TUCSON, Ariz. - Around here, we're more prepared for hot and dry than the cold, wet weather on the way.
But you'd better get ready to ride out the sort of weather people come here to avoid.
If people wanted to live in conditions like this they'd live someplace like Chicago, or at least Northern Arizona.
But cold and wet is what we are in for so get ready to live with it.
"When it comes to winter coats you may just have to resign yourself to layer up with several layers of thinner jackets. We had a tough time finding heavy winter weight coats in some of the discount shops we checked. And finding gloves was especially tough.
People not used to the cold can come up with some truly bad ideas. Scott Faulkner of Brake Max Auto Glass says one of the worst is using hot water to get ice off your windshield.
“Don't put hot water on it. As we just discussed. When you have a cold windshield, then you add extreme heat to it, it's going to create a damaged or cracked windshield immediately."
And he says if you already have a windshield crack,cold, and even the heat from your defroster could make the crack grow.
But in in Southern Arizona it can be really, really hard to even find a decent windshield scraper.
If you're like a lot of people when your windshield ices up you're just gonna try to struggle by with a thin plastic card.
The Ace Hardware at Tanque Verde and Bear Canyon is one of the rare places that stocks substantial ice scrapers along with other winter supplies like blankets for plants, and insulation for pipes.
As the last hardware near the road to Mount Lemmon, this store sells sleds but they're sold out so manager Joseph French says people buy anything else that might slide.
"We've had people go as crazy as getting the tubs with the ropes on it here...I've had people buying storage totes so they can use the lids off of them."
Because the cold, wet weather's not always a nuisance. It can be fun until it all melts away.
