas from a full stop while on ice or packed snow will cause you to spin out

Buy 2 ice scrappers and keep them in the car at all times. They must be the 2 foot long ones with a brush on them.

If your battery is old buy a new one. Plus keep your car in a garage if you have one.

Keep a blanket, some flares, a snow shovel, a warm hat and a pair of mittens in your vehicle at all times during the winter. This stuff could save your life.

Keep your house heated at 65 degree's Fahrenheit tops, otherwise the locals might think you're a wuss. Also that gak it expensive.

As a northern state guy, ill agree with the sunglasses mentioned earlier. I don't wear them until the snow flies because snow blindness is a very real and painful thing. Is worse than looking at the sun. For real. To try it out for size, get an incredibly bright led flashlight, wake up at 4 in the morning and turn it on aiming right at your eyes. It's that basically.

And on the serious note though, can cause permanent damage to the eyes so just wear some sunglasses

As a winter-time skier, I'll +1 the sunglasses. White reflects the light-when the sun hits it, it's shooting right into your eyes. Sunglasses will save your vision. They are definitely NOT "summer only" attire.

1: Buy a Jeep Wrangler with the inline 6 (made these from 87 to 2006), while not ultra fuel efficient they have shift on the fly 4wd. That engine will run for a very long time if properly maintained. The Wrangler is a very capable vehicle and very easy to drive.

2: when he gets up there tell him to find a shop that sells cold weather construction gear. He will want to buy shirts that are called 'Duofold' Cotton on the inside and merino wool on the outside ... will keep him warm, dry, and are not very expensive.

3: Get a small back pack and keep it in the Jeep all winter long. It should have a complete change of clothes (socks, jeans, shirt, hoodie, ... underwear optional)

4: Purchase a good set of winter tires. I have had much luck with BF Goodrich Mud terrain KM/2 as well as TSL/SX tires made by Interco. Run these in the winter. It will save him some serious headaches.

The main thing that he is going to run into is the first time it snows proper after he has lived there. He is more than likely not going to know how to drive on snow and ice. I have lived in cold states all of my life, and I swear that the people around here forget how to drive on snow, and they HAVE to do it every year.