Well it is genuinely nasty out there today. Yesterday was rain and some snow melt…and then around three this morning it was followed up with the bottom dropping out of the thermometer and the heaviest gusting winds I’ve seen in a long time. So, what you have here is ice everywhere and a tremendous amount of wind. I’m going to go ahead and get the generator staged because I’d say it’s 50/50 that there’s going to be an interruption of service.
However, last night I did some grocery shopping so I have no need to leave the house. My plan is to sit here and listen to the wind rattle the windows and watch the carnage on the news.
I’ve food, heat, water, internet, and strong sense of self-interest… so, yeah, not a problem.Should make for some interesting listening on the police radio today.
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM SUNDAY TO
2 PM MST MONDAY…* WHAT…Mixed precipitation followed by heavy snow and blowing
snow expected. Ice accumulations of a light glaze Sunday morning
with the arrival of the arctic. Total snow accumulations of 4 to
6 inches in the Missoula Valley, and 5 to 8 inches in the
Bitterroot Valley. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph in the
Missoula Valley.* WHERE…Missoula/Bitterroot Valleys.
* WHEN…From 3 AM Sunday to 2 PM MST Monday.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Travel could be very difficult. Areas of
blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The cold
wind chills as low as 15 below zero could result in hypothermia
if precautions are not taken.
Wife and I went into town yesterday. Warmed up enough to be less than miserable outside. We needed some supplies and I wanted to find out about an incident at our McDonald’s that I listened to on the scanner this past week. Got the supplies but the manager at McDonalds wouldn’t say a word about the incident, even though I know her. She was afraid of losing her job, and I conclude the powers that be wanted it to just “go away”. Must have had an ethnic component. Most of our troubles here now do.
If my neighborhood is anything to go by that last polar vortex killed a whole lot of car batteries. I’ve been seeing cars with their hoods up getting a jump all over the place.
So… Seems to me that, since no one was going anywhere anyway, the pro-move would to have been to take the battery out of your car and hauled it inside for the duration of the vortex.
We’re well above freezing right now, but freezing temps will return tonight and tomorrow morning the roads will be an ice rink. Glad I’m walking distance to work.
“ the pro-move would to have been to take the battery out of your car and hauled it inside for the duration of the vortex.”
Thats fairly difficult on some newer cars, my wifes car is a newer Ford that taks about an hour to change the battery as you have to remove the windshield wipers and quite a few other things to dig it out of the firewall. I now just try to leekp a quality battery in it and change it yearly. Its enough to make me ask where the battery is on any future car purchase.
Come to think of it, I had an old Buick way back in the day were the battery was a nightmare to get too. Most of my cars batteries have been easy access.
I’m currently carless, so it wasn’t an issue this go round, but I think down to about -10, I’d just be sure to start the car every day. Sustained cold below -10 and I’m going to pull the battery out so I don’t have to futz around in the cold. It hit -30 where I’m at a couple of time durning the polar vortex and I do not want to have to be outside in that kind of cold.
Put a trickle charger on the battery, a heat patch on the oil pan, and put in a block heater. Plug it is in for an hour and you’re good.
Working at a Dealership now and a few batteries but mostly tires and rims from curb strikes. Batteries need to be fully charged not just taken on short trips and never fully charged
*Cough* well, then. That is some fearsome wx…sounds like your generator maintenance plan was spot-on. The car battery comment though was apt – a reminder I need to consider fresh ones for the baby in the budget.
I dont know why, but as long as you start the car once a day and drive it, the degree of cold doesnt seem to make much difference in battery life. However, I do keep a jump-pack on standby so that if I go out and get a dead battery I can start the car.
I spent all day Saturday from 0500hrs till dark Lion hunting up the Blackfoot………it’s about an hour east of good ‘ol Zootown (Missoula for non local folk). No cats, but the dogs got some exercise and the sleds all ran okay, which is always a crapshoot. Rained all day with mild temperatures and spent the night at my cabin west of Lincoln. Woke up in the middle of the night to an old fashioned blizzard, below zero temps, snow, and winds in excess of 60 miles an hour. Luckily the tractor fired right up, but still took about two hours to plow out through the wind packed drifts. Just made it back to the Bitterroot Valley this afternoon after a stop at Cracker Barrel. It was a good shakedown exercise to ensure my winter preps, such as truck, tractor, sled, clothing, tools, food, etc…were all in order and performed as needed. It was also a reminder that it’s winter in Montana, and if you’re not careful, it can bite you in the ass.
Got to help some folks with EMS, I’m a local VFD guy. crappy roads, crappy weather. Then plowed some snow till after dark, had to be sub 5f. all and all a good day.
I was dismayed at all the warnings here in the midwest last week about cold not seen in 50 years; it got down to minus 5 and the winds up to 15 or 20 mph; not pleasant but nowhere near what you saw this week.
Not only that – we had much worse 4 years ago; what is it with all of these people saying that something is the best/ worst/ first time ever when it isn’t?!? Too many writers out there assume something is new because they haven’t heard of it and can’t be bothered to do 5 minutes of research before spouting off!
End rant… I figures you guys would understand since no one around here seems to!
Have1999 Chevy Lumina. Battery is buried under some diagonal bracing under windshield wiper reservoir. Had a Dodge Caravan. When I had to disconnect the battery the dealer had to reprogram the computer before car would start again. Did not do that again.