Don't Grind My Gears

The first real rain after a long dry stretch makes roads feel weird. It is not just your imagination. It is the combination of oil residue, dust, and smooth surfaces getting reactivated all at once.

Grip changes faster than your brain updates

Your brain expects the road to behave the way it behaved yesterday. In the first rain, the road often behaves like a different material. Painted lines get slick. Manhole covers turn into ice patches. The first few minutes can be worse than a steady rain an hour later.

Cars talk to you through the steering wheel

If the steering feels lighter, or the car feels floaty in a way you do not recognize, that is your signal to slow down before the car forces you to.

The goal is not to drive scared. The goal is to drive like the surface is learning how to be wet again, because it is.

This is also a tire check

If your tires are near the end, the first rain exposes it. Water has a way of making tread depth feel real. If you have been postponing tires, this is when postponing stops being abstract.