Мама сказала, что лучше бы мы вышли пораньше, тогда бы не попали в метель.

Лучше бы is a very common Russian pattern meaning it would have been better if..., you/we should have..., or if only... depending on context.

In this sentence, лучше бы мы вышли пораньше means something like:

• It would have been better if we had left earlier
• We should have left earlier

It usually expresses regret, criticism, or hindsight about something unreal or not done.

Because Russian forms this kind of unreal / hypothetical / counterfactual meaning with:

• бы
• • a past tense form

So вышли is grammatically past tense, but together with бы it does not simply mean a real past event. It means something like had left in English.

This is normal Russian grammar:

• Я бы пошёл = I would go / I would have gone
• Лучше бы мы вышли = It would have been better if we had left

So the past tense form is part of the Russian subjunctive / conditional-style construction.

Because there are really two linked hypothetical parts here:

1. лучше бы мы вышли пораньше
   = it would have been better if we had left earlier

2. тогда бы не попали в метель
   = then we would not have gotten caught in a blizzard

Russian often uses бы in both parts of a counterfactual idea. The first бы marks the regretted or unreal action, and the second бы marks the unreal result.

This is very similar to:

• Если бы мы вышли пораньше, мы бы не попали в метель.

So the second бы is not redundant; it helps clearly mark the result as hypothetical too.

Бы is a particle, and in Russian it often appears after the first important word or phrase in its clause, not necessarily next to the verb.

So these are natural:

• лучше бы мы вышли
• тогда бы не попали

You could also see мы бы вышли in other sentences. The exact placement can vary, but бы usually comes early in the clause.

So here:

• лучше бы is a fixed, very common pattern
• тогда бы naturally means then ... would

They are perfective because the sentence refers to single completed events:

• вышли from выйти = to leave / go out
• попали from попасть = to get into / end up in / get caught in

The idea is:

• one completed act of leaving
• one resulting event of getting caught in the blizzard

If you used imperfective here, it would sound different and usually less natural in this context. Imperfective would suggest an ongoing process, repetition, or a different viewpoint.

So perfective fits the meaning:

• had left earlier
• would not have gotten caught

Пораньше means earlier, often with the nuance of:

• a bit earlier
• somewhat earlier
• earlier than we did / earlier than planned

It is related to раньше.

A simple way to think of it:

• раньше = earlier
• пораньше = a little earlier / earlier than would be better

In everyday Russian, пораньше is very common in advice and suggestions:

• Ложись пораньше = Go to bed a bit earlier
• Приходи пораньше = Come a little earlier

In this sentence, it sounds very natural because the speaker is talking about what would have been wiser.

Literally, it means got into a blizzard.

In natural English, the best translation is usually:

• got caught in a blizzard

The verb попасть often means:

• to end up in
• to get into
• to get caught in
• to wind up in

depending on context.

So не попали в метель means:

• would not have gotten caught in the blizzard
• would not have ended up in the blizzard

Because попасть commonly takes в + accusative when it means to end up in a place or situation.

Examples:

• попасть в город = to end up in a city
• попасть в аварию = to get into an accident
• попасть в метель = to get caught in a blizzard

Here метель is feminine singular, and its accusative singular looks the same as the nominative:

• nominative: метель
• accusative: метель

So the form does not visibly change, even though it is accusative after в.

Russian often can omit subject pronouns, but here мы is very natural and useful.

One important reason is that in the past tense, Russian verb forms do not show person clearly. For example:

• вышли could mean we left
• but in another context it could also be understood as they left or depend on context

So мы helps make the subject clear.

Also, in a sentence about regret and shared responsibility, saying мы is quite natural:

• лучше бы мы вышли пораньше = we really should have left earlier

So yes, omission is sometimes possible in Russian, but here keeping мы is normal and clear.

Что introduces the content of what was said. It works like English that in reported speech.

So:

• Мама сказала, что...
  = Mom said that...

After что, we get the reported message:

• лучше бы мы вышли пораньше, тогда бы не попали в метель

Without что, you would usually need a different structure, such as direct speech:

• Мама сказала: лучше бы мы вышли пораньше...

So что is the standard conjunction for reported speech here.

Because the verbs agree with different subjects.

• сказала agrees with мама

  • мама is feminine singular
  • so the past tense form is сказала

• вышли and попали agree with мы

  • мы is plural
  • so the past tense forms are plural: вышли, попали

So the sentence has:

• main clause: Мама сказала
• subordinate content: лучше бы мы вышли... тогда бы не попали...

Each verb matches its own subject.

Yes. A very close version would be:

• Если бы мы вышли пораньше, то не попали бы в метель.

That means:

• If we had left earlier, we wouldn’t have gotten caught in a blizzard.

The difference is nuance:

• Если бы ... то ... is a straightforward counterfactual condition
• Лучше бы ... adds judgment / regret / criticism: it was the better thing to do, but we did not do it

So the original sentence is not just neutral logic. It carries the feeling of:

• We really should have left earlier

Yes, it is natural. The tone is conversational and expressive. It sounds like someone looking back on what happened and saying the earlier decision would have avoided trouble.

The emotional tone is something like:

• hindsight
• mild reproach
• regret
• practical common sense after the fact

So it feels very natural in everyday speech, especially in family conversation:

• Мама сказала, что лучше бы мы вышли пораньше...

That sounds like a realistic thing a mother might say after a bad experience on the road or outside.