They can get bad but usually they're nothing like what the Boston area got this past winter (I have some family there). It gets cold as balls, like down around zero, and it can snow a fair bit. Walking from my apartment to class was not a lot of fun.

Now I get to work with a car and drive from the parking garage in my apartment to the parking garage at my office. So aside from the fact that I drive a Miata and will most definitely need snow tires to get to work in the winter, it shouldn't be that big of a deal.