How the North Handles Snow Vs How the South Handles Snow

A few inches of snow in the North is just another Winter day. A few inches of snow in the South is the end of the world. And how to get rid of all that snow depends on where it falls.

In the north there's snow blowers and snow plows to keep roads, sidewalks and driveways clear. But in the South, they don't have the equipment to deal with Winter weather so they need to improvise, using leaf blowers and street sweepers.

While we were in Memphis Winter hit the city hard. Temperature fell to below freezing with ice and a few inches of snow shutting everything down. Everyone panicked, cleaning out grocery store shelves and staying inside. The streets were deserted except for a brave few, like the guys trying to clear the sidewalks and parking lots at St Jude Children's Research Hospital.

One man was using a leaf blower to blow snow off sidewalks while another man was driving a street sweeper to clean the parking lot. The leaf blower seemed to be working a lot better than the street sweeper but neither worked well on the ice. There were even boxes of salt but a guy just stacked it outside a door without putting it on the sidewalk. It works much better when you actually spread it on the ground instead of just stacking it for display.

Watch the street sweeper trying to 'brush' snow off the parking lot in the video above. It's not something you'd see in the North. But you may see more leaf blowers since it's a lot easier than trying to shovel or brush snow off your car. I think it'll be my next purchase.

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