Ice storm

[CI]

We got about 3 inches of snow last night, but so far no ice.
In the past, we have gotten up to 36 inches of snow, and that is not much of a problem other than it can make driving a bit slow.

The problem we had a few years ago (perhaps 10 years ago or more) was a heavy rain that froze when it hit the trees.
We have many trees in this city, and many old trees, and they don't like ice, so the branches sheer off and take out the power lines as they go down.
No ice here so far, so the power is still on.

If we get the ice, the power may be out for up to two weeks.
I have a portable Honda 5kW generator, so I am ready for a power outage, and I can run my natural gas heat with this generator, along with the refrigerator and LED lighting.
Sometimes the power outage is so extensive that all the gas stations in town are out of operation, and that can be problematic if you run out of gas in the generator.
During the last ice storm, the entire region was out of power, so finding gasoline was difficult.

We will keep our fingers crossed and hope for little or no ice.
If we get heavy ice, it may take a month or more to clear all the roads of debris and tree limbs, like it did during the last ice storm.
Whatever happens, I am ready.
I have a kerosene wick stove, kerosene, food, chainsaws, etc. so we will make it with or without power.
The stove has enough wicks that I think I could heat with it too (fourteen wicks as I recall).

I am not into the prepper stuff, but we have been without power for over a week, more than once, but on average about every ten years.
.

[Jo]

In the UK climate change has meant we are getting warmer wetter winters: I can confirm that my heating bills have gone down in the winter because I do not need to heat as much and my solar powered cooling system means I can be cool in the summer for free 

Electricity outages are sadly a monthly feature out here in the sticks   

You guys over the pond have been suffering from a really weird climate that we have never had to cope with. Good luck.

Jo

[CI]

Here is a panoramic view out the front door.
So far just snow, and that has stopped.
The temperature is 17F, so perfect for forming ice.
My wife thinks an ice storm will begin tonight, in which case things will get bad.

In previous years, we have had deaths from trees and tree limbs falling through people's houses and onto moving autos.
I don't have large trees around my house, just for that reason, but probably 1/2 of the houses in this city have a large tree adjacent to them.

Ice storms here are quite rare, but we are due for one since it has been at least 10 years or more since the last one.
Tonight will tell the story.
The last ice storm happened late at night, and I kept getting woken up by these loud crashing sounds outside the window/house.
I thought someone was breaking into my house.

I went to the hardware store to purchase a #12 extension cord, and the cord shevles were completely empty of all cords of all types and sizes.
It was like locus had decended upon the hardware store, and we have a big and well stocked store.
My wife said one hardware store in town sold 72 generators in less than an hour.
I would guess there have been many thousands of generators sold in this region in the last week.

Many in this city have learned from previous prolonged storms, and have purchased natural gas powered Generac and sometimes Onan whole-house permanent generators.
My gas service and electrical service are on opposite ends of my house, and so it would be quite expensive to extend the gas line that far.

I have a 5kW Honda that works well, and does everything I need it to do, but I do have to wheel it out into the driveway, and keep it filled with gasoline.
My generator will go at least 12 hours on a fillup.
My electrical panelboard has a main breaker, so I open that, close the generator breaker (I have a permanent generator cord connected to the panel), and plug in 120/240 volts to power the entire house.
I can't run air conditioning other than one 240 volt window unit, but all the lights work normally, as well as the minor appliances, and the natural gas heating system.
My generator is an inverter type, and so I can keep my computers working so I can continue to work on projects, and most importantly, I can continue to blog here (LOL).

Place your bets now.
Mild snowstorm, or ice storm apocalypse/armagedden ?
The winner wins free ice and snow for a month.

.

[crueby]

CI - which part of the country are you in? Its looking like the middle/south is going to get the worst of the ice. Up here in western NY state we will definitely get the snow (very common here with the big lakes), but its unclear if the ice will get this far north. The forecasters will have a better guess after its gone by...     It was about 1 degree F here this morning.
Several years ago I traded in the portable 3.5kw generator for a fixed 18kw one that hooked up to the natural gas line - SO much better. Can run everything off it, only know its on from the rumble in the backyard and the 15 seconds of no lights before it kicks in.
Hope you get through this one okay - I'm sure the tree and power line crews from many other states will be headed in to help wherever the ice hits, though it still can be days to get things clear. We've had a few up here like that, the freezing rain is the worst, especially if it gets windy after it layers on. We must have had a little yesterday, when I opened the garage overhead door, had to pop off the ice from the seams first. On one storm years ago my truck was outside overnight, after the storm went by I was able to chip open the driver door, rolled down the window to leave 1/4" of ice still there - punched that out from the inside (making sure the glass was really down first!) Then another 20 minutes to clear the windshield...

[CI]

These are photos from around my neighborhood after a typical 10 year windstorm event.
Ice storms produce similar results.

I talked to the neighbors with the tree through their upstairs bedroom, and it was late at night, they heard the storm coming, went downstairs, and then the tree went through their bedroom.

Trees are great, but I don't allow any near my house.
It takes a while just to get the roads open again.
People all come out with their chainsaws, and gererally cut a path wide enough for cars to pass through.

.

[CI]

CI - which part of the country are you in?
Its looking like the middle/south is going to get the worst of the ice.

LOL, I am in the MidSouth, and yes that is actually a geographical area, I did not make up that term.
The trees in this city are what I call "killer trees", in that they are generally very old, and overgrown, so often they just tilt over right into a house, and cut the house in half.

This family walked downstairs 5 minutes before the storm hit.

It is like something out of a war zone after these storms hit.
Power lines down everywhere.

.

[CI]

More "stormagedden" photos.
It takes a month or more to clean up the city after one of these storms.
They have to bring in a LOT of heavy equipment from out of town to clear it all.

Yellow circle in 7th photo is an auto.
Not a fatality by some miracle.
Some people get electrocuted, but that it generally rare.

No telling how far that trampoline traveled before it landed.

.

[tghs]

generator tested, 10 gallons of gas in cans, 8 gallons in the motorcycles, truck tank full, can siphon out at least 12 gallons,, space heaters at the ready, heat tape for the pipes in the gargage,, Kubota fueled and tested,, both stilh chainsaws sharpened, fueled and tested.. kind of the edge of crappy and really bad..just waiting at this point..

[CI]

I generally go out and take photos after these storms.
People always ask "What are you doing ?".
My response:  "Taking pictures.".

I usually get one of my dirt bikes out and ride it on the city streets.
Since my dirt bikes don't have a license, it is illegal to ride them on the streets in the city.
I ride past the cops with impunity, since there is nothing they can do to catch me.
They don't even try to catch me.

One does have to watch out very closely for downed power lines, since they are difficult to see, and will clothsline you right off the bike.
Snow is easy to ride a bike in.
Ice is a bit more tricky, and I have faceplanted (without injury) in ice on a motorcycle.

When my parents were living, I would ride my motorcycle over to their house, and help them clear their trees off the house, and cut them up.
I brought them a generator too.
Motorcycle is sometimes the only efficient way to get around in snow.
I take turns putting my gloved hands on the exhaust pipe, to warm them up.
I have a snowmobile suit and snowmobile boots that work well.

.

[crueby]

I generally go out and take photos after these storms.
People always ask "What are you doing ?".
My response:  "Taking pictures.".

Sounds like an old Jeff Foxworthy bit...   

And isn't 'Stormageddon' one of those old low-budget movies with sharks or something flying out of the tornado?   

[vtsteam]

-7F this morning with high of 10F for today. Continued severe cold here with wind, and 18" snow predicted over next several days. 51' John Deere Model M, w/scraper blade, Listeroid diesel generator, woodstove and kerosene backup. But plowing a 600 foot drive through the woods in near zero and windy conditions in a massive snowstorm is no fun. If I don't plow every 8" of buildup, I'll get stuck. Hopin everybody else is okay!

[Jo]

Insurance doesn't cover us if we have not been making sure that any trees falling won't hit the house. Local council have had to pay out if any trees they own cause damage to properties.

Climate change is causing lots of storms here. Storms cause rain, rain cause flooding. I keep wondering to myself why they keep building new houses on flood plains?


Just in case of the worse I own a "Woody": she loves going out in the snow, ice and is definitely a water baby when it comes to the opportunity of driving through deep water especially on the public highway 

Jo

[steamer]

8F this morning, and windy   North Central Mass.   Because of the cold, the storm for me will be all snow and a lot of it.   But because of the temp it will in all probability be powder.   The 2 feet should move easy.

Dave

[CI]

The wife tells me "iceageddon" is suppose to hit here at 7 PM.
I am going to take videos if the trees start falling.
If I suddenly vanish from this site tomorrow, tell search and rescue to look under the fallen trees.

Edit:
One the plus side, if a tree does happen to fall on me, I could perhaps make the major news cycle.
"Man flattened like pancake in middle of ice storm........"

.

[crueby]

The wife tells me "iceageddon" is suppose to hit here at 7 PM.
I am going to take videos if the trees start falling.
If I suddenly vanish from this site tomorrow, tell search and rescue to look under the fallen trees.

Edit:
One the plus side, if a tree does happen to fall on me, I could perhaps make the major news cycle.
"Man flattened like pancake in middle of ice storm........"

.

To ensure that 30 seconds of fame, have other cameras off to the side filming you being squishificated...   

[steamer]

You'll get lots of hits on youtube!!!

Dave

[CI]

If one is going to go out, go out BIG as they say.
The noise is what I really want to capture, which is this light crackling, followed by heavy crackling, followed by lots and lots of crashing, then a sonic boom as it hits the power lines, and all sorts of light shows after than.

Breaks up a boring day of work.
What happens happens, so I may as well make the most of the situation and try to get it on video.
Luckily people seldom get hurt in these storms, unless they are dumb enough to go driving their car under trees during the storm, or are dumb enough to go out and try and video it.
I am old anyway, so no big loss if I get squashed.

.

[steamer]

If one is going to go out, go out BIG as they say.
The noise is what I really want to capture, which is this light crackling, followed by heavy crackling, followed by lots and lots of crashing, then a sonic boom as it hits the power lines, and all sorts of light shows after than.

Breaks up a boring day of work.
What happens happens, so I may as well make the most of the situation and try to get it on video.
Luckily people seldom get hurt in these storms, unless they are dumb enough to go driving their car under trees during the storm, or are dumb enough to go out and try and video it.
I am old anyway, so no big loss if I get squashed.

.

Yup   went through the same thing in 2008    No power for a week....luckily it only got down to 35F that week......bad times!

[CI]

It is 7:30 PM and we still have about 4 inches of snow on the roads.
My wife and I drove across town to the Mexican restaurant that never closes, and the roads are powder, and not much worse than a slick rain street.
Luckily everyone must have gotten scared off because almost no cars were out.

The problem around here is not the icy roads; it is the drivers who spin around in circles on the icy roads.
They don't teach ice driving in the schools around here.

There is a misting rain coming down, but nothing significant yet.

.

[Kim]

That misting rain will cause a LOT of problems in the subfreezing temperatures!  It will deposit layers of ice on the trees and power lines and add so much wieght that it will bring them down.

Glad you got home before it made a layer of ice on the roads!

Wishing you all the best of luck with this winter storm.
Kim

[CI]

No problems in this city so far, as far as icing.
We got about two more inches of fine snow overnight, but the temperature is still about 18F, and no rain or ice.
Dry snow is not a problem since the trees easily shed it.

The news has been filled with all sorts of stories of how bad this storm will be, but I reminded my wife that the exact conditions required for a major ice storm in this area are extremely rare.
I think this will be like that predicted CAT5 hurricane that was suppose to wipe out half the country, and ended up being a mild tropical storm with almost no damage.
Makes for good clickbate for the news folks, and sells a lot of food at the grocery stores.

I did not buy any food; I keep cans of food on the shelf.
I bought 10 gallons of gasoline for the generator.

I don't see anything in the news today about power outages in the surrounding regions, so I don't think there was much freezing rain happening last night.
Anyone got power outages ?

.

[Bluechip]

We don't need ice storms etc.

Our trees fall over anyway.

Just up the road from me ... 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/news/major-derbyshire-route-closed-after-huge-tree-falls-onto-the-road/ar-AA1UKuPJ?ocid=BingNewsSerp

D.

[tghs]

mostly sleet through the night north of Raleigh NC,, may be a mix today, so far so good,, 

[PaulR]

From the title I thought this topic was going to be a political discussion 

[steamer]

Lol  guess where I live..

[tghs]

I'd rather have the snow!!! 20 years back we were on generator for 6 days due to ice.. I did rig a hdp strip on my tractor bucket as they said a week ago this was coming as snow..

[crueby]

Lol  guess where I live..

Right under thaat 24" snow pile!

[steamer]

I'd rather have the snow!!! 20 years back we were on generator for 6 days due to ice.. I did rig a hdp strip on my tractor bucket as they said a week ago this was coming as snow..

Dec  2008 we were down for a week with no power from an ice storm.   24 inches of powder is way easier to deal with for sure

[55fairlane]

North East Indiana

6 inches fell last night, very powdery , low winds. Not as bad as the " were all gonna die, Armageddon is here" weather guy (incidentally he lives behind me.)

Another 8 inches by tomorrow morning , my  dogs and child are out frolicking in the 0 degree temps and happy.

[internal_fire]

84F and sunny today here in SW Florida. 

Of course it is 97F with 97% humidity and 150 mph winds in August. 

I lived in Dallas for a number of years. We had a few of those 1/2 inch ice storms. A real mess.

Hope everyone makes it though with no damage.

Gene

[crueby]

The bands of snow have finally made it up here to western NY state, but its going to stay well below freezing so no sleet/freezing rain in this area. Glad of that. Dry snow is normal here and we can deal with it fine. Ice, not so much. Best of luck to those farther south and east!

[CI]

Looks like the ice started about 30 miles south of us, down in Mississippi.
Mississippi does not have a very robust power distribution system, with its wood poles transmission lines, and so they are prone to more outages.
I am hearing reports of Oxford Mississippi calling for sheltering in-place, with significant ice; trees and power lines down.

.

[vtsteam]

Fine powder here in southern Vermont, been snowing 4 hours and maybe an inch? I wish it had come faster if it's going to be 24" by the end because that means it will be mostly at night when I can't plow with the tractor. I'll plow at 4pm but it's not going to help much unless we get it coming down faster. So, come on snow! Get movin'! 

[crueby]

Fine powder here in southern Vermont, been snowing 4 hours and maybe an inch? I wish it had come faster if it's going to be 24" by the end because that means it will be mostly at night when I can't plow with the tractor. I'll plow at 4pm but it's not going to help much unless we get it coming down faster. So, come on snow! Get movin'! 

Careful what you wish for!  One 2 foot thick snowflake! THUD!

[vtsteam]

nooooooooooo......

[55fairlane]

Just quite snowing,  officially 7.75 inches.....some sort of record

[vtsteam]

Just got in from 2 hours of plowing, probably 6-8" but way cold, half in the dark. Freakin' cold plowing it was! Best I can do for now, we'll see what the morning brings. Tractor start was iffy since it is still a 6 volt positive ground system, but she started in 2F temp. Shifting was like molasses, and the hydraulic lift took about 30 seconds to start with! But when it warmed up we did our usual dance through the twists down our narrow mountain driveway. Split brakes mean I can whip it around on one back wheel when it's slippery like this. Canadian chains with cross studs, doesn't bother that. Just rotates wherever I want, like a tracked vehicle. It was a night scene out of The Shining out there!

Sittin' by the fire now. Hope you're all doing okay!

[CI]

Reports of boat docks collapsing in Arkansas from the weight of snow.
Not the sort of thing you want to hear about if you are a boat owner.

.

[CI]

Hello insurance company.
One side completely submerged.
One side partially submerged.
All the boats on the right side went down with the dock.

Only one dock down so far.
.

[gunna]

Could you blokes spare just a little bit of cool?
Here in Melbourne, Oz, we are expecting 44c/111F tomorrow!
Ian.

[john mills]

 i agree with Ian  your welcome to take some heat from here  we have in melbourne and will have plenty to spare tomorrow  more likely fires than snow and ice
wont do much outside tomorrow
John

[AVTUR]

And all we get is wind and rain. Another twelve hours of it predicted for the next day: Lanes blocked and further local flooding.

AVTUR

[tghs]

happy to report we stayed in a band of mainly sleet with a little freezing rain,, minor glaze on things but no power problems,, roads are a mess, 20 miles to the south freezing rain and downed power lines... 

[steamer]

20" and still coming down.....

(0.5 meters)

[crueby]

Cleared about 8" out of the driveway yesterday afternoon, not a lot more came down since then, except for the pile that the street plow dumped in at the end. Got lucky here to be just on the fringe of the main storm moving across the country.

[vtsteam]

Got another 5 inches of snow overnight, but not the additional 12 they were warning about after the 7 I plowed last evening (for which I am thankful!) Total accumulation about 12". Fine, dry stuff, moves easily, but very dense. Moves okay with the plow but can't take too big a swipe with it. Had to double up or triple pass sometimes. I plowed 3 more hours this morning, just doing cleanup, and trying to push back the drifts for any future storms. Drifts were as high as as I was sitting.

The tractor this morning after the overnight addition:

[CI]

The snow has stopped here, and we have perhaps 6 inches accumulated.
We are holding a constant 17F, and so everyone is scratching their heads, wondering what to do now, since the snow is not going away, and nobody wants to drive in it.
The driving problem is exacerbated by them salting the hills at traffic lights and such, which melts the ice, and then creates super slick zones that are pretty much impossible to use.
Using no salt, or using sand, would work much better, but the goverment, you know, has to the the goverment thing in the government way.

I don't need to go anywhere, so it is not a problem.
One day it will all melt, and we will go back to being too hot and humid.

.

[steamer]

The snow was up to the top of my alloy wheels this morning.  《Some where between 20 and 24 inches》

Dave

[CI]

The big ice storm we had here I guess it was in the 1990's was a wakeup call for this region.
We have some very large and important hospitals in the area, and some of them found out that their generators would not operate if city water froze up (which it did in some cases), or could not operate in extreme prolonged cold weather.

The utilities were hardened in this area after that storm, especially for hospitals and critical infrastructure.
That 1990's work helps these days when we get these ice/snow events, and there are good game plans in place to keep things going.

The data center downtown has on-site 256 MW of generating capacity, as long as the natural gas keeps flowing.
We don't seem to have problems with gas pipelines and cold weather around here, so that is a big plus, considering my house has gas heat.

We don't have too many water problems, but some of the water mains under the streets are buried too shallow, and every time we have 17F weather, the water lines under the street in our neighborhood rupture, so we are out of water for a week or so.
I keep non-powered water filters on hand because even when they get the water working again, it is contaminated for a while.

I am set up to function for about 2 months with no access to water or food.
I have propane, diesel, kerosene, can goods, and 20 lb bags of rice stored in sealed containers.
My 5kw generator will operate my work equipment, and keep the house heated, or in the summer one room cool.

We have a fireplace, but it is more trouble than it is worth to go out and chop firewood, and it makes a big mess in the house dragging wood in.
All the heat goes up the chimney when using a fireplace, so it is counterproductive.

Tornados are a bigger problem around here, and they occur frequently in this area.
I have an older low-rise house that has a lot of lumber in it, and the high winds we have experienced in this area in the past have not affected it.
There was a newer two-story house a few miles alway that collapsed like a house of cards in one wind storm, killing the owner.
New houses are basically crackerboxes comparted to most old houses.

I guess I coud fire up the foundry burner and burn off the driveway, just for fun, not that that would accomplish anything at all.

.

[crueby]

...

I guess I coud fire up the foundry burner and burn off the driveway, just for fun, not that that would accomplish anything at all.

The river of molten iron running down the driveway with snow steaming off, action figures melting into it etc, would make a GREAT youtube video though!   

[CI]

I saw a video on ytube last year; some fellow was pouring molten aluminum into I think a large stainless steel cookpot full of ice.
The ice flashed to steam, and the pot exploded violently, with large metal fragments flying in all directions.
Had one of those fragments struck him, it could have easily severed an artery.
I will look for that video.
I have great respect for the power that is stored in steam.
Foundry things are dangerous enough when you do everything exactly right.
There is really no need to hasten one's own demise.

Edit:
Here is a concrete furnace exploding.
Use refractory and dry it carefully if you make a furnace.
Concrete looks just like refractory, but they are not the same.


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GtbTRZi7wY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GtbTRZi7wY</a>

[CI]

I had an ingot mold pop like this, when I was filling it with molten iron.
I had some 3rd degree burns on my hands when the metal rolled down my leather jacket and into my gloves.
I even heated my ingot molds with a propane burner, but that was not sufficient to drive off residual moisture.
Ingot molds have to be heated to perhaps 750F in the exhaust stream of the furnace, else they will do the "pop" thing.

.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P6tTLzBpZBw

[CI]

Copper explosion.
Same problem; ingot mold not heated sufficiently.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-OK9looWQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-OK9looWQ</a>

[CI]

This is why you don't melt and pour near your house or car.

.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X08FRVHvdZY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X08FRVHvdZY</a>

[steam guy willy]

Hi Can one use Cement Fondue or is this the same as concrete ??

Willy

[CI]

Here is another ingot mold explosion.
This is very common.
I always dress for an explosion when handling molten metal.

.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R1RjGLyX7Ns

[CI]

Hi Can one use Cement Fondue or is this the same as concrete ??

Willy

"Cement Fondue" ?  LOL, well, go for it, but be sure to make a video.

.

[CI]

Here is a refractory plinth that the crucible sits on that exploded because it had not been dried slowly.
Even refractory will explode if you don't dry it slowly.

I can't find the video of the person pouring metal into the stainless cookpot full of ice and water, but that is a worst-case scenario.
Molten metal may hit you if it explodes, but it will splat, and if you have full leathers on, it will just roll off.
If a stainless cookpot expodes, the fragments can literally cut you in half, so avoid those circumstances at all cost.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJV2AlBi9M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJV2AlBi9M</a>

[CI]

Here is the video I was looking for.
It was actually a tin bucket.
Very lethal and near fatal explosion for this person.
Luck was on his side that day.

It is folks like this who give backyard casting a bad and dangerous reputation.
There is a long laundry list of dangerous things this person does; sort of an excellent video on what not to do, and what not to wear when melting metal.
Some folks will die or come close to dying for ytube views.
He was very lucky he did not have a camera person standing behind the camera.

You can see a piece of razor frisbee fly by to the right at what was probably supersonic speed.
Very deadly stuff.
Don't win the Darwin award (self elimination) with your foundry.


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6kJ1tbk41E" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6kJ1tbk41E</a>


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lax5_uSWQrg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lax5_uSWQrg</a>

[crueby]

Step one, remove brain. Discard, it obviously was not being used anyway.Step two, pour molten metal over water/ice.

Holy cow, was that stupid! 

[Sanjay F]

Notice he runs into the 'action' and not away from it? Lucky and stupid, but not enough YouTube subscribers to be rich 

Makes you wonder if he bought all the kit merely to video himself getting injured? 

[CI]

The facebook group for backyard metal casting that I viewed briefly the other day stated "This group is not for people who make metal ingots".
There is a bumper crop of people on ytube who do nothing but make ingots.
Ingots are a good start, but there is a lot more one can do with the casting process.

Another clear sign of someone who is being careless is those who use channel lock pliers to pick up their crucible by the top lip.
Makes me cringe, and I don't watch those channels.

.

[Twizseven]

Plus he only has shorts on and no protection for his legs (as he painfully found out).  It would be interesting to ask him what he thought was going to happen, although as Crueby says "brain discarded" so maybe he never thought at all.

Colin

[CI]

We have at least 8 inches of accumulated snow here, and by some combination of snow and mist, it has solidified into a hard mass.
It feels quite odd walking around elevated on top of the snow.
No warming yet, so we are playing the waiting game to see when we may get some melting.

Generally snow in this area lasts perhaps 1.5 days at most.
Prolonged snow and low temps like this are quite rare around here.
It looks very nice if you like all white.
It is very bright in the sunlight.
.

[CI]

The major expressway that runs north-south through this area is shut down from ice and snow, and so lots of cars and trucks trapped.
They are bringing out the Mississippi National Guard with heavy equipment to try and get traffic flow restored.
This country operates using lots and lots of trucks.
When the trucks stop, everything stops.

Lets hope the roads thaw in the next week or so.
Still a lot of snow everywhere.
The problem seems to be that we got multiple layers of sleet and snow, perhaps 8 inches or more, and the temps remain well below freezing.
The city is saying that the snow/ice is so thick and so hard packed that neither salt nor snow plows can be used effectively on it.
The snow plows are reportely just bounding off the surface.

Glad I don't have to get out in it.
Everyone use to carry tire chains in their trunk, but I have not seen any of those in a very long time.

.

[vtsteam]

Our local school busses have automatically mounted chains.

[bent]

Autochains are cool.  Our local school district has them on all of the buses.  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s5oHUR1RofA

Here in the PNW, we rely on mountain snowpack to supply water for the summer months.  But if no snow falls in the hills (we are currently at 40% of normal snowpack), we are in trouble and will probably have to ration water (no sprinklers, etc.) come July. 

We currently have enoughn snow to (barely) keep the cross country trails ski-able up at the pass.  The wife has need of her car a lot this winter, which was our ski vehicle.  So I have enlisted the Miata as a substitute, having figured out a ski rack for it (thanks to clever UK entrepreneurs Revo Rack who came up with the idea of a strapped-on trunk "boot bag".  Used the idea to put brackets on the roof and trunk lid, to carry my 2-meter long skis longitudinally.

[tghs]

oh well, this weekend we are getting the snow, grabbed the polyurethane strip I had ordered before the first weekend,, did a little cutting and countersinking.. all bolted up great,, should be great to go..

[john mills]

those auto chains look interesting haven't seen them before  only we don't get snow in melbourne but have used
ordinary tyre chains when going to the snow for skiing .
hope you are managing there it is a lot of work living in snow
john

[vtsteam]

Cold is something to deal with and all its effects. But heat is as well -- I just learned of a friend losing her house in Oz to a fire this week. She had planted her 4 acres with many kinds of native plants over the last 20 years. It was a very special place. She watched the fire move up the road towards her house, and then took shelter with others in her community in a church basement. The house and much of the trees and grounds work was gone when they re-emerged.

[mklotz]

I know you've all been worrying about me, what with all the ice and snow.  Just wanted you to know that things have returned to normal here.  Wife and I are going to celebrate by having lunch eating sushi on a restaurant patio overlooking the blue Pacific. 

[crueby]

I know you've all been worrying about me, what with all the ice and snow.  Just wanted you to know that things have returned to normal here.  Wife and I are going to celebrate by having lunch eating sushi on a restaurant patio overlooking the blue Pacific.

Glad you guys have weathered the storm okay!  Though that thermometer must be wrong - here it is more like 7.93, not 79.3!