Vette Nation Weather Central!!!! How is Your Heat?

[Davest]

So new years day it was about 70 degrees. yesterday it was in the upper 60s and at 10pm last night it was still 50 degrees, then over night temp dropped and it snowed. At 9am it was 30 degrees and snow on the deck. But with temps in the 60s and 70s the last few days the ground was too warm and it melted right away.

Same here in the Raleigh Durham area of NC.

[lance_s]

It's 63 and blue skies here today! Soo perfect! I love it! All the windows and doors open in the house, so fresh! The dogs are laying out on the balcony enjoying the sun and breeze as I work at my desk.

Blue skies here too. But it was -24C (-11F) when I woke up this morning at the cottage. And there is no inside staircase, so I had to go out and through the garage to get to the furnace to throw on some more logs....

No doors or windows open. But the dogs, (especially the smaller one), is very adept at finding a sunny spot and making herself comfortable.

[WalterB]

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Winter forecast for Jan 11, 2022 in Vicky's front yard:
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
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[stickyvicky]

I love that meme! Stealing it!

[greggl]

Roads were too bad to go to work today. Started snowing about 3am. had about 3 inches at my house. Some places in town had over 6. A lot of businesses didnt even open today as people could not safely get to work.

[lance_s]

Our daytime high climbed above 0F!

[greggl]

So weather report said possibility of a lite dusting of snow today but temps below freezing so possible some black ice on the roads. Doing inventory tonight so dont have to be in til 2pm so figure not a problem. at 11am have a foot of snow on the porch and realize I'm not going anywhere. Called my boss and ask how the roads are near her and she says no snow and roads are clear. My area was the only one to really get hit. everyone else I know have nothing. One of my coworkers who lives only about 4 miles south of me had nothing and got in.

[ErikB]

Well, I went out at 1:30 pm to feed the birds, who, due to all the snow, were there waiting for me. The cardinals are usually much more shy.

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There was a fair amount of snow already, with more on the way throughout the day.

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By the time I got the feeders filled, my fingers were freezing. I didn't make it out to see how the path to the car looked until after sundown.

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My plow guy normally uses his plow truck. He sent a message to all of his customers stating that there were 5-foot drifts out on the roads and that his truck had gotten stuck. His son had to come get him unstuck with his earth mover, and he was going to use the earth mover to handle everybody's snow. Here he is before I managed to dig a partial path to the car so I could pay him, and again after he used the earth mover to finish the path the rest of the way. Note the large pile of snow he has already built beyond my car.

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The front of my car.

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I thought I would see how much new snow (if any) had built up on the back deck since I fed the birds. I HAD scraped it down to the deck in a path from the door to the stairs. The pile against the house is what I shoveled this afternoon. Thankfully, it was all fluffy and REALLY light compared to what I have shoveled in the past.

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I was going to continue the cleanup, but the temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up. So, I figured I would tackle the rest of it tomorrow. When I loaded these pictures into my desktop PC, I realized that the snow was ALSO increasing again. So, tomorrow it is.

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Greetings from Rhode Island!

[WalterB]

Pretty cool (no pun intended, lol) stuff, Erik. Great pictures.

I posted pictures 2 or 3 years ago maybe, from our 3' snow in Denver back in March, 2003. So I have an idea what you're dealing with. I couldn't get my car out for 3 or 4 days. One of the very few times my company shut down for ANYthing. The city, of course, clears the main arteries first, then gets to the surface streets days later. So I may have been off for a week or so, don't remember specifically. I personally liked it a lot

[WalterB]

Just got this on my Funnies page. How appropriate. Are you going for the mail box, Erik?
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[Davest]

Yup, that's what I remember 50+ years of snowstorms to be like.

Don't miss them at all. Much prefer the Dusting to 1-2 inches we have had here the past three weekends. It looks beautiful in the morning and is melted and gone by afternoon.

[ErikB]

Yup, that's what I remember 50+ years of snowstorms to be like.

Don't miss them at all. Much prefer the Dusting to 1-2 inches we have had here the past three weekends. It looks beautiful in the morning and is melted and gone by afternoon.

Yeah. I grew up in Rochester, New York and went to school in Buffalo. I think we covered this on another thread.

I didn't drive until just before moving to Connecticut for my first job. So, I didn't mind winter because I just got to play.

Now, in coastal Rhode Island, I get to enjoy what you do. And yet, I still want to move to New Hampshire (looking at northern New Hampshire for affordable land).

[ErikB]

Just got this on my Funnies page. How appropriate. Are you going for the mail box, Erik?
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Adam.jpg

Good timing!

I am not going for the mailbox today because it is Sunday. Also, you are right about the main arteries being cleared first. I live on one of the two main roads for getting around on this island, so there is a constant stream of plow trucks keeping the road clear during snowstorms. The downside to this is the high mailbox mortality rate. So, I install my mailbox with outdoor-rated velcro. Just before a snowstorm I pull it off the post and cover the post with a garbage bag. That way the loop velcro on the post is protected from the snow and salt. I take the mailbox into the enclosed porch. When the storm is over, I remove the garbage bag and press the mailbox back onto the post. It has held for years.

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[WalterB]

Smart thinking. But won't they still cream the post? lol

[ErikB]

Pretty cool (no pun intended, lol) stuff, Erik. Great pictures.

I posted pictures 2 or 3 years ago maybe, from our 3' snow in Denver back in March, 2003. So I have an idea what you're dealing with. I couldn't get my car out for 3 or 4 days. One of the very few times my company shut down for ANYthing. The city, of course, clears the main arteries first, then gets to the surface streets days later. So I may have been off for a week or so, don't remember specifically. I personally liked it a lot

Since I live on one of the two main arteries for the island, the road isn't usually a problem. And having a plow service is one of the best decisions being lazy has ever made me make.



Things look better in the daytime.

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Just a little cleanup required.

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The wind was busy overnight:

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The stable broom on the right gets the bulk snow off the car. Then the shovel in the middle gets the snow out from around the car. Finally the little car brush gets the crap out from around the windshield wipers and scrapes the ice off the windshield.

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And I got some large squirrel pics. Playing the harmonica and trying to hide. I didn't think I would get more pictures until after I was done shoveling so I had put the camera back into the house. So, I missed getting one where this squirrel was stretched along the empty suet feeder trying not to be noticed.

[ErikB]

Smart thinking. But won't they still cream the post? lol

Yes, but rather than hitting the post and mailbox directly the problem seems to be the wave of snow they are pushing off the road. The mailboxes get nailed, but the posts do a better job of surviving. Still, mine has been loosened in the ground a bit, so I need to either make the whole thing more portable or beef up the base of the post. It has lasted more years than I thought it would, however.

[WalterB]

One thing I've seen is street signs. I have discovered (don't ask me how, lol) that for street signs, some places now put a pipe into the ground, maybe an inch sticking up. Then they put the street sign on that. So, if someone hits the signpost, they bend it over. Then the street crew just pulls the signpost out and slides another pole into the base. You could do that, then remove the post when snow is forecast. Cover the part in the ground and you should be good to go.

OK, I accidentally ran over a street sign in Abilene once (in my then GF's car, lol) The sign was on the end of a concrete divider, and I bent it over into traffic.```````````` I called it in and waited for the police. They took the report (no ticket) and we went on our way. I got a bill from the Abilene traffic dept (or someone, lol) for replacement of the sign post. The cost? $25. I wrote and asked them why it was so cheap and they explained it to me.

[ErikB]

One thing I've seen is street signs. I have discovered (don't ask me how, lol) that for street signs, some places now put a pipe into the ground, maybe an inch sticking up. Then they put the street sign on that. So, if someone hits the signpost, they bend it over. Then the street crew just pulls the signpost out and slides another pole into the base. You could do that, then remove the post when snow is forecast. Cover the part in the ground and you should be good to go.

OK, I accidentally ran over a street sign in Abilene once (in my then GF's car, lol) The sign was on the end of a concrete divider, and I bent it over into traffic.```````````` I called it in and waited for the police. They took the report (no ticket) and we went on our way. I got a bill from the Abilene traffic dept (or someone, lol) for replacement of the sign post. The cost? $25. I wrote and asked them why it was so cheap and they explained it to me.

That's not a bad idea. I will keep that in mind.

My current setup came from Home Depot, and consists of a heavy cedar post and a long metal spike. You buy your own mailbox. There is a slot in the bottom of the post. You first drive the spike into the ground, then you push the post down onto it. It feels flimsy, but the weight of the post keeps it in place surprisingly well. It has loosened up and started to lean, however.

I have thought about making something that looks more like the drop-off boxes for the post office. In the past, my carrier wouldn't close the door at all, and anything that wasn't a convenient letter size got a card that basically said "get it yourself down at the post office". I think I have a new carrier, because most of the time (but not always) the door is closed. An open-front slit would make deliveries easy enough that even these people might give it a shot. The advantage to the post, though, is that I can put the mailbox back on top even if the ground is still piled with snow.

As for accidental strikes, a woman once took out 3 mailboxes on my road that were on 3 separate properties. She had swerved across the oncoming lane and onto people's lawns. After the third mailbox she apparently made it back out into the road, although by that point she had two or three flat tires. My mailbox would have been the next to go! She went somewhere to try to figure out how to get her tires fixed, but the police found her anyway.

[greggl]

I'll stop bitching now lol

[ErikB]

I'll stop bitching now lol

No need. When you live in an area where that much snow is unusual, you are inconvenienced more than normal, and that is worth bitching about.

Being retired, and NOT losing electricity, really took the edge off this snowstorm. Plus, I like taking pictures. I really should turn that into more of an active hobby and get a better camera. The current camera is a Canon PowerShot S1. It is a nice little pocket camera, but it doesn't have a good macro lense like one of my older Canons did. Unfortunately, the older camera needed a direct cable connection (which required software that isn't likely supported by my current rig) and it had some sort of memory or other internal fault. One day the only picture it would take was a grainy field of purple. There are a lot of small flowers and lichen around here I would like to photograph, but a better camerai is going to be required.

I was going to add some photos of a previous snowstorm that might have been worse than this one, but I have already stayed up too late.
So, they will have to wait until later.