Arctic dipping south

[Catrin]

16870

Snow estimates are 8-10 inches on top of the 6 we got Thursday.

This image says it all, and this is a CONSERVATIVE forecast, I've seen another with even lower temperatures :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Coldest temps in 20 years. I remember 1994, but I was in Tennessee at that time - and while we had an epic ice storm that left much of the state looking like a war zone, the temps were nothing like this!

This isn't Alaska...hope everyone in the path of this cold front stays safe and warm! I took my car to the dealer this morning to have it checked out to make certain it will start when (if) I have to start it at -17...calling for windchills of -55 on Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skhill]

Wow! I'm not all that further south, but it's not predicted to be anywhere close to that bad. Looks like very little snow, and bottoming out at -6 or so. That's plenty cold. Folks are surprised that school hasn't been cancelled yet.

It'll be cold in my house, just hope the pipes don't freeze. I still have the original c1910 insulation so I'll be bundling up.

[Catrin]

16871

Those same 3 birds have been on that branch for close to 45 minutes now, hunkered down for sure! This is the view outside my patio door. I placed a 16 oz plastic glass on my balcony about 2.5 hours ago and it is almost full!

I think they will probably close the government building where I work tomorrow outside of essential workers (I am not one), and that would be the first time in the 12 years I've been there if it happens. We have only and ONE delayed start in all of those years!

[zoom-zoom]

My college alma mater -- Grand Valley State U in Allendale, MI -- only closed for an entire day ONCE in the 7ish years I was a student…and only because the state police pretty much mandated it.

They are already closed for tomorrow. Yep, Hell is freezing over.

[Catrin]

I am worried the power might go out, and the roads are too bad to go elsewhere...hoping and praying on this one.

[Catrin]

I just checked my work email and we ARE closed tomorrow. Something has indeed frozen over... They have also bumped the snow totals up to 12 inches. 16,000 are out of power so far in this county, many in my area :( I really hope this doesn't happen in my complex, I've no where to go and they've declared an Orange level emergency (essential travel only).

[goldfinch]

Back home it was 44 below this morning with a 55 below windchill. I am glad I am not there.

[Crankin]

Stay safe, all of you.
We were at -11F yesterday morning in our town center, but up here on the hill, it was 2 degrees. It warmed up quickly and was between 37 and 42 today. Now we are going to get rain tonight, and hoping it stays above freezing and the rain stops before midnight, as predicted. I've missed 2 weeks of 5:30 AM bootcamp due to weather. So tomorrow will be 51 and Tuesday morning, it's supposed to be 15 :eek:.
Strange

[Catrin]

Tomorrow it is supposed to continue to drop to -15, and I don't plan to go out unless my power goes out.

Is it a good idea to start my car from time to time and run it for 10 minutes? I want it to start Tuesday, assuming my office is open, and want my car to start. The high Tuesday will still be sub-zero.

I hope there are no power problems, I only have 1 blanket...I got rid of a couple old ones when I moved and hadn't yet replaced them.

[skhill]

We only got about 1" of snow, but the problem is the .5" of rain that preceded it. Lots of ice around. Thankfully power outages are very minimal! I'm glad I live on a priority road (the city bus garage is .5 miles one way, a police post 1 mile the other way) so if I have to drive somewhere I could. But I'm not planning on it. It's dropped from 14 at 5am to 5 now, and still falling, with a lot of wind.

Hang in there Catrin, Indy looks awful. At least this isn't supposed to last all that long!

[Catrin]

1 foot of snow fell on top of the 6 inches that fell Thursday, right now it is -13 and dropping, windchill of -30 to -40. All of the counties around here have either declared an emergency, watch or warning. In MY county there is a Code Red warning - all non-emergency travel is forbidden. News coverage of traffic makes it look like the aftermath of a major disaster - NO traffic. Even snow plows are getting stuck! As soon as they plow it, it blows back. I do have to wonder if tomorrow will be much different until the winds die and the temps reach more normal winter temps. I do remember weather like this back in the late 70's when I was actually hitchhiking across the country and got caught in similar weather, but it probably wasn't quite this bad. I was fortunate to survive that trip.

They just showed a lone cyclist trying to navigate down a street - and he was obviously really struggling to stay upright :eek: So far my power is fine, but until the winds die it is a concern, and driving isn't an option today. I am resisting the urge to start my car periodically to "warm it up", that makes no sense if I am not actually going to drive it.

[Crankin]

Stay put, Catrin! So we had some ice this morning and now it's 55. Torrential rain. Another class missed at the gym due to ice. They are already warning about the flash freeze that will occur tonight and tomorrow morning. I probably won't be going anywhere all day from what it sounds like because it will be 15 degrees with no melting!

[Catrin]

Another day off tomorrow, I am confident that I will be back in the office Wed, and it will be much warmer then. Well, much warmer than -12! This weekend we will get up to 40 and there is some flooding concerns. I am fortunate to have heat, but I have my Sugoui mid-zero tights and smartwool long sleeve base layer on under sweatshirt and jeans, wool socks and tall shearling slippers. I am still cold...and the thermonstat is on 69! No higher, though the temperature difference is so huge from the outside temps that I doubt it would matter (bill wise), if I bumped it up a degree. I don't think I would be any warmer however, so why waste the energy? Thank goodness for the budget plan, can't imagine what these few days will do to my bill...

[tulip]

Put on a hat, Catrin. That will help. You can put all your laundry on your bed for more warmth. Of course, I hope your power stays on and you don't need to do that. I have my wood stove ready to fire up if our power goes out. It won't be as cold here (only 8F), but that's cold enough.

[Catrin]

Put on a hat, Catrin. That will help. You can put all your laundry on your bed for more warmth. Of course, I hope your power stays on and you don't need to do that. I have my wood stove ready to fire up if our power goes out. It won't be as cold here (only 8F), but that's cold enough.

Good idea Tulip, at this point I am hoping power won't be a problem. I HOPE that if it were going to go out that it would have. I shouldn't be surprised that it is so cold even though my thermostat is convinced it is 69 degrees in my apartment, the wind is howling outside... I am currently debating between a nice glass of red wine or a hot cup of chocolate peppermint tea...and the latter is winning :)

[skhill]

Woke up this morning to find the pipes had frozen. Went down to the crawl space to turn water off, and the valve is frozen. Waiting from a call-back from the plumber. If we can shut off water to the house, I'll be fine waiting until the pipes thaw on their own to see if anything breaks... Very glad I keep a jug of water by the pets' water bowl, at least I could make some coffee and brush my teeth.

It's very very cold in the house, upper 30s. Yes the furnace is on but it can't keep up with this. So I decided to go over to the gym for a shower, then take my dog down to my church to warm up (the cats seem to be doing fine, but the dog wasn't). But when I went to start the car it wouldn't... Got a ride to church and we spent 4 hrs there, got a ride back home to find that the outlet that one of the space heaters (and the fridge) was on has died. Just glad there's no fire. What a day!

[OakLeaf]

Be safe, everyone. Hope no one has any busted pipes!

Catrin, don't start your car unless you intend to drive it. Running it for less time than it takes to fully warm up will cause moisture to accumulate in the exhaust system, and it will deplete the battery so there'll be less charge available when you need it.

[ny biker]

It's not as bad in the DC area as it is in the midwest, but we are experiencing record temps for our area and my heat pump is not dealing well with it. Around 10:00 last night it started turning the auxiliary heater on and off repeatedly. The thermostat is programmed for 71 in the evening, 68 overnight and during the day, and 70 in the morning when I'm getting ready for work. I reset it to 65 across the board, and that helped, but it still went straight to stage 2 + aux heat every time it clicked on. This morning I called the HVAC guys to ask if I should be worried, and they said it was normal behavior for this kind of weather.

It went down to about 5 last night in my yard (air temp, not wind chill). I already have insulated thermal drapes or shades on all the windows and a clear vinyl shower curtain covering the balcony door. Last night I tacked a fleece blanket across the balcony door for added insulation. This morning when I woke up I turned on the small space heater that I keep for emergencies and that helped a lot in the main room where the thermostat is.

And then the electricity went out!! Apparently it was "a widespread outage due to a circuit breaker." I was worried about the pipes freezing if the heat was off for too long. Happily, they had it fixed in about an hour.

I am very glad that this little adventure will not last much longer!! And in the meantime, I'm making good use of my wool base layers.

[Catrin]

It is an entire 5 degrees above zero this afternoon - yayyyyyyyy! I do still have multiple upper body layers, but just my jeans for my legs. Am nervous about getting to work tomorrow morning, everything is ribbons of ice, very rough ice, and I figure that as the temps rise tomorrow things will get even more slippery. Frankly I don't want to go out tomorrow either, but I do need to get to the office and my boss wouldn't understand. At this point I am thinking that perhaps an earlier start so I can leave before the evening rush hour would be the best approach. Assuming my car starts in the morning...

[tulip]

It was 8F this morning when I walked the dog, with a windchill of -7F. But a dog's gotta walk. Thankfully I had that balacava from my cold bike commuting days, along with a hat, my bike tights, goretex pants, Nova Scotia fisherman's sweater, Ibex, and my winter jacket. Oh and lobster gloves. My electric heat pump is having a hard time keeping up, like nybiker's. I usually have it at 68 when I'm working here during the day, and 63 at night but I've switched it to 65 in the day and 60 at night and just bundled up. It's not so bad, actually. Pots of peppermint tea really help. I do have a wood stove and I used it on Sunday before it got too cold, but I'm saving the wood for an electrical outage. I don't have too much wood left since I didn't get an order in. So far, the power has stayed on and the pipes haven't frozen. My dog does curl up in surprisingly small ball for a 45-lb beast, though, so you know it's cold.

It got up to 19F today, which felt pretty normal. Funny how quickly we adapt (lots of layers helps).

[Catrin]

Be safe, everyone. Hope no one has any busted pipes!

Catrin, don't start your car unless you intend to drive it. Running it for less time than it takes to fully warm up will cause moisture to accumulate in the exhaust system, and it will deplete the battery so there'll be less charge available when you need it.

Thanks Oakleaf, I didn't see this until just now. I did resist the urge to go out and start it these last two days, and it should be in the mid-teens when I finally go out to start it in the morning. As all of the roads are now a thick layer of rough ice/snow pack I am a bit conflicted in if I WANT it to start...but I have come up with an alternate route to work with as few hills as I can come up with. Schools are still out tomorrow so at least I won't be competing with school traffic. This morning it was -13 at 8, it is now 8 above. Tomorrow it is supposed to hit 24, 32 Thursday, and then 40's and RAIN this weekend. Floods are in our future I think. No power problems came, thankfully. Now if I can just avoid sliding into a ditch or someone else the next two days I will be a happy woman :)

[Crankin]

We are now having a small taste of your weather. It was a high of 15 today, which doesn't bother me, but by the time I left my last client at 6 PM, the wind was howling and it was 8 degrees. It felt awful. It should be a little warmer tomorrow, but the wind will still be around. Will be warming up big time over the weekend, and am hoping for an outdoor ride on Sunday.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, everyone who is dealing with the worst of this arctic blast has my soundest sympathies! We got the heck outta dodge (aka Kansas City) and are in Corpus Christi, TX right now, where we've had some very cold wind (windchills in the low 20s) but nothing below freezing -- the coldest temp was 33. It still feels bitter cold to to this former Belizean expat!

Today the wind shifted from the north to the south, over the water, so our after-dinner walk felt downright balmy at 53 degrees. We are supposed to hit 60s and gradually warming to 70s over the next few days, and I am thanking the weather gods for that.

Everyone please stay safe, bundle up, and don't risk driving (not to mention cycling) if the roads are bad!

[skhill]

My pipes thawed out sound, so I have running water again! Woohoo! But the check engine light came on when I finally dared to try to start the car this morning, so I drove straight to my usual garage. So thankful for a bike backup while the car's in the shop-- and thankful for warmer weather too. It's amazing how warm 30F can feel!

[Catrin]

Emily, it sounds wonderful, I am quite jealous!!! One thing is sure, there is no danger that I will after look for/accept a job any further north than where I currently live!

Yesterday I returned to the office, it took more than double my usual commute time to arrive, but I DID arrive :) I was so concerned about my car not starting after sitting in those temps for several days, but it actually started faster than normal, or at least it seemed that way. It was about 6 above when I started it, no flat tires, nothing :) As far as driving in these conditions are concerned, the Kia Soul appears to do far better than many of the larger vehicles I've observed. The only real problem I've had are there where are large amounts of patchy packed snow/ice. It isn't a very wide vehicle, so somethings I've one wheel on pavement and the other side is on this really rough ice/snow pack stuff and in that situation controlling the vehicle is quite difficult. Indeed, I would say, impossible, I've been fortunate that I've not been bounced into another vehicle. Going slow helps, but really, any illusion of control is just that, an illusion.

Today we finally reach 32, or so they say. More snow later today (about an inch), wintery mix tomorrow morning, an inch+ of RAIN starting tomorrow afternoon into Saturday on of the 17+ inches of snow on the ground that will be melting. The high Sunday is said to be 46, we will see. Flooding conditions, for sure!

I saw a cyclist this morning on her bike, in a normal coat, no helmet, no gloves. Her tires weren't very wide, and she was on a snow/ice covered path. I hope she was able to stay upright...

[smilingcat]

few days late but for what its worth.

I've lived in places that gets lots of snow, sleet... My parents owned a two stage snow blower just for their driveway because snow could get pretty deep.

When the temperature is in the single digit, ice is pretty solid and hard without any film of water. Your car tire will not slip much. It's like driving on wet pavement. But if the temperature is anywhere near freezing like 28F to 34F or so, there will be a film of liquid water on the ice and that makes the ice very slippery. And your car not to stop at stop sign or start. And your car to slide sideways to the curve because of the crown in the road.

So be more alert when its near the freezing point 32F. You still need to be careful if the temp is in the single digit but at least you don't need to be petrified.
Oh another thing. If the temp is in the single digit when you get in your car, your tire will be frozen with flat spot where it was in contact with the ground. So drive slowly till the tire thaws out and makes it round again. till then the car will not handle as nice or safely. Going down the road thunk-think-thunk really doesn't harm the tire but it can be irritating if you feel it.

be safe, be warm and keep blankets in the car so you can stay warm if something goes wrong. And if you do get stuck, don't leave your engine on to keep warm. You could get a build up of carbon monoxide in your car. This is especially true if your you and your car literally gets buried in snow.

[Catrin]

Smilingcat - thanks for all of the good advice, I will keep it in mind for the next time. Hopefully THAT won't be for another 20 years!

As it turns out, my decision when I moved in October to spend an additional $30/month for a carport was worth far more than the tighter budget this created. It has sides as well as a top, so hardly a flake of snow hit my car during that terrible storm that didn't get blown - and quite little of that. I noted that my 2011 Kia Soul did VERY WELL once it was legal to drive again and I had to go back to the office. It didn't slip/slide near as much as most of the cars around me and was quite stable.

The worst drive of the week was on Thursday's home commute. I was shocked at how BAD conditions were, and it had been warmer that day with some melting, etc. Thinking back on that in light of your post explains what was going on. The main problem for me, however, was the massive thick patches of packed snow/ice that were too wide for my car to straddle, but just enough patches of clear pavement that my little car was being thrown here and there. I really didn't feel like I was in true control of my vehicle and just proceeded cautiously and eventually reached a part of town where the roads were much better and finally made it home.

I don't have even one extra blanket...guess what I am going to be shopping for this spring when stores have sales to get rid of winter merchandise! I don't know when those things got so bloody expensive...

BTW, after my Kia sat in sub-zero temps (our lowest was -17), when I finally started my car to go to work she fired right up. Not even a 2 second lag! I am even more sold by my lovely little alien green car!

[Crankin]

Bumping this up.
We have a long stretch of Arctic temperatures ahead. The big snowstorm that dumped a lot of snow on the mid Atlantic and quite a bit just 20 miles south of here, just gave us about an inch.
We never get more than 2-3 days of daytime temperatures in the teens/single digits and except for Saturday, I see these temperatures for at least a week. And no snow for x country skiing, unless I go to Cape Cod!
I'm embarrassed I asked my driveway neighbor to snow blow for me, since DH is away, because there's so little snow.

[ny biker]

I hate this. There's a reason I don't live in Chicago anymore. I have to go outside in the sub-zero windchills to clear off my car. We don't have reserved parking at this condo association so if I shovel out the space where I'm parked, someone will take it and I'll have to shovel out another one when I get home (in the sub-zero wind chills). And then do the same thing tomorrow and the next day. It won't be warm enough to melt anything until maybe sometime next week. Anything that does melt will just freeze again. I can't go anywhere because of ice on the roads. My heat pump can't keep up with these temperatures so I have to turn the thermostat way down in order to keep the auxiliary heater from running non-stop.

We got somewhere between 5-6 inches of snow here.

I hate this.

Thank you for letting me rant.

p.s. I'm wearing cycling clothes to go out and shovel snow. Two long sleeved wool base layer shirts, my AmFib tights, Ibex wool knickers and DeFeet wool Kneekers over the tights. Smartwool balaclava and glove liners. Defeet wooleator socks. Plus a thick pair of wool socks that I bought for my one and only experiment with skiing, a thick wool roll-neck sweater that I got from J Crew back in the '90s, shearling lined boots, a wool hat, ski mittens and a long down coat. Normally I don't wear many layers when I shovel snow because I know I will warm up while I work. But with a wind chill below zero, I have no idea how many layers I'll need so I'm starting heavy.

[skhill]

BRRRRRR it's back. -5F this morning, but thankfully no wind. Makes a huge difference. However, my car won't run in these temps and there's too much ice on the streets for the bike, so it's a foot commute today. At least my pipes haven't frozen (yet).

Only about 3 inches of snow but that's enough! And there's a good chance we won't get over 32F in the next week. I hate this.

[ny biker]

My space heater just blew the circuit breaker. I have the thermostat for the heat pump set to 66 in order to keep it from running aux heat non-stop, and now I can't run the space heater. It's down to 63 on the other side of the room from the thermostat. My home simply was not made for this kind of cold.

I already had insulated window coverings on all the windows and a clear vinyl shower curtain over the balcony door. Last night I tacked a fleece blanket over the balcony door, and this morning I hung a fleece throw across the doorway to the kitchen, which is usually cold in winter.

I cleared the snow off the car and shoveled around it enough to get it out of the parking space. There is ice on the windshield and back windows. I will deal with that later -- my fingertips were hurting from the cold and I was only outside for about 20 minutes.

[Crankin]

I wore full nordic ski gear to push the snow away, at 8 degrees. Didn't heat up enough, like real shoveling!
I think I am developing Raynaud's in my fingers. I noticed this on my last cold ride of the year. Today, I had on my monster x country ski mittens, wool liners, and a chemical heater. My index and middle fingers were hurting like hell because it wasn't hard enough work to heat me up. This usually goes away after a few minutes and it's getting worse. NOOOOOOOO!
The rest of me was fine. I even wore my Terry fleece balaclava that I've only used once for riding and it lasted about 10 minutes before I got too hot.

[katluvr]

I am so sorry for anyone putting up with this winter, snow and arctic temps. I am pretty whiny with my cold FL temps. Not used to running heaters (no real functioning heat in this FL home) and wearing so many clothes. But it could be worse....most of you up north are having it. Sending warm thoughts!

[tulip]

I'm keeping my heat pump at 64F and its having trouble keeping up. I'm bundled up inside, with a hat and two sweaters. It's not so bad, and when I get too cold, I drop down for some pushups. I decided to keep my meager supply of firewood for an emergency, so I haven't been running my wood stove. We only got a couple of inches of snow, but it was on top of a layer of ice and it's been in the low 20s all day so nothing has melted. I would like to have my studded tires so I could go for a bike ride.

[Helene2013]

It's really cold in Montreal too. Heatpump is no longer working under this cold as it is the electrical system that kicks in. I just finished my workout in the basement and I'm so hot! After shower I will be getting chillier from cooling down and I'll do a nice fire (wood) and we'll all be toasty and warm. ahhhhhhh I love winter. I'm a winter person. But not this freezing cold dipping we've seen for a good month now, except for a little relief of a few days.

[Catrin]

Dipping below zero again for the next few days, windchills well below zero and they are talking about about a -15 air temp next week..... All I have to say is thank God for the budget plan I have with my electric company!

[Crankin]

I can't get warm, although my house is fine, at 68-69 degrees. I have not been feeling well, but it's not enough to really keep me down. Stomach was bad on Monday, it's better, but not right. I keep thinking my lungs are affected, but I'm not coughing, sneezing, don't have a fever. I do feel achy. For about a week before this, I had a lot of allergic stuff, my eyes were itching and I discovered I had to change my contact lens solution; all of a sudden my eyes were killing me, itching, crusty and I was a wreck. I've been wearing contacts for 35 years and i don't even think about it! I am sure some of it is stress with the upcoming job transition, plus DH is away (in San Diego :mad:) this week. My exercise today was shoveling snow. I could not bring myself to get on the trainer or go to the gym. The cold just seems to be bothering me, and I love winter!
Hopefully, I'll wake up and feel better, but I am going to boot camp no matter what.

[skhill]

It's in the mid-40s in my house, even though the thermostat is set in the 60s. The joys of an old house! And I've given up on trying to get my car to run when it's this cold. Wish I were brave enough to try the bike in the partially cleared streets, but that'd be even colder than walking. At least my pipes haven't frozen (yet). But I think my dog might be a bit hypothermic-- she's willing to sleep under a blanket and she's had some icky diarrhea (tmi, I know). BRRRR but it's supposed to be warmer each of the next 3 days before it gets colder again.

[ny biker]

I put a thermometer on the floor near my thermostat last night. It is showing the temperature is 5 degrees lower down there. No wonder my feet are always so cold. (The HVAC vents in this condo are near/on the ceiling.

[emily_in_nc]

I am so so so thankful to be in Corpus Christi this month! I would have a hard time even tolerating the cold up in my old 'hood of Orange County, North Carolina, which has not been nearly as cold as what most of you are dealing with (tho' it's been much colder than normal there as well).

We have been having 60s and even 70s here during the day and only dipping into the 50s at night. Today the latest front is finally coming through and temperatures have dropped from 72 to the 50s with a STRONG northern breeze. Supposed to hit 39 tonight and only low 40s tomorrow. But then 60 on Saturday, so it's a short cold wave. Still, it's gonna feel pretty darn chilly since we've gotten used to wearing shorts again!

I do not like winter one bit.

[SheFly]

Just arrived at our house in Maine. Temp is currently 2, and headed towards -17 tonight. Tomorrow's high is predicted to be 8, with windchills feeling like -35 :eek:
It's gonna be cold for our fat bike race on Sunday!

Hope everyone's pipes are all set, and people are keeping warm.

SheFly

[skhill]

I hate this winter. My pipes froze again last night, I'm becoming a regular customer of the plumber.

But it's supposed to hit 20F today, 30F tomorrow, and 40F Sunday, before it crashes again. Thinking longingly of Tucson and the So Arizona desert...

Hang in there, everyone!

[ny biker]

Last night I asked a local meteorologist on twitter if there was any end in sight. He said we were looking at 10-14 more days of this.

I can handle below-average temps if they would just stay above 20 degrees or so at night. The prolonged single digits and teens are causing the problems with the heat pump. This morning it ran non-stop with the aux heat clicking on and off every couple of minutes for an hour, and that was just to maintain a temperature of 66. Of course 66 at the thermostat means 62-63 in other parts of the condo and 60 or lower at floor level. I've started wearing Uggs around the house because my LL Bean shearling lined slippers with extra shearling insoles are not able to keep my feet from being ice blocks.

I'm also finding that my car is having problems accelerating to highway speeds, especially if the heat is on. So I have to leave the heat off.

My office, on the other hand, is very warm. I'm planning to go the the fitness center here after work tonight. It's usually Africa-hot there. Normally I can't stand to be that hot when I'm trying to exercise, but in this weather I'll make an exception.

[Crankin]

I would not be happy if I was having heat/pipes/car problems in this weather, as the weather itself can cause enough stress. Spending the $ for new insulation, roof, windows, and doors has made my house so tight that nothing escapes, so I don't feel so bad now about all the work we had to do, despite how I felt while we were doing it.
Yesterday it got up to 21 and it felt "warm." Today, I just finished my workout on the trainer, as the high is going to be around 16 and there's not enough snow for snow shoeing. Local hiking wouldn't warm me up enough! Tomorrow is going to be around 30, with snow showers, so I will definitely do something outside. But then, we are plunging back into the deep freeze for about a week. Some little snows forecast, but now I am obsessing about there not being any snow in Stowe, VT for my x country ski trip.

[skhill]

We finally got decent snow to go along with the cold! Maybe 3 or 4 inches, hard to tell with how it's blown around. And it's gloriously warm, mid-20s. Between the dog and hiking to the gym and choir practice, I've walked almost 10 miles in fresh snow today, and my hip flexors are letting me know about it.

It's supposed to be the coldest yet of the season on Tuesday, so I'm waiting until after that to turn the water back on as the pipes will just freeze again. I'm really feeling for what the folks in WVa went through; at least here I can go to the gym and have a shower and fill up water jugs at a friend's house. What they've gone through is so much worse.

[Helene2013]

Today in Montreal suburbs is nicer with a -7c. But the winds are so strong, the light snow being blown off makes it risky on the roads. Feels like a -17c too. So not that warm to walk. So we are staying home today. Then tomorrow we'll hit a feeling of -32c. On Monday a little break at -9c (just perfect to head for an afternoon at the spa for hubby's birthday)
http://www.stromspa.com/en/explore-the-strom/photos-and-videos/
then right back into the deep cold weather. I love winter. But we don't have enough snow to do anything. When snow falls, it ends up being freezing rain, or heavy sticky snow. I'm ready for May I think. hihi

[Crankin]

We have similar weather, but no blowing snow, since what is there is kinda frozen. It's 35 F here, but very strong wind and cloudy. I just came back from a run/walk, since I couldn't face an indoor workout or nordic skiing on crappy conditions. I was way overdressed even for the walk part, but I unzipped my jacket, which helped. Just as I turned the corner on the loop, there was a cyclist riding up Strawberry Hill, but he had a tailwind. Trying to run into that was not fun. Supposed to get a couple of snow showers as the front passes through and then back to the deep freeze tomorrow. It looks like by the end of the week, it will moderate to near normal.
I want snow!

[Helene2013]

We shoveled our driveway (we have a contractor to do this but there was not that much snow - more like banks due to wind pushing in one section only). But boy was it heavy and packed! So my muscle training of tomorrow is done. haha This and doing the trails for the dogs in my backyard.

I'm waiting for hubby to wake up from his nap so I can go in the basement for my bike training. I have intervals today and it is just over an hour. Can't go if no music is playing. I need it to push myself. hihi

But outside, in the front, the wind was pushing right into us. In the backyard, it was minimal winds because the house was blocking it. It's cold if you don't move much.

[ny biker]

I can say from experience that it's easier to shovel snow for 5 hours than it is to ride a bike for 5 hours. Though my marathon shoveling experience (a few years ago, after two blizzards within a few days of each other) came with warmer temps than we have now, which made a big difference.

I'm getting ready to head out for a walk. It's 32F right now and sunny. It's also breezy, but the wind is from the south, which won't be warm but certainly will not be as cold as wind from the north. I just need to get outside, and I've spent plenty of money on things like windproof tights and wool balaclavas so I might as well use them.

Meanwhile indoors I'm able to raise the thermostat as high as 69. The heat is running pretty much constantly but at least the aux heat is not coming on. I'll kick it up to 70 this evening. I think I might be able to make it until Monday night before I have to drop the temp way down again for our next blast of really cold air.

I've planned out a nice 50-mile route for a bike ride in northern Maryland. It's a mix of familiar roads and an exploration of some new ones that I've never ridden on. Something to look forward to in the spring...

[zoom-zoom]

I can say from experience that it's easier to shovel snow for 5 hours than it is to ride a bike for 5 hours.

Maybe in VA! ;)

Here is our back deck:
https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31/1548028_10203074649331447_856210139_o.jpg

And driveway (DH finally cried uncle and bought a 26" 2-stage snowblower, today):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1496139_10203075716438124_125673297_o.jpg

We're already >80" for the season. Only about 16" from the average for an entire season…and we still have 7 more weeks of Winter. Some years Feb. sees our biggest snows. I'd be surprised if we didn't hit at least 110" for the season. We hit 120" during '08/'09. I remember clearly because I was training for a Spring marathon in that mess.

[ny biker]

That's more than 5 hours worth of shoveling.

[Blueberry]

I think I can stop complaining now! We have gas heat that manages to keep our (old and drafty) house mostly warm, gas logs, space heaters if we want them (that do not blow the circuit breakers) and NO SNOW! We will have bitter cold again next week - but nothing compared to that mess. The older I get, the less I want to live anywhere that has bad winters (and I'm not old!).

[Helene2013]

Those pics remind me of snow we had over the holidays, that turned into freezing rain then all froze in a deep freeze so not even able to enjoy any. We have a 100' driveway, 2 cars wide, plus a huge deck, trails to be made for our small dogs in the yards, so it can be a lot of shoveling at once. That is why we have a contractor for driveway. The rest keeps us busy enough during a big storm.

I guess depending of what you have to shovel, how often in a season, and how you ride a bike (leisure or hard), it may be easier for some one way or the other. For me, I would prefer to shovel snow as I'm not that much of a bike fan but one for snow. So it is less torture and more exercise doing my e snow than riding my bike. :p But we have not really had snow yet. It is thick but from freezing rain, snow, then freezing rain again. We got about 2-4cm today and it was so heavy that it was compacted as if a the snowplower dumped it all in my whole driveway. Not fun to shovel!

[zoom-zoom]

That's more than 5 hours worth of shoveling.

Really, it might be 90 minutes…but we've had to clear that much at least once/day nearly every day for about the past couple of weeks. This has been the case most of this Winter. We haven't touched the deck (aside from DS playing around with a shovel yesterday and sledding down the deck steps). There's no point to it.

[Crankin]

We have a plow guy for the 800 foot shared driveway, but DH does the part that is just in front of our house, and up to the shared part with a huge snowblower. It takes him about 1.5 hours to 2 hours just to do that. We don't even do the part that's in front of our bike shed anymore.
I just came home from dinner with friends. DH isn't coming home from San Diego until tomorrow. We had about an inch of snow that is going to freeze overnight, as the temperature is going down to single digits. If I was good, I'd get out there and push it away, before it freeezes. But, I won't. I'll do it tomorrow, probably before I go skiing!

[emily_in_nc]

I will never, ever live in a place that gets winters like most of you who have posted on this thread are getting! We had a very chilly morning yesterday on N. Padre Island with a low of 33F and wind chill of 23F. It felt so bitter cold after getting used to 50s-70s that I made a vow never again to subject myself to a northern winter. Not that I'd planned to, but just in case I forgot! Today it was back up to 55 for a high, and tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 60s. When it does get cold here, it doesn't last long. I just can't imagine what so many of you are dealing with other than when I watch the national news or Weather Channel.

Stay warm, my friends!

[zoom-zoom]

I will never, ever live in a place that gets winters like most of you who have posted on this thread are getting! We had a very chilly morning yesterday on N. Padre Island with a low of 33F and wind chill of 23F. It felt so bitter cold after getting used to 50s-70s that I made a vow never again to subject myself to a northern winter. Not that I'd planned to, but just in case I forgot! Today it was back up to 55 for a high, and tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 60s. When it does get cold here, it doesn't last long. I just can't imagine what so many of you are dealing with other than when I watch the national news or Weather Channel.

Stay warm, my friends!

I'd kill to live somewhere in the desert SW. It would be so much kinder on my allergies and asthma, too. I've been battling bronchitis for FOUR friggin' weeks. A course of antibiotics didn't touch it, which proved that it wasn't walking pneumonia. I'm certain that this weather contributes.

[Wasp]

Usually winter in Vancouver BC is really wet. Most winter days here are dark damp and gloomy. This stretch of warm sunny weather has been such a treat. Today it was around 10c. We have been out on the bikes every day this past week taking advantage of the warm sunny weather. It's going to suck once the rain returns, on the bright side you don't shovel rain.
We used to live in northern BC and one winter we were shovelling snow up off the roof (the snow banks were higher than our house) it felt like living in an igloo. I hated it. We moved south soon after that winter experience.
Hopefully warmer weather is on its way soon.
Stay warm
Stay safe

[Crankin]

Zoom, I hate to tell you that living in the desert SW might make your asthma and allergies WORSE. Most people don't know this. Yes, back in the day (the 40s- 50s) when the air was clean and there wasn't too much overdevelopment, it did help. Now you have 3 things that make it worse. Overdevelopment that holds the heat in, as well as increases the particulates in the air. Think LA. People who move there and want to recreate their "home environment." Hence, they plant non-indigenous tress, grasses, and plants which provide all kinds of allergens that shouldn't be in the desert. Third, there are mold spores that exist in the SW that don't exist anywhere else in the US. Look up Valley Fever. Then you also have the giant gene pool of people of people with asthma and allergies who moved there. They all met, got married, had kids, and there's a huge population of people with asthma!
When I left AZ, I was on a nebulizer every 4-6 hours, had bout after bout of bronchitis, and was always sick. My older son was also in the same boat. In the past 24 years, I have become increasingly healthier. I get a bronchial thing maybe once a year, and not every year. My son, after an initial adjustment, was an extremely healthy kid, and now is a healthy adult. No more nebulizer. For us, I think the constant breezes, lack of air pollution, and lack of weird mold were the trick.

[zoom-zoom]

That makes sense. My allergies and asthma were great in Death Valley and Tahoe, where people aren't planting crazy stuff. In Vegas all of the planting and smoke about kill me.

[SheFly]

We're in Maine right now. This morning, the air temp was 2.5 F, with a wind chill reading of -67 :eek:. So we went and raced bikes :D (I'll post about that adventure in a separate thread).

SheFly

[skhill]

Saturday afternoon I was down to a tshirt (with hat and mittens) when shoveling snow, it was so warm! 32F or so, with 5" of snow to clear. Sunday was a heat wave, up to 48F, but not enough to melt all the snow. Still, it was wonderful to walk the dog wearing unlined jeans with no long-johns, and a hoodie instead of a coat.

It's all changing today, 25F when I woke up and dropping today. We might hit -10 tonight; there's a concerted effort going on to make sure all our homeless and heatless are in safe places by sundown. Several churches in my urban neighborhood are planning on opening overnight as refuges. We're totally not used to winter like this; in recent years we've tended to get down to 0ish just once or twice a season.

And yesterday at church us middle-aged folks had fun scaring kids with our tales of the schools having to make up snow days on Saturdays in April and May back in 1978. They suddenly were a lot more eager for schools to open up again!

[Grits]

Today the high in central NC is supposed to hit high 50s, and then tomorrow back to below freezing with a chance of ice/snow. There have been so many huge swings of temperature in a short amount of time lately. I'm going to take advantage of today, though, and squeeze in a bike ride. The first since a New Year's Day Resolution Ride.

[Kathi]

It's currently -5 here in the mountains, Silverthorne, Co. We had about 8" of snow yesterday. Total snow for the year about 200". Schools are open, no raid on the grocery stores. High todays in the 20's. Winter storm watch for Wed. and Thurs. with accumulations of 20-30". If it materializes the mountain passes will be closed, maybe schools will close but we'll still be able to make it to the ski resorts. Life goes on here and we smile when we hear about the rest of the country moaning about normal for us, winter weather.

[ny biker]

My neighbor has Colorado tags on her car. She appeared to be unfazed by our snow last week. But I don't know how long she's lived in the DC area, so it's possible that she doesn't know that a fraction of an inch of snow can completely stop all traffic in all directions for hours and hours hours. I mean this literally. It's the main reason I stayed home last week. If I still worked a few miles from home instead of having to drive 20 miles on the interstate to get to and from my office, I would have gone into work last week despite the snow.

Meanwhile, one of the local meteorologists I follow on facebook says that after this current arctic plunge, we can expect at least a week or two of decent weather, temperature-wise. However he thinks we will have more arctic plunges in February and March. Unfortunately I find his forecasts to be pretty accurate, so I fear he may be right. Hopefully as the sun gets stronger, the plunges will be less severe.

I hope the folks in the southeast get through the coming ice and snow okay.

p.s. 50 days until the start of astronomical spring (March 20). Only 31 days until the start of meteorological spring (March 1). I personally like to celebrate the start of meteorological spring because it happens first.

[Catrin]

It all comes down to what we are accustomed to, and what we have the equipment for, and clothing for! In places like CO, the UP, and Canada, they are accustomed to these conditions and know how to deal with them so it doesn't cause everything to come to a screeching halt. I remember a couple years back when temps in a certain part of Russian reached as high as 80 and people were dropping like flies. I know some people who were totally perplexed by this, but that part of Russia never gets that warm - but of course the winter temps are far below what most of North America will ever reach outside of the NE Territories. I know in some parts of the SE, many probably don't have the right clothing for this weather and when pipes start freezing, chances are it won't be an isolated occurrence.

Indianapolis holds the #15 spot on the Weather Channel's current list of the top 20 coldest cities in the country :eek: My office is closed until mid-morning tomorrow.

[Crankin]

I am getting used to low morning temps (was 11 when I left). Today, I wore my thin, silk long underwear under my legging jeans. After seeing my first client at a school that was unbearably hot, I went to my office, where the temperature was normal. Then, we had a bomb threat (:eek:), so I came home. By this time, my legs were sweating! Off came the long underwear. It's 19 now, sunny, and the wind is dying.
Of course, I am used to x country skiing and snow shoeing in this, and have lots of sports type clothing for below zero outdoor pursuits. Most people don't. I see people layered up in cotton sweatshirts, a baseball cap, and no gloves. Duh, no wonder they are cold. Last year, I bought a down 3/4 length coat and that has done the trick on days below 20. My azz was always cold, even in my wool dress coat.
Looks like next week and beyond is normal. We might even get some good snow Saturday.

[ny biker]

I am getting used to low morning temps (was 11 when I left). Today, I wore my thin, silk long underwear under my legging jeans. After seeing my first client at a school that was unbearably hot, I went to my office, where the temperature was normal. Then, we had a bomb threat (:eek:), so I came home. By this time, my legs were sweating! Off came the long underwear. It's 19 now, sunny, and the wind is dying.
Of course, I am used to x country skiing and snow shoeing in this, and have lots of sports type clothing for below zero outdoor pursuits. Most people don't. I see people layered up in cotton sweatshirts, a baseball cap, and no gloves. Duh, no wonder they are cold. Last year, I bought a down 3/4 length coat and that has done the trick on days below 20. My azz was always cold, even in my wool dress coat.
Looks like next week and beyond is normal. We might even get some good snow Saturday.

I have a wool 3/4 length coat from LL Bean and a long down coat that I got for a steal at Macy's a few years back. I wore the wool coat to Christmas Eve midnight mass last month, when we had a very cold wind coming off the Long Island Sound, and that wind went through me like I wasn't even wearing a coat. Although the wool coat is very good for general winter wear, I find that the down coat is better for really cold conditions, and not just because it's longer.

[Catrin]

I've a long London Fog wool coat that I got from Macy's at half\price a few years back (and it was still expensive). I LOVE it.

In really cold conditions, like lately, I've several layers on underneath it as I've a 3+ block walk from the parking garage to my office building. Because of the tall buildings and wind dynamics of our downtown area, it is ALWAYS much windier downtown than elsewhere, especially around my building. So, for example, in this current weather pattern I will generally have my MidZero tights beneath my jeans (if no meetings), or slacks. If cold enough I will also have a LS smartwool base layer underneath my sweater. Wool socks, and either my riding boots or my warmer Uggs (not classic style), gloves, shearling ear muffs with a stocking cap over those. Muffler around neck and mouth as I've cold-air induced asthma. This works for me, the only thing that gets cold is the exposed skin on my face, and my fingers if I mis-judged and grabbed the wrong gloves.

Sometimes my office is warm enough to remove my thermal bike under-layers, generally not. At least my thermal bike wear is getting used, even if not for the bike! I've considered mixing my Amfib tights with a long skirt + boots and warm socks but unsure I want to attempt a skirt of any kind in the current conditions.

[Kathi]

We woke up to 10" of snow this morning. Schools are closed but it's the first time in 3 years. East bound I-70 is closed over Vail Pass as is Loveland Pass. Predictions are for heavy snow all day today until 5 am tomorrow. The radio announcer is giving snow depth reports for the ski areas and he's saying this is the "good news". 1-2 feet is expected by tomorrow.

Yes, we're used to it here and CDOT does an awesome job of keeping the roads clear. However, there's only so much they can do with the blowing, drifting snow on these passes. Usually, the passes are closed due to accidents and all truckers are required to use chains and are fined if they don't have them. The problem is when the passes are closed there is no alternative around them so motorists are stuck on the highway or in the few small towns.

Since winters have become so mild most Americans have forgotten what winter is like. I heard somewhere that in the past it's common to have winter's like this about every 10 years. That hasn't happened for awhile though. I lived in Cincinnati in the late 70's when the Ohio river froze and people could walk across it into Ky. I was a teacher and schools were closed for 2 weeks. I don't remember how much snow we had but a couple of Mormon kids from Utah helped me dig the car out. The main street near our house was frozen solid and I walked down the middle of it (actually slide down). I remember driving back from Michigan to Cincinnati at Christmas through snowstorms in Indiana. The worst was the ice storms, pretty but dangerous. We always had our snow days until the 90's. Then it got so we were lucky if we got 1 day off.

Enough for now, I'm going skiing. It's a powder day!

[ny biker]

We're coming out of the deep freeze here in the DC area. Last night was another very cold night, but today temps are expected to go above freezing and the next few days after today should reach the mid-high 40s at least. I think next week we'll be below average again but not below 20 at night. This morning I reprogrammed the thermostat back to the normal settings.

I'm hoping to go for a bike ride on Saturday. I'm a bit worried about all the salt on the roads -- some roads are so white right now that you can't see the lines on them. I'm wondering if it might make sense to put the fenders on my bike until after we get enough rain to clear away the salt.

[Catrin]

It is getting above freezing today, Yayyyyyyyy! Rain on Saturday!!!!

Possible HUGE winter storm next week, I've heard possibly 20-30 inches of snow. Local stations are actually not speculating on storm amount or track, they say it is "too early for a responsible forecast". That tells me there is a real possibility for a quite severe storm....hopefully not. I've never heard them say that before. The polar vortex is drunk and needs to go back home!

[ny biker]

It is getting above freezing today, Yayyyyyyyy! Rain on Saturday!!!!

Possible HUGE winter storm next week, I've heard possibly 20-30 inches of snow. Local stations are actually not speculating on storm amount or track, they say it is "too early for a responsible forecast". That tells me there is a real possibility for a quite severe storm....hopefully not. I've never heard them say that before. The polar vortex is drunk and needs to go back home!

Is this forecast for Feb 7-8? I'm reading that some are forecasting a blizzard for us on Feb 8, even though it's way too far off to be able to forecast anything accurately at this point.

In the northeast we often do see snow in mid-February, sometimes significant, sometimes not. But there's no point in worrying about that now.

[Kathi]

We skied in 22" of snow today. Still coming down, another foot predicted. Not many people were discouraged with the weather the parking lot was full.

[Crankin]

Thankfully, there is a prediction of "several inches" of fresh powder for the northern mountains in VT this weekend, which means there will be some snow for my trip on Feb. 12.
I haven't seen any predictions of a monster storm headed this way. I wouldn't mind it, though, especially since I won't be starting my new job full on until I get back from vacation.

[Catrin]

Thankfully, there is a prediction of "several inches" of fresh powder for the northern mountains in VT this weekend, which means there will be some snow for my trip on Feb. 12.
I haven't seen any predictions of a monster storm headed this way. I wouldn't mind it, though, especially since I won't be starting my new job full on until I get back from vacation.

I've heard different things since yesterday. Some say 6 inches in a couple of hours, some say more, but most of the local news forecasters aren't saying anything other than that we will have accumulation and that it is too early to tell how much. They don't usually mention it this far out, so we will see. Hopefully we will have a total miss!

[ny biker]

I've heard different things since yesterday. Some say 6 inches in a couple of hours, some say more, but most of the local news forecasters aren't saying anything other than that we will have accumulation and that it is too early to tell how much. They don't usually mention it this far out, so we will see. Hopefully we will have a total miss!

They don't usually mention it this far out because the models are totally unreliable this far out.

In February, people in the northern half of the US should always be generally prepared for snow which may be significant and may be minor.

[Becky]

I hope we get that big storm. I just ordered snowshoes and would love to get to use them!

[Catrin]

We don't normally GET weather like this, at least not for as long a period as it's been lasting - I mean seriously, we've had days when the south pole was warmer :eek: It isn't like we are in the Dakotas or Michigan. And, of course, they TELL us this and it makes it worse. It will be interesting to see if there is a run on the grocery stores again this weekend. They refuse to speculate about how much we are going to get, at least on the news, but the weather forecasters are still telling folks that they might want to go ahead and pick up extra food this weekend. I don't think I've ever seen them treat a potential storm quite like this... Of course, there needs to be those occasional extreme seasons that sets the records, and I think this one will be one for the record books for our area.

[Helene2013]

arghhh. 10cm of snow forecasted starting tomorrow. That would be awesome. BUT!!!! rain to fall the next morning! So you guessed it. It will be a mess, freeze, and be so much fun (read NOT). What a weird winter in Montreal. We cannot enjoy any winter activities (snowshoes, trail walking with the dogs - as all turns into ice), etc. I'm ready for May!!!!!

[skhill]

The forecasts for the snow that came over night were all over the place, 1"-10". Looks like we've ended up in the middle of the range, somewhere around 4 or 5. But this is the kind of winter weather I like; it's warm enough to enjoy the snow (so long as you can avoid driving anywhere!). And it should warm up enough tomorrow to melt a lot of it.

The last of the previous snowfall had finally melted Sunday afternoon, just hours before the rain started to change over to sleet then ice. This is an unusual winter for sure!

[Helene2013]

We ended up with less but it was wet snow. The type you can't really do anything, but snowmen. And it was sooo heavy to shovel. yark. At least no rain, and now all is freezing so it will be a yard full of ice - dogs and us can't really play outside, again. I think I'll get myself a fat bike so at least I can enjoy some outdoors!!!

[Catrin]

Still have lots of snow on the ground, and now ice from the weekend. Tomorrow afternoon comes yet another storm that will start with ice and sleet, and potential of 4-7 or more inches of snow. S*rew this, I am taking Wednesday off work even if they don't shut us down for the day.

I DID see someone on the local streets on a fat bike the other day - and that was a street I wouldn't consider riding on in normal weather, it is a very heavily traveled corridor. He looked like he was having fun though!

[Crankin]

It's snowing as I sit here in the traing for my new job. It's only supposed to be a dusting to an inch in my area, but it looks like that much now. Well, I am only about 10 miles from home.
We are supposed to get hammered on Wed.

[shootingstar]

I've lost count of the number of cycles we've had since Nov. on snow, freezin' cold, melt, sometimes mini-storm again, snow, ice, melt and same thing all over again.

Right now it's -24 degrees C with -31degrees C wind chill factor. There's some snow ...but it's just darn cold. I'm not cycling today since I have to go to the hospital for testing.

[ny biker]

I hate winter. Have I mentioned that I hate winter??

Heavy snow overnight, followed by a rainy mix and barely-above freezing temps, big pile of heavy slushy snow to shovel. Now we're getting a few more inches from the "backside" of the nor'easter.

I really hate nor'easters.

Tomorrow night we'll get more snow thanks to a clipper system from the west.

The forecast for the next few days shows lower temperatures every time they update it.

They say we'll reach 50 by the middle of next week but I'll believe it when I see it.

</rant>

p.s. At least I looked good while shoveling snow. The Sugoi Firewall 260 jacket is a keeper. With a base layer and long sleeved cycling jersey underneath, I was comfortable, dry and stylin' in sleet, light snow and 34-degree temps.

[shootingstar]

Today was -29 degrees C , with windchill of -40 degrees C. No I didn't cycle. Really, just feels dangerously cold.

[ny biker]

I am just beyond angry at the weather. Starting tomorrow night into Monday, we're getting rain then freezing rain then heavy snow. And temperatures drop into the 20sF and stay below freezing for several days. I broke my snow shovel after the last storm and no one is selling snow shovels around here anymore so I can't replace it.

I'm tired of having to work from home because the weather makes it too dangerous to drive. I'm tired of being cold. I'm tired of having cold wet feet because no one shovels any sidewalks anywhere in the entire county where I work.

Thank you for letting me rant. Again.

[Crankin]

Looks like we dodged a bullet on this one. The "monster storm" is staying south of here, with just a coating to an inch predicted. The worst it's going to get is 1-3 inches on Cape Cod.
I hated the thought of having to cancel all of my sessions tomorrow, when I am just getting started with people. I have to say, though, now that I have a 5 mile drive to work, I am not scared about anything. I drove home in totally unplowed conditions 2 weeks ago, and it was fine (in my very good AWD car). I had spent all day seeing ambulances pull up to the ER, off of the highway that my office is beside; apparently, some people take the first sign of snow as a signal to drive faster and more stupidly than usual.
It is going to remain cold, in the 20s, which is a little disturbing, but, it was nice this weekend... high 30s. After March 15th, I might not feel so charitable, but I am focusing on nordic skiing. Getting pumped about the bike and after the 15th, I want to be able to start seriously riding outside. I have gear for the cold, but ice/snow on the road is a no-go for me.

[skhill]

Well, we're still predicted to get hammered. Heavy rain this morning, and the ice is supposed to start in less than 2 hrs, followed by snow. We'll see how bad it gets. I have plenty of milk and cat food and a loaf of bread is about to go into the oven and all batteries are fully charged in case we lose power. And if we do get .3" ice + 5" snow + 20 mph winds we will have power outages. So ready for spring.

[Pax]

Amen, skhill, so ready for Spring!

We only got a couple of inches this go round, from 8-10 predicted; weird thing is, we have had endless snow this winter and yet people still freak out every time. No bread/milk/bottled water/or batteries left at the store today. :confused:

[shootingstar]

This afternoon, we walked for about 25 min. to a café....it was -40 degrees C with a 20 km. winter headwind.

I have ended up with a slightly frostbitten patch or a slight red gash looking rash just below my eye. I think this happened yesterday when we were walking out elsewhere for only 15 min. for a thin pizza and lolling around for 2 hrs. before walking back home.

I kept on wanting to pee every hr. This is what extreme cold does to me after I take in some hot coffee or any hot drink inside somewhere. Then I go pee..wonder why is it kinda of hot ,when I've barely did any cardio exercise except walk in this wretched cold for 25 min.????? 'Because it's rest of my body that's cold!!

Ok. I'll stop. I believe nujuliak in Saskatchewan has it colder @-43 degrees C., compared to our part in Alberta today.

[ny biker]

I really think that if you live far enough south to be in a state that seceded during the Civil War, you should not be dealing with temperatures below freezing for four straight days in March.


I have to say, though, now that I have a 5 mile drive to work, I am not scared about anything. I drove home in totally unplowed conditions 2 weeks ago, and it was fine (in my very good AWD car).

My situation is just the opposite now. I used to be 4 miles from work. With front wheel drive and all-season tires I would go in late or leave early depending on the timing of bad weather, but I was often able to get to the office for at least part of the day. Now my office is 20 miles away so at the least sign of slippery weather I stay home all day. Even if the roads are passable, there is so much traffic around here that the mere hint of snow or ice can cause commutageddon with people stranded overnight on the highways. I can work from home, but I'm really tired of working from home this winter.

[shootingstar]

Temperatures are in centrigrade, not in farenheit for frostbite dangers warnings. What is happening now is the local school boards are warning parents not to allow children to wait for school buses on their own tomorrow in this dangerous cold:

http://infogr.am/-9388430467806756?src=web

[Crankin]

NY, I hear you. My last job, my office was 26 miles away, plus, I was driving around to clients anywhere from 11 to 30 miles from my house. Highway driving could not be avoided. I did cancel due to weather once last year and once this year. But, once, last year, I was at a client's home near my office and i looked out and it was snowing lightly. By the time I was done, I endured a miserable 25 mile commute in 2-3 inches of snow and more heavily falling, with little plowing on 495, as it was just too crowded with cars. I was able to get off the highway and drive through one city and 3 towns before getting home.
When I was teaching, my last job was 13 miles, and before I moved, 6 miles away. Of course, we didn't have school when it was bad. But those drives in snow never bothered me either, just going from one small town, through another, then home. However, when I first moved to MA, I lived 40 miles from work at one point, then 20. I had a few harrowing drives home when snow had started during the day, on that 40 mile commute, in the 90's. I suspect now, that school would have been cancelled in advance.

[ny biker]

Latest forecast updates are indicating the heaviest snow from our current storm will be south of DC. Looks like Tulip and her neighbors in Richmond will have a quite a bit to shovel.

Pretty much everything in the DC metro area has already been closed for tomorrow -- Fed and local governments, schools, etc. But I read something about the women's bike summit not being canceled. That was a few hours ago, though, so that decision might have been reversed.

[Catrin]

March 3: 7 degrees this morning, sub-zero wind-chill. Tomorrow - 0 degrees they are telling us with lower wind-chills of course. 48 for Friday, possible wintry mix on Saturday (Death March day - this wouldn't be good)

Will this winter ever stop giving?

Thanks for listening to my vent. It WAS longer before I deleted half of it :) To be fair it doesn't feel as bad as it once did but still, it is MARCH already, shouldn't it be above freezing a bit more often?

[tulip]

Latest forecast updates are indicating the heaviest snow from our current storm will be south of DC. Looks like Tulip and her neighbors in Richmond will have a quite a bit to shovel.

Pretty much everything in the DC metro area has already been closed for tomorrow -- Fed and local governments, schools, etc. But I read something about the women's bike summit not being canceled. That was a few hours ago, though, so that decision might have been reversed.

Here we go! The ice and sleet started about 7 this morning and now it's mixed with hard snow and the ground is already covered. Yesterday it was 70F and I had my windows open while I worked in the garden...I have friends at the women's bike forum and national bike summit. Today is the women's bike forum so I doubt it will be canceled since people are already there. Not sure about the NBS, though, as it's supposed to start tomorrow and I imagine that many participants are scheduled to arrive today and that depends on the planes, trains and automobiles. I know a few people who bicycled from Philadelphia over the weekend. Or at least that was to be the plan...Hopefully this will inspire the LAB to make the conference later. Last year was not great, either, although it only snowed a little.

ETA, I just heard on the radio that it's supposed to snow all day. It's currently 33F and by 3pm will be 19F and overnight 8F. I hope the power doesn't go out.

[skhill]

We got lucky-- more sleet than freezing rain. It's still snowing, though. Seems like everything is closed or on a delay, even Transylvania U. Small, mostly residential college, and they never close (short of Indian attack c. 1790).

Think it's about time to go out and shovel. I'm very glad there's no where I have to be today! But I'm planning on walking to the gym this afternoon, and then doing some shoveling for folks who can't. The good news is it's not likely to get cold enough to freeze pipes here, and it'll warm up nicely in a couple days...

[marni]

woke up this am to ice covered trees. This is Houston! The last ice storm I was in was in Massachusetts years back and we were without power for 10 days. Fortunately this one was nothing like that but still, ice storm, Houston, really? And to think global warming is a myth. It may bebut something tells me mother nature is not happy.

[ny biker]

Temps finally rose above 32F today after 54 hours below freezing. Fortunately the sun is high enough to melt the snow on its own in some spots. I cleared the snow off my car the other day and left the layer of ice that was beneath it, and the sun melted all that away yesterday. (It's a rental while my car is being repaired, and after watching my neighbors spin their wheels as they left for work yesterday morning I decided not to risk trying to drive anywhere yesterday.)

I woke up this morning to find the water pressure down to a trickle again, due to yet another water main break in our area. It often takes more than a week to complete the repairs and get pressure back to normal.

Before I left for work today I reprogrammed the thermostat to a lower temperature for this evening. In order to ride my bike comfortably on the indoor trainer, I need to have the heat off and the room temp at 68 or lower. I've found that when I come home from work to a toasty warm room, I'm reluctant to turn the heat off and let the toastiness cool down. If I arrive to a chilly room, I hope I'll have the incentive to spin for an hour or so tonight.

p.s. Ice in Houston is nuts. If you have to put up with such hot summers, you should not also have ice storms in March.

[Helene2013]

Worst and coldest winter Canada has since in probably over 20 years. Welcome SPRING!!!! Altough we still have another 10-15cm of snow in forecast this Saturday. beurk.

This was taken from our local weather website. :)

Click to enlarge.

16985

[Helene2013]

We had another 6-7 inches of snow today. I'm fed up....my yard won't see grass for a long time! But I think the dogs don't really mind as you can see. :)

Click to enlarge pic
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/nuuk_baby/th_DSC_0025_zps5ae37f56.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/nuuk_baby/media/DSC_0025_zps5ae37f56.jpg.html)

My little one (Kooza) loves the birds (probably more chasing them is the right word!). He was fascinated by the one on the feeder. I was getting to clear their trails when I saw this through my patio door so I grabbed the camera and shot this one. Too cute.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/nuuk_baby/th_DSC_0020_zps3c27e7d9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/nuuk_baby/media/DSC_0020_zps3c27e7d9.jpg.html)

So for them, winter is good, real good! I can't wait to see green now. I'm done with white. :)

[Blueberry]

I'm in the southern US, and we have rain/snow in our forecast again. It's pretty much unheard of here this late. It shouldn't accumulate, but I am SO tired of cold, wet weather! We keep getting 70 degree teases, and then back to cold. I think the long range is for us to go straight to very hot. Bleh. I want spring, not summer!

[shootingstar]

We just had another light dump of snow.. It's wearying. I'd rather it just be cold but no ice and snow in March onward.

Graph shows the temperatures for this winter in our area. It's in Celsius and it's very cold more often than other years:
http://www.cbc.ca/calgary/interactives/temperature/

I'm writing up a blog post on the regional differences where I've lived in Canada so far. Where I live there is lack of major local growing of leafy green veggies....because of the soils, shorter growing seasons, etc. That type of veggies comes from British Columbia. Or from the U.S. Of course i'm gonna talk about the architectural differences in housing, and other stuff. And there are differences in what local cyclists tolerate or don't.

[Crankin]

It's 17 F right now. Breaking all low temperature records for this date.
Snow coming Tuesday night; thankfully, mostly a coastal storm, but we still will get at least 3 inches.

[Helene2013]

Just about same here. It was -21 to -26c with windchill. At least no wind and sunny. We should be able to avoid the snow storm more East. We'll get around 1cm...which is enough to dirty roads and need windshield fluids! But rain (and lots) is in the forecast towards end of week.

It's no longer fun! And they say 2013 was warmest overall worlwide. Certainly not in Canada and USA for winter 2013-2014!!!!

[Catrin]

I flipped the weatherman off today. The one on television. Who can't see me flipping him off. It's not been a pretty winter :eek:

[skhill]

Ditto, Catrin. A dusting of snow this time of year is not that unusual, but this is more than a dusting. And we're headed down to 15F tonight. GRRRRR. The good news is that the pollen count is down today, I was out with my dog for 45 minutes without sneezing or itchy eyes.

[ny biker]

I was cursing the weather *out loud* this morning while attempting to clear the snow from my car, giving my neighbors further evidence that I am insane. But come on, I cleared the back window, then the roof, then the windshield, and by then the roof and back window were covered again, and I had snow down my neck.

So I did what any reasonable person would do, I spent my lunch hour planning a bike ride. I mapped out a nice 41-mile route, with well-spaced rest stops and an option for a shorter 32-mile version, then posted it for Sunday afternoon on the club's website.

BTW I read earlier today that the cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin were past their peak on this date two year ago. This year they haven't even started to bloom yet.

[ny biker]

So, today the Capital Weather Gang (a very good weather blog owned by the Washington Post) has declared that the winter of 2013-2014 is over.

However when you read the fine print, they define "the end of winter" as "no identifiable threat of accumulating snow in long-range forecasts that could remain on the ground for 12 hours or more and no identifiable threat of cold weather lasting more than 48 hours when we define cold weather as highs in the 40s (or colder) and lows below freezing in Washington, DC (as measured at Reagan National Airport)."

So the bar is set pretty low. Still, I guess it's progress...

[Crankin]

Pretty much here, too. The snow is almost gone from the sides of the roads, but still in the woods (icy and crusty). The storm on Wednesday did not come this far north, but about 60 miles from here, they got hammered. Today was 37 when I left for work at 7:30 and 53 when I rode home at noon. It got up to 56. It's raining now, but is supposed to be ok tomorrow, high 40s/50. Then we have flood watch from Sat. night until Monday at 8 AM. So, while it will be 55-60, it's going to be pouring. All we need now is a flood.

[ny biker]

Pretty much here, too. The snow is almost gone from the sides of the roads, but still in the woods (icy and crusty). The storm on Wednesday did not come this far north, but about 60 miles from here, they got hammered. Today was 37 when I left for work at 7:30 and 53 when I rode home at noon. It got up to 56. It's raining now, but is supposed to be ok tomorrow, high 40s/50. Then we have flood watch from Sat. night until Monday at 8 AM. So, while it will be 55-60, it's going to be pouring. All we need now is a flood.

And then we'll probably get locusts.

The same blog cautions that this Sunday afternoon "could be quite raw." We're getting the heavy rain tomorrow and I think it will end Sunday morning, but then we'll get "very gusty" winds from the NW.

I had posted a club ride for Sunday afternoon, but have already sent an email out to say that I might have to cancel it. Gusty winds can be anywhere from annoying to dangerous; even if they don't reach dangerous levels on Sunday, the expected high temps are in the low 50s, and that is just not fun for cycling. At least not for me.

I will say that back in December and January I was kind of happy to ride my bike on the indoor trainer, in the sense that I was getting a good workout and staying prepared for outdoor rides if the we got a break in the weather. Now I'm just sick of it.