I grew up on Long Island. We usually got snow during the winter, but it was rare to get more than a few inches at a time. Still, I was somewhat used to it.
Then I went to college in Western New York. Where it was not unusual for a foot of snow to drop in a couple of hours. And I learned how to shovel my car out from two feet of snow.
My husband grew up in Rochester, NY. Where children would stand on snow banks waiting for the bus. Where his mother still lives — and hires a snowplow driver for the winter to clear her driveway each snowfall.
Yet it wasn’t until we came to Maryland that we’ve noticed this behavior:
Whenever it is snowing, people stick up their wiper blades.
Why? To keep them from freezing to the windshield?
This afternoon, when I took the two-minute walk from my office building to our main office, I noticed that at least 25% of the cars in the parking lot had their wipers up.
Many of them had icicles forming on the wiper blades. That seems far more damaging than wipers freezing to the windshield. Warming up the car for a few minutes, while you scape the windows, would unfreeze them anyway.
I’d worry more that a sharp wind would slam the blades down, cracking the windshield!
I agree, VERY odd.
That IS weird. I’ve seen some people do that, but don’t see the point myself. Frozen wiper blades are just a day-to-day occurrance for us here in WI!
Haha- I have to admit that I do this…but only because everyone else in Maryland does…I had never seen it before (granted…I’m originally from SC). When I first moved here people kept saying “Don’t forget to stick your wipers up or you won’t be able to move them in the snow”. I just assumed it was a “northern” thing…thanks for letting me know it’s not! Now I can leave my wipers alone…
That’s weird. Very weird. That said, I have a six foot tall pile of snow out my front door.
That is weird. I’m with you. I would be more worried about wind damage. I think I’ll keep mine down.
I live in the north too and we get plenty of snow. Never seen this before, ever.
Then again I live around a bunch of hicks and we’re all happy to chip our cars out of the snow with no worries about damage.
I’ve lived in the Midwest almost all my life, and I’ve seen plenty of snowy winters, but I’ve never seen this.
Not odd at all. I’m from Ohio and have seen it before and now in MD. The theory is that you will forget that your wipers are frozen to your windshield and turn them on. Then, the rubber tears right off and is stuck to your windshield while your metal blades flap around and possibly scratch your glass. Remember those 80s cars with the pop up headlights? It’s also a good idea to keep them up before a storm so they don’t freeze shut.
Keep ’em cummin Merry Mishaps 🙂
I’ve never heard that either, and just like you said, it seems like a strange thing to do. I think I’ll leave that to others… 🙂