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Winter storm experiences


archer

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My electricity just came back on after being off for 15+ hours. It was getting positively nippy inside (50-55 degrees F depending on where in the house) since we depend on electricity for heat, cooking, and everything else. Thank G-d we replaced the windows last year with ones that don't easily transfer heat or we would have been in the 40's.

 

The plumbing is frozen in the front bathroom but OK elsewhere.

 

The ten outside cats who regularly are here have all disappeared. None of them apparently tried to shelter inside their houses (and some other last minute boxes I set up) despite the fact that I put those pocket warmers inside which activate for 12-14 hours when exposed to the air. Most of their food from yesterday evening was still out there at 1 pm today even though they were there when I put out the food and they normally eat almost all of it immediately.

 

Their water was completely frozen, as has been normal the last few days so I put out some more and topped off the food. Apparently one or two of them showed up (judging from the tracks in the snow) and ate some but they left before I spotted them. None of them are used to snow and I think only one of them had seen it before this week.

 

My daughter, who survived the crash a couple of days back, braved the snows to make it to work very early this morning. 

 

When she got there, the power was out and they'd decided to not officially open for the day. Anyone who showed up was being put to manual labor moving boxed of frozen goods to emergency freezers. Since she wasn't up to doing physical labor yet, she came on home taking a day of unpaid leave.

 

We're a few minutes in to having power again. We're using the oven and stovetop both to cook and help heat up the house and are trying to get everything done like charging up devices that we can before the power goes out again. We could have power for 15 minutes for for the next few years, hard to tell at this point.

 

Tonight is supposed to be the coldest night yet so we'll see what's happening.

 

Everyone is safe and at least the humans among us are not frozen solid.

 

 

If anything extraordinary is going on in your life related to the winter storms, this is the thread to let us know.

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That sucks.  About 20 years ago, I lost power in the house for almost 24 hours.  Not fun.  We just have a lot of snow here in SW Ohio right now.  We had 8 inches last week and now another 8 inches last night and this morning.

 

I'd say my worst winter storm experience was back in '96-97 or so.  I was stationed in ND at Minot AFB.  The temp dropped to about 25 below with 40 to 50 below wind chill -during an exercise - so I was out in the middle of the flight line intermittently (we were only allowed outdoors for 20 mins at a time) playing security guard for bomb loading for 12 hours all night.

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I don't think I've been through a significant winter storm in absolute terms, a product of me living most of my years on the Left Coast or south of Oklahoma.  While it can get nasty around Spokane (and in central Europe), it never really did that while I was in those areas.  What passes for "winter storm" in Seattle or Austin or on the California coast seems pretty balmy compared to the last few days in about 2/3 of the Lower 48.

 

The closest I came was when one February I flew back to Indiana from an observing run in Arizona.  My flight had a stop in Memphis where we picked up a couple of dozen people in short sleeves and shorts returning to Indy from Ft Lauderdale; it was in the upper 40s in Memphis.  The cold front was between Indy and Memphis, and the groans were audible when the pilot announced it was 17 F in Indianapolis.  I had my cold gear with me despite my coming from Tucson, since I'd been on a mountaintop.

 

That may have been the same run when Kitt Peak had a few inches of snow my first night (it's at 7000 feet, so even at Tucson's latitude the mountaintop gets occasional snow).  There was a jay that all but hunkered in front of one corner of the door into the astronomers' dormitory, where there was a warm air leak.  I watched him for about half an hour from the dining hall, and the only time he moved was when someone passed through that door.

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We're finally joining the rest of you here in the City of Salt. For having the so-called "Greatest Snow on Earth"*, We've had precious little of it so far this 'winter'.  I scraped about 5 cm of the stuff off my car this morning, really the first time this season I've had to do that. The plows have done a pretty good job keeping the roads clean, other than the street I live on. Visibility here is currently about 2 city blocks.

 

Snow continues to fall, and is supposed to keep doing so until sometime tomorrow.

 

--

* It says so on our license plates.

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Winter in the SF Bay Area is mild compared to most places in the country, but bad weather can cause power outages or disruptions in internet connections. While it's not usually a major incident, it can be a problem since I'm currently teaching online. These incidents have thankfully been few and far in-between so far. However, it is frustrating to suddenly get cut off while trying to get through to a student who is struggling with a lesson. I know it can't be helped sometimes, but I feel really bad for the student.

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We had snow all day yesterday, I think 7" to 10" was the final verdict. Felt like I'd be running into McReady and Childs when I was out in it for a doctor's appointment. Wind chill was at -10°F overnight, though now it's up to -2°F and a balmy 11° real temperature in the afternoon sun. (The mama alley cat I fed this morning was NOT HAPPY about walking in snow that was shoulder deep on her.)

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7 hours ago, Starlord said:

That sucks.  About 20 years ago, I lost power in the house for almost 24 hours.  Not fun.  We just have a lot of snow here in SW Ohio right now.  We had 8 inches last week and now another 8 inches last night and this morning.

 

I'd say my worst winter storm experience was back in '96-97 or so.  I was stationed in ND at Minot AFB.  The temp dropped to about 25 below with 40 to 50 below wind chill -during an exercise - so I was out in the middle of the flight line intermittently (we were only allowed outdoors for 20 mins at a time) playing security guard for bomb loading for 12 hours all night.

 

Oh, you poor man. My high school years were spent at KI Sawyer in 78-82. Our last winter up there the first snow flew in Sept. The last snow came down in May.

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3 hours ago, csyphrett said:

It was supposed to snow here but it has rained for the last week. The weather here has been moving snow further into spring for the last few years. One year we had snow in March

 

CES

 

My freshman year in high school, my brother and I didn't have to go to school on our birthdays because of a blizzard. We were without power for just under a week. Fortunately, we had a wood-burning stove in the living room--it was the only source of heat for the antiquated little house I grew up in--so other than being really dark, it wasn't bad.

 

Did I mention that my brother and I have birthdays in the middle of May...?

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So some areas of Texas have had sub zero temps and no power for 48 hours and it's become a serious situation.  It is literally too cold for coal and nuclear plants to operate.  :nonp:  I'm reading accounts of people who literally do not have access to water and are burning furniture to stave off hypothermia.  Please check in when possible, Texas NGDers.

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We got a message from my kids' school district last night that today is a distance learning day due to potentially hazardous driving conditions.

 

But in the district where I work, which has several schools where 80% or more of the students are on free or reduced lunch plans, it's business as usual. It takes something truly apocalyptic shut down or delay school in my district--it's happened exactly twice in the twelve years I've been there--because if the schools are closed, there are a lot of kids who aren't going to eat that day.

 

So I'm getting in the shower and then leaving for work. I'm giving myself 45 minutes to make the usual 20 minute drive. Wish me luck!

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