Last Cold Blast? ... I Hope So!

[jebatty]

I hope tonight is the last cold blast of this winter season, -26F is the forecast followed by a gradual warming. We were into the mid -20'sF last night and it got all the way up to +3 this afternoon -- heatwave. A good 3 feet of snow on the ground.

Clear and sunny today, and maybe the best part of clear, sunny cold days is high solar electric production, nearing the 50kwh level for the day. I have been heating with wood since 1981, but strangely I'm liking solar electric, probably anything solar, more and more these days. Nothing to do but soak up boundless energy, 100% green, 0 carbon, and virtually no effort.

 

[laynes69]

Here in Ohio, Monday night they are calling for -2*. This winter has been brutal for sure. These temps are unheard of in March, more like January weather. And this year we've had temps of -20 in the area which hasn't been here in 20 years. Our woodpile has taken a beating, luckily we've only burned maybe 10 gallons of LP to supplement on those brutal nights. I'm ready for the garden, and I'm going to have to play catch up on the woodpile this spring if it ever gets here. I hope this winter doesn't become the norm, otherwise I'm going to really have to focus on the tightening up the home.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I hope this winter doesn't become the norm,

Sorry to disappoint, but it has to become more than the norm to give us time to fix all those pipeline breaks. We can't keep the flow going if we can't get in the muskegs to fix the breaks. All I can say is prep twice the wood you normally do & hope that the winters are long & cold.

 

[Gasifier]

We needed a good cold winter. Maybe it will put a hurting on some these nasty bugs like the EAB and the ticks!

 

[iceguy4]

We needed a good cold winter. Maybe it will put a hurting on some these nasty bugs like the EAB and the ticks!

It has been a while...I'm sure there is some "up side" to this brutal cold...I'm sure some will wrongly assume global warming is not happening...

 

[BrotherBart]

Sorry to disappoint, but it has to become more than the norm to give us time to fix all those pipeline breaks. We can't keep the flow going if we can't get in the muskegs to fix the breaks. All I can say is prep twice the wood you normally do & hope that the winters are long & cold.

Never thought of that. You guys need those muskegs, bogs to the rest of us, frozen so you can get in there to fix the pipes.

 

[arbutus]

High of 2F today. Spring is 19 days away.

 

[Gasifier]

It has been a while...I'm sure there is some "up side" to this brutal cold...I'm sure some will wrongly assume global warming is not happening...

I have read that at real cold temperatures it is tougher for the EAB to survive. I am certainly not counting on the cold to wipe them out. But if it could keep them at bay, that would be nice. I am hoping for another cold winter next year. You would be very correct in saying some will wrongly assume. And like Benny Hill use to say. Never assume. You will make an ass-u-me!

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Never thought of that. You guys need those muskegs, bogs to the rest of us, frozen so you can get in there to fix the pipes.

Yes, worst of it is we are fixing/replacing pipe that according to schedule has not seen 33% of it's service life yet. The whole industry should be having some very candid meetings after the thaw. It's going to have a bad effect on some very large budgets if pipelines that were estimated & costed at X years begin to fail at <33% of X years. Prices are likely to go up as removing more sand is just as costly. Sure to be an interesting summer with the budget adjustments that will be required. You folks south of 49 need to be thinking the same for XL when it goes ahead. Damned abrasive stuff.

 

[Pat53]

High of 2F today. Spring is 19 days away.

I had a high today of about 8F, -19F Sunday morning and about the same this morning. The longer range forecast is still showing well below normal temps, anywhere from 10-15 degrees, for at least the next 2-3 weeks. We've had 2 days above freezing in the last 90 days !! Newberry, MI had a low temp of -41F Friday morning !

Looks like we'll be breaking a record soon for the most days in a winter with temps at or below zero which was 59 days set in the 1960's I believe. I think we are at 55 days now. This could end up being the coldest winter on record for the December-March period. Amazingly, it was the 4th warmest January on record globally. Only in the central N. America area and Scandinavia and Russia were colder than normal. We need the jet stream to flip back to a normal west to east flow. Hard to believe it can basically stay in the same pattern for 3 months now !

Pat

 

[muncybob]

I have read that at real cold temperatures it is tougher for the EAB to survive. I am certainly not counting on the cold to wipe them out. But if it could keep them at bay, that would be nice. I am hoping for another cold winter next year. You would be very correct in saying some will wrongly assume. And like Benny Hill use to say. Never assume. You will make an ass-u-me!

What I have read is there will be an even greater reduction of those critteers if you have several thaw cycles followed by deep freeze temps. I think we have had a "thaw" only once since January...I hope it was enough to kill them! Radio said we expect to set a new record low tonight for this date. I'm hoping some snow melts latere this week, I need to get my truck to my stacks or I'll have no wood in 2 weeks.

 

[kennyp2339]

My cabin fever has reached an all time high... tonights low temp is forecasted to be -4, which seems to be the new normal for nnj..hearing about a possible 40 deg weekend which has me very excited, I need to start splitting more wood for next year !!

 

[Gasifier]

What I have read is there will be an even greater reduction of those critteers if you have several thaw cycles followed by deep freeze temps. I think we have had a "thaw" only once since January...I hope it was enough to kill them! Radio said we expect to set a new record low tonight for this date. I'm hoping some snow melts latere this week, I need to get my truck to my stacks or I'll have no wood in 2 weeks.

I don't want to derail Jim's thread so here is an interesting article on it. We hit -29 on a couple of days. And we had many, many days below -20 and many days below 0° with wind. Hopefully it did some serious damage to them!

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5191794.pdf

 

[Gasifier]

My cabin fever has reached an all time high... tonights low temp is forecasted to be -4, which seems to be the new normal for nnj..hearing about a possible 40 deg weekend which has me very excited, I need to start splitting more wood for next year !!

Lately, I have been going out and cutting no matter what the temperature. Unless there is to much wind. I did not go out for many days because of the cold, and in many cases the layer of ice under the snow. Dangerous walking conditions. But the quick thaw and other factors have made the walking better. I have to get outside or else I can start getting bummed out!

 

[Fred61]

I'm probably wrong most of the time but you can't blame me for not being an independent thinker but I believe that the warm winters are only part of the problem that has us inundated with ticks. When I was growing up and until 30 or so years ago, I didn't even know what a tick was.

I just seem to find it a coincidence that the bald eagle eggs have firmed up and the magnificent bird is now producing young which is credited to the reduction of DDT in the atmosphere after all these years since banning it. I just can't help thinking that the residual has also been keeping some of these bugs at bay for the same period and they are also starting to proliferate.

Many of those bugs are down under the snow nice and warm and toasty and without remote reading thermometers don't have the slightest idea it was 10 below last night.

 

[Gasifier]

I'm probably wrong most of the time but you can't blame me for not being an independent thinker but I believe that the warm winters are only part of the problem that has us inundated with ticks. When I was growing up and until 30 or so years ago, I didn't even know what a tick was.

I just seem to find it a coincidence that the bald eagle eggs have firmed up and the magnificent bird is now producing young which is credited to the reduction of DDT in the atmosphere after all these years since banning it. I just can't help thinking that the residual has also been keeping some of these bugs at bay for the same period and they are also starting to proliferate.

Many of those bugs are down under the snow nice and warm and toasty and without remote reading thermometers don't have the slightest idea it was 10 below last night.

Same here Fred. We never had this many ticks here until the winters started getting a lot milder. We shall see. No doubt that snow and bark/wood helps keep them warm, but hopefully after extended periods of cold temperatures they can't stay toasty anymore. I for one hope it gets to them. Hopefully. We shall see.