NJTman

Started to look around a bit on the net to find an answer, or a suggestion, as to what headlamps, or driving lights, work best during a heavy snowstorm event.

I plow snow every winter, but this last storm , due to the consistency of the storm as it developed, and its duration (the length of the storm itself), required me to go out halfway through to plow my customers lots and driveways during what turned out to be the heaviest, most extreme part of the event.

I found it very difficult, at best, to see ahead of me during the storm with my,headlamps on because of the reflective properties of,the snow flake squall I was,driving through. Believe it or not , it was actually easier to see with just my parking lamps on, and my headlamps off. This leads me to believe that an amber colored lamp would work well during a blizzard event.

I've read that some DOT trucks are now being equipped with green color lamps for maximum visibility during blizzard events, although I believe its for the other drivers not running into plow vehicles on the road.

Some have suggested that amber fog lamps, placed as low to the,ground on the vehicle are the best location for mounting, as it causes the snow directly in front of the vehicle to be lit below the vision line of the driver. This isn't possible on my truck, ad my plow would block the lamps in this lower location.

Finally, I've read about a "smart lamp" which in theory directs light "between" the snow flakes, eliminating or minimizing light reflection back to the driver..

So, what is your experiences, and what color, or type of light works best for you?

cougar

Snow is a solid object and you can't see through it. The only thing you can do is minimize any bright light reflecting off of it. On my old 81, I had a pair of 100 watt amber fog lights at headlight level. Worked so well in those Montana whiteouts that I could turn off my headlights and drive just on the fog lights. I got the lights from JC Whitney.

torquefan

I think a fog light has the best type of beam for snow use. A fog lens is focused to make a low and wide beam that lights the road immediately in front of the vehicle, rather than trying to put the beam a long way out in front, which would only light up the fog or snowflakes in the air, and reflect back at you.

I realize you can't mount the lights really low on your truck, and this may reduce their effectiveness quite a bit, but I'm sure the design of the lens will still help out a lot. The way the light is directed on a fog lens seems to be more important than the color of the light. Amber fogs seem to have disappeared in favor of ordinary clear lenses, and I have had really good luck using the clear fog lights on my car in blizzards on the highway. I'll generally leave the headlights off and run with just the fogs and park lights for the best illumination and the least glare.