Ice Storm!

[PamNY]

Lisa, I'm glad you are okay (and had running water). Ice storms are beautiful but scary IMO. Hope life gets back to normal in a timely fashion.

Pam

[Tuckervill]

We had a beautiful day yesterday. Seventy degrees, warm gusts from the south. Then about 4:30 I looked out and saw the line of dark gray clouds to the north. I walked out across the yard, thinking about how nice and warm it was, going to the workshop where my husband was so I could show him the sky. Suddenly, a COLD strong wind hit me from the north. It was liking opening a refrigerator door!

In one hour it had begun to rain and thunder. In two hours the temperature had dropped 30 degrees. Sometime in the night the rain turned over to sleet, the temperature dropped to 17, and now every surface is covered in ice pellets. The trees escaped much of a coating, I guess because the rain had time to drop off and dry in the wind before the sleet and ice pellets started up. But all the roads are slick and all the schools are closed. And we're stuck here with no milk in the fridge!

Karen

[SheFly]

It's still bad in areas of MA as well. I just heard from a friend who lives in Bolton - still no power, and not expected to be back on until the END OF THE WEEK! Thankfully, she got a generator, and it is 52 here today.

Bad one for sure. I think I would take snow over this anytime, and I didn't even lose power...

SheFly

[Crankin]

Yup, I just got more info on my old neighborhood in Boxborough. Still no power and the elementary school is closed. My neighbor's daughter and grandchildren are still here, staying with them. When I talked to the daughter's husband yesterday, after he had just come back from their house in North Hampton, NH, he said he doesn't know when they will be able to return.
Yes, I would take snow any day over this.
Kfergos, glad you made it Friday. I wasn't sure how far north you had to travel to work. Saturday was the first day since last winter that I didn't see any cyclists on the road in Concord, although the streets were mostly clear.

[sundial]

Tuckerville, we're in the line of the ice and sleet today and tomorrow. Our area is predicted to get 1-2 inches of sleet on top of ice. I noticed the ice storm is moving across OK this morning so you'll be getting it pretty soon. I'm washing up everything I can in case we lose power. Stocked up on soups and Spam so we'll have a hot meal.

[mudmucker]

Day 5 and still no power. House is about 42 F but I'm still in it. It's cold. Trees were still encased in ice last night but fortunately temps raised a little and melted things this morning.

Saturday night when I got home the house was at 39 F. Friend with generator showed up at 9 pm. I had the generator for 3 hours before he had to take it back. Everything was stone cold and it took 3 hours to get temps up to 52. I'll take it. That and it might have kept the pipes from freezing as it was about 15 F and temps in the house were sinking.

When I woke up the next morning it was back to 41. Man with generator came back again for a few hours in the afternoon and we were able to bring house temps up to 58 which quickly shot down to 52 but man, compared to 41 it was comfortable. We also bypassed the switch to the well pump and I was able to recharge the well and collect more water. The generator was a good one and we were able to run the well and the furnace at the same time for about 2 hours so I had hot water for a spell. I washed dishes and bathed. It was a bit sad to see the generator go and know it wouldn't be coming back. Temps today are better.

On my way out of my road I saw 2 electric utility trucks turn on my road and stop. I wanted to run out and hug them and tell them to keep going straight. So seeing that, was heartening and it looks promising but I'm not sure where they were going. And, on the major highway to work I saw a convoy of about 10 National Grid trucks heading west out to my area so that lifted my spirits. If I don't have power yet tonight I will be staying with friends nearby who do have their power back.

I learned two of the most important and useful tricks that I have learned in a long time and I will throw in with my other bag of tricks in being a resourceful, self-reliant, solo homeowner:

1. I learned how to bypass the main feed to the house and rewire the furnace so that it gets current directly from a generator. And I learned how to troubleshoot when things don't quite behave the way they should.
2. I learned how to rewire and bypass the main feed to the 220-volt switch to the well pump. None of it is difficult.

other things:
-I know what kind of generator I want
-The key to staying warm when your house is 40 F is to eat frequently, like every 2 hours.

[sundial]

Mudmucker, I hope you get your power turned on soon. It's no fun freezing in your own home. Did you have any structural damage?

[mudmucker]

Thank you very much. Fortunately no structural damage and no trees damaged the house, or conduits weren't ripped off from the house. There is one wire down on my property but I traced it back and it is only the cable. There will be alot of cleanup on the property though, downed trees and branches everywhere. No, it's no fun being cold in your house. But as I say, it could always be worse. But as I said earlier, new tricks to add to the bag and I am thinking of new and additional contingency plans for times such as this. No harm done....

[Tuckervill]

I think our schools will be back in session tomorrow. I haven't heard any reports of power outages, but there have been lots and lots of wrecks. My husband said the roads were not icy two miles out of town (towards his work). We managed to get out and get to the store, along with thousands of others (seemed like). The parking spaces were all sheets of ice, but the roads were all worn down. Black ice is a problem, especially when walking. All the concrete around my house is a solid sheet. Otherwise we're just fine. Although it hasn't gotten above 20 degrees, yet, and tomorrow we're expecting more precipitation.

I've been in bed almost all day wearing my wool, trying to keep warm, in my heatless upstairs!

Karen

[Crankin]

Bambu, after riding those hills in Blanford last summer, I can barely imagine what it's like with ice all over them! Glad you kept warm and washed.
There have been many near misses with generators hooked up incorrectly and people almost dying from poisoning. I think there have actually been a couple of deaths.
It was 58 when I got home tonight. This is very weird. The wind is howling, though and it looks like rain, ice, and snow showers for the rest of the week.