I'm told it rains about 1/2 as much as Seattle here in Portland

I'd say at least 1/2 to 3/4 of the days the ground wasn't wet with fog or rain or drizzle since about the 22nd of December and also about 1/2 or less of the time the sun was out completely or partially too. It doesn't snow usually here (except a day or two) during the year. But, still maybe the most common car is an all wheel drive Subaru Forest or Outback because they are all wheel drive vehicles which you might need where it snows even once a year, especially on the hills that are plentiful all around Portland and Oregon. Why? Because Subaru likely makes the most reliable not too expensive all wheel drives around that work really good in snow or ice. I own a Forest and so does my daughter which is great for inclement weather of all kinds. I also have a 4 wheel drive truck for snow which has a lot of ground clearance.

IF you have a front wheel drive and especially live in California just remember if you have never driven in snow the rear end of the vehicle is going to come around sometimes if you are going downhill on ice or slippery snow. Hopefully, if that happens to you you know what to do.

If you have a hand brake, the easiest way to correct for this is to put on your hand brake lightly while you hold in the button on the hand brake so you can release it when you need to also. But, you should practice it before you get into this situation so you don't have an accident by accident when you actually need to be able to do this in actual snow or ice or black ice.

But, the best solution is to have an all wheel drive or 4 wheel drive vehicle so you can be safe in all situations driving.