It’s the first day of winter. Are you ready?

Dana Davis

Winter is officially upon us. This season brings plenty of warm and fuzzies: sipping hot cocoa, cranking up the space heater, throwing on some slippers. But it can also mean less-cozy things, like icy, intense weather.

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Winter storms, like the one hitting parts of the country this week, can cause much damage via extended power outages, unsafe roads, and frozen pipes. To get through an extreme whiteout unscathed, you need to be prepared. Here are the essential tools we found that you may need to ride out a winter storm.

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We also have picks for:

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• Snow blowers
  
  
• Snow shovels
  
  
• Ice scrapers

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And for toasting up once you’re back inside … we love these throw blankets.

Dana Davis

If you’re looking for a more long-term solution to protecting your house from the elements, consider weatherizing your home. A well-sealed, well-insulated home is a more comfortable and energy-efficient home, and with electricity rates rising and natural gas becoming more expensive, it’s also a cheaper home to run. Here, we walk you through the basic steps that experts suggest as the most cost-effective ways to weatherize. (Some things you can do yourself without special tools or skills!)

Stay warm out there. Zip up that down jacket, throw on some touchscreen winter gloves (or curl your fingers around some hand warmers), and maybe even resort to thermal underwear.

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Wishing you a very happy Winter Solstice.