Keller @ Large: Snow Survival Tips For Drivers

BOSTON (CBS) - As you've been hearing, there is accumulating snow in the forecast for tomorrow.

For those with short memories, let me explain what this is.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

According to dictionary.com, snow is "precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air."

And when these ice crystals pile up on the roads, guess what – they get slippery!

We haven't had much experience with driving in snow this winter, and judging from what I've seen in the past, even when we do have experience, some of us don't learn from it.

So here we go with some hopefully helpful tips on how to handle the approaching non-catastrophe.

First of all, if the snow is heavy tomorrow, don't expect to head out early in the storm and expect the roads to be plowed.

The DPW is not out there lining the streets with blowtorches to melt the flakes as they fall.

They will let it start to pile up, then go out and plow it.

If you must drive somewhere during the snow, be warned – a snow-covered windshield is hard to see through, and driving blind can be a risky venture.

Most hardware stores sell something called a scraper, which will help you remove the snow so you can see.

And may I suggest, if it's not too much trouble, that you clear all windows completely, rather than just a grapefruit-sized hole in front of the steering wheel, so that others on the road might live?

Finally, if you do find yourself on the road during the storm, please resist the impulse to speed so you can get home quickly to watch the news for video of accidents on the snow-covered roads.

The snow is not conducive to driving fast, a fact ignored by most of the drivers you see on the news waiting for their wrecked car to be towed.

Don't worry, we'll survive tomorrow's ordeal.

Even if we are the first New Englanders to ever have to endure it.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.