We haven't really had much snow this Winter so far, other than the "big" snow storm a couple of weeks back (see my Sig for results). We got about 20-22 inches here, and over 30 inches of snow closer to the coast of Maine. The snow was cleared from our roads the day after the storm. Last Winter, I put the snow tires on the Vibe in late December and took them off before the end of January. Drove on snow only one time. It turned out to be the wimpiest Winter that I've seen here in the last 17 years!
So far this year I have not driven on any significant snow cover. Still have the "Summer" all season tires on my aftermarket alloys installed on the Vibe. I cleaned and waxed the wheels thoroughly on one of the last warm days in mid December to help protect the finish and don't let them stay too messy.
If we were getting buried in snow, I would have to swap the "Summers" for the Winter Blizzaks on the steel wheels. It only takes about 45 minutes to do. So far, not really needed this Winter. I'll keep an eye on the weather, we could still get a lot of snow here in March. That hasn't happened in quite a while, but doesn't mean that it's out of the question.