A White Christmas Suitable for Mike Wilson

[RUSSELL5000]

Wayne, I do live in a typical city neighborhood. I must say that the city has done an excellent job on snow clearing - have made a pass on my street each day this week beginning the early morning hours of Tuesday. They travel in pairs, overlapping, one way up on the right side and then again down the other side. That snow just makes a great big pile at the curb. My street is smooth and clear, although with large bumps at the intersections.

As you go into our small downtown the streets are very bumpy where snow was compacted hard as it fell. They do a lot more to put in dumps and haul to the bay and empty lots by the sewage treatment plant.

People who would not or could not move their car from the street on the designated night have found walls of hard pack snow ice around five feet tall around them. The wall at the end of my driveway on Wednesday morning was roughly six feet in depth and dropping in height from five feet at the street to around two feet inside.

This lake effect snow has a lot of moisture in it and packs down well. We normally get consistent doses of three to six inches two or three days a week all through December - February. So, having snow is not really a big deal. Getting half the year in three days or so has really bummed up the works.

On the positive side, I am way ahead on my provision of fresh air and healthy exercise. No problem sleeping at night!

 

[RUSSELL5000]

It snowed another eighteen inches this past weekend. Paper says 84 inches in a week and 123 inches in the month of December. Our annual average is 110 inches.

Got all the lower sloped portions of the roof on the house shoveled off; everything cleared; all caught up (as of right now, anyhow).

There are great big piles at the end of each block - kind of creep out slowly until you can see something. My wife went to the shopping mall and said big front-end loaders have made literal mountains at the perimeters of the parking lots. The paper said that two commercial buildings had roof collapse - ironically, one is a roofing company.

The piles will be here for a while - forecast is highs in the teens and lows in the single digits to negative.

Maybe I should consider retiring to Maine - I will now be in practice!

 

[mwilson]

Come on up!! Snow not out of control yet but bitter cold. -18 this morning which is becoming the norm...

Many people up here have forgotten the basics of living with continuous below zero conditions. At least one house burning down per day in the news as a result of using open flame or space heaters to thaw frozen pipes. Chimney fires too!!!

I can't keep Power Service "911" on the shelf, all out of Group 31 batteries as well.....crazy times...

We now have Natural Gas in Bangor but very expensive. Comes from Canada. Massachusetts will not allow the natural gas pipeline to cross their state so that we could connect to the National pipeline that everyone else is connected to.
Outlying areas depend on #2 Fuel Oil or Propane. Mobile Homes and Modular Homes typically use K-1 where the tanks are out on the weather. Heating oil companies have fallen behind on deliveries and are not taking on any new customers at this time. People that only purchase like 100 gallons of heating oil at a time are at high risk for trouble as it stands now.

I have a 330 gallon tank in the basement plus 4 cord of firewood so am good for the winter. Several homes on my road have (2) 330 gallon tanks in the basement so that they can go an entire winter on #2 alone.

 

[mwilson]

Supposed to get blistered tomorrow, estimates range from 8" to 16" depending on storm track. High winds follow, then back in the deep freeze again.

Calling the storm a "Bomb Cyclone", We had one of these already on October and some were without power for several days. With a high temp of 0 predicted for Saturday any power outages became a real threat for many. And those poor line workers trying to fix stuff in below zero weather. The general public doesn't seem to grasp the reality of it all and want power back immediately....

http://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/...sday-with-storm-likely-to-bring-foot-of-snow/

 

[JR]

Mike, what do you burn wood with. Indoor fireplace? Or outside boiler?

 

[mwilson]

Indoor wood stove in the family room (which occupies half of the basement).

Wood's inside in the basement out behind the family room back wall so all nice and dry. Get wood and load stove right in your stocking feet.....!!!

It's an older version of this one, we've had it about ten years and it's getting worn out...Regency brand, around 80,000 BTU output.

 

[mwilson]

This will be it's replacement....Hearthstone 120,000 BTU Soapstone model.

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[JR]

I'm looking at replacing our old outdoor wood boiler next year. I've already had to weld on the exchanger twice and it's not something I'm interested in putting money into. The dilemma is I don't want to be married to another one another 10 plus years but being we have a heat pump I have to have SOMETHING to heat the house with during power outages which is all too common on our road. I like the outdoor units because it keeps the wood out of the house. I'm really looking at one of these

http://www.airstove.com

If the website is to be believed they are supposed to be very efficient. Ties right into existing duct work. The appealing aspect to me is I wouldn't even bother running it when temps are anything above low to mid 20's because our heat pump is very efficient. Its when it gets cold enough to kick on the Aux heat strips that really turns the meter. I could run this when it's cold or during power outages and literally let itself burn out and forget about it until conditions warrant again. That's not so easy to do with a boiler. I just wish I knew someone with some first hand experience with them.

 

[jhenderson]

This will be it's replacement....Hearthstone 120,000 BTU Soapstone model.

View attachment 1011354[/ATTACH]

My wife made me sell our soapstone because it was a top loader and made a mess. I loved that stove. It radiated heat for 8 hrs after the fire was completely out. I think I cried when the guy left with it. We replaced it with an Jotul f 600. It warms fast and is easy to clean. It's nice, but I miss my soapstone.

 

[mwilson]

I've almost bought one twice in the last month. I am quite taken with it. It comes with an end door as well, either left or right.

Will try to resist until next summer....it's heavy and will not be fun to get it in through the lake side doors right now...and through the snow to get it down there...

 

[Jim W]

Good luck with the Winter Bomb Cyclone that the weather service has forecasted. We have friends in Williamsburg VA that said they have had 6" of snow already from this storm and is very cold for them. They told me to come and get their snow and the cold weather as they do not want this or want to shovel the snow. I told them that I do not shovel snow anymore but I did offered them my snow blower if that would help?

 

[Wayne M.]

Well we are in a frigid cycle like we haven't seen in a long time. This set us up for a dry sugary powder snow unlike we've seen. Often we've always gotten wet heavy packs snow, so this really is not bad. It's the wind and temp that's the worry.

 

[jhenderson]

Good luck with the Winter Bomb Cyclone that the weather service has forecasted. We have friends in Williamsburg VA that said they have had 6" of snow already from this storm and is very cold for them. They told me to come and get their snow and the cold weather as they do not want this or want to shovel the snow. I told them that I do not shovel snow anymore but I did offered them my snow blower if that would help?

Yes, bombogenisis. Apparently, explosive cyclogenis wasn't quite snappy enough so the weather channel had to coin another phrase. Kinda like them naming any storm they choose to just because it raises the ratings. It's snowing, and the wind is blowing. Does it here every year. You can bet a farm out west it'll all be gone by Memorial Day.

 

[mwilson]

Yes, bombogenisis. Apparently, explosive cyclogenis wasn't quite snappy enough so the weather channel had to coin another phrase. Kinda like them naming any storm they choose to just because it raises the ratings. It's snowing, and the wind is blowing. Does it here every year. You can bet a farm out west it'll all be gone by Memorial Day.

Same here, nothing new....BUT that bombdiggity thingy in October here was different....the ground was super dry which didn't help the tree roots hold but those winds were strange....hoping we don't get any more of that action during this storm....there are still trees laying on wires from the October storm and many of the standing trees were weakened.....an extended power failure would not be a good thing given Saturday and Sunday's super low temperatures in the forecast.

 

[mwilson]

In Houlton Today, just started snowing here.

I believe Hoopty and I will go home via the Haynesville Woods today. Much less traffic..

 

[jhenderson]

I'm just finishing supper and headed back out to dress up the driveways I broke open this afternoon. We got about 14inches but it's nice and dry. Unfortunately, the wind is supposed to gust about 40mph all night. I'll probably be dressing up my work all day tomorrow. Hainsville woods. It's a lot nicer ride now than when I was a teenager. I still daydream about the abandoned farm houses along the road. Can you say " Off Grid"?

 

[RUSSELL5000]

I am too far away from the east coast to be impacted much. Our forecast is for six inches to twelve inches of snow, high temps in the single digits, low temps between zero and minus ten. Colder than average but not unusual for us in the winter. It IS windy though.

The rent snow has been dry and fluffy - nice change!

 

[jgillott]

I just want to know why everything now has to have a warning associated with it. It's January in the mountains of PA. What do you expect it to feel like outside. Now we have to have a wind chill warning because the temp is below zero and the wind is blowing. The local news can't go 30 seconds without talking about it.

 

[mwilson]

Well I made it home.....barely.

Got below the Houlton town line and guess what?? They hadn't plowed....at all.....went a little further, snow got deeper...and so on...got bad enough that I didn't dare stop. Up over the three lane hills at 10 mph with the traction control light flashing like a strobe....snow blowing out both front wheel wells in the fashion of a Jeep Off Road commercial...sometimes up the hood as well....all the way home..

That is the hardest that I have ever pushed this car...

I think I captured some of it on the new dash cam, I'll check in the morning. I don't want to wade back out to the car tonight....

 

[mwilson]

Out the back door and it’s still snowing...