Despite the recent warm-up, forecasters are predicting a worse-than-normal winter for parts of the U.S.

Every year, people die from exposure during and immediately after winter storms. Unless you live in the south or spend your winters in the tropics, chances are that you’ll be caught in severe winter weather at some time this year. The weather is beyond your control, but how you deal with it is not. Being prepared can help prevent a winter storm from turning into a life-threatening nightmare.

How Winter Storms Kill
Be Prepared: Winter Weather Preparation Tips
Other Cold Weather Dangers
Stay Safe While Working in the Cold
Travel Tips

How Winter Storms Kill

Seniors and Children Beware!

The elderly and very young are the most vulnerable during winter storms. Half of all winter storm related deaths occur to people over 60 years old. Also, people who insist on traveling during winter storms greatly increase their own risk. Over two-thirds of ice and snow related deaths occur in cars. Exhaustion caused by overexertion is the second most common killer. These statistics suggest that people should stay at home during winter storms. Also, if you have friends and neighbors that are elderly or disabled, check on them occasionally. Your concern and consideration of their welfare may help prevent a disaster.

There is also an increased risk of fire during winter storms since many people are using backup sources of heat such as wood stoves and portable heaters. They may also be using candles or lanterns as sources of light. Fires during winter storms are made more dangerous by the fact that water supplies may be frozen and the roads may be impassable or difficult to negotiate by firefighting vehicles and equipment.

Be Prepared: Winter Weather Preparation Tips

In cold weather, shelter is vitally important. Taking steps to winterize your home can increase its ability to protect you from extreme weather, even in the event of a power loss. See our advice on How To Insulate and Weatherstrip Your Home and How To Install a Storm Door.

When extreme weather is expected, take precautions to assure that you don't get caught off guard. You may be trapped in your home for an extended period of time.

• Have an emergency heat source and fuel on hand. Electricity is often the first thing to go in severe weather, and if the loss of power cripples your furnace, you'll need to be prepared. In a pinch you can use a fireplace, wood stove, space heater or gas logs to keep warm. But you have to have some type of heater and the appropriate fuel on-hand for it to do you any good.
  
• Use your emergency-heating source carefully. The potential for fire is an ever-present danger with most space heaters and wood stoves. Keep the fire extinguisher near. Do not use a charcoal grill inside your home for heating or for cooking! These grills produce carbon monoxide, a deadly gas that can't be detected by sight or smell.
• If you use a kerosene heater as a backup unit, use only the correct fuel for your unit and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Always refuel the unit outdoors, and never when it is still hot. Keep your kerosene heater at least 3 feet away from flammable objects. Avoid the build up of toxic fumes by providing ventilation.
• Conserve fuel by closing off unused rooms.
• If you have a generator, make sure it has been serviced and is in proper working order. Carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors are good investments for your home. Check them occasionally and make sure they are in working order.
• Keep your snow removal equipment in good shape. Whether you have a snow blower, plow, or just a shovel, make sure your equipment is up to the task of helping you dig out of the weather. You may also want to keep a supply of salt or ice-melting compound on hand to spread on slippery walkways and driveways. Be aware that some types of salt are inappropriate for this use since they can cause stains on masonry. Ice-melting products marketed specifically for this purpose should be safe for vegetation and walk surfaces. Kitty litter can also be spread to help generate traction.
• Have disaster supplies on-hand. Anticipate losing electrical power and being stranded for several days--just in case. Keep an adequate food supply, particularly foods such as canned goods which require no refrigeration, cooking or special preparation. Keep a flashlight and portable radio with extra batteries, a manual can opener, a first aid kit, essential medication, necessary baby items, a fire extinguisher and extra blankets.
• Let Mother Nature be on your side. If you lose power in a winter storm for an extended period of time, some perishable foods from your refrigerator or freezer may be stored in the snow or an unheated outbuilding.
• Before an expected storm, put back a supply of clean drinking water in unbreakable containers. You may also want to store water for washing by filling your bathtub. If you have a well, your water supply depends upon electricity at the pump. Even if your water is supplied by your town or county, frozen or broken pipes can leave you in the dry for long periods of time.
• If your water pipes are not insulated, wrap exposed pipes with foam or fiberglass insulation. If these supplies are not available, you can insulate them temporarily with layers of newspaper or rags covered with plastic. Let the water run at a trickle. Moving water is much more difficult to freeze. Know how to turn off the water supply to your house, just in case a pipe freezes and bursts. Emergency repairs for frozen pipes can be found in How To Fix Frozen or Broken Pipes.
• Listen to the radio for current weather or emergency information.
• Don't forget your pets. They should be brought in during severe weather. As an alternative, winterize an area in which they will be sheltered from the storm. Plastic sheeting and plywood can be used to provide construct windbreaks and roofs for kennels.

Other Cold Weather Dangers

The cold is one of the greatest dangers of a winter storm. Without some means of keeping warm, people can succumb to hypothermia, a serious condition resulting from low body temperature. Hypothermia results in disorientation, shivering, drowsiness, loss of muscle control and slurred speech. Also, the extremities such as fingers and toes begin to turn blue. Hypothermia is particularly dangerous because as the condition progresses, the affected person becomes less aware of the danger he is in. A person with hypothermia may decide to sit under a tree to take a nap, for example, never to wake up again. Frostbite, tissue damage resulting from exposure to extreme cold, is another serious danger. Frostbite can be recognized by a loss of feeling and a paleness in the extremities.

Winter storms are often accompanied by high winds. The wind makes it feel colder than it really is by taking more heat away from your body. Wind chill, a term used by meteorologists, is calculated based on the combined effects of cold and wind on perceived temperature. In other words, although it may be 30 degrees outside, the wind may make it feel like it is 0 degrees. The lower the wind-chill, the more quickly frostbite or hypothermia may develop. This is why shelter is so vitally important; even if the shelter is unheated, if it keeps the wind away, it can significantly reduce the dangers created by the cold.

Stay Safe While Working in the Cold

• When working outside shoveling snow or doing other necessary tasks, pace yourself and avoid spending long periods of time in the weather. Shoveling snow is strenuous activity and often leads to heart attack.
• Wear several layers of loose fitting clothes and a hat
• Mittens are warmer than gloves for protecting your hands.
• Heavy breathing of very cold air is a strain on the body and may lead to pain or worse. Sweating from hard labor in the cold may lead to a chill and hypothermia. From a health and safety standpoint, a winter storm is the perfect time to try to relax indoors.

Travel Tips

Most winter weather deaths occur in vehicles. Travel in winter storm conditions is extremely hazardous and should only be done in the case of an emergency. If you must travel, try to do it in daylight and try not to do it alone. Like your home, your vehicle should be prepared for the weather, just in case.

• Make sure your vehicle is full of fuel and in good repair.
• Carry a winter emergency kit in case you become stuck or stranded. Include a flashlight, extra batteries, blankets or sleeping bags, an emergency flare--anything you can think of that you may need in an emergency. A cellular phone or two-way radio is also a good idea if you have one available.

These money-saving home heating options present many home safety hazards if used incorrectly. Lowe's Home Safety Council, a nonprofit with a vision of creating safer American homes, is urging homeowners to follow safety precautions when heating their homes this winter.

Click here to read about staying safe inside your home this winter

Click here to read last month's article, "Keeping Your Fireplace Safe this Season"

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