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Baby, It's COLD Outside!
Portland has moderate weather -- we are in the mid-40s to low-50s lately. But family & friends throughout the USA are facing record lows, and many of them are not prepared. How do you handle cold weather? How prepared are you now? Jan 01 18 06:56 pm Link Been in the single digits for a week or so. Doesn't bother me much, personally. Lot of car accidents, also a lot of complaints on local social media of people driving like maniacs. First baby is due this week, so I'll have to stop skimping on the heat. All I've really been doing is turning it on enough to take the chill off, and keeping a space heater on the pipes to keep them from freezing. Jan 01 18 07:31 pm Link I went out last night in a mini dress. It was -30 with wind chill here in Toronto Jan 01 18 07:42 pm Link Just below freezing here in NOLA the last couple of nights. We bought a little house here 3 years ago and have been snowbirding since. Kinda funny, I've spent my entire adult life way north of the Mason-Dixon line, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, NE Pa, NYC so anything from the low 20s up is comfortable for me, right? Wrong! The temperature hit the mid 30s the other day and I had to go out and buy a warmer coat--below freezing and I'm indoors. Don't know what I'll do if I have to live in NYC during the winter again. Jan 01 18 07:43 pm Link My dog doesn't want to go outside....he loves nothing better than going outside. says it all. Jan 01 18 07:57 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: Down jacket and vest, insulated ski pants, snow boots, ski gloves, balaclava, wool caps... Jan 01 18 08:09 pm Link double post Jan 01 18 08:09 pm Link -17 here in Minneapolis, been that way for a week. I hate it when it is that cold but it is a fact of life here in America. kids in school have to go outside to recess until temps fall below -10 below with the wind chill. Jan 01 18 08:35 pm Link Rays Fine Art wrote: I use to freeze my ass off in Florida when it got into the 30s. Too much moisture in the air. I'll take the single digits up here. Jan 02 18 12:18 am Link Single digit temperatures last week and this week on Long Island which is unusual for this time of the year. The air is so dry my hands have crocodile skin. Jan 02 18 03:15 am Link nwprophoto wrote: What kind of generator? What does it use for fuel? Jan 02 18 07:57 am Link I used to live in northern Vermont, and I still have some cold weather gear. The good news: it doesn't often get really cold around here. The bad news: as I get older, I'm more sensitive to temperature swings and am less tolerant of the cold. Around this time last year, our weather stayed below freezing for about two weeks, and we had a lot of snow. I became a neighborhood hero, because I have a snow shovel, and did my best to keep the block's sidewalk clear. But I ain't as young as I used to be; it was really difficult for me to do all that shoveling. So, a neighbor & I hired some young bucks to do the shoveling -- everybody happy. I work from home, so as long as my food lasts, I don't need to go out. The city, however, really slowed down during that time, and there was rejoicing when the thaw happened. I remember living in Vermont -- the thaw might not happen for 5-6 months. That would be tough nowadays. Jan 02 18 08:06 am Link Looknsee Photography wrote: A number of years ago we had an ice storm that took out trees everywhere. It took 3 days to clear the trees to get the power lines back up. Now I have a Generac whole house generator powered by natural gas. So I stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Jan 05 18 07:49 pm Link rxz wrote: I have a guy from the same company coming out next week to look things over & cobble up a bid. I'm kinda thinking that power outages around here are rare, and since we are downtown, they tend to get fixed quickly, but as I get older, I get more crotchety, and it might be nice to be prepared. rxz wrote: When I lived in northern Vermont, I was a volunteer firefighter. Fires during winter were not uncommon -- inexperienced people would crank up a wood stove too hot, setting embers in their walls smoldering and causing a house fire at 3:00am. It could easily be -40F. Let me tell you, being that cold is to be miserable, and fighting fires was near impossible. At -40F, your spit would be solid before it hit the ground, your hair would freeze & crack off, and if you wore glasses, your glasses would freeze to your face. Fighting fires? We had to constantly hit the hoses with sledge hammers to prevent them from freezing solid (the water pumping truck had heated water, but as soon as the water left the tank, it'll freeze. But at least you'd be moving constantly. After 10-15 minutes, we had do undo the hoses, take them back to the fire house, hit them with a torch to unfreeze them -- we'd have to coordinate with other fire departments to tag-team the fire. And you couldn't walk away & let it burn -- people's lives might be at stake. I never was so tired than after one of these harrowing fires. Jan 05 18 08:18 pm Link I live in Spokane, so I'm used to cold weather. It's a bit warmer than usual this winter... so far the highs haven't been any lower than the mid 20's. Usually, by this time of year, we're seeing highs in the teens or even single digits. Jan 05 18 09:19 pm Link Here in Colorado, it's over 100F at times and below 0F at times. When it's warm, you wear less. When it's cold, you wear more. Dress in layers in case the day has major fluctuations, because it will. Carry on. Jan 05 18 09:35 pm Link -19 Jan 06 18 01:45 am Link 2 in Syracuse Jan 06 18 06:34 am Link Diesel powered tractor started fine but soon stopped. Un oh. 9°F at 8 am. 15°F at noon. The dog stays in the splash of sunlight coming in the windows. Jan 06 18 09:15 am Link -4 here this morning, but they say it's supposed to warm up next week. It's been unusually cold for the past couple of weeks now. Having grown up here, everyone complains about the weather but we know how to survive in it. A bigger problem is people who don't know how to drive in snow and ice. Every winter it's dangerous during the first few snow events, because there's a whole group of new drivers who just got their licenses over the previous summer and have never driven in snow before. Jan 06 18 09:43 am Link I have my door open with just the screen door. Down to 48° tonight, 76° tomorrow. We've had snow about 3 times in 50 years. If I didn't live here year round I'd be a snow bird. Jan 06 18 05:13 pm Link Jim Shibley wrote: We were in the low 70s and high 40s also... still short sleeve weather... yaaaaaaay!... Jan 06 18 05:50 pm Link Jim Shibley wrote: Chuckles. I'm still wandering around in shorts, sandals, and a tee-shirt wondering what all the fuss is about. Jan 06 18 06:37 pm Link Lohkee wrote: Something to consider... you AZ people suffer in 110-115 degree heat during your summer months... a torture that none of the east coasters have to deal with during THEIR summer months. We don't even see that kind of insanity here in So Cal... Jan 06 18 07:11 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: Honda EU2000. 2000 watts so minimalist power. Jan 07 18 10:49 am Link I ain't a baby! 😊 Jan 07 18 11:52 am Link Select Models wrote: I dunno. I was assigned to D.C. in the summer once. The humidity was unbearable. Get out of the shower, dry off, and a minute later you were soaking wet. No thanks. Never been so miserable in my life. I'll take my 120 dry heat any day. Jan 07 18 11:52 am Link Looknsee Photography wrote: nwprophoto wrote: Yeah, I'm too chicken to store real gasoline in the basement or out in the backyard. Especially since power outages are rare here and since I don't drive or have a car. Jan 07 18 02:06 pm Link The high hit freezing today. It feels like a heatwave compared to the past couple weeks. Jan 07 18 02:31 pm Link Lohkee wrote: You also have to drink gallons of water. I've been there. Jan 07 18 04:54 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: Oh Man, I recently started to wear jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and a North Face vest to go outside in the morning and evening. Heck I might have to turn on the central heating soon. Jan 07 18 08:18 pm Link Was just thinking (wishing) about the cold in the US today. On the other side of the world in Sydney, the western suburbs hit 47C (117F) yesterday. Jan 07 18 10:25 pm Link phoenixphoto wrote: I read somewhere that bats were "boiling" or something there? Jesus... Jan 09 18 12:14 pm Link phoenixphoto wrote: I read somewhere that bats were "boiling" or something there? Jesus... Jan 09 18 12:14 pm Link My wife picked up an A-8 authentic high altitude flight jacket. $12. With hood. I don't care how cold it gets. It fits me. Yay! Jan 15 18 10:03 am Link Jeez...it's like old school 1970s winter cold this year in many spots And I'm headed right into it  Jan 15 18 10:21 am Link Used to live in a log cabin with nowhere near some temperatures quoted, due to altitude and exposure, Went to bed fully clothed plus hat and coat. We had no external heat or light. It was candles and batteries. Snow was up to 4 feet. Drifts were deeper, A saucepan of snow melted into half an inch of water. Preparedness - Plenty of appropriate layered clothing and accessories (hat, gloves etc,, plus batteries/radio/torches/candles/matches/lighers - and knowing where they are - maybe with emergency lighting/glowsticks etc. Boring point, if you are likely to need these, smoke detectors might be needed etc. .If you need them, prepare not only dry logs but more calorie dense coal plus fire lighters. Teaching egg sucking to grannies is rapidly coming to mind. Who moves to snow-ridden country without knowing - Bear Gylls would probably advocate nocturnal moose hunting in deepest Derbyshire, melting the fat on the antlers for light. As a contingency, always Google possibilities, print them out and crinkle tightly for use as a top up for your fire, My next post will show how to survive a nuclear winter and uninvited escorts. Shovel/s to aowfor breakage, salt, Jan 19 18 10:59 am Link noir wrote: In my youth, I went to college in northern Vermont. Summers were very pleasant. So was Spring. Autumn was spectacular -- best in the world. But the winters! Goodness. At -40 below, your beard will freeze & crack off, and your glasses would freeze to your face. Jan 19 18 11:39 am Link have an expedition sleeping bag for a long while to use on cold trips. basically like two bags inside one another - but the baffles for the down are offset and the zipper flaps are also double and offset. there are no cold spots and the down is some of the highest lofting stuff ever. it's very light weight compared to the hollowfil stuff they use now. haven't used it since moving back to california. has to be -10 or so before you start to close it up else it's too hot. at about -30 you can seal it up completely. have a 3 season bag for normal trips. good long underwear helps a lot. for winter climbing will have long underwear, jeans, wool shirt & heavy sweater, two pairs of socks and be pretty comfortable moving around down to single digits. Jan 19 18 01:27 pm Link |
