Are we talking about this impending cold weather?

[Kassia]

34 minutes ago, Terabith said:

If the power goes, just stick the food outside.  It will be cold enough to keep it frozen.

 

32 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

if the power goes out put the food outside in the cold

That will be fine for refrigerated foods but I don't think the frozen stuff will last.  The weekend will be cold enough but it's supposed to get to around 20 on Monday.  Definitely worth a try.

 

DH says we couldn't stay here that long anyway without heat with it being so cold all weekend.  I don't know...

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Kassia

[popmom]

49 minutes ago, kbutton said:

We look to have an hour or less of rain, but it’s going to get very cold here.

Outdoor cats might be super anxious inside. My parents used to feed a stray who didn’t want to be inside—they put straw inside a cat carrier with the door off, and the cat would climb in when it got cold.

In the past we have left our garage door open just enough for a cat to squeeze in. Eventually, we adopted that cat. lol

[TheReader]

16 minutes ago, Kassia said:

 

That will be fine for refrigerated foods but I don't think the frozen stuff will last.  The weekend will be cold enough but it's supposed to get to around 20 on Monday.  Definitely worth a try.

 

DH says we couldn't stay here that long anyway without heat with it being so cold all weekend.  I don't know...

 

We were w/o power for 5 days (-ish) during our freeze in 2021 - we have a chest freezer in the garage, and just left the frozen stuff in that. It was fine (especially as we didn't open it). Check your freezer, whether chest or upright, how long it stays good. Unopened, it will last a while. 

The refrigerated stuff we stuck in a wagon in the garage, and again, it was all fine. 

I'd think at 20 that's still well below freezing, so that should also keep the frozen stuff frozen.....right? 

As far as staying in the house - do you have sleeping bags and such? Depending on how well insulated your home is, the indoor temps won't get too bad maybe. What we did was put our sleeping bags on the beds for at night, and then put all the candles into one room in the house (everyone had their own flashlight/lantern). We have gas, so were able to cook (If you have gas, baking stuff can work great). I'd cook in the daylight so I could see, and we'd eat as it got dark, then all go hang out in the one room with the candles/lanterns and play board games by candlelight until bed. Our consolidated body heat, etc., in that one room (and blankets, layers, etc) kept us comfy enough, and at night, our sleeping bags kept us warm. 

Hats on/gloves on indoors will help as well, wear shoes over socks, layer up....if you have an indoor/outdoor thermometer with batteries, put that somewhere so you can gauge the indoor temps (our home is well enough insulated that it never got below mid-40s inside, on the last day). 

 

Praying! I'm sure it's extra not fun with the well. 

[Kassia]

21 minutes ago, TheReader said:

We were w/o power for 5 days (-ish) during our freeze in 2021 - we have a chest freezer in the garage, and just left the frozen stuff in that. It was fine (especially as we didn't open it). Check your freezer, whether chest or upright, how long it stays good. Unopened, it will last a while. 

The refrigerated stuff we stuck in a wagon in the garage, and again, it was all fine. 

I'd think at 20 that's still well below freezing, so that should also keep the frozen stuff frozen.....right? 

As far as staying in the house - do you have sleeping bags and such? Depending on how well insulated your home is, the indoor temps won't get too bad maybe. What we did was put our sleeping bags on the beds for at night, and then put all the candles into one room in the house (everyone had their own flashlight/lantern). We have gas, so were able to cook (If you have gas, baking stuff can work great). I'd cook in the daylight so I could see, and we'd eat as it got dark, then all go hang out in the one room with the candles/lanterns and play board games by candlelight until bed. Our consolidated body heat, etc., in that one room (and blankets, layers, etc) kept us comfy enough, and at night, our sleeping bags kept us warm. 

Hats on/gloves on indoors will help as well, wear shoes over socks, layer up....if you have an indoor/outdoor thermometer with batteries, put that somewhere so you can gauge the indoor temps (our home is well enough insulated that it never got below mid-40s inside, on the last day). 

 

Praying! I'm sure it's extra not fun with the well. 

Our chest freezer is in the basement.  We planned on it being in the garage but it wasn't made for that as we expected when ordered (the description said garage freezer).  

Our house is not well insulated at all but we do have sleeping bags.  No gas.  We do have several indoor/outdoor thermometers.  Good idea for us all to hang out in one room for the body heat.  

No running water is really concerning me.  I hate to say I wish the kids weren't coming home but that is how I feel now - I wish they'd wait until the storm is over. 

[BusyMom5]

Hoping we don't get ice!  We farm, DH and the boys are getting ready for a lot of extra work chopping ice, feeding hay, hoping all the equipment cranks!  I'm getting my grocery list ready for Christmas.  I think my cookie decorating day is canceled,  but hopingvwe csn still travel to family by the weekend. 

[popmom]

 We are in B'ham, Alabama. Our dd is a student at Auburn U which is 2 hours away to the southeast. She lives in a mobile home park there, but she's home for the holiday break. The management sent out notices warning residents to take precautions to keep pipes from freezing. The temps will fall to low 20s overnight Thurs into Friday morning. It will be at or below freezing (lows in the teens) until Sunday. I guess we'll have to make the drive down to turn up her heat and let the faucets drip. 

These temps are highly unusual here. We will hit single digits with wind chills well below zero with strong winds. 

The precipitation forecasts are always the big concern around here. Seems like we are always just on the edge of the precip, and everyone is stilled scarred from Snowmageddon 2014. If the forecast is just a smidgen off and we get more rain than anticipated, it will be a disaster here. 

 

[regentrude]

53 minutes ago, Kassia said:

That will be fine for refrigerated foods but I don't think the frozen stuff will last.  The weekend will be cold enough but it's supposed to get to around 20 on Monday.  Definitely worth a try

20 is well below freezing and nothing will thaw.

[Elizabeth86]

1 minute ago, regentrude said:

20 is well below freezing and nothing will thaw.

Agreed! I can’t imagine there would be anything to worry about.

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, Kassia said:

We have well water so no power means no running water - no toilets.  Two of my sons are coming home tomorrow and dd is home from college.  So we'll have 5 people with no toilets if we lose power.  Ds1 and his gf are supposed to come on Saturday but we'll see what happens.  😞  

Fill buckets and tubs and whatnot for flushing.

[mommyoffive]

23 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Our chest freezer is in the basement.  We planned on it being in the garage but it wasn't made for that as we expected when ordered (the description said garage freezer).  

Our house is not well insulated at all but we do have sleeping bags.  No gas.  We do have several indoor/outdoor thermometers.  Good idea for us all to hang out in one room for the body heat.  

No running water is really concerning me.  I hate to say I wish the kids weren't coming home but that is how I feel now - I wish they'd wait until the storm is over. 

Can you just postpone them?

[mommyoffive]

50 minutes ago, TheReader said:

We were w/o power for 5 days (-ish) during our freeze in 2021 - we have a chest freezer in the garage, and just left the frozen stuff in that. It was fine (especially as we didn't open it). Check your freezer, whether chest or upright, how long it stays good. Unopened, it will last a while. 

The refrigerated stuff we stuck in a wagon in the garage, and again, it was all fine. 

I'd think at 20 that's still well below freezing, so that should also keep the frozen stuff frozen.....right? 

As far as staying in the house - do you have sleeping bags and such? Depending on how well insulated your home is, the indoor temps won't get too bad maybe. What we did was put our sleeping bags on the beds for at night, and then put all the candles into one room in the house (everyone had their own flashlight/lantern). We have gas, so were able to cook (If you have gas, baking stuff can work great). I'd cook in the daylight so I could see, and we'd eat as it got dark, then all go hang out in the one room with the candles/lanterns and play board games by candlelight until bed. Our consolidated body heat, etc., in that one room (and blankets, layers, etc) kept us comfy enough, and at night, our sleeping bags kept us warm. 

Hats on/gloves on indoors will help as well, wear shoes over socks, layer up....if you have an indoor/outdoor thermometer with batteries, put that somewhere so you can gauge the indoor temps (our home is well enough insulated that it never got below mid-40s inside, on the last day). 

 

Praying! I'm sure it's extra not fun with the well. 

I remember that Texas cold a few years back and I read some people put tents in one room and stayed in them.  

[Kassia]

50 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Fill buckets and tubs and whatnot for flushing.

buckets will be filled, our tubs don't seal fully.  

 

 

34 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Can you just postpone them?

I suggested it but they are really excited about being home.  I didn't feel comfortable telling them no when it's possible we won't lose power.  They'd be alone in their respective places and their power could go out (but they'd still have water).  I'd feel terrible if that happened.  

[TravelingChris]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

We postponed our solstice backpacking hike. 

We normally take a walk on Christmas day-- we won;t this year.  Too cold.

[TravelingChris]

3 hours ago, MEmama said:

We get to drive to the Boston airport on Friday to pick up DS; last week the prediction was for 5-8 of snow but now it’s 1-2 inches of rain and 50 degrees?! Thinking he might oughta just take the train home instead. Boston traffic is hard enough even in non-weather! 

We have a bit of snow now, but I guess we won’t for the holiday. Boo.

This is just crazy,  We in N. Al will, be having single digits temps and dangerous wind chill factors of -15 and so.

[LifeLovePassion]

I'm just hoping the kids school goes to an e-learning day. No word yet though. 

[Pawz4me]

6 minutes ago, Kassia said:

buckets will be filled, our tubs don't seal fully

Assuming you don't have a gas (or tankless) water heater you can drain water out of it with a hose if you get desperate. You just have to make sure it refills as soon as the power comes back on so it won't be damaged. Hopefully your power will stay on, and even if it goes off you won't get that desperate, but throwing it out for informational purposes just in case.

[BakersDozen]

4 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

We're getting poured on here in Boston and then cold (not insane cold, but cold).

Problem is that this weekend is my youngest's bar mitzvah.  Lots of elderly-ish guests and no parking near the synagogue.

Sigh.

Congrats to your dc!! I was fretting big time for S to get out of Boston today and out of the weather.

[fraidycat]

We are equipped for the cold here and have had lots of it already. I'm hoping everyone stays safe and warm.

[KungFuPanda]

At my house we like to follow this guy. We like that he looks at several different models. It’s like a class, and he’s honest about the uncertainty. We don’t like what he’s reporting lately, but I guess the weather isn’t his fault. 
 

 

[ScoutTN]

38 minutes ago, LifeLovePassion said:

I'm just hoping the kids school goes to an e-learning day. No word yet though. 

School this week?! Yikes. Yuck! Everything here got out Friday. 

[LifeLovePassion]

2 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

School this week?! Yikes. Yuck! Everything here got out Friday. 

My school was done last Friday. Most other districts around here go through Thursday. It is yucky for sure. 

[Faith-manor]

47 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

This is just crazy,  We in N. Al will, be having single digits temps and dangerous wind chill factors of -15 and so.

I am really nervous about this. Son in law just left for New York for Christmas with his parents. Dd and grandsons are already there. I don't know if he left the heat on. Pipes are in the basement.

[Terabith]

My preschool goes through tomorrow, and my youngest's school goes tomorrow, too, but I think literally 100% of her teachers have planned absences.  I'm kinda thinking of telling her that I'm fine with her skipping.  

[TravelingChris]

13 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

School this week?! Yikes. Yuck! Everything here got out Friday. 

Here too.  But for people who didn;t start school until after Labor Day, that is completely normal.

[Terabith]

9 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

Here too.  But for people who didn;t start school until after Labor Day, that is completely normal.

We started in August.

[Vintage81]

5 hours ago, TheReader said:

We're in Houston, but even we are not immune. I'm not excited - I think any of the Texas folks are in "will the grid hold this time???" mode, after 2021's fiasco. 

We're prepped and ready, just in case. If power holds, we'll be fine (well, we had to cut back our banana tree - save the tree, lose the bananas that were growing....). DH is wrapping the necessary plants tonight, pipes are easy for us. I know most of the rest of the country has it worse/more dangerous than us (even the Texas Panhandle area, etc.) but dropping from a high of 71 on Thursday, to a low of 19 (or even 16, some are saying) on Friday morning is going to be....interesting. Wind gusts of 40 mph, so wind chill in the single digits. 

But - no winter precipitation, snow, ice, sleet, etc. to make it dangerous. Thoughts go out to those who'll face all of that. Hoping everyone remains safe and warm. 

This is us too…we’re in the Hill Country. We’re going to finish prepping tomorrow and hope for the best. 🙏

[lynn]

5 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

 

The bottom.falls out here thursday.  Hoping just cold and no precipitation.  Im.so looking forward to my kids coming here Christmas Eve but my son loves an hour away over what we call a mountain here.  They may have to camp out here.  Well see.  Navy kid is in Washington state and the base is closed for a couple.of days.

[Selkie]

We are used to temps way below zero and lots of snow here, but what stinks is that we will also have 60mph winds causing blizzard conditions. Really not looking forward to horse chores over the next several days.

[Pam in CT]

4 hours ago, Terabith said:

If the power goes, just stick the food outside.  It will be cold enough to keep it frozen.

Or in the car if you happen to have racoons and skunks and bears and etc....

 

 

Hoping everyone keeps the power on.

[vonfirmath]

4 hours ago, Kassia said:

I am so stressed about this.  We have blizzard conditions expected Fri/Saturday with widespread power outages.  We have well water so no power means no running water - no toilets.  Two of my sons are coming home tomorrow and dd is home from college.  So we'll have 5 people with no toilets if we lose power.  Ds1 and his gf are supposed to come on Saturday but we'll see what happens.  😞  

And we just got a freezer to store all the extra food with the kids coming home and stocked up on food and now we'll have to worry about all that food spoiling.  I expect it will be a long time before the power comes back on once it's out with so many people affected by this storm. 

And it will be bitter cold.  

I am an absolute mess - I hate all the uncertainty.  

 

 

Fill the tubs with water

We had 4 people and managed for a week without water in Feb 2021

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

At my house we like to follow this guy. We like that he looks at several different models. It’s like a class, and he’s honest about the uncertainty. We don’t like what he’s reporting lately, but I guess the weather isn’t his fault. 
 

 

He is WAY too excited for snow
That's my biggest issue with him

 

But yes I've been following him since the tornadoes in March

 

[vonfirmath]

1 hour ago, Vintage81 said:

This is us too…we’re in the Hill Country. We’re going to finish prepping tomorrow and hope for the best. 🙏

I'm not that worried about the grid this time

they don't have the things done for repair like they did. There is not ice on the roads--thankfully it appears just cold and not precipitation. I'm more worried about leaving the house alone as we travel for Christmas to warmer climes (Arizona)

 

[mommyoffive]

My kids have school until Friday.  E-school though. 

Lots of the parents where they dance have school I think until Thursday or Friday. Not sure about our town.    I know Chicago goes until Thursday.

[BeachGal]

5 hours ago, Kassia said:

That will be fine for refrigerated foods but I don't think the frozen stuff will last.  The weekend will be cold enough but it's supposed to get to around 20 on Monday.  Definitely worth a try.

If you’re concerned about the food in your freezer, pour water in some large plastic containers and freeze them. They won’t melt too quickly in your chest freezer even if the power goes out.

[Just Kate]

So for anyone who travels a lot and/or watches the weather closely, what are your thoughts about my situation? Earlier in the thread I mentioned that my family is vacationing at an all-inclusive resort in Cap Cana and flying home on Friday. We are supposed to fly out of the Punta Cana airport at about 1:30pm EST to Baltimore. Then we fly from Baltimore to Columbus, OH at about 10pm EST. What are the chances that our flights will happen? Are we likely to get stuck in Punta Cana? 
 

I checked on the resorts website and it says no available rooms for Friday night. If I think we may actually get stuck here, I will go talk to someone in person. 
 

I didn’t really even realize the weather was going to be this bad until I saw this thread. Just enjoying my once-in-a-lifetime vacation. I knew with planning it right before Christmas we were taking a chance, but I had hoped the weather would cooperate!!

[TravelingChris]

Both European and NWS models, seem to indicate that you are getting blizzards in OH and bad snowfall that includes WV/  If you can stay, I would do that.  I think this whole weekend will have many cancelled flights due to weather.

[Shoeless]

3 hours ago, Vintage81 said:

This is us too…we’re in the Hill Country. We’re going to finish prepping tomorrow and hope for the best. 🙏

We're near-ish San Antonio. I picked up groceries today and will grab water tomorrow. The grocery store wasn't picked over yet, surprisingly. 

Gotta grab straw for the chicken house to give them extra insulation. I'm also going to get all the laundry done, just in case we lose power and/or water.

We have pipe insulation for the spigots outside, but I couldn't find any of those foam cover thingies anywhere. Gonna have to DIY something.

And then Friday I have to take the darn dog to the vet when it's going to be so stupid cold out!

[gardenmom5]

dds are driving to 2dd's house.  The started tonight, will stop on the road, and be there tomorrow.  I was actually glad they'd be there to do some prepping for the cold snap.  Last winter they lost power and dsil took the boys to his cousin's house while 2dd was working (and sleeping) at the hospital.   They're flying out on saturday.  (that's one car to Texas . . . )

 

I was rather annoyed someone let the cat outside - and didn't hang around to make sure he got back inside in a timely manner.  He came quickly when I called.   He did enjoy sitting on the dining room table watching the birds at the feeders this morning. 

[Just Kate]

58 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

Both European and NWS models, seem to indicate that you are getting blizzards in OH and bad snowfall that includes WV/  If you can stay, I would do that.  I think this whole weekend will have many cancelled flights due to weather.

I wonder if it would do us any good to try to leave Thursday? 

I will go talk to the front desk to see if there are any rooms open for Friday night. But gosh, will travel Saturday be any better?

Even if there are rooms, since this is an all-inclusive and there are four of us, an extra night will be very expensive. I knew that flight delays would likely happen, but I just never dreamed of getting stuck here. Ugh!

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, Just Kate said:

 Then we fly from Baltimore to Columbus, OH at about 10pm EST. What are the chances that our flights will happen? Are we likely to get stuck in Punta Cana? 

I think winds will be an issue for Columbus (we live about three hours from there) and I can't imagine that flights will be able to land.  Winds are supposed to be at their worst Fri/Sat.  I don't know about Baltimore, though.

[Just Kate]

5 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I think winds will be an issue for Columbus (we live about three hours from there) and I can't imagine that flights will be able to land.  Winds are supposed to be at their worst Fri/Sat.  I don't know about Baltimore, though.

We live about 2.5 hours away from Columbus. Our plan was to drive straight home, but if we can make it there, I seriously doubt that will happen!

[TravelingChris]

I am already feeling the dropping barometer.  Uneasiness that I used to think was anxiety but it isn't.  I actually have realized in the last number of years that I really do feel systems coming- just like a lot of the animals. 

[lovinmyboys]

We are getting ready to fly into Minneapolis from Europe and I am so nervous. I guess they know what they are doing? I’ll be so happy to get to my parents house and hibernate through the storm. I cannot believe I scheduled a flight into Minnesota in the winter- otoh maybe they can deal with it better??

[Carrie12345]

8 hours ago, Kassia said:

buckets will be filled, our tubs don't seal fully.  .  

One thing I did to increase the hold time was put wet washcloths in sturdy plastic baggies. Remove as much air as humanly possible and weigh down on the drain before filling.

We didn’t have a perfect system for our 100% grid-dependent house, but we took every small measure we could, and they added up!

[KungFuPanda]

5 hours ago, Just Kate said:

I wonder if it would do us any good to try to leave Thursday? 

I will go talk to the front desk to see if there are any rooms open for Friday night. But gosh, will travel Saturday be any better?

Even if there are rooms, since this is an all-inclusive and there are four of us, an extra night will be very expensive. I knew that flight delays would likely happen, but I just never dreamed of getting stuck here. Ugh!

Can you find other lodging in the area besides the resort you are in? You wouldn’t want to fly back just to get stuck trying to find a hotel in Baltimore and hanging at the airport forever. 

[HomeAgain]

We are looking at probably power outages with the rain and wind.  Originally we thought we'd get snow, but like Boston just a wet day.

Dh is lighting the gas living room stove tomorrow morning.  If power goes out that'll be where we all end up congregating.  We have plenty of stored water if the well pump can't work.

Good luck to any of you traveling or in the thick of the snowy part.  I hope it doesn't derail Christmas too much.

[momto3innc]

6 hours ago, Just Kate said:

So for anyone who travels a lot and/or watches the weather closely, what are your thoughts about my situation? Earlier in the thread I mentioned that my family is vacationing at an all-inclusive resort in Cap Cana and flying home on Friday. We are supposed to fly out of the Punta Cana airport at about 1:30pm EST to Baltimore. Then we fly from Baltimore to Columbus, OH at about 10pm EST. What are the chances that our flights will happen? Are we likely to get stuck in Punta Cana? 
 

I checked on the resorts website and it says no available rooms for Friday night. If I think we may actually get stuck here, I will go talk to someone in person. 
 

I didn’t really even realize the weather was going to be this bad until I saw this thread. Just enjoying my once-in-a-lifetime vacation. I knew with planning it right before Christmas we were taking a chance, but I had hoped the weather would cooperate!!

We live about 20 minutes from the Columbus airport. At the moment, snow won’t be an issue. The snow amounts have gone way down for Thursday. The issue Friday night will be wind gusts. With driving home, it will depend on which way you’re going and how much snow that area got. I would assume major roads would be fine by that point.

[Carrie12345]

Our forecast has changed so many times that I’ve tried to stop looking too frequently.

Currently, we shouldn’t get much snow, just lots of rain and then maybe some gross mix. But it looks like we’ll go from 50* at 5am Friday (too warm for December) to the teens by late afternoon and single digits late evening (too cold for December.) I can’t even imagine what that will look like after so much precipitation.

Wood is stacked. All holiday purchases are made. Solar charging batteries need to be checked. Extra water needs to be topped off. Cookies and bread have to get into high gear today! 

Fingers are crossed that local travel will be safe Saturday night, but it won’t be the end of the world if we don’t visit friends this year. I DO want dd to be able to come by Christmas morning before work.

[Just Kate]

21 minutes ago, momto3innc said:

We live about 20 minutes from the Columbus airport. At the moment, snow won’t be an issue. The snow amounts have gone way down for Thursday. The issue Friday night will be wind gusts. With driving home, it will depend on which way you’re going and how much snow that area got. I would assume major roads would be fine by that point.

We changed our flight to Thursday, but that puts us getting into Columbus at midnight Friday morning. We had planned to drive, but we can just get a hotel room and wait until later on Friday to drive home. I’m just hoping we can get from Baltimore to Columbus on Thursday . What a mess. ☹️

[MEmama]

11 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

This is just crazy,  We in N. Al will, be having single digits temps and dangerous wind chill factors of -15 and so.

Yup, super weird. As of this morning, Fridays forecast spikes up to 54(!!!!!) with lots of wind/rain, dropping to a more seasonable 17 for a low. It’s not going to be a fun driving day for sure, but at least it’s not a big snow.

This thread is reminding me I need to stock up on pellets and make sure there’s gas for the generator. 
 

Stay safe and warm, everyone!