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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Weather Thread

We ended up with about 8 1/2 inches locally before it was all said and done. Today was sunny and in the low 30’s so there was quite a bit of melting going on. Tonight will be in the mid 20’s, so everything will be nice and frozen tomorrow morning. Monday night temps will get down to 17 here. I hope it is the coldest point of the year and things move upward after that.
 
We got maybe 5" of snow this weekend tops. Spend much of it planning out my spring vegetable garden. I should probably start that usual annual thread for 2025...
 
We had maybe 2.5" of snow overnight on Friday into Saturday morning. Early Saturday morning I had to take my daughter and a friend to a highschool about 15 miles dead west from our house for a Model UN conference. I took the expressway there thinking it would have been cleared nicely. It wasn't particularly bad but I counted at least a dozen cars in the ditch on our way out there. It looked like the expressway had been plowed and salted early but then we must have gotten just enough more snow behind the plow trucks to cause some havoc.

The school they were at for the conference was right. next. to. a nice trail (an old rail-to-trail project) that I like to run on so I stayed parked at the school and went for a long, slow run. It was about 7:30 AM and for the first ~2 miles there were no other footprints or bike tracks in the snow. I always love running in the snow - it's very quiet and peaceful.

Afterwards, I took a regular arterial road back towards home and there was no snow or ice at all. It had been a few hours and the expressway had probably been cleared again but I didn't want to risk it and I had a feeling that this particular road would be in good shape, and I was right.

The other girl's dad picked the kids up and brought them home... in one of these monstrosities. If I had known he was driving one of those, I would have told him to take them out there in the morning to get some use out of the "Offroad Tactical Vehicle" or whatever it is. :rofl:
 
We've gotten another maybe 3" of snow the last 24 hours. Enough that the driveway needs to be cleared again.
 
They got a few inches north of us last week, but we only got some rain. They did preemptively close schools and work for the day, so that was nice.
 
Ended up with 2 inches of snow and some sleet on top.
Did go sledding Friday night (& didn't break anything).
Mostly gone now with some icy patches left in the shadows.
 
I ended up transferring all the pop and beer sitting on the back porch/meat locker to the garage last night. With temps dropping to around 3 degrees I was concerned the bottles and cans would all freeze. As an experiment, I left one bottle on the table last night to see if it would freeze/break. Confirmed this morning that it did.
 
Maister said:
I ended up transferring all the pop and beer sitting on the back porch/meat locker to the garage last night. With temps dropping to around 3 degrees I was concerned the bottles and cans would all freeze. As an experiment, I left one bottle on the table last night to see if it would freeze/break. Confirmed this morning that it did.
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It looked like there was some kind of leak on my enclosed porch; I saw snow all over the porch. Turns out, a little can of ginger ale exploded and sent frozen ginger ale everywhere. That's impressive.
 
Maister said:
I ended up transferring all the pop and beer sitting on the back porch/meat locker to the garage last night. With temps dropping to around 3 degrees I was concerned the bottles and cans would all freeze. As an experiment, I left one bottle on the table last night to see if it would freeze/break. Confirmed this morning that it did.
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kms said:
It looked like there was some kind of leak on my enclosed porch; I saw snow all over the porch. Turns out, a little can of ginger ale exploded and sent frozen ginger ale everywhere. That's impressive.
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I leave drinks in my unheated garage in the fall and winter. It gets pretty cold in there but over the years I think I've only had one can actually burst but it isn't uncommon for pop to start turning to slush out there. While not heated, the garage does have enough insulation that it's gotta be below 0 ºF outside for a sustained period before I worry. That said, I do bring bottles inside when it gets really cold because I'd be more worried about one of them freezing solid before a can, though I have no idea which ones do actually freeze faster.
 
Looks like we're getting another freeze next week, this time a little colder. I need to figure out how to make my house better able to withstand the cold, particularly the plumbing. The house is on a crawl space and when there's a sustained cold snap we're in danger of pipes freezing. We have to actively move the water around so the pipes don't freeze (do a load of laundry and run the dishwasher overnight, leave the taps dripping, etc.)
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I leave drinks in my unheated garage in the fall and winter. It gets pretty cold in there but over the years I think I've only had one can actually burst but it isn't uncommon for pop to start turning to slush out there. While not heated, the garage does have enough insulation that it's gotta be below 0 ºF outside for a sustained period before I worry. That said, I do bring bottles inside when it gets really cold because I'd be more worried about one of them freezing solid before a can, though I have no idea which ones do actually freeze faster.
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Stuff freezes on our back porch occasionally, but I can think of only one time when bottles and cans burst in the garage and that was when we had that cold snap a couple years ago where temps lingered in the -15 to -20 degrees range for several consecutive days. Other than that one time, we usually just get slushees. This is fine for pop, but have you ever tried a beer slushee? I have. They're not great.
 
Maister said:
Stuff freezes on our back porch occasionally, but I can think of only one time when bottles and cans burst in the garage and that was when we had that cold snap a couple years ago where temps lingered in the -15 to -20 degrees range for several consecutive days. Other than that one time, we usually just get slushees. This is fine for pop, but have you ever tried a beer slushee? I have. They're not great.
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Agreed on the pop v beer. These days I usually have so little beer in the house (or garage in this case) that it's not really a concern and when it is cold enough to worry about, it just forces me to actually drink one or two to help finish them up that much quicker.

FWIW, my oldest loves when the pop turns to slush.
 
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Garage explosions are on the other weather extreme here. Don't store anything in the garage during the summer. It's gonna blow. I caught a couple spray paint cans before they went last summer. The bottom was all extended out. That would have been a mess.
 
Doohickie said:
Looks like we're getting another freeze next week, this time a little colder. I need to figure out how to make my house better able to withstand the cold, particularly the plumbing. The house is on a crawl space and when there's a sustained cold snap we're in danger of pipes freezing. We have to actively move the water around so the pipes don't freeze (do a load of laundry and run the dishwasher overnight, leave the taps dripping, etc.)
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Heat tape on pipes or insulate the crawl space and run one of those electric ceramic heaters.
 
estromberg said:
Heat tape on pipes or insulate the crawl space and run one of those electric ceramic heaters.
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Oh, I know stuff like that can be done, but I am not about to go down into the crawl space with my claustrophobia.

In fact, I think there may already be some heat tape on the pipes (I think I saw some in a pic in the inspection report when we bought the house) but I don't know for sure that it's safe to plug it in.
 
Doohickie said:
Oh, I know stuff like that can be done, but I am not about to go down into the crawl space with my claustrophobia.

In fact, I think there may already be some heat tape on the pipes (I think I saw some in a pic in the inspection report when we bought the house) but I don't know for sure that it's safe to plug it in.
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If the crawlspace is accessible from inside the house, you could just set up a fan to blow air from house into it, should be enough to keep things from freezing.
 
estromberg said:
If the crawlspace is accessible from inside the house, you could just set up a fan to blow air from house into it, should be enough to keep things from freezing.
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Not with cats in the house I won't. I think (but not sure) that even when we had ~0 degree temps, the crawl area was still at or above freezing. But rather than taking a chance, I just drip my faucets when it gets cold.

Dripping the faucets like I did during the 2021 Great Freeze works, so that's what I'll do for now. At some point, I'd like to do something a little less hands on but I have other priorities right now.

I wonder if there are thermostatically driven heat tape systems... (EDIT, yes of course they're thermostatically driven)
 
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Doohickie said:
Not with cats in the house I won't. I think (but not sure) that even when we had ~0 degree temps, the crawl area was still at or above freezing. But rather than taking a chance, I just drip my faucets when it gets cold.

Dripping the faucets like I did during the 2021 Great Freeze works, so that's what I'll do for now. At some point, I'd like to do something a little less hands on but I have other priorities right now.

I wonder if there are thermostatically driven heat tape systems... (EDIT, yes of course they're thermostatically driven)
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An incandescent lightbulb can make some heat if you have it switched conveniently. Codes these days require the light, switched by the opening.
 
It was 0 degrees when I got up this morning. I'm pretty sure that with the wind chill it's well below -20. Brrr. Even the dog cut her morning tour of the back yard short.
 
@Maister - It was a relatively balmy 1º on this side of the state when I got up early to go to the gym. I was there for a couple of hours and I figured that when I left the gym to head to the office that it would have warmed up a bit. Nope. Still 1º.

It wasn't much warmer yesterday (around 6º in the morning) and I filled my gas tank up at a station that gives you a 10¢/gallon discount if you get a car wash and my Jeep definitely needed it so I got one. The gas station was only a couple miles from my house so I wasn't driving far/long enough to really dry the Jeep off and my garage is unheated. I got home, parked, and didn't go back into the garage until late in the evening to get a ginger beer. When I went in there I was hit by a really strong citrusy smell from a thin layer of soap and wax that had frozen on the exterior of my Jeep. :rofl: :cold: It was actually sort of pleasant and the smell was still present when I went back in there this morning to head to the gym.
 
Just waiting for some simpleton to get in my face today and say "still believe in all that global warming crap?" :r:
 
Maister said:
Just waiting for some simpleton to get in my face today and say "still believe in all that global warming crap?" :r:
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This is literally caused by global warming. There is historically a mass of cold air at the North Pole that is stable and stays put (more or less) over the winter. But with global warming too much heat is being absorbed by the (no longer ice-covered portions of the) Arctic Ocean and sections of the polar air mass break off and move southward, aka The Polar Vortex.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
Old MN classmate of mine now living in Duluth posted it is -43 with the windchill. I don't miss that about MN.
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It's been mid-20s overnight here which I'm not complaining about at all, other than the fact that my house is on a crawl space and I don't trust my pipes to not freeze over.
 
Plan Commission agenda expected to draw a crowd tonight, but hoping locally 2' temps dissuade some from attending. We'll see.
 
We've had less than an inch of snow in Reno this season (we usually get 30" a year). In fact, as of last weekend, the trees are budding and leaves are beginning to appear.
 
Doohickie said:
This is literally caused by global warming. There is historically a mass of cold air at the North Pole that is stable and stays put (more or less) over the winter. But with global warming too much heat is being absorbed by the (no longer ice-covered portions of the) Arctic Ocean and sections of the polar air mass break off and move southward, aka The Polar Vortex.
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Global warming exists. That can be proven empirically. What is conveniently forgotten is that the earth has been warming and cooling and warming and cooling for eons, long before humans were around. It's a natural cycle, not human-caused. Nothing we do or don't do affects it.

Jim
 
Those webcams along the Gulf Coast are a hoot, especially in the French Quarter.

We were -17F/WC-35F last night, which is impressive with no snow cover.
 
The south may have snow, but we got 'windshield cleaner canister has turned to a big blue Slushee' weather.

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jumbach said:
Global warming exists. That can be proven empirically. What is conveniently forgotten is that the earth has been warming and cooling and warming and cooling for eons, long before humans were around. It's a natural cycle, not human-caused. Nothing we do or don't do affects it.

Jim
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This is incorrect. But you're gonna think what you're gonna think.
 
6” of snow possible between NOLA & Pensacola!!! That’s a lot of snow for my region, much less the Gulf Coast.



25 was the high today here.

TPMS sensors going stupid too.
 
Planit said:
6” of snow possible between NOLA & Pensacola!!! That’s a lot of snow for my region, much less the Gulf Coast.



25 was the high today here.

TPMS sensors going stupid too.
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Wow . . . that much snow is VERY unusual for that area.

Have they already called off work/school for tomorrow?
 
-5 degrees out this morning. Not helpful as I happen to have a slow leak in the drivers side front tire. Cold is never good for flat tires.
 
Planit said:
Snow on the NC Coast!

Sledding on the bridges? Bridge Bobsledding is in.
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I saw on a Marine Corps forum I follow that they got a few inches at Camp Lejuene. The NWS was forecasting nearly 6" for the Lejeune area and I don't think they got that much but most of the pics I've seen show at least 3", which is more than we ever received during any of the years I lived down there. The only time I can remember getting anything that stuck was during the MLK Jr. holiday weekend in 2000: We had 4 days off and didn't have to be back to the base until the Tuesday at noon after the holiday. My roommate was from the Charlotte area so I drove us out there to hang out with some girls he knew. We knew snow was in the forecast for most of the state from Charlotte to the coast but it was only supposed to be an inch or two and I was from Michigan and had a truck with 4wd and a ton of weight in the bed so I wasn't worried. Our plan was to stay in Charlotte until 6:00 AM which would give us plenty of time to get back to the base before formation, even with a little snow. What I didn't plan for was that even while I knew how to drive in those conditions most of the folks in Eastern NC did not and were absolutely freaking out.

I don't think we ever drove faster than about 30 mph for most of the trip even though we easily could have and didn't even make it as far as Fayetteville before noon. We finally stopped somewhere so we could find a payphone to call our boss to say we were going to be late only to find out that normal operations on the base had been shut down and we now didn't have to be back to work until Thursday! We could have stayed with those girls out in Charlotte for a couple more days instead of white knuckling it on NC24 for hours on end! :rofl:
 
It was -8º on my way to the gym this morning. When I was done working out, I bundled up and went for a 3 mile run outside and then came back and went right into the steam room to defrost. My absolute favorite thing to do after a run this time of year.
 
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