Okay, it's officially COLD.
-23F and dropping to around -31F tonight here. It's not the worst, I'm on the fringe of this air mass. Winds 10mph = -42F wind chill right now, predicted to -60F tomorrow as it get windy.
Take care out there everybody!
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Last edited Sat Jan 13, 2024, 08:24 AM - Edit history (1)
My heating unit handles it, it's the cost that will kill you. I have an emergency location in case the power goes out, there's a wood stove there. I could walk it if I had to but I'd rather not. It's a tossup as to whether to abuse one of my vehicles starting up in that kind of cold. Otherwise, limit power use and hope the other neighbors on the circuit don't over do it. Space heaters are the worst offender for that.
I ran the dishwasher but that's my only extra thing besides the heating unit and one light and my laptop stuff. I don't sleep well during these events but that's one of the compromises to living here.
It's not like there's much escaping it, even north texas is in the chill.
So far, I'm good, stocked up on food and no place to go. No snow to speak of.
and I hope the power stays on!
There's a plan for when stuff doesn't work. It's kind of a pain but it's a plan that's doable.
And thank you.
I'm in Montana but look at that map and you can see all the warnings, most for cold and snowstorms in serious cold. Out east, looks like a bunch of wind that will have serious cold behind it.
Be prepared, the best way to survive mother nature's extremes.
I recall numerous cold snaps like this in the past. It's really a thing when you're out in the middle of Wyoming in a semi and your fuel lines freeze up, which I have experienced. What I noticed, as I was trying to fix the problem, was that even the antelope were huddling together to keep warm.
On nights like this, one can witness unusual phenomena that are magical and the stars are right there, clearer than ever. If there's any moisture in the air, it falls like glitter in a clear sky and any outdoor lights in the area take on the appearance of candles as the light from each one shoots a beam of whatever color it is into the sky. When looking at a town, it's like nothing else seen anywhere... all those beams going straight up and glitter falling, truly and experience.
But it's also the temp where steel breaks like thin ice and gasoline turns to jello, never mind grease for gears, that turns into concrete. On cold nights like this you can tell how cold it's getting by watching the behavior of the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe, it expands less and less until it starts to contract, that's also when it's time to find a safe indoor setting because that happens around-45F and colder. In some equipment, the exhaust pipe is right outside the window so you can see it, when it stops expanding it looks like a rope of smoke just laying out in the air as it comes out of the pipe like toothpaste emerging from the tube, just hanging there level.
Surreal.
It's now -28F and should come close to the predicted -31F (wind chill -50 or so) by daylight. Higher speed wind is coming so I'm still indoors until it brings in the warmer air that's definitely incoming. This is the worst of it for us at the westernmost margin of the air mass, should be getting above 0 by Tuesday.
