Winter

The blower went on my Volvo, Malificent.  I just drove her to the mechanic, trying very hard not to breath too much on the way so that the windshield didn't fog up.  Took me back to the days where my VW had a gas heater I couldn't afford to get repaired until February...

Last week a Commissionaire tried to stop me from bringing my bike into the building.  It was -25, I'd been chugging through ice and snow for about half an hour, I had to get to class, and I really didn't want to be bothered by this guy, so I kept right on going up to my office.  I told him my crank would freeze up if I left the bike outside, so he said, "What if everybody did this?"  I sorta laughed and said that I couldn't see this as being a problem (right now there are no bikes out in the rack - mine is there because it's above -10 today).

Somehow one of the building maintenance guys joined the Commissionaire and they both followed me up to my office.  A plastic post under my saddle snapped as I tried lifting the bike into its position in the office - proof that the cold is hard on the machine - while these two guys were outside my office door writing up their rat report.

Snow on the ground in Saint John. Hopefully, it disappears by the end of the week.

Fresh brussel sprouts are the best....

Beautiful Rocky Mountain day here, -2, very little snow on the valley floor, but the wind blew the other day in Portage and Main style, dead pine beetle killed trees were falling everywhere.

-5 in T.O.

Light flurries, and the first snow that hasn't melted as it hit the ground. Just a dusting for us though, while they're expecting serious snowfall in the snowbelt to the north and west.

Glad you're home safe too. Got the snow tires on?

Oh yes, fires and children are worriesome.

When my granddaughter was small and would visit, I would sleep on the couch in the family room, as  she would get up in the middle of the night to "watch the fire", and was scared she would touch sides of wood stove and burn those little star fish hands.

Nowadays, being that we have a different house, that would not be an issue though if my daughter decided to have another child.

Speaking of family they are coming this week for an extended Christmas visit. Woot!

remind wrote:

Oh yes, fires and children are worriesome.

 

When my granddaughter was small and would visit, I would sleep on the couch in the family room, as  she would get up in the middle of the night to "watch the fire", and was scared she would touch sides of wood stove and burn those little star fish hands.

 

Nowadays, being that we have a different house, that would not be an issue though if my daughter decided to have another child.

Speaking of family they are coming this week for an extended Christmas visit. Woot!

Yea, sounds like a good Christmas.  My mother too is coming for an extended Christmas visit.  We haven't gotten together in a few years for Christmas because we have always been off visiting different family at Christmas time so it should be nice.

Must be a cool sight.  I hope your Christmas goes well.

Still no snow, temp is still 5C this evening, the wind is finally dying down, and the rain is light. It looks more like spring here than winter!

We are getting capital W - Winter now.  Brutal cold, blowing snow and tons of it, and school buses cancelled.  Frozen cars, icy roads, bad visibility everywhere.  Plowed the driveway yesterday and it needs it again today.  Looks incredible - beautiful - till you breathe in and the snot freezes in your nostrils. 

Boom Boom wrote:

 

          

 

from: 2010-2011 Canada Winter Forecast

H'lo Boomer. Just struck me...they have not allowed for "lake effect" snowfall to the east and south of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.  You perhaps heard about 300  motorists having to be "rescued" off Hwy 402 between London and Sarnia?  The whole area got whacked with a northerly that blew down the length of Huron, and London has looked like something from Al Capp's Outer Slobovia for weeks now.  Or perhaps you don't go back to Capp?

But I guess you don't get "gulf effect" stuff?

We're going to Sarnia this Christmas.  To the same relatives who teased us mercilessly when Toronto's mayor called in the military eleven years ago for that epic snowfall.

Apparently in Sarnia, the problem of stranded motorists was magnified when people kept driving around the police roadblocks and into massive drifts of snow.  Determined Christmas shoppers, I guess.

Just checked the forecast - Monday we are supposed to get rain and temp of 3C - in January??? This is similar to last year's winter so far, which was the warmest here on record. Last winter, I did not get to use my new snowblower at all - and I used it this week for the first time; last Monday we had a mini-blizzard which gave us six inches of snow, and some drifts.

I guess all that stuff we read about last winter - Gulf Stream Diversion and the Arctic Oscillation is repeating itself this winter, but a couple of newer theories have surfaced since then, includng this one which I linked to earlier on another thread: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming

Today is the fifth straight Monday we have had a snowstorm or torrential rains.

And good to see you as well, Boom Boom. We topped out at about 10 cm today. Mild weather compared to some of the storms we had in December in NB.

Blizzard expected here this weekend, and this week has been colder - temps overnight are -20C to - 25C.

An article which explains the effect of mild winters here on Quebec's Lower North Shore with (Google) English translation: Un deuxième hiver sans neige en Basse-Côte-Nord

"It's worse than last year, said the mayor of Mécatina, Randy Jones. Les lacs ne sont même pas gelés. The lakes are not even frozen. En ce moment, je suis à la fenêtre de mon bureau, et je peux voir une chaloupe à la mer, et un quatre roue qui circule. Right now, I'm at the window of my office and I can see a boat at sea, and a four wheel (ATV) which circulates. Ça soulève beaucoup de problèmes. It raises many problems. Chaque village devient une île. Each village becomes an island. Ça joue sur le moral des gens partout. It plays on people's morale everywhere. Le meilleur temps de l'année en Basse-Côte, c'est l'hiver.» The best time of year in Lower Coast, it's winter. "

 En effet, le gros des activités et des rassemblements se font l'hiver en Basse-Côte-Nord. Indeed, the bulk of activities and gatherings are the winter in Lower North Shore. Sans neige, impossible de circuler, donc plus de parties de hockey entre villages, plus de visiteurs lors des fêtes et festivals, plus de touristes. Without snow, unable to move, so no more hockey games between villages, no more visitors during holidays and festivals, most tourists. Pour les gens de Harrington Harbour, qui sont sur une île, la neige leur permettait de se rendre sur terre pour couper du bois pour l'hiver. For the people of Harrington Harbour, who are on an island, snow and ice allowed them to go on land to cut wood for winter. Tout devient désormais beaucoup plus compliqué. Everything becomes much more complicated now.

«La liste des problèmes est longue, affirme le président du conseil municipal de Harrington Harbour, Paul Rowsell. "The list of problems is long," said council chairman of Harrington Harbour, Paul Rowsell. Les gens peuvent aller chercher du bois. People can go to fetch wood. Mais c'est beaucoup plus compliqué. But it's much more complicated. La plupart de nos événements pour lever des fonds pour différents programmes se font l'hiver. Most of our events to raise funds for various programs are in winter. Mais quand personne ne peut y venir, c'est un problème. But when nobody can get there, is a problem. Et l'hiver sans touriste, ça va créer beaucoup de problèmes financiers.» And winter without tourists, it will create a lot of financial problems. "

«La seule vraie solution est de finir la route. "The only real solution is to finish the road. Pas besoin d'être économiste pour savoir que les gens des villages les plus dévitalisés de la Côte-Nord n'ont pas les moyens de se payer l'avion. Not need an economist to know that people of the villages most lifeless of the North Shore can not afford the plane. Et quand le gouvernement veut, il peut. And when the government wants, he can. L'an dernier, on se disait que c'était de la malchance. Last year (mild winter) we said it was bad luck. Deux hivers de suite, ça commence à être inquiétant», déclare M. Jones. Two (mild) winters in a row, it starts to be disturbing, "says Jones.

The bad news is it shattered.

I was beginning to think we would get though January without even hitting -30. I can't believe people (who don't actually have a reason to, I mean) are complaining about this weather. They're saying it might shoot up today to 0 in Maple Creek, of course.

And the only time I can think of that my old volvo (a 240) needed something extra was one morning I had to park up the driveway, so I couldn't plug it in. This was in '97 when the temperature stayed at -49 (no, not with wind chill) for about a week. I brought the battery in, of course. But I also had to drain the engine oil into a pot, bring it inside and warm it up on the woodstove.

It was also so cold that trees were breaking, axe handles were breaking, and I broke a stud off one of my wheel hubs trying to change a tire. After that I gave up and stayed inside.

Had to use my skidoo to get groceries today, too much snow for my 2wd truck. We are supposed to get a blizzard beginning tomorrow night and all day Saturday, with clear weather Sunday - Tuesday. We haven't hit -30C yet, coldest we've had this winter was yesterday or the day before, with -22C, with -29C windchill.