Snow all the way down to sea level in Washington, Oregon and Northern California like Eureka

 This is very unusual for California by the way and we could expect this between now and Tuesday with at least 6 inches of Snow in Portland which is very unusual too. Portland usually can get an inch or two at a time but almost never 6 inches of snow by the way. Snow is a little more normal a couple of times in Seattle where I was born. I remember being put outside in around 1951 in a little blue snowsuit to play in the snow then when I was 3 years old outside my parents house on my Grandfather's 2 1/2 acres of Cherry Trees, Apple trees and boysenberries and raspberries then.

But, I'm looking at the weather map at his unusual amount of snow that will come down between now and Tuesday all the way over to Sea level. I hope people in California are ready for this because many Californians never learned how to drive in snow.

Here are some things that might be helpful from a Californian that lived many years off and on in Mt. Shasta during the winters.

First, if you have a front wheel drive car and you are going down a hill without chains on, your rear end will sometimes try to come around just from shifting down your car into a lower gear. If this happens if you have a hand brake push the button on the hand brake and keep it in while you brake. This brake usually goes to your right rear brake only so when you brake with the hand brake it should straighten out the car normally while you are going downhill. Uphill Front wheel drives are usually okay without chains as long as you can get enough traction to do this.

A Rear wheel drive car is usually safer in snow in General. So, this is a good thing to know to begin with.

The next level is 4 whee drive cars which is good to have in the snow.

But, the best of all is to have a good All wheel drive Car.

If you are going in deep snow you need and all wheel drive car or truck with enough ground clearance so your undercarriage is above the snow or else you could easily get stuck.

An Automatic Transmission is usually best in snow because you can very lightly touch the Gas pedal and start out slow enough so your wheels don't spin in the snow. 

Going down hill NEVER use your brakes because they don't work in snow. You can down shift into a lower gear to slow down but once again if you are in a front wheel drive car going downhill your rear end might come around and only if you have a hand brake can you easily fix this problem before you are stuck sideways in the snow on the road.

Experience is the most important thing in snow. So, if you lack experience drive with someone who knows snow driving if you can. Or, if you are brave experiment with what works and what doesn't work in the snow. But, remember, front wheel drives are really tricky going down hill when you down shift so you aren't going sideways and blocking roads. Remember pushing the button on the hand brake if you have one before you lightly pull on the hand brake to straighten out your car while going down hill in a front wheel drive car.