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I have an office in Gillette, WY the weather today and for the next few days is lethal when it will warm up to simply dangerous. There is a reason I conduct my business with my one client in that city only by Zoom from Oct 1 until April1. That client BTW has to shut down its plant (with only minimal staff) for HSE issues. It is too cold to safely let people go outside to work.gil Capture.JPG
In NOLA we are coming to grips with what is expected to be severe cold in the 20's. That does not sound cold but remember our houses are designed to deal with heat not cold. Still with no rain/snow/ice expected we should be ok.
My plan may sound weird but in the freezing weather I turn on the pool heater and it creates a layer of warmth that keeps the plants in my backyard from freezing. The neighborhood community cats seem to know this and hang around when it gets cold.
Stay warm folks.
We are going to be cold here, too. Cold even for the North Country, with high winds expected.
The electric company has warned of possible power outages and told people to prepare appropriately. The town has stocked it's warm shelter just in case. They use the local elementary school. Generator there has been fully fueled, cots moved out of storage and blankets available.
I have tomorrow off, so I am going to make sure we have what we need here.
It's been bouncing around 14 to 18 degrees here for several days and we're getting pounded with wind. As I type this it's 11 and wind chill makes it equivalent to -8. Was similar last night.
So I went out snowshoeing in a nearby park. It was pretty fun, though my face was pretty stiff by the time I got home. The wind carved snow drifts were gorgeous. The river is half frozen over in many places.
It was warmer last weekend when I took the gals snowshoeing up on the mountain. Only around 25 and very little wind.
I've repeatedly stomped out a path to the truck but the wind keeps filling it back in with snow.
NWS says it's -2 , snowing, Wind of 30 MPH giving a wind chill of -22. My son went to work around two this morning and said the roads are bad .Haven't lost power , but the wind is supposed to increase today
Two of the worst four letter words I know are snow, and cold. The worst is work. Glad I'm retired.
Don't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
Looks like it's stopped snowing. Hard to tell just how much fell as it's blowing all over . It's -7 with the wind chill at -28. Holy cheese and crackers it takes your breath away when you go outside
Quote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 09:45:55 AMDon't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
QFT!
This exactly what you should do anytime that you anticipate a power outage. That and fill the bathtub with water to use to flush the toilet.
One other thing be sure to locate your main water shutoff valve. If you are going to lose power in freezing weather for an extended period of time, shut off the water main and if possible drain the pipes. This will limit any water damage from a broken pipe when the temperature warms up.
The key time to inspect for leaking pipes is not at the height of the freeze but when things start to thaw.
Quote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 09:45:55 AMDon't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
(Looks at stacks of 400 AAA and 100 AA batteries delivered in the past few days, and stacks of Olight boxes, cases of butane for stove, cases of propane for backup heater, cans of kerosene for backup backup heater, 50 gallons of bottled drinking water, plastic tarps to line bathtubs, and cases of freeze-dried meals)
I'm good, thanks. :greenguy:
Quote from: NT2C on December 22, 2022, 02:56:25 PMQuote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 09:45:55 AMDon't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
(Looks at stacks of 400 AAA and 100 AA batteries delivered in the past few days, and stacks of Olight boxes, cases of butane for stove, cases of propane for backup heater, cans of kerosene for backup backup heater, 50 gallons of bottled drinking water, plastic tarps to line bathtubs, and cases of freeze-dried meals)
I'm good, thanks. :greenguy:
What about clean socks and underwear? Have you got those too? :D
Quote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 03:13:19 PMQuote from: NT2C on December 22, 2022, 02:56:25 PMQuote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 09:45:55 AMDon't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
(Looks at stacks of 400 AAA and 100 AA batteries delivered in the past few days, and stacks of Olight boxes, cases of butane for stove, cases of propane for backup heater, cans of kerosene for backup backup heater, 50 gallons of bottled drinking water, plastic tarps to line bathtubs, and cases of freeze-dried meals)
I'm good, thanks. :greenguy:
What about clean socks and underwear? Have you got those too? :D
Heck of an assumption you're making there that I even
wear such things. Do you know for a fact if I'm even wearing pants as I type this?
:awesome:
Quote from: NT2C on December 22, 2022, 03:23:30 PMQuote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 03:13:19 PMQuote from: NT2C on December 22, 2022, 02:56:25 PMQuote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 09:45:55 AMDon't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
(Looks at stacks of 400 AAA and 100 AA batteries delivered in the past few days, and stacks of Olight boxes, cases of butane for stove, cases of propane for backup heater, cans of kerosene for backup backup heater, 50 gallons of bottled drinking water, plastic tarps to line bathtubs, and cases of freeze-dried meals)
I'm good, thanks. :greenguy:
What about clean socks and underwear? Have you got those too? :D
Heck of an assumption you're making there that I even wear such things. Do you know for a fact if I'm even wearing pants as I type this?
:awesome:
Aaaaaahhh!!!! Brain bleach!! Brain bleach!!! :smiley_dead:
Quote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 03:56:40 PMQuote from: NT2C on December 22, 2022, 03:23:30 PMQuote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 03:13:19 PMQuote from: NT2C on December 22, 2022, 02:56:25 PMQuote from: EBuff75 on December 22, 2022, 09:45:55 AMDon't forget that "before the storm gets here" is a good time to do things like vacuum, laundry, and run the dishwasher. That way, if you lose power, at least those chores won't be a concern.
Also, charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, ear buds, flashlights, power banks, flashlight batteries, etc. so that they're ready to go.
(Looks at stacks of 400 AAA and 100 AA batteries delivered in the past few days, and stacks of Olight boxes, cases of butane for stove, cases of propane for backup heater, cans of kerosene for backup backup heater, 50 gallons of bottled drinking water, plastic tarps to line bathtubs, and cases of freeze-dried meals)
I'm good, thanks. :greenguy:
What about clean socks and underwear? Have you got those too? :D
Heck of an assumption you're making there that I even wear such things. Do you know for a fact if I'm even wearing pants as I type this?
:awesome:
Aaaaaahhh!!!! Brain bleach!! Brain bleach!!! :smiley_dead:
That's what she said!
I think NT has a massed a collection of Hawaiian shirts, enough where laundry wouldn't be a necessity. Pants well y'all on ya own with that.
😄
In preparation for this Event I cooked extra some kind of bread product (https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=1092.0) and laid up two gallons of my fav store bought fridge milk. (have much pwdrd & canned milk preps so no worries there)
Watching this Event this morning was a new and rather unnerving example of weather. The STRONG wind eddies, mid air whirlpools, and entrance way wind vortices became visible blowing these tiny particles dry dry snow. I don't have the words that adequately describe it. Maybe like dramatic CGI movie magic.
Have used Frog delicate surfaces tape to line the door frame leaks and reduce cold air coming in around balcony door. Am still not yet needing to run the heater due to being surrounded by apartments being heated. (🙂 my contribution to reducing strain on the grid) We have many days of this to go so time will tell how well this holds.
I don't think I've ever gotten an email from my power company warning of potential outages before despite having storms and undesirable weather before, but here we are.
Got my camp stove ready, battery packs checked for charge, solar lanterns in the window, and warm winter gear and blankets at the ready. Got those cup soups and canned food for warm meals and various warm beverages that can all be made with just hot water. Probably should have checked if I had any viable gas cans for the Little Buddy heater, but I'm pretty sure there's one in the pantry. Seeing as how the cold snap is supposed to be short-term for us, I didn't feel it was important this time. I have some terra cotta pots and candles to put in bathrooms to keep them above freezing even if just a little.
Make sure you have your faucets dripping cold water!
Where is the unsee button?
Already lost power here in southern coastal Maine. The storm has arrived here as an impressive so'easter. Quite a bit of rain and wind out there - storm force gusts of up to 70mph are predicted. Still quite warm - the frigid temps aren't supposed to arrive until this afternoon. I won't worry about lack of power and primary heat until then.
All ok here 28f outside but so far no power outages reported.
Still assessing for wind damage. It arrived with 50 knots of wind last night.
So far it's been a bit of a "meh" here in Michigan. Yes, it's cold, and yes it's windy, but the overnight snowfall (which was predicted to be in the 6-9 inch range) turned out to be somewhere around 1/2 inch. As long as the wind doesn't bring any branches / trees down on the lines by me, I should be just fine.
Up to zero degrees right now. Wind died down to a breeze, but supposed to gust up to 35 mph today. The sun is is out and it's not nearly as bad when you go outside. Still col as F. But it doesn't hurt to go outside. By tomorrow it should be back to more normal temps. Cold but not scary cold. Never lost power Not even a blip.
Web cam of Manhattan ks.
https://g1.ipcamlive.com/player/player.php?alias=5ace5ac028bd8
Power outages down the road from me, but we haven't had any power loss ourselves. Part of our fence fell down in the wind and my husband is stressing over it (we're currently in violation of county ordinance, not that anybody in our neighborhood cares or that the county cares about our neighborhood). Our Christmas lights are borked and dangling weirdly in places. Some branches came down, but not onto anything.
So, nothing major, but a few minor issues and some cleaning to take care of. There's a few wet patches on the roads from rain earlier that will freeze overnight, but it was so windy that most spots dried out pretty quickly, so I don't think it's going to be as bad an issue as we expected here.
High wind gust here of 31, current temp is 16, down from the mid 40s this morning.
We've got 18F here, according to my husband's girlfriend (Alexa).
21F here in Texas.
This cold weather won't last long here, though. Temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-50s next week.
Power on and off all day, about equally. Temps got up to 44 today, with lots of rain, supposed to dive down to 2 to 4 tonight. Winds gusts up to 60 today, with it being 25 to 40 otherwise.
Wind has died down now, rain has stopped, power and internet are both on currently.
Current temperature 27.
High tomorrow is supposed to be 14.
(https://i.imgur.com/bIRiZv1.jpg)
Rain, sleet. freezing rain then snow no accumulation, just wet. Temps low is to be 9 feels like -10.
Others lost power mine never even flickered.
I keep thinking of getting one of those Generac whole home generators, but then I get distracted by something shiney and forget about it.
It also doesn't help that I'm currently renting and likely wouldn't be able to get one set up until I start paying on the house to make it my own instead of renting. :gonk:
Currently -2°F here with feels like -26°F
Power flickered quite a few times today, it's still windy out.
icy conditions and a few accidents, in my area.
It's a balmy 7 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, with winds averaging 7 MPH and gusts to 15 MPH
:smiley_freezing:
Just woke up. It's 2 degrees, with a wind chill of 2 degrees. Yep, think this event is about over for me
Currently 9 with a wind chill of -6, our high is supposed to be 11. Got wind and wind chill warnings till later today.
Still about 27F here. No power issues and bright sunny day.
Hopefully we get above freezing today. 44F is predicted tomorrow. That is when all the broken pipe fun begins.
I suspect plumbers will be busy the next few days fixing broken pipes as they thaw.
Windchill was in the negative digits this morning. It's 13F now and the expected high is 27F. People are asking what to do about frozen pipes on the local socials.
I need one of you Yankees to come here and pick up your weather. It's drunk in my backyard.
17* with a wind chill to 5*.
This is Charleston. WTF Mother Nature!
Few power outages locally but quickly recovered from what I've seen so far. The wet weather passed before this mess so it shouldn't be terrible...
I respect many people have no idea how to drive in snow and it may be smart for them to drive very slow. But if you really want to go 10 mph on the freeway with your hazard lights on, STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE! :headbang:
I don't recall ever being so tempted to ram people on the freeway. It's a good thing I haven't armored my rig yet or the temptation might have been too much. Normally it's the idiots flying at 90mph thinking their 4 wheel drive will keep them safe that scare me. This time it was the opposite. I spent over 8 hours on the road the other night in snow and freezing rain and it was the people crawling along with hazard lights on in the middle or left side lane that scared me to death over and over with the chokepoints they kept creating.
I pulled over several times to clear ice off the windshield and wipers. I wish I'd taken a picture of the truck yesterday morning. It was coated in dirty ice and snow and looked like a savage little monster. I think I knocked over 100 pounds of ice off it that had built up on the road.
I just received a text from my local power provider asking everyone to reduce power consumption to avoid a power black out.
Interesting.
I heat with NG so my power consumption in winter is nominal.
That said i went out and started up the generator and warmed it up just in case.
Looking at the weather forecast the worst seems to be over here.
All ok on NOLA. No power outages and we are above freezing. I guess they may have been shifting power on our grid elsewhere hence the message last night.
It looks like Buffalo,NY got whacked hard. How us everyone in the NE doing?
Texas is ok. Temperatures are back up to about 52 or so degrees and the forecast is supposed to be warmer this coming week.
Charleston checking in.
Other than a few localized power outs, nothing really to report. Was in the low 20's last night, but trending upward and should be in the 60's and rainy by the weekend :-\
I think my Loquat tree will make it, but my wife's Hydrangea may not. In the wind Friday night the blanket managed to blow off and they took the full brunt of the temps. The plants secured in the shed will be iffy... We will see..
Plumbers working their asses off yesterday and today as most people apparently didn't understand the "Let the faucets drip" instructions...
We finally hit above freezing! It's 34F here now!
Quote from: Anianna on December 23, 2022, 07:34:13 PM.... according to my husband's girlfriend (Alexa).
ROFLMAO
My Daughter called to tell us that as the weather warmed up , they found that pipes had froze and burst, Part of their home was flooded. Her husband is stationed Ft. Stewert GA. It never gets that cold there and pipes burst all over the base
It may be a little late for this event, but for the future:
If you are leaving your home during freezing temperatures and are on municipal water, turn you water off at the main, drain the system from the furthest/lowest sink, and flush the toilets so there isn't a lot of water standing in the tanks to crack the tanks. This ensures that not only is there not enough standing water in pipes to burst, but if a pipe does manage to burst, there won't be more water running through it to cause significant additional damage.
This works if you're on a well, also, but check if your bladder can be damaged by running the system dry. I was always told that our bladder could never be allowed to run dry at our old place. I was never certain how accurate that was at the time.
If you live in a place where the infrastructure isn't designed to handle freezing temperatures, do the same thing in anticipation of the freezing temperatures and just prepare for no running water for the duration even if you're not leaving.
Regardless of if you feel the need to drain the system in advance, always know where your main shutoff is and have the tools necessary to shut it off. That way, if you do have a pipe burst, you can shut off the water before it causes more damage. Where we live now, we have to have a water meter key on hand in order to shut the main off (you can buy one on Amazon or probably from a hardware store). In our old place, we had two shut off valves in the crawlspace because we had two wells and had to make sure to shut off both.
Finally, if you live anywhere that reaches freezing, always drain your hose before winter and make sure your spigots are turned off. If you have an individual shutoff to each spigot, shut them all off in preparation of winter. Hose bibs are generally the most exposed point in the system.
It is usually (in my experience) illegal for the property owner to close that valve that is ahead of the meter. Anything at or before the meter belongs to the folks supplying the water, not the homeowner. This is why there is (by national code) a shutoff where the line enters the structure and that is the valve you want to turn off. Yes, you can buy what's called a "curb key" from Lowes, HD, Amazon, etc. to cut off the meter valve (I have one out in the garage from when I was a contractor) but making use of it can subject you to fines and prosecution.
Quote from: NT2C on December 29, 2022, 01:42:36 AMIt is usually (in my experience) illegal for the property owner to close that valve that is ahead of the meter. Anything at or before the meter belongs to the folks supplying the water, not the homeowner. This is why there is (by national code) a shutoff where the line enters the structure and that is the valve you want to turn off. Yes, you can buy what's called a "curb key" from Lowes, HD, Amazon, etc. to cut off the meter valve (I have one out in the garage from when I was a contractor) but making use of it can subject you to fines and prosecution.
Yes, I understand that can be the case in some places and you have to figure out where your own main shutoff is. My house, assumably due to having been built 85 years ago, doesn't have a shutoff at the structure as many old houses around here seem not to. Our county is unconcerned with it being turned off at the meter (we used to call to get permission each time we needed to shut if off and they told us we didn't need to keep calling). I'm sure it's different in newer neighborhoods with newer up-to-code houses and, of course, there is probably some variation between localities/servicers as well. The differences are why it is important to figure out how it works for your own individual home before you need it.
Quote from: Anianna on December 29, 2022, 03:10:11 PMQuote from: NT2C on December 29, 2022, 01:42:36 AMIt is usually (in my experience) illegal for the property owner to close that valve that is ahead of the meter. Anything at or before the meter belongs to the folks supplying the water, not the homeowner. This is why there is (by national code) a shutoff where the line enters the structure and that is the valve you want to turn off. Yes, you can buy what's called a "curb key" from Lowes, HD, Amazon, etc. to cut off the meter valve (I have one out in the garage from when I was a contractor) but making use of it can subject you to fines and prosecution.
Yes, I understand that can be the case in some places and you have to figure out where your own main shutoff is. My house, assumably due to having been built 85 years ago, doesn't have a shutoff at the structure as many old houses around here seem not to. Our county is unconcerned with it being turned off at the meter (we used to call to get permission each time we needed to shut if off and they told us we didn't need to keep calling). I'm sure it's different in newer neighborhoods with newer up-to-code houses and, of course, there is probably some variation between localities/servicers as well. The differences are why it is important to figure out how it works for your own individual home before you need it.
Yeah, in NYC if you weren't a licensed master plumber and didn't have a permit (which could take hours or months to get, depending on how thick your wallet was), you risked actual jail time if you cut it at the meter. Same for electric (needed to be a licensed master electrician), steam, and natural gas.