Arctic dipping south

[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-t...os-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:


And driveway (DH finally cried uncle and bought a 26" 2-stage snowblower, today):


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.