Safer Off The Path

Barley, a dog, stands on the grass in her winter fleece as snow begins to stick to the nearby paved walkway. The snow is not yet sticking to the grass.

Right at the start of a snowfall, before it’s clear how big it’s going to become, it’s always the paved pedestrian paths where the snow finds its first foothold. Unable to efficiently exchange heat with the earth beneath, they chill and become receptive surfaces. At that point, you’re better off walking anywhere else, especially on grass, which resists for quite a while longer than the paths do.