Boy did it get COLD

Not sure about the rest of y'all but it got really cold here. Not sure I like it this cold in the winter but it does give me and excuse to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and plan my garden for next year. How is everybody else managing the cold?

how cold is it?

Here in Caerbryn South Wales 117 mtrs above sea level .. it's chuffing cold , minus four with an evil wind chill in about a 25 mph wind at present,  likely to reach 35 to 40 mph in the early hours .

The  artic winds are expected to climb up to 70 mph 0 mph up in Scotland blowing in as sub oC  zero stuff from Iceland  .
Down here we might escape most of the worst of it .
( I've got my prayer mat out for that one I can tell you ).

Plantoid,  After reading, I think I will curl up on the sofa with a heavy blanket and heating pad.

Depends on what kind of cold you're talking about, mschaef. It's in the 40's here for a few days so I've been out doing fall clean up, harvesting & watering the SFG & playing in the compost pile. But we've already had frosts and snow, so this weeks weather is a bit of a 'heat wave'.  

Our normal winter here is 30's day, 20's nites with constant high winds. Once I'm housebound there will be closets to organize, rugs to steam clean, walls to paint, sci-fi books to read, seeds to order, movies & series to catch up on (just started 'The Newsroom' tonite), etc. But when February gets here it'll be INDOOR SEED STARTING TIME! Yippeeeee!  

CC

Last I check it was -3F not including the wind chill. With the wind chill its -23F. For the next couple of days we won't be getting above 0F. :affraid:Problem for me is that my two boys want to go outside and play in the snow, before you ask they are 3 and 6. I say its way way way to cold to be out even for 5 mins and the dog agrees.

sanderson wrote:Plantoid,  After reading, I think I will curl up on the sofa with a heavy blanket and heating pad.

Well we missed the worst of it .
It turned warmer about 06.00 and by 06.45 the winds dropped to around 20 mph  the frost had gone but boy is it bracing air or what ?
 England and North Wales have 25  red alert flood warning with another 29 amber warnings.

Up in the North of Scotland in the early hours they got hit with 142 MPH gusts  average 96 MPH for a wee while ..... Frost ,winds , snow & rain but no sunshine  

 There is a massive storm surge expected ( normal  high tides driven higher  with the winds  )on the NW UK coast around 22.00 to 03.00 hrs tonight ..the worst for 30 or more years.   Loads of flood warnings and pleas not to go out . No end of bridges & motorways  closed to lorries. Plenty more trees  blown over.

 Here in the Bristol channel area our normal tide is about  26 to 45 feet ,  a good storm surge up the channel can easily take that to 70 feet max.
 Garden furniture has been blown on to rail tracks  in several places causing train delays. One of the things removed was a 14 foot diameter trampoline complete with high side protection .

We are being advised to have a check in our gardens before the lull  in  the storms ends and to tidy away /secure anything loose.
 
I'm getting wrapped up like an Eskimo for that in few minutes.
 

So far there is about 25,000 homes without power in N Ireland and Scotland .

 We got a restock of torch & radio batteries yesterday when we did our weekly shop so should tonight's expected evil weather move South we are reasonably prepared.

Snow shovel , wellies and stiff broom at the ready  ........  in the bathroom

Okay... I will cease my whining about unexpected 24 degree nights! Brrrrrrrr, keep warm and safe  

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=windchill#New


Scroll down for the charts and conversion tool.

Audrey,  No you won't, and I won't either.  The problem of living in this area is that we want, and expect, to garden year around.  

Folks in the colder areas call it a year and put everything to bed, read their catalogs, and wait until it's time to start their seedlings indoors!

sanderson wrote:Audrey,  No you won't, and I won't either.  The problem of living in this area is that we want, and expect, to garden year around.  

Folks in the colder areas call it a year and put everything to bed, read their catalogs, and wait until it's time to start their seedlings indoors!

*Read with your best pirate voice* Thar be waaay to much truth in that thar comment, LOL!

sanderson wrote:

Folks in the colder areas call it a year and put everything to bed, read their catalogs, and wait until it's time to start their seedlings indoors!

Fact is, we, in the northern climes, are to friggin' busy tryin' to keep the fires burning and the pipes from freezing to even think about that frostline that goes down 4+feet and the leeks and garlic that are sitting in the frozen solid bed for the next 5 months.


I am sure I was mistaken... I thought I heard whining in here...

Let me know if you find anything wicked good in that seed catalog... don't know that I'll have time to get to it any time soon.  

When I got up this morning it was +3 and by 6am it was -9F. We got about 7 inches of snow. It is going to be worse tonight and for the next couple of days and then snow some more. My wife gets on the net looking for warmer destinations. I get out my seed catalog.

"I am sure I was mistaken... I thought I heard whining in here... "

You did, but now I'm slinking away  

I'm way too nice to mention that I'm going to go putter in my greenhouse 

Me too.    It's almost 100* inside you-know-what.  I had opened it this morning but the flap fell back in place.  My husband suggested silicon spray for the zipper.  What does you DH think about it?

Going to tear down the spaghetti plants and remove the rest of the squash.  Rip out the volunteer tomatoes from the pots.  Finish chopping the branches I cut off the wisteria  yesterday, collect the leaves and try to make 1 or 2 leaf cages.

Camp and other frozen folks:  I know you have bitter cold, snow, ice storms, frozen pipes, heaving asphalt roads, protection, food and water for pets and livestock to deal with.  Nothing worse for you to hear is whining from California.

Here is a warm up for all my frozen friends.

Visited Cebu over the weekend.  Temp 30s C  



On the other hand, notice the earthquake damage from late summer.



Back in Palawan I have some kale and tomatoes trying to grow in the same 30s.  The neighbor has blooms on her tomato.



Kay

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:"I am sure I was mistaken... I thought I heard whining in here... "

You did, but now I'm slinking away  

I'm way too nice to mention that I'm going to go putter in my greenhouse 

LOL, I was actually speaking about myself. 

camprn wrote:

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:"I am sure I was mistaken... I thought I heard whining in here... "

You did, but now I'm slinking away  

I'm way too nice to mention that I'm going to go putter in my greenhouse 

LOL, I was actually speaking about myself. 

Now THAT'S funny!  You know we all think we're the center of the universe 

My indoor/outdoor thermometer went down to -9F this morning, and a neighbor reported a similar reading. We're under a wind chill watch all weekend, with values expected to be -20 to -25.  

Meanwhile, I discovered this morning that I have no hot water! Called my general contractor and plumber. The new crawlspace insulation was checked and okayed. I was advised to try to heat up the cavernous garage (vaulted ceiling and extra square footage) where the hot water heater was installed this year. The pipes leading to it are also in the garage and exposed. The status light on the water heater is flashing red.

I was planning to leave for Portland tomorrow a.m. for the weekend to visit my 96-year-old aunt, who is a recent widow and grieving badly. HOWEVER.... Given the current weather situation, I'm not sure whether I dare leave home. What if some pipes burst in my absence?

What does everyone think?

From your description, I'm assuming the supply pipes to the water heater have frozen in the unheated garage.  If the forecast is for continued freezing, you might have to have your plumber do some work  so you have  hot water.  If it will be warming up soon, you could wait and keep your fingers crossed.  Often, you won't know if any damage has been done until the weather warms up, and the ice in the pipes thaws.  You'll know in a hurry if the pipes have cracked.

If you could be patient and want to save some money, rather than heat the entire garage, you could tent the heater and pipes with plastic and put a space heater in the enclosure.  You could also wrap the pipes with heat tape made for that purpose.  If you did both, you would thaw the pipes faster.

I wouldn't leave the house at this point unless I had a reliable house sitter for whom I provided emergency phone numbers of people who could fix a water leak.  And be sure the person knows where the main shut off is.

Boffer, thanks!

My neighbor/cat-sitter lent me a small space heater, and after an hour or so, I do have hot water again (good sign).

My cat-sitter is a neighbor, reliable, and relatively handy. She's also friends with another, super-handy neighbor. She'll be coming by twice daily to feed/check on the cats. And I'll leave my plumber's contact info with her.

I do fear that the cold will be ferocious (Camp, I'm misusing the word on purpose), so I've arranged for my plumber to come over and check things out while I'm gone.

That's great news! Have a safe trip.

I'm planning to take the Mt. Hood route, which is more direct, since my aunt lives just a few miles south of Hwy. 26.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:

camprn wrote:

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:"I am sure I was mistaken... I thought I heard whining in here... "

You did, but now I'm slinking away  

I'm way too nice to mention that I'm going to go putter in my greenhouse 

LOL, I was actually speaking about myself. 

Now THAT'S funny!  You know we all think we're the center of the universe 

Are we not the center of our own universe ?
I seem to recall Kwai Chang Cain mentioning this in an old TV series    Kung Fu

plantoid wrote:[
- - -
 England and North Wales have 25  red alert flood warning with another 29 amber warnings.
 There is a massive storm surge expected ( normal  high tides driven higher  with the winds  )on the NW UK coast around 22.00 to 03.00 hrs tonight ..the worst for 30 or more years.   Loads of flood warnings and pleas not to go out . No end of bridges & motorways  closed to lorries. Plenty more trees  blown over.

 Here in the Bristol channel area our normal tide is about  26 to 45 feet ,  a good storm surge up the channel can easily take that to 70 feet max.
 Garden furniture has been blown on to rail tracks  in several places causing train delays. One of the things removed was a 14 foot diameter trampoline complete with high side protection .

---

My sister lives in Hull in North-East England and right now there are reports of shops and businesses in the city centre being flooded. My sister is OK.