Winter II
Fri, 2007-02-09 15:33
#1
Winter II
Fri, 2007-02-09 15:33
#2
At least three groundhogs are in agreement that [url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070202/wiarton_wil... is just around the corner,[/url] but with about 6 more weeks of winter and possibly more, depending on your location in Canada and elsewhere, I think it's safe to start another winter thread. It seems too optimistic at this point to make it a spring thread just yet. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]
The temperatures in Ottawa continue to dip below -30 with the windchill, which makes for a nice crisp stroll or skate along the canal. When I thoroughly bundle and layer myself up, I really enjoy being out and about in the current winter weather.
[ 10 February 2007: Message edited by: M.Gregus ]
Wed, 2007-02-14 06:58
#3
Holy SNOW! It took me an hour and a half to get to work this morning, and normally it only takes about 40 minutes.
CALL IN THE ARMY! [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Wed, 2007-02-14 07:04
#4
Boom Boom
The New Yorker's take on things: [url=http://tinyurl.com/25l9hz]http://tinyurl.com/25l9hz[/url]
Thu, 2007-02-15 06:27
#5
Boom Boom
Very strong wind here, blowing snowing everywhere. Yuck. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2007-02-15 07:10
#6
We're still digging out from the big storm yesterday here in Ottawa. All in all, as far as snowstorms go, it's been a pretty good year; this is only the second major snowfall and storm to come our way this year. It took a while for freezing temperatures and the snow to set in, but once it did, canal-going weather has been excellent.
Thu, 2007-02-15 07:23
#7
We got mostly rain in Halifax but our schools are all closed anyway. The same school board that serves downtown Halifax serves a lot of rural schools in the municipality which depend on buses -- and apparently it's very icy in some places. It's very windy.
(As a matter of fact, we have no school board as the minister of education fired them all a few weeks ago. But someone must have made the decision to close the schools. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] )
Thu, 2007-02-15 07:35
#8
Snow day here, too. Am about to try to get the boys to change out of their pyjamas and help with the shoveling. Brace yourselves for a Force 10 Whine Event, with an epicentre in the Quebec City region.
Thu, 2007-02-15 11:31
#9
Boom Boom
Was just outside for a few minutes - monster snow drifts all over the place. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2007-02-15 11:39
#10
Whitehorse is a balmy -13C with light wind and very light snow. It's nice not having to warm up the van and driving a school bus that actually gets warm inside. This climate change may not be a bad thing.
I do hope it drops to -30C or below for the Canada Winter Games. Teach southerners what winter is really like. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2007-02-15 13:12
#11
Boom Boom
Gahhh. Our forecast is for this strong wind to continue right through tomorrow night. What on earth causes two days of heavy wind and blowing snow? [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2007-02-15 13:21
#12
quote:
What on earth causes two days of heavy wind and blowing snow? [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Winter. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
The wind has died down here. It's been above zero this afternoon and it's blue skies and sunny right now although dusk will soon fall. The streets are slushy and if the temperature drops sharply overnight, it will be quite uncomfortable getting around tomorrow.
Not like where you are though, Boom Boom.
Thu, 2007-02-15 13:47
#13
Well, I'm about to fire up the old snowblower and do some cleaning up. Nothing major, but enough that I can't wait for next week to melt it away.
Yes, that's right folks, saw it on the weather chanel yesterday. Starting next Wednesday, our day time highs are going to go above freezing.
I expect we'll get another storm, probably in the first or second week of March. Then there's the probability of freezing rain etc. Winter's not over, but the main brunt is about to pass.
Not bad. Major dump in December-- that record breaking yard of snow in one day we had.... which melted away in a week.
Then a pause untill mid January, when winter really set in. So, a solid, what, five, six weeks?
Seasons in London are best broken down in six week sections, pretty much. Six weeks of winter now, six weeks of neither winter or spring, six weeks of spring.... well, I guess we get a solid three and a half months of summer...then about six weeks of fall, then six weeks of neither fall nor winter.
What I've come to really detest here in the balmy south isn't the cold of winter or the heat of summer-- although they are not my favorites-- but those niether seasons.
Thu, 2007-02-15 13:57
#14
It was -18.2 here last night plus wind chill.
Global warming is starting to sound pretty good right now.
Thu, 2007-02-15 14:07
#15
quote:
Originally posted by Tommy_Paine:
[b]Well, I'm about to fire up the old snowblower.....[/b]
.....and pooch our kyoto commitments.
[img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2007-02-15 14:35
#16
-25C all day long. It has been like this for about three weeks. There has been a couple of balmy -10C's. Today it has been very windy as yesterday and I really don't want to know the wind chill factor as then I would have stayed in bed all day!
Thu, 2007-02-15 15:02
#17
Man. I think the temperature rose by about 30 degrees in 36 hours.
Thu, 2007-02-15 15:13
#18
Boom Boom
The month of March always brings us some brutal storms, so I guess my whining will continue for a bit. February this year (and last) has been especially tough. Just when we'll be saying goodbye to February, though, we'll have to say hello to March. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img] I'm almost forced to live here, because it's the only place I've found with housing I can afford, and one of the few places where I'm not bothered by summer heat, humidity, or allergies. I just wish Spring would hurry up and make an appearance.
Thu, 2007-02-15 15:26
#19
quote:
Originally posted by Boom Boom:
[b]The month of March always brings us some brutal storms[/b]
A Quebec City tradition is [i]la tempкte de la Saint-Patrick[/i] - the snowstorm that invariably comes on or around St Patrick's Day. And it's usually a doozy.
Thu, 2007-02-15 15:55
#20
Boom Boom
If I was going to take a month's holiday, it'd be in March, and far, far away from here.
Thu, 2007-02-15 16:16
#21
quote:
Originally posted by HeywoodFloyd:
[b].....and pooch our kyoto commitments.
[img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] [/b]
Not far off the mark, Heywood.
I bought the snowblower from my brother two years ago. It was old when he got it. I paid too much, but hey, it's my brother. He's 58, I'm 47.
This was the first economic transaction in our lives. He has a thing about doing business with family. I can see why.
For his smaller property, this snowblower was just fine, and he had another buyer willing to pay 350 for it. He gave me a deal at 300.
Sigh. I can see how these things can go bad. He thought he did me a favour. I think I paid too much.
My larger property has brought out it's age.
The first fix I preformed was to clean the bowl under the carborator float. The next was to adjust the gas flow screw underneath to take care of the finicky choke you had to play with as the engine warmed up.
Next, I had to replace the pull cord. It has an electric starter, but it's handy to have the pull start if it stalls out-- like it used to frequently.
Unfortunately, the asshole engineers at John Deer decided to use non stainless phillips head screws to hold the pull cord housing. Of course they were stripped when any force was put to them.
So, I used screw extractors (easy outs). But ha, the screws went into a kind of rivet in the housing, which turns. So, I was only able to re-assemble it with two of the four required screws. Which would have been okay, I think, if the two remaining screws were kitty-corner from each other, but they weren't. As I thought it might, the housing moved enough to disengage the pull cord flange from the ratchet, so the cord doesn't work right now.
Which is okay, 'cause I got the engine running nice enough that it doesn't stall anymore.
Before the last snowfall, tuesday night, I went out and started 'er up to make sure she was ready, and everything was fine.
Just a while ago, I went out and tried to start it, but I got this one chug and a whir. Did that a few times, with the same result, and then only click from the starter switch.
I jiggled wires, checked to see if I had a blown fuse in the garage to no positive result. I looked around for a hammer, then remembered I took all my tools into the house in the fall. I found a turnbuckle, and used it to tap the starting motor.
And away she went. This snowblower loves the cold light snow, and after the engine really warmed up, it didn't bog as much when I went with throttle up. Must have a dirty air filter somewhere. When you give it gas, at a certain point it wants to flood, I guess. I'll work on that in the warmer weather.
Got the driveway and everything done.
I'm not whining. I love to tinker with small engines-- and knowing nothing about them has never stopped me. I once had my previous lawn mower engine in pieces, and when I looked at it I thought it would never work again. But I got it going, and it lasted for years afterward.
Yes. Spring project. Deal with the pull cord housing, tune the engine. Maybe give it a cool paint job. John Deer closed a plant in Woodstock, so I ain't gonna advertize for them anymore. Goodbye John Deer green.
Not a word about any of this to my brother.
[ 15 February 2007: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Thu, 2007-02-15 16:38
#22
Boom Boom
I'd like to buy a small tractor with rubber caterpillar threads and with a lift plow to tackle the really heavy stuff, and to plow the snow right off to the edge of the cliff on my property. I'm not supposed to shovel heavy snow. Could also use the tractor for landscaping in the summer, and moving firewood any time of the year. Probably really expensive. Hmmm, maybe a lottery ticket....
Fri, 2007-02-16 04:30
#23
Boom Boom
Just had a look outside this morning - and I want to go back to bed for the day. It's awful - a huge snow drift by the side of the house and covering my truck. I'll have to move the snow. I did that last night and thought that would be the end of it. I hate winter.
Fri, 2007-02-16 05:16
#24
Come up to the cold and snowy mid north, opps very little snow, we might have 12 inches in all. Yes pretty cold but the sun has shone for the last two weeks. The ice fishing is great.
Fri, 2007-02-16 09:14
#25
quote:
Originally posted by margrace:
[b]Come up to the cold and snowy mid north, opps very little snow, we might have 12 inches in all. Yes pretty cold but the sun has shone for the last two weeks. The ice fishing is great.[/b]
Roughly speaking, where is "mid north"?
Fri, 2007-02-16 09:27
#26
Boom Boom
Going north in Ontario, there's signs in Temagami right to Cochrane welcoming you to the "mid-north", or at least there used to be.
Sat, 2007-02-17 04:00
#27
Here's what you need, Boom Boom:
[url=http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2007/02/17/3640039-sun.ht... Possibility.[/url]
Sat, 2007-02-17 04:27
#28
Boom Boom
[img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img] I'll put it on my Wish List for Santa! [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Sun, 2007-02-18 16:53
#29
He he he he he he he he he he he he he he he.
The weather chanel's forcasted high for next sunday is 10 degrees.
Note the lack of a minus sign.
Sun, 2007-02-18 17:52
#30
Boom Boom
How do they forecast a week in advance? Environment Canada only does a four day forecast.
Sun, 2007-02-18 18:05
#31
Apparently meteorologists can go out 10 days or so, but the margin of error gets bigger the farther out you forecast.
Sun, 2007-02-18 18:06
#32
Boom Boom
Thanks, Stephen - I didn't know that.
Tue, 2007-02-20 13:16
#33
Weather forecasts greater than 6 days are a bit of a joke, I never ever look at them.
Fri, 2007-02-23 06:08
#34
Boom Boom
I'm happy to report we are currently in a bit of a warm spell here; should be -4C tonight, high of +1C tomorrow, and stay like that until the middle of next week at least. Thank goodness, we need a break from the cold.
Fri, 2007-02-23 10:06
#35
even down here in NZ we get reports on those damn rodents, what ever they are. Mostly due to that movie, where they guy gets stuck in time until he gets it right. Anyway, we're worrying that if you people are having an early spring, we're going to have an early autumn, and it seems like summer hasn't realy started yet (don't you hate years like that) and after a very cold winter too! However you'll be pleased to know it has got hot here, finally. It rained too much in Dec and Jan, and the place just stayed green - very scenic, but no real heat! Now, I don't have to mow the lawn so often, and I can wear summer dresses to work! Yay!
Fri, 2007-02-23 12:13
#36
quote:
Originally posted by Southlander:
[b]even down here in NZ we get reports on those damn rodents, what ever they are. [/b]
Damn rodents?! We love our groundhogs!
[img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Fri, 2007-02-23 14:41
#37
Boom Boom
We do? I've been under the impression most fnd them a bloody nuisance, partly because their holes present a danger to someone tripping in them and breaking a leg or kneecap. Particularly bad for livestock on farms I hear.
Thu, 2007-03-01 10:11
#38
Geez. I need to walk from my building to another building on the campus where I work, and I just looked out the window to find I can't even see the building across the street. It's a blizzard! Icky, granular snow blown like crazy by strong winds, rather than the pretty, soft, gigantic fluffy snowflakes of a few days back.
Thu, 2007-03-01 10:16
#39
I just phoned the Association of Municipalities of Ontario to see what they could tell me about Mel Swart. Voice mail receptionist. So I tried the Executive Director's extension. Voice mail. Her executive assistant. Voice mail. Director of Policy. Voice mail. Director of Administration. Voice mail.
Seeing a pattern and knowing about the storm warning, I wondered: who's been left holding the fort? A young woman Analyst/Researcher with a Chinese name? Sounds promising. I tried her extension. Sure enough. Not that she knew Mel, but at least she answered her phone.
Thu, 2007-03-01 18:53
#40
I just spent about 1 1/2 hours clearing snow from my front walk and sidewalk. I had to do some of my neighbour's as well as he is away.
Now I hear freezing rain against my windows.
I wish spring would hurry up and get here.
Thu, 2007-03-01 19:29
#41
-34C in Whitehorse this morning. The school bus would not get warm despite a warm up of over an hour, a blast down the highway and a full bus. Not carrying kids today as schools are closed for two weeks for Canada Winter Games. this morning it was the Nova Scotia ringette team.
Sunday I discovered a leak in my newly redone roof. Even at -30C three feet of snow makes a great insulator, the snow was melting at the bottom and leaking through my newly refinished roof. Shoveled all the snow off into a big pile. Pile is now frozen solid and oil delivery can't get to the oil tank. Time to get the pick axe to dig a path to the tank. What global warming.
Thu, 2007-03-01 20:03
#42
-34c (plus wind chill I assume) sounds horrible. It is only about -2c or so here.
On the other hand, our freezing rain is bad too.
On the bright side, I usually manage to start cleaning up some of my garden beds during the last week of March. It sounds good right now.
Thu, 2007-03-01 20:07
#43
Cueball
I just cleared and salted my side walk!The old Cantonese lady (she msut be 60) did here whole driveway. Unbelievable fortitude, just now in the dark too.
I love this wether.
Sat, 2007-03-03 09:27
#44
Boom Boom
We're getting the storm that hit southern Ontario and the states a few days ago. Complete white-out, heavy snow, and high wind. I'm grateful the hydro has remained on. I decided to stay in bed most of the day. And, it's our winter carnival weekend! Oh, well.
Sat, 2007-03-03 10:21
#45
It is a brilliant sunny day in Halifax -- temperature just a bit below +10 -- and we are anticipating the total lunar eclipse which, if the clear sky holds, should be a good early evening experience.
We did get the storm last evening but in the end, it didn't amount to too much -- some snow that turned to sleet and then rain around 10 p.m. It's been dripping everywhere all day and it's mostly all melted. I think we were lucky to get off quite easily and lucky to be moderated by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sat, 2007-03-03 10:40
#46
Boom Boom
There's supposed to be a community potluck supper but I don't know if I'll get to it - heavy and snow, high wind, and zero visibility, still. The only folks I've seen out on their skidoos today are teenagers and young adults.
Wed, 2007-03-07 14:43
#47
Well, it's back to the deep freeze for Ottawa, where the wind chill was a cool -42 degrees earlier this week. It might be the last blast of winter though, because the forecast calls for rain this weekend, just in time for the early daylight savings switch-over.
Fri, 2007-03-16 18:12
#48
May I do my annual entry on [url=http://redbaron.bishops.k12.nf.ca/science/escience/weather.htm] Sheila's Brush[/url]?
quote:
Sheila's Brush is the last of winter usually around St. Patricks day. The snow is a result of Sheila's sweeping. Legend has it that Sheila was St. Patrick's wife, sister or mother.
The storm has already started -- it probably won't be too bad here in Halifax, although who can say? We're expecting snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain -- but it's expected to be fairly major in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
[ 16 March 2007: Message edited by: Sharon ]
Fri, 2007-03-16 18:30
#49
Boom Boom
We're expecting dirty weather here on the Lower North Shore of Quebec beginning tomorrow morning with snow, then warming up to give us rain and freezing rain until late Sunday. Monday, our forecast has us back to an overnight low of -9C. Tonight's low is expected to be -16C.
Wed, 2007-03-21 15:50
#50
Boom Boom
Blowing snow here all day yesterday, and woke up this morning to -33C windchill. Where the heck is spring?
Today was a generally rotten day. Norton AV infected this machine with a trojan called ccCommon (you can google it) and I've spent a day trying to get rid of it. Still haven't fixed all the damage yet. Early this morning I had a bad fall on the ice behind the house and my leg is stiff and swoolen to twice its normal size. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2007-03-31 15:24
#51
Ya gotta watch that ice, Boom Boom.
Hmm. Didn't I tell you a long time ago about how the "string" in string theory is vibrating energy, and that this energy is [i]irony?[/i]. In an universe whose fundamental building block is irony, one is asking for such mishaps if one goes by the name of Boom Boom.
Anywho. Crocii are blooming like mad here, maple trees are flowering, my lilac bush buds have opened to disclose the still tightly packed light green foliage inside, robins are feasting on worms, the blue bells will flower in the next day or so, and the daffodills are pushing up ferociously.
Spring, here in the Carolinian zone, has sprung.