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Snow in Seattle, and then ...

Post in 'The Inglenook' started by begreen, Jan 19, 2012.

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  1. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,119 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    We got about 7" of snow locally here. No biggy by east coast standards (or AK), but a lot for us. All is well here, that is until this morning when I found a nice crust of ice on top of the snow. :-/ Freezing rain and a rare ice storm alert is in our forecast today. Ugh, I do not like ice storms! The big firs look absolutely leaden with all this additional weight. Some areas are already seeing widespread outages. Can't wait for the weekend when this all is supposed to melt.

    Attached Files:

    begreen, Jan 19, 2012
    #1

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  2. firefighterjake Minister of Fire

    joined: Jul 22, 2008
    13,477 posts
    Unity/Bangor, Maine
    I think someone messed up . . . that shipment of snow was supposed to be delivered here in Maine. Can you pack it up and send it here . . . overnight it if possible. Thanks. ;)

    Shoot . . . I don't think we've even got more than 6 or 7 inches of snow so far this winter.

    And yeah . . . I hate ice storms. Give me a massive snow storm any day.
    firefighterjake, Jan 19, 2012
    #2

  3. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,119 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Just lost power. I am not liking the look of things outside at all...
    begreen, Jan 19, 2012
    #3

  4. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 17, 2009
    4,660 posts
    Croton-on-Hudson, suburbs of NYC
    That is a bad combination of unusual waether! I hope you get your power back soon.
    Flatbedford, Jan 19, 2012
    #4

  5. Highbeam Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 28, 2006
    6,906 posts
    base of Mt. Rainier on the wet side, WA
    We've been out of power since this morning. The ice shell on top of the snow is amazing. Nice to have a good Stihl on hand.


    Going to have to drive home at lunch and fire up the genset. All of the school districts have been closed for the last few days so the kids are starting to get bored.
    Highbeam, Jan 19, 2012
    #5

  6. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,119 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    I'm running on UPS for now. It looks like the outage is due to a wire down about 1/2 mi. from our house. I'm sure the crews are busy, but there's a wire across the road so I hope they can at least isolate this one and reset the pole breaker so that we get power back sooner than later. Now I have to go out and try to wrestle the wood cart over this ice crust. I just emptied the wood box!
    begreen, Jan 19, 2012
    #6

  7. daveswoodhauler Minister of Fire

    joined: May 20, 2008
    1,827 posts
    Massachusetts
    Good luck to ya BeGreen and Highbeam...ice storms are no fun...hope your power is restored soon
    daveswoodhauler, Jan 19, 2012
    #7

  8. zap Minister of Fire

    joined: Aug 25, 2009
    10,400 posts
    Went through a bad one in 98, not fun when your shut in your house for a week or so with all travel banned.


    zap

    Attached Files:

    zap, Jan 19, 2012
    #8

  9. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 17, 2009
    4,660 posts
    Croton-on-Hudson, suburbs of NYC
    Back in October the line was down about 300' from my house for 5 DAYS! Hope you are back up soon.
    Flatbedford, Jan 19, 2012
    #9

  10. lukem Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 12, 2010
    3,140 posts
    Indiana
    I'm not sure which is worse, ice on top of snow, or snow on top of ice. Both have their disadvantages. Ice on top of snow is heavy and makes things break and fall. Snow on top of ice is some of the worst driving/walking you can imagine...and makes the roads nearly impossible to clear.

    Last Feb we got whacked with over an inch of ice...then some snow on top of that. It was very lucky for us we were only without power for about 5 hours.

    Keep warm and safe out there.
    lukem, Jan 19, 2012
    #10

  11. Highbeam Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 28, 2006
    6,906 posts
    base of Mt. Rainier on the wet side, WA
    I made it in to work this morning through all of the dead stoplights. Work had pwoer but now I have to hear the drone of the cummins genset. Wife calls and asks to lend the 290 to my neighbor, okay, his driveway is blocked by a down tree. No power still.

    Wood cart is also empty so I get to refill that today. Can't wait to peel up the ice encased tarp. We had loaded the wood cart up in preparation of the snow storm and I guess I should have anticipated a longer event.

    The boss is out skiing today. Supposed to be epic with several feet of fresh fluffy powder and low temps keeping it light.
    Highbeam, Jan 19, 2012
    #11

  12. pen Super Moderator

    joined: Aug 2, 2007
    6,075 posts
    N.E. Penna
    When we have storms like that here is when we'll start seeing the chimney fires pop up in the news. When the power goes out, folks burning appliances get tested. Lots of bad can happen when folks stress things that are not maintained and emergency crews have to deal with poor conditions to come help in the event of an emergency.

    Hope things get cleared up quickly for you BG.

    pen
    pen, Jan 19, 2012
    #12

  13. BrotherBart He Who Moderates

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    21,954 posts
    Northern Virginia
    Time for that T-6 to walk and talk. Hang in there BG.
    BrotherBart, Jan 19, 2012
    #13

  14. blacktail Feeling the Heat

    joined: Sep 18, 2011
    368 posts
    Western WA
    People always talk about how poorly we handle the snow in this area. But there's two things I always point out.
    1. Because we don't get snow that often, it doesn't make sense for the state, counties, and cities to purchase huge fleets of plows.
    2. We have a lot of hills.

    I'll be going outside soon and clearing some drainage paths in the snow to make sure the water goes the right direction when it starts to melt.
    I predict a large surge in 4wd vehicle sales in the next 1-2 weeks :)
    blacktail, Jan 19, 2012
    #14

  15. bogydave Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 4, 2009
    7,787 posts
    So Cent ALASKA
    Hang in there BeGreen.
    You are set up with plenty to handle that weather.
    Just stay home & stay away form the in-experienced drivers out there.
    Saw that they closed some of the Passes due to avalanche danger. Sounds like Alaska to me :)
    Hopefully it melts in a few days & don't cause any flooding.
    Did your Green house plants handle the low temps?
    bogydave, Jan 19, 2012
    #15

  16. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,119 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Power is back on for the moment. I went out to load up with some more wood and heard some major limbs breaking high up and taking down several more as it crashed down. It looks like our rhodies and other trees that keep their leaves are taking it hard. Our big bay tree looks particularly sad. with 20ft high branches pinned down on the ground. Oops, power just cut out again for minute. There are breakers tripping all around right now. I am not resetting clocks again until tomorrow! And my wife just pointed out that our hawthorn tree in this picture just split in half. :shut: Ice storms suck.

    On a cheery note, we are the in-place for birds. Their food sources are encased in ice so they are very happy to find two full feeders and suet cakes. Our resident Anna hummingbird has taken up home on a fuchsia sitting on the porch. If he could I think he'd move inside. The T6 is fully stoked with cherry and locust and doing well. Ah life in the country...

    Attached Files:

    begreen, Jan 19, 2012
    #16

  17. Highbeam Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 28, 2006
    6,906 posts
    base of Mt. Rainier on the wet side, WA
    I got the wood cart loaded up too. It's down to 27 degrees here and still raining hard. When I was driving, the antenna began loading up with ice and really bent over! House is on genny power and it looks like top ramen for dinner since the BBQ is a block of ice.

    Check out the 12" icicles on the chimney. That doesn't happen around here.

    Attached Files:

    Highbeam, Jan 19, 2012
    #17

  18. Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle Minister of Fire

    joined: May 27, 2008
    3,993 posts
    Ridge, LI, NY
    I gotta call my buddies in Eagle Creek and see how the rescue is fairing.

    Highbeam, I had that BBQ !! Loved it while it held together :)

    Hang in there, you guys !
    Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle, Jan 20, 2012
    #18

  19. Backwoods Savage Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 14, 2007
    24,181 posts
    Michigan
    We really feel for you guys out there. That weather would certainly not be welcome even here in MI. Good luck to you.
    Backwoods Savage, Jan 20, 2012
    #19

  20. firefighterjake Minister of Fire

    joined: Jul 22, 2008
    13,477 posts
    Unity/Bangor, Maine
    Hang in there guys . . . ice storms bite. Went through the Ice Storm of '98 . . . ten days before my power came back on . . . and this was in my pre-woodstove days . . . was lucky to buy one of the few generators available.

    Surprisingly enough we didn't have more fires or CO calls . . . I expected a lot more.
    firefighterjake, Jan 20, 2012
    #20

  21. Mrs. Krabappel Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 31, 2010
    1,311 posts
    Blue Ridge Mountains NC
    Great pics guys! Hang in there. Bring that Ana's inside! I know this is a secondary reason many of us heat with wood.
    Mrs. Krabappel, Jan 20, 2012
    #21

  22. pen Super Moderator

    joined: Aug 2, 2007
    6,075 posts
    N.E. Penna
    I hear that! Love them beasts. Where I live, the common thing is to put the feeders outside at Mother's day and bring them in by Halloween in hopes that they head out of town before things get too inhospitable. Always hate seeing them go as they are such entertainment in the summer.

    Never realized they would attempt to winter where weather like this was a possibility.

    Winter affects people in different ways. In my area, it's generally cold enough that the ice storms are never very severe. I may see colder temps, but that doesn't mean that things are harder to manage.

    pen
    pen, Jan 20, 2012
    #22

  23. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,119 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Just got power back at 8:45pm. Another couple inches of snowfall since I last posted. House is warm and dinner was fine. Just spaghetti and salad, but made with tomato sauce from the garden and it was good. My son and I got a game of Scrabble in with some wine and beer. Power outages don't need to be stressful. You just need to roll with them. Having a nice warm fire at your back helps a lot.
    begreen, Jan 20, 2012
    #23

  24. webbie Administrator

    joined: Nov 17, 2005
    10,940 posts
    Western Mass.
    That's more snow than we've seen the entire winter so far! - Well, except the 18 inches in October! (that was fall).....

    We got about 3 inches last week, an inch or two the other night and now 2" tonight. Just nice for the view.....but nothing to sled or ski in yet.

    I'm ready for the next outage with that Honda Gen and all my other little toys! Even got a small UPS for the cable modem and router, so the old macbook may still work!
    webbie, Jan 20, 2012
    #24

  25. wetwood Member

    joined: Dec 3, 2009
    175 posts
    Sorry you all got a lot of cleaning up to do after the storm. My brother in law lives south of Tacoma. Have to call him and see how he is fairing.
    wetwood, Jan 20, 2012
    #25
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