Our lights blinked, then we lost power for a bit last night. Luckily, it wasn't for long. A representative from the local power company was on the radio this morning reporting that there were 50K households at the peak of power loss. There was heat and light through the night. The wind is really blowing this morning and the wires are laden with ice......things could still go dark.
What looked like soft, pretty snow on the cars, the tractor, the railings, etc., etc. has the consistency of those freezer glaciers, the ones reminding us that it's time to defrost. I got out one of our steel shovels; there's simply no way to scrape the top layer off. If you can't get down to the base, there's no way you'll penetrate the pile part way down.
I was out after dark to give the kitties some 'desert' and in the short time I was out, heard pops up in the woods of tree limbs giving way.
Based on radio reports, what and where I walked around, I'm guessing we gained about 8 inches. Without my meteorological degree, I'll have to guess; the drifting once again makes it hard to know. I do know there are too many deep spots.
Coop:
ReplyDeletethose long power lines in photo#1 look scary. I hope they stay put and don't break. I don't know if you have a generator, at least you would then have a backup.
I think some of your snow is backing up as we are getting some this weekend. I can't wait as we seldom get much up here and I wanted to snap a few before it gets mushy and dirty looking.
They only sell plastic or aluminum shovels here. Our snow is more wet and heavy so all we need to do is shove/push it away. We don't have to break it off like you do. It is rare for it to go below freezing for more than a few days then all of it is melted away
don't you cover your tractor seat ? at least then you wouldn't have to sit on ice
at least you are warm and cozy
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Bob, we have a generator that keeps a few lights on, the well working, furnace and our food cold. Our snow came down wet and heavy but it's the 10 degree and stiff winds that quickly turned heavy wet snow into rigid ice.
DeleteYou caught the tractor seat :) I used to cover it, in fact used a small tarp over the seat/instruments/gas tank but it finally failed and I haven't replaced it. If/when I use the tractor, I go after my mallet and tap the ice out of the steel (very cold) seat bucket as the tractor is warming up. Tractor use these days is few and far between.
Yes, so far we're in fine shape.
So pretty, but it can be o dangerous.
ReplyDeleteVery glad you still have lights, heat and power. Fingers crossed it will stay on.
During our storm a few weeks ago people were without power for 4-5 days. We were lucky and never lost it. I know it is worse in the country as you have more trees to take out the lines and it takes longer for the power company to turn them back on as they usually go by population density.
Stay warm.
Trobairitz, the sun is out and it's beautiful. Low hazy clouds are mixing with electric blue, the ice and snow in the woods jump out of most every view.
DeleteI saw the power company heading up the valley so not Everyone has power. You are right, the many trees along the lines aggravate reliability.
I have to say it looks mighty pretty. Power outage isn't funny. We had it once when in Calgary, and it was so cold the the house. We had a gas heater, that worked so we got to warm up the smallest room in the house until the problem got fixed.
ReplyDeleteSonja, our longest generator use was last spring, roughly 16 or 17 hours. There's a certain amount of hassle getting the unit outside, started, connected, breakers adjusted, etc. so I often wait 30 minutes to see if it's worth my trouble.
DeleteIn these temps, personal comfort is one thing, keeping the pipes unfrozen, water, the septic pump, 1 1/2 freezers worth of food make a long term outage a threat.
These last years have seen little generator use and that would be our goal for '14.
I
Thinking it's pretty at this point is delusional. Once the lines snap the love affair goes mighty sour. It's an abusive relationship...
ReplyDeleteTerrible about the 50K without power/water, too. You really got the worst of it. We have had no snow from this storm.
Poor white pines. They usually suffer the most.
Pretty - pretty bad....so far we're still on the right side.
DeleteWith the windchill, we're right at 0 degrees right now. Even with that, as the sun beats back the passing clouds, I think the warmth present will help shake the worst of the clumps loose on the branches.
Looks like a lot of ice on the power lines. Are there high winds as well?
ReplyDeleteWow, enough generator capacity for the well pump! Deep well? Around here that is usually the problem, most of the well pumps draw a ton of power and even those with generators need to disconnect everything else to run the pump for a while and "stock up" on water.
Richard, yes, very windy, still seeing 30mph gusts. I don't intend to move a bit of it until the wind calms down. Our wells aren't that deep but I can imagine that an HD pump would really draw a big load. So far, we may have been lucky that the pump and furnace have not fired off at the same second. I know that we haven't had anything fail. I have wondered though.....furnace, pump, refrigerator, freezer all at once must be a big momentary load. I unload all of the other breakers to do what I can.
Delete... and.. as the theme for the old "Green Acres" Tv show plays in the back ground.. " .... farm living is the life for me.. " .... never mind.. :).
ReplyDeleteIf we had access to Mr. Haney, farm life would be easy.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear it started as rain.... That's never good! I fear ice storms. I wouldn't want to be iced in without power, especially out here in the sticks. We lost power last night for an hour or so, not too bad. I'm a big fan of underground utilities. It's much easier for the power company to fix 1 issue and restore all power, than it is to have to go yard to yard!
ReplyDeleteI think we got about double your snow. I measured 14" in the driveway, but it's blowing so bad I can't get a true measurement.
Erik,
DeleteThe wind just won't quit. I cleaned off the cars and against my better judgement, grew impatient enough to go after the parking area with the plow truck. A real struggle, the blade didn't want, rather wasn't able to stay grounded, instead riding up and over the ice.
I struggled up here by the house where it really wasn't very deep, then started doing the long part and quickly was humbled. I finally got this end sort of clean but got down to the ditch and had to retreat, backing up to the house. Down at the corner and up to the road it's 2' deep and hard. Whenever the wind decides to recede, I'll pick at it with the blower. My plan was to do it in today's light but the way things are going, our first access to the road will be tomorrow morning.
MIchigan is just about as bad. But this am it was up to 26 with a 40 mi wind and snowing but not too much. Just causing whiteouts etc. I shoveled the roof off (Pd a kid) Wed and he did a good job. Yesterday Ice came off the roof and landed squarely on my little 10 x 14 metal shed. The shed held Lil Dahlin, my 2000 Helix. Called grandaughters boyfriend and he struggled out to see if Dahlin is salvageable. He said she was laying down but not hurt. Guess we'll find out when about 4 ft of snow melts. Such is living BUT it is better than tornados. Hope you survive as I'm hibernating until son comes in with a loader. At 75 yrs I just don't get out on the snowshoes anymore. Heck I traded them for sandals, LOL. Peaceful
ReplyDeleteDarrell, thanks for stopping by. Like you, I'm optimistic that will all that plastic (and the Helix on its side...strong that way) that Lil Dahlin will be fine. Hopefully it will be up and running before June.
ReplyDeleteSandals are sounding pretty good about now.