Pro tips for driving in winter weather

Unless you drive a snowplow for a living, getting behind the wheel in a blizzard probably isn’t your idea of fun. You can survive the ordeal with a few pro tips for driving in winter weather.

“Road surfaces can change quickly between dry, snow-packed and icy — all of which require a different approach to steering and stopping,” says Leslie Kasperowicz, a Minneapolis driver who edits CarInsurance.org, a car insurance website.

The trick, pros like Kasperowicz say, is to stay ahead of the weather, pack the right gear and make sure you understand the fundamentals of bad-weather driving. (It also helps that you’re a careful driver.)

Pro tip #1: Download the right app for driving in winter weather

Downloading the right smartphone apps can help. They include:

Offline Survival Manual (Android only): This worst-case-scenario app includes helpful information on how to make a fire, build a shelter and find food, as well as other information you might need in an emergency. True to its name, once you download it, you don’t need a cellular connection to access the information.

Waze (Android/iOS): Waze is a navigation app that provides turn-by-turn directions and user-contributed information on traffic, travel times and…