The dreaded "polar vortex" is coming back to the East Coast /Midwest Next Week

[peakbagger]

I guess its time to break into the cold weather wood pile. I had been burning my early season wood up until now and am just about out. My winter wood is mostly beech that has been drying for two years in a prime drying spot. it went into my woodshed (which is in relative shade) with the front covered by tarp The back and lee side are open. I normally put the tarp down to keep snow from blowing in it.

I usually plan on the end of January early February to be my coldest seasonal temps. After that I may get lots of snow but usually the temps are higher. Its barely been winter up until now, the local mountains barely have any snow on them. I was out hiking yesterday and all I need was some traction on my feet to deal with the ice. I have used my new snowblower once so far this year. The local snowmobile rental place has a fleet of at least 40 brand new sleds parked that havent been used once as the local trails are not open. Dealers reportedly sold out early in the season due to Covid. The ski areas after one good dump are now burning up the power making snow. Next weekend is the MLK weekend ,the first big holiday week and expect more than few folks will be unhappy.

 

[Bad LP]

We need snow badly

 

[peakbagger]

I agree if we dont have snow we get more flatlanders moving up here

 

[begreen]

The cold has passed here. It's been a mild winter so far, but Jan and Feb often are full of surprises. Right now we are inline with the Pineapple Express, a 2000 mile long firehose from Hawaii. 55º outside and about 2.5" rain in the past 24 hrs.

 

[begreen]

Turns out this is not just wet, but the mother of all atmospheric rivers. In the first 15 days of January we'll see 25% of our average annual rainfall!

A Category 5 atmospheric river - stretching 2,700 miles across the Pacific -- is drenching the Northwest US | CNN

In the first 11 days of 2021, Seattle has seen 5.12 inches of rain. With an additional 4 inches of rain forecast, they could receive roughly 25% of their annual rainfall by Jan 15.

www.cnn.com

 

[Gearhead660]

I guess its time to break into the cold weather wood pile. I had been burning my early season wood up until now and am just about out. My winter wood is mostly beech that has been drying for two years in a prime drying spot. it went into my woodshed (which is in relative shade) with the front covered by tarp The back and lee side are open. I normally put the tarp down to keep snow from blowing in it.

I usually plan on the end of January early February to be my coldest seasonal temps. After that I may get lots of snow but usually the temps are higher. Its barely been winter up until now, the local mountains barely have any snow on them. I was out hiking yesterday and all I need was some traction on my feet to deal with the ice. I have used my new snowblower once so far this year. The local snowmobile rental place has a fleet of at least 40 brand new sleds parked that havent been used once as the local trails are not open. Dealers reportedly sold out early in the season due to Covid. The ski areas after one good dump are now burning up the power making snow. Next weekend is the MLK weekend ,the first big holiday week and expect more than few folks will be unhappy.

My shoulder season wood is down to about a 1/4 cord. Been burning that in the insert during the evening. The big stove gets the good stuff 24/7. If the temp gets down into the single digits or lower, I just have 2 fires going. Waiting and ready for it. Only had a couple days in the single digits so far.
Got a good amount of snow a couple weeks ago and its still here which is odd. Usually it will warm up and melt off a bit. Got a snowmobile trail going across the field behind me. Still looking ok. Usually turns brown after a couple days of heavy use.

 

[Bad LP]

I agree if we dont have snow we get more flatlanders moving up here

Good God! We can't have that with their city streets, attitudes with coffee and donut trash blowing around.

 

[thewoodlands]

We had a very dry summer & fall and this winter we're behind on what we usually get for snow.

We had some cold weather early on so we switched from burning pine to hardwood, we still have just under 4 face cord of pine left for this spring.

Because last winter was warmer than usual, we have two face cord of beech and sugar maple left that we'll burn this February.

The deer are looking good this winter, we had 18-20 on the hill in the back feeding on some downed maple and other stuff on the neighbor's property.

 

[begreen]

I suspect more cold is coming your way. The chill is on locally which usually means it's heading east soon.