When we lived in Alberta, we often drove through the high mountain passes and could run into snow in almost any month. So I had a set of high performance all season radials and a set of winter radials. So if I ran into a little snow with the all season radials on, there was no harm done. [I find it impossible to drive on snow with high performance summer radials.]
Since I used to change my summer/winter wheels myself, my changeover to winter tires was when the weather forecaster said heavy snow. It was important to be able to change them over myself because the tire shops would be booked up for days.
Now that I'm on coastal BC, my snow tires rest quietly in the garage. On those few (theoretical at least) days with snow or ice I'll just stay home. If we had a prolonged breakout of snow I could put on the winter radials.
Since I used to change my summer/winter wheels myself, my changeover to winter tires was when the weather forecaster said heavy snow. It was important to be able to change them over myself because the tire shops would be booked up for days.
Now that I'm on coastal BC, my snow tires rest quietly in the garage. On those few (theoretical at least) days with snow or ice I'll just stay home. If we had a prolonged breakout of snow I could put on the winter radials.