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Which Wiper Blades are Best for Me?

4 years ago
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Different TRICO wiper blades

 

All wiper blades are not created equal and a lot has changed over the last 100+ years since the first wiper blade was manufactured. Wiper blades are now built specifically to handle different types of driving conditions based upon the climate in which you live in, making climate one of the most important factors to consider when deciding which wiper blades are best for you. There is good reason as to why this past winter had so many snow days. Some cities in the United States had record breaking snowfall and freezing temperatures¹. Ask anyone who lives in the Midwest, Northeast or Northwest about how cold it was on somedays and they’d probably have a story or two. Before the incredibly cold winter kicked in, there was also record-breaking rainfall that occurred throughout the country as well. In terms of yearly averages, rainfall in 2018 was even more drastic than snow accumulation. Some cities in the Northwest and Southeast saw more rain in 2018 than ever recorded. Many cities in those regions saw top 10 record rainfall². Storms are getting more severe and total moisture accumulation is on the rise. With all that said, we’re going to explain the different types of climate by the five different regions and breakdown which types of wiper blades would work best for you.

Midwest

The good old Midwest – where it can snow on Tuesday and be 68 degrees by Thursday. Drastic climate change is a weekly occurrence and you would know that living in the Midwest. A strong beam blade makes perfect sense here. Beam blades are all-weather and perform tremendously under intense wind and rainy conditions. If you live in the Midwest you’re dealing with a lot of rain and then a lot of snow. Get yourself a wiper blade that will have you seeing clear throughout the year!

Northeast

Much like the Midwest, the Northeast experiences heavy snowfall and a cool spring, making it one of the coldest regions in the United States. Snow accumulation for the Northeast was higher than any other region last winter¹. Snow, sleet, freezing rain and ice are all good reasons to get yourself a premium beam winter wiper blade such as TRICO Ice.

2018 total rain accumulation was also high for the Northeast. Lots of snow and lots of rain means lots of wiper blade usage. Western New Yorkers are all too familiar with large amounts of moisture being that Buffalo and Rochester experience more rainy days than any other city in the country³. A good wiper blade goes a long way and there is no wiper blade better than our TRICO Titan premium beam blade.

  • This one is a little trickier because some states included in this region experience very little snow and rainfall compared to other, more northern neighbor states. Because of this, we decided to split the region into two different segments.

West

For the states that are included in the upper region of the West, TRICO Ice is a premium beam blade that works terrific in freezing and snowy conditions. TRICO Titan and TRICO Ultra are all-weather beam blades and will provide you with year-round optimal performance. Snowfall is one thing, but rain accumulation is absurd up there. Washington and Oregon get an incredible amount of total rainfall every year. So much so, that cities in both of these states account for all of the top 12 spots in terms of U.S. cities with the highest yearly precipitation averages in the contiguous United States³. That is ridiculous. Be prepared and get yourself a premium beam blade for all that rain!

For the states that are lower in the West, there is not much rainfall throughout the year and practically never any snow. We will always recommend a beam blade, but a conventional blade would also work.

Southwest

Some people living in the Southeast saw more rain in 2018 than any other year on record. A good number of cities in the Southeast experienced top 10 records in terms of rainfall². To make things even more complicated, while this past winter saw some of the coldest temperatures for regions in the northern part of the country, there were some of the warmest temperatures ever recorded for some of our southern states⁴. February of 2018 saw Florida experience its second warmest average temperature ever. Tennessee had its wettest February ever thanks to that warmer weather. Heavy rains in Alabama lead to the Wilson Dam near Florence, AL on the Tennessee River to release 2 million gallons of water per second⁵. Per second! Storms and rainfall are becoming stronger and stronger. We would recommend you get a stronger wiper blade that is going to match the intensity of those storms and perform under difficult driving conditions.

Southeast

Dry and warm! For those that live in the Midwest or Northeast, when you hear about days that are 119°F in places like Phoenix, it is totally understandable to grow worried – but that’s nothing to the people that live out there. A dry heat is much different from a humid heat. With this warm weather, we would again recommend a beam blade, but a conventional blade would work just fine.

Hopefully that helped you out! Of course, no matter where you live, don’t forget to replace your rear windshield wiper too. You may have noticed throughout this article that we recommended a beam blade for every region in the U.S. – more specifically, we recommended our TRICO Titan premium beam blade for every region in the U.S. We’re not trying to hide the fact that a premium beam blade is just an all-around better wiper blade. They’re engineered to perform in heavy rain, heavy wind, snow, sleet, hail, and all other kinds of intense weather. TRICO Titan does it better than any other beam blade because TRICO Titan is designed to last three times longer than the average wiper blade. See for yourself the difference a great wiper blade can make!

Choose the right wiper blade for your driving conditions.
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