Yankees will often look at southerners and mock them, but they should keep in mind that up here, the roads are clear within a half hour that a snowflake hits the ground, not to mention that everyone has snow tires or all weather tires up here.
And I have to remind my Yankee friends of that. The county has I think 3 snow plows. The cost doesn’t justify having 10 snow plows for one or two days a year.
Plows and salt aren't necessary for an occasional snow. Tires and drivers that are accustomed to ice/snow are a much bigger deal.
Our plows don't run unless there's at least 3" and they don't bother to go out until the storm stops they only run once a day no matter what. My road gets hit at about 11:00 am. So we leave every morning in unplowed roads and come home every night to it. Not a big deal. We also don't salt anything but the highways.
I drive in 12" + of snow on the roads at least 2-3 times every winter. I drive with 4-12" of snow on the roads 40-50 days a year. I have a pickup with no weight in the back and never put it in 4wd if my snow tires are on.
Summer tires are BFG KO2's and I put them on in April, but we still might get a foot in a spring storm in May or June. Use 4wd a little more with those tires. My wife's Jeep doesn't have snow tires at all, she just runs the BFG's year around. Never an issue.
The south definitely freaks out about a little snow. The black ice is a different ballgame. My driveway and road are both solid ice 4-5"deep (white ice, hockey rink style) and have been for 5-6 weeks. The plows and tires just compact it constantly.
If I put numbers on it I'd say 40% tires, 40% drivers, and 20% plows and salt. The salt is handy at intersections, but more for sidewalks and porches. The plows just keep it from getting so deep it starts to impede or do damage to the body of the vehicle.
We have drivers come up from Boise where it only snows a few times a year and usually melts off by lunch and they might as well be from Jackson MS. It's like watching a teenage girl learning to drive a stick with a lot of them.
ETA. If you live in North Mississippi or Tennessee and get snow a few times each winter, do yourself a favor and get a set of tires off this list of 3 Peak Snowflake rated all terrain tires that you can run year around. You will be able to drive in the snow/sleet/slush without issue with any 4wd/awd vehicle.
Snow Rated All Season/AT Tires
