Severe Weather 2022

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Geez... I'd be afraid to even handle firewood in in a $10k+ snowsuit! My first three cars probably didn't cost that much... combined.

I was in the local hardware store yesterday, and saw they had an entire aisle of shelving loaded with wired heated jackets by Milwaukee. What made me laugh was that they had all the heating elements around the core, whereas in our local temperatures (only rarely below 0°F), I've NEVER had an issue keeping my core warm. A few appropriate layers, or even old-skool flannel and wool, always does that job well enough down into single digits and lower.

What gets cold on me is always toes and fingers, way before and way more often, than anything else. Steel cap boots don't help, whether just in my imagination or for real, my toes seem to freeze while out splitting wood old our "cold" and snowy days in logger boots.

They need to put that Lithium Ion heater tech into some thin but durable glove liners and socks, and move that stupid jacket inventory to a place that might actually benefit from it, like Chicken Coop AK!
 
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We're in the 68 mph gust range, all the winds start later tomorrow night.
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One of my daughters in Alaska has a pair of Milwaukee branded gloves with battery and heating elements. They are far too small for me to try, she says they work good.

I would prefer to find, as @Ashful suggested, a heated inner glove so I an continue to handle cordwood, replace the outer leather glove when the fingertips start to wear through, and get more life out of the heated liners.

The Co-operative store in the village of Chicken, Alaska, aka the Chicken COOP is unlike any other retail establishment I can name. Many vendors, eclectic merch will have you headed in the right direction.

I agree that steel toes and steel insoles are detrimental to comfort on foot in snow. One advantage of the new composite toes.

These are the sort of temperatures where people might notice air leaks in their otherwise adequate outdoor gear and re-evaluate air leaks into their homes.
 
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I would prefer to find, as @Ashful suggested, a heated inner glove so I an continue to handle cordwood, replace the outer leather glove when the fingertips start to wear through, and get more life out of the heated liners.
Exactly. If I'm spending money on Lithium Ion-heated gloves, no way I want to wear thru them in two days of splitting wood. Liners under my regular cowhide gloves would be preferred.

The Co-operative store in the village of Chicken, Alaska, aka the Chicken COOP is unlike any other retail establishment I can name. Many vendors, eclectic merch will have you headed in the right direction.
I became familiar with Chicken AK from Itchy Boots. Great way to end her years-long North American adventure, for anyone who was watching at the start (2019).



I agree that steel toes and steel insoles are detrimental to comfort on foot in snow. One advantage of the new composite toes.
I like composite toes, some of my boots have them, but I just don't trust them to stop a spinning chainsaw.

These are the sort of temperatures where people might... re-evaluate air leaks into their homes.
lol... no comment, here. <>
 
Myself and a couple parents from the firehouse took the kids skiing tonight, we got 8 runs in, the man made snow was actually pretty good, such ashame that it will get washed away then turned into a big ice block come Friday evening.
At the power co. Storm room opens Thursday afternoon, my vacation day on Friday has been “cancelled” so since I’ll be at work Friday, the unspoken rule is that you stay for the duration, 55mph gusts mean damage for us, if we get that wind it’s easily a 3 day event for us, so figure we’ll be able to wrap things up and return to normal either Monday or Tuesday. @heavy hammer area, he’s getting close to 65mph off the Lakes so he’ll be busy for the next 7 day’s minimum, and I might be having lunch or dinner w/ him midweek if they’re whacked bad enough.
 
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Starting tomorrow evening thru Saturday they are calling for over 2 feet of snow with 50 mph winds. Glad I have Friday thru Monday off. Perfect Christmas, I won’t have to go anywhere 😁 I got a full gas can for the snowblower, and hauled in enough pellets for a week.
 
A chemical handwarming pad placed along the back of your hand, under a liner glove, will extend their use down to some surprisingly low temps. Not -35, but it should work with a heavier glove too.
 
I’ll be doing some exterior painting on Friday, lol. Supposed to get mid 40s!
 
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If anyone is looking for shearling, check out Pat Garrett's place just off I-78 in PA. Sickafus.com

Measured and made a long coat for my wife. I bought a second shearling coat for a great price.

He does the shearling for Yellowstone.
 
I need to do rear brakes on a vehicle. Hoping the 40s next Friday are correct.
 
I’ll be doing some exterior painting on Friday, lol. Supposed to get mid 40s!
We have a range of 9F to 55F on Friday. Not often that you see a swing that wide in one day, this close to the water!

6F on Saturday. _g
 
My friendly Alaskan advice for those you facing cold temps you aren't prepared for remains to stay the heck indoors. If you must go out, bundle up in everything you got, get 'er done and get back inside.

Besides fingers and toes, pay attention to your other extremities, ears, tip of nose and chin. These are all areas with a lot of surface area to lose heat, and relatively low blood supply to replace lost heat. One we see up here regularly is frostbite injury around the eyes, the victim will look vaguely like a raccoon as they were otherwise properly equipped, but needed to see what they were doing...

One important factor in preventing frostbite and hypothermia is staying hydrated, but I can tell you having to stop and pee outdoors at 40 below is no bueno. Come up with a plan, execute the plan, and get back indoors.

Also, be sure you have a house key on your person BEFORE you step outdoors. It doesn't matter if your spouse is ticked at you, if your kids are playful or if your dog is a hyperactive dolt. Getting locked out at 40 below is going to hurt a lot and it will start hurting very soon.

FWIW I did bring in about a face cord from the lawn to the garage this morning at -40. I chose fairly minimal gear for the conditions because there was nothing else I HAD to do outdoors today. I easily spent 20% of my invested time inside the garage in all my gear gripping one of the hot water pipes on my boiler to rewarm my gloves and hands. If I had had to also run the snowthrower today I would have added two layers to my ensemble, used disposable hand and toe warmers, and still have spent a significant amount of time indoors gripping a hot water pipe on the boiler.

There is nothing wrong with using all your weather gear, bringing in 12 hours of cordwood in the morning and then repeating again in the evening. There is no shame in feeling the cold. There is no shame in respecting minus 40 F to the point of fear. You do need to prioritize. What do you HAVE to do to live until sunrise tomorrow?

Frostbite is the gift that keeps on giving. Kinda like herpes. Once you have it, you aren't getting rid of it. Your bitten areas will be unreasonably, painfully sensitive to moderately cold temperatures for the rest of your life.

Good luck and best wishes.
 
I need to do rear brakes on a vehicle. Hoping the 40s next Friday are correct.
So do I. I might have to move my Jeep steel so I can get it all the way in this time. Last weekend ran all new lines and hoses, new front parts, left the back alone because it had been fine. Sure enough, while seating the front pads, one of the rear shoes fell apart, so putting all new stuff back there too. After tomorrow got plenty of time. Gonna need it since I need to keep up with the storm too.
 
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The w
My friendly Alaskan advice for those you facing cold temps you aren't prepared for remains to stay the heck indoors. If you must go out, bundle up in everything you got, get 'er done and get back inside.

Besides fingers and toes, pay attention to your other extremities, ears, tip of nose and chin. These are all areas with a lot of surface area to lose heat, and relatively low blood supply to replace lost heat. One we see up here regularly is frostbite injury around the eyes, the victim will look vaguely like a raccoon as they were otherwise properly equipped, but needed to see what they were doing...

One important factor in preventing frostbite and hypothermia is staying hydrated, but I can tell you having to stop and pee outdoors at 40 below is no bueno. Come up with a plan, execute the plan, and get back indoors.

Also, be sure you have a house key on your person BEFORE you step outdoors. It doesn't matter if your spouse is ticked at you, if your kids are playful or if your dog is a hyperactive dolt. Getting locked out at 40 below is going to hurt a lot and it will start hurting very soon.

FWIW I did bring in about a face cord from the lawn to the garage this morning at -40. I chose fairly minimal gear for the conditions because there was nothing else I HAD to do outdoors today. I easily spent 20% of my invested time inside the garage in all my gear gripping one of the hot water pipes on my boiler to rewarm my gloves and hands. If I had had to also run the snowthrower today I would have added two layers to my ensemble, used disposable hand and toe warmers, and still have spent a significant amount of time indoors gripping a hot water pipe on the boiler.

There is nothing wrong with using all your weather gear, bringing in 12 hours of cordwood in the morning and then repeating again in the evening. There is no shame in feeling the cold. There is no shame in respecting minus 40 F to the point of fear. You do need to prioritize. What do you HAVE to do to live until sunrise tomorrow?

Frostbite is the gift that keeps on giving. Kinda like herpes. Once you have it, you aren't getting rid of it. Your bitten areas will be unreasonably, painfully sensitive to moderately cold temperatures for the rest of your life.

Good luck and best wishes.


Doesn't the pee freeze before it hits the ground?


That's got to be fun to see... once, lol.
 
Oops! Thought it was Poindexter who replied! Figured it was 2am up there! Its 6am for you Dan!

I don't want it frost bitten either, I wouldn't be peeing into the wind though. The leeward side should be marginally warmer, lol
 
Well that destroys a long held hope I held.

Matt and never tried to pee below the mid -20s.
 
I've peed at somewhere near -60 or more. Didn't freeze in the air. It's just cumbersome to find wee willie through all of the layers..lol.
 
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At this moment the lower 48 (broad brush) is facing a weather system they are not prepared for, similar to a 110 degree heat wave up here. The infrastructure and wardrobe components are simply not available for extremes like that in either locale.

Given hair on seal skin pants and etcetera are simply not available in Iowa, the only useful item available today is knowledge. If you are out in it, with whatever gear you got, and you don't feel cold anymore the time to get indoors and get warmed up is right stinking now.

Today I had to bundle up to bring wood from the lawn to my rack in the garage. I have more than adequate gear for that, but it was not fun. My goal is to not go back outdoors again until I leave for work tomorrow morning.

I heard some dummy on local TV report this as a 'once in a lifetime' storm. Really?
At least he didn't call it Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon. Bomb Cyclone anyone?

It's just a winter storm. For us not even that much snow and certainly no where near as cold as we have seen many times. The wind will be a lot, but that's not that uncommon either. I guess my point is that we are used to storms like this, at least here in WI it is not all that special. Of course the media has to sensationalize it!

I will say that when the weather gets like this is when I am happy that my winter's wood supply in in my basement next to my wood furnace. No trip outside to haul firewood for this guy!