Enjoying the winter storms?
 

An old timer in my neighborhood asked me the above this morning.... I replied that I'd been warned over & over about the winter storms hereabouts, but this was the first year I'd really comprehended what all the fuss is about. :lol:

Trees are down everywhere in our area. This past weekend a few out-of-the-way streets were finally cleared of trees down in the previous 2 storms, & power fully restored there. At our house, we've lost power twice and are fairly sure we'll lose it again tomorrow sometime....

The second meeting of a book club I've recently joined has been postponed twice already, and since it's set to meet tomorrow night I believe it'll be postponed again. The husband & I have had several mid-week March appointments similarly shifted into the future.

And I can't forget the wonderful exercise we get shoveling heavy wet snow/ice, not to mention all the chopping of wood for the woodstove we're VERY grateful we have!

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Yeah it's wicked bad - considering its spring!

Up here in the north country, we are getting colder temps than you, but no storms. (Or, much less severe.) Minus five last night and the night before. Normal for January & February, but not late March!

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Ironically, my 'memories' on FB called up this post from March 20, 2015

Today is the first day of Spring and we are having a bit of snow here just outside of New York City. Depending on which forecaster you listen to, we will get between 1" and 2" or 4" and 6". Should we just find the mean measurement of 3 and call it a day? Wonder if they will be marching on McLean tomorrow?

(Reference to the St. Patrick's Day Parade)

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

We are very happy not to have lost power yet this winter -- even though people around town were out for over a week after one of the storms (I'm losing track, think it was two storms ago!) took out trees all over. Seems as if, for us anyway, the power company's aggressive pruning policy is starting to work. It has certainly not been the snowiest winter we've had by any means, but the few falls have all been big ones. We are so glad we put in the second oil tank a few years ago after running out of fuel when the snows were really bad. At least we can now keep warm when the tanker can't get to us . . . as long as the power stays on.

The arborist was able to come today and remove the broken half of a big tree that has been waving around, hung up in the treetops, since a December storm. Every time the wind blew it would tilt in another direction -- and was within the dogs' fenced area. I hate losing trees, but each time one gets destroyed, it opens up the view a little more, so swings and roundabouts . . .

Hope it isn't another bad one tomorrow, WEBlue.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Our problem lately is that the temps stay too warm here when these storms come barreling through. So the snow that falls is heavy & wet, yet layered with ice. It's so icy/slushy that the weight of a shovelful threatens to break my favourite lightweight plastic snow shovel, yet I can barely lift the heavier metal snow shovel....

Last two winters, we had nice cold snow that was light & fluffy. No problem at all to shovel when the temperature is down below 20F.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Just got off the phone with my boss who is in Burlington MA, he seemed pretty happy they hadn't lost power yet this winter but said "this one coming in may change our lucky streak!".

Hopefully everyone is staying safe!

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Very true, and roads are much safer when it's thirty or forty degrees below freezing, too (nice and dry.)

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

I have family in Burlington MA, they've lost power a couple of times so far, but only for twelve hours or so each time.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

I don't remember March 2015 as being so bad up this way...but there was a memorable Nor'easter in early March 2013 that I recall vividly because we were camping out in this very house, for which we'd just signed the purchase papers. The storm raged for two (?) days, IIRC, and dumped a good 10+ inches of light, pleasant snowfall on us, which we somehow handled easily & with much merriment. The power went out a few times, but only for an hour or so each time.

It all seemed such a great adventure then! We'd never seen that much real snow, and because we had camping gear to use inside the house (gas lanterns & stove, air mattresses with lots of duvets) we were fine even during the short power outages.

Not so much fun now when the power is off for days, and the snow is that heavy horrible soaking kind, and the winds swing the trees so violently that they creak....:blink:

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Ah I remember the Blizzard of 1978. We lived in Somerville, Massachusetts at the time. Two weeks off work with pay :thumbup: We were hunkered down at home listening to Christine Sweet on WGBH Radio. I think she was there, running the radio station on her own, for three days before anyone else could get in to spell her.

National Guard were stationed at intersections to enforce the no driving order. Forty inches of snow, some of the drifts were prodigious. Happy days!

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Good idea to get a second tank! We know some here whose access roads were blocked with downed trees, or in one case massive coastal flooding, and running out of fuel.

We have natural gas heating, so don't have to worry about oil deliveries, but either system still needs power to work it.... Luckily we have a rather ugly but very functional wood stove in the lounge that can keep the whole house bearably non-freezing if we choose to stoke it round the clock.

Glad the dogs are safe (for a while)!
Yes, I've come to realize that in this (Eastern) part of the country these nasty wind storms act to "cull" out the dead and weaker trees, just as the wildfires do in the West.

I posted a thread a while back on how annoyed I was that our next door neighbor cut down two trees on the property line between us, one a giant, diseased Maple tree (which to be frank needed to come down) and a perfectly healthy but massive holly tree that the husband & I quite liked. Now--just months later--I'm rethinking the whole matter. Perhaps we need to thank her for generously handling the cost of that (...even if the holly tree was ours, not hers). :ohmy: :lol:

Yes, me too! Hope all of us in this Nor'easter's path can come through unscathed.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

I was visiting Ottawa during the ice storm of 1998 so I know what it is like to be in a freezing home without heat or lights for nearly 36 hours. Not fun, especially with an electric stove and no fireplace.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Whoa! :ohmy: 40 inches!! Puts our puny predictions of 3-12 inches into perpective....

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Yes, it's amazing how fast these North American houses cool down once the heat is off....:huh:

We have our "storm supplies" squirrelled away. Candles & matches in a plastic ziploc in one cupboard, battery radio with extra batteries in a kitchen drawer, camping gear all together in an accessible corner of the garage. And --most important, in those first few minutes after the power goes out!-- a flashlight in almost every room, one or two of which will still have working batteries...with luck. And last but not least a decent supply of all kinds of batteries.

We have a fireplace as well as a woodstove, but the woodstove works so much better than the fireplace to heat up the house. And to think we at first turned our noses up at this "ugly" stove; now we love it. :o

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

I think this is one of the easiest winters I have had (snow wise) for years.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Dear friends in the northern states,

So sorry you are dealing with the cold snowy icy stuff. As much as I complain about our heat, humidity and crazy hurricanes and flooding at least I don't have to cope with it when it is cold and miserable outside. My condolence's to you all. Stay warm, and be safe.


By the way, spring has sprung and when we wash the yellow pollen off everything we can start to enjoy being outside again , well for a couple of weeks at least:thumbsup:

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Glad to hear it! This is exactly what I was saying two weeks ago... so things can change quickly. :(

It all seems to depend on your weather "band". So far in this present storm, our temps have stayed far enough above freezing to prevent any snow accumulation....yet. We'll see if this stays true tonight.

Of course even non-snow precipitation brings problems. There's a pond down the hill from us that now has so much water that it threatens to flood the street. Abutters are starting to worry about their cellars and septic fields too....

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Thank you for these kind thoughts, Sugarmooma! :thumbup: I know you & the others in your part of TX have recent experience of the horrors bad weather can wreak....

I was telling my husband that the last time I remember losing power was when we lived in Houston during Hurricane Alicia in the 80s. That was a Category 3 storm that killed (IIRC?) a dozen people & wiped out our power for almost a week just a year after we'd moved to Houston--what an introduction to life in TX! :blink:

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

My first winter in NYC.

It’s funny that Americans seem to think the U.K. is cold and gets a lot of snow.

Haha.

But, have survived so far, must be nearly through it...

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

We're at 7.5 feet of snow so far this winter. It feels like most of it fell in March.

Lost power for 5 days last October.

It's been a great winter... I'll be so sad when it's gone.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Hmm, perhaps Americans think Scotland is the UK? Aberdeen can get some real snow....

My commiserations, LouisB! We have a few relatives who've lived in & around NYC for decades & yesterday's storm has scuttled plans. The children were celebrating, of course, no school again! But the adults are not happy with this weather....

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Wow! That's a LOT of snow. :ohmy:

I just checked the NOAA weather site for our winter total so far and it's just over one foot. But...it's been a bl**dy heavy foot!! :thumbdown:

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Where are you in Maine?

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

First storm that was just wind took down trees in 21 places in my very small town (1600 houses). We were lucky and just lost phone, cable and internet for 3 days and power for 1. Schools got generators to reduce time off. Some barely got it back (couple of hours) before the 27 inches of snow brought down more trees and branches. That one took out power to 95% of our town. It went out on the Wednesday and came back late on the Sunday. Luckily we have a gas fireplace in my bedroom so moved all the kids mattresses in there and camped in 1 room most of the time. I did borrow a generator from a friend on the Friday that we used to charge phones and plug in the garage fridge. Our hot water was working but then maybe not having power caused it to gush hot water all into the finished basement. Next 2 storms weren't too bad. Maybe a foot each and a snow day followed by a late opening. I have lost confidence in the power staying on and plan to install a whole house generator when the real spring arrives. We have now lost 2 days from our spring break as all snow days were used and then some.
Still not as bad as Sandy when we lost power for 11 days.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Yeah, that one was a biggie. Ours was out for 9 days but I just ran an extension cord in from the car. Doesn't run everything, but enough for light, TV/DVD, internet. All the important stuff. :)

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Oh yes, Superstorm Sandy. Sandy cancelled 2012's Halloween in our neck of the woods. So many downed trees and power lines, road closures and other general devastation, that the governor of Connecticut asked trick-or-treaters and their parents to stay home for their own safety.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

I'll always remember that I was reading a history of Stalingrad at the time, and it made me feel that we were in fact not too badly off, despite the power being off for nearly two weeks!

Yesterday was a total non-event though -- a real waste of schools and businesses closing.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Funny thing is I had a driving lesson and test booked yesterday.

Both cancelled because of the snow.

Now it’s all gone again.

Doh!

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

They were forecasting rain today.

In March?

Anyway just started snowing.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Oh no! Those DMV appointments/tests are not always easy to reschedule.... Plus the anxiety component of psyching oneself up for the test, only to have the day changed. :blink:

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

:lol: Yes, the upside of our power outages is at least no neighboring nation is invading!!

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

More storms! A few Easter/April Fool snowstorms possible today & tomorrow....

Winter weather returns with 2 separate storms over Easter weekend - ABC News

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Apparently we have the Greenland Block to blame for this

Disappointingly chilly March to produce only its 4th & 5th days of 50+-degree highs Tues & Wed; long spell of chilly weather to follow; Greenland blocking to drive the cooldown | WGN-TV

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

We had high winds predicted for today - wasn't expecting much - we lost power about 4pm, not expected to be restored till tomorrow afternoon. Plus we lost several big trees in our woods. Our neighbor lost even more....

And yesterday I was out raking leaves!

Yay! Power restored tonight. I was dreading not getting my coffee tomorrow morning...

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Glad your power came back on relatively quickly, Robin! It was VERY windy & rainy here yesterday, but the wind wasn't nearly the problem as during those last few March Nor'easters (when we did lose power).

What a retarded spring we have this year! The locals say the seasons always lag here on the northeast coast, but in my 6+ years I don't remember the daffodils ever being this late to bloom....

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Hmmm, OK then. Somehow I'd thought it was the Polar Vortex.... But now I know exactly which bit of northern geography to blame! :lol:

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Yesterday April 6th I was in a heavy snow storm on the MA turnpike. I am getting sick of winter.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

6 inches last night.

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

We had a blizzard yesterday, fortunately mostly melted away today. My neighbor's been chainsawing all day, he had seven or eight full size pine trees down in the storm a few days ago - a couple of them within a few feet of the house. He has one of those outdoor boilers to heat his house, so the trees won't be wasted..

Re: Enjoying the winter storms?
 

Feels like an endless winter here on the New England coast where I am. We haven't seen the sun for the last week. 37F/3C right at the moment, with the wind chill factor bringing the outdoors 'feel' down to 28F/-2C....

Garden report: Crocus are OK, but my daffs are struggling to bloom, as are hyacinths--both which are usually starting their full flower stint now. I think my hydrangeas are scuppered for another summer--buds were starting last month but they froze & dropped off. :( Have no idea whether/when to plant cold-season veggies like peas, kale.... :confused: