Snow Storm Coming....Yippie!

[Jim Frye]

I have a new 40 volt cordless snowblower and I've been waiting since the middle of November to give it a workout. They're predicting 12 - 20 inches of snow over the next few days with 40 mph winds. I know....I'm crazy, but it will be the first chance to see if Ryobi has the specs. right.

[dbhost]

I finally looked at your location. my grade school years were in Bay Village. How did you get to nearly Feb 1 without being buried in snow? We always had LOTS of snow right after Thanksgiving.

[Jim Frye]

Climate Change is the only reason I can think of. Actually, all of the severe weather comes at us and then either dies off from dry air, or splits and goes by to the north and south. Last spring and summer were wet beyond belief though. This boy has no clue.

[leehljp]

I'll wait and see how much you enjoyed it after you get your workout! Especially after the 2nd snow storm when it is work instead of a new toy!

[LCHIEN]

Upper 20's predicted this coming weekend. Last year cold weather in the low 20's knocked Texas' grid on its butt. I sure hope some power companies learned their lessons! Don't want a repeat of that fiasco that had me pulling the old camping stove out of the garage after 25 years.

For Texas 20's is not never but pretty unusual.

[dbhost]

I've got 80lbs of propane, 10 gallons of Coleman Fuel, about 30 lbs of charcoal outdoors obviously, and about a half a cord of wood. What I need is about 10 gallons of ethanol free gas for the generator.

[cwsmith]

Yep, Climate Change must be the reason; we used to blame it on the atomic bomb!

Here in NY's southern tier we made it too this year without much of anything to shovel and in the last few weeks I've only gotten the snowblower out twice, for no other reason than it's a lot faster to remove four or five inches of snow than with the shovel. This past weekend they predicted a massive snow storm with heavy winds and close to zero temperatures. Forthunately for us it all blew to the east and about as far west it got here in NY was Monticello.

Personally, I love snow! Sure beats a hot and humid summer! Up until a couple of years ago I used to shovel it, but when my son moved to Iowa a few years ago he gave me his snow blower. He now lives in New Orleans so all he has to worry about is hurricanes, snakes, and the occasional alligator.... yep, I love snow!

When I was a kid we always had snow. Every winter we'd get a few feet. My Dad had one of those colonial lamp posts out next to driveway and there were a few years when it would be completely buried. As a kid, it was cool to just turn that light on and see the pile of snow glow. We don't get those kinds of snow storms anymore.

CWS

[capncarl]

Climate change? Really? Caused by cows farting? i suppose. Brought to you by the same people that justify remove statues of historic people they don’t like. The same people that ignore experts explaining the universal law of gravitation and Kepler’s first law. They can’t fathom that planets orbits and rotation change ever so slightly over time. Earths history as we know it shows that earth has changed from ice age to ice ages many times. I guess they skipped that class in school,

[dbhost]

I hate to be this guy, but can we pull back a bit from the Climate Change discussion? We are pushing really hard into the wall of the forbidden topics of politics and religion. While I am perfectly happy having reasonable conversations on such topics, they tend to go sideways very fast, and we are trying to keep the site free of the damage that the passions those topics bring up cause.

[twistsol]

Thanks for the reminder Dave.

I'll note, however, that I am saddened by today's society and political climate where a debate about the science of climate change, whether it exists, whether it is man made if it does, and whether carbon is the only cause, almost indisputably falls into the categories of politics and religion.

[capncarl]

I’ll agree that hijacking another’s post is a rude way to inject this subject…. I’ll take the blame on this and leave it there!….. but I would like to point out that by just sitting on the sidelines and remaining quiet is what the climate change supporters want you to do! They have most of the world’s population convinced they are right and none of the past world history has anything to do real climate change! … ONWARD, let’s handle some snow and make some sawdust!

[dbhost]

Agreed, And honestly I am somewhat loathe to even remind folks of that. But we do live in a world where pretty much everything is political these days. It is truly a sad thing to see. I'd be perfectly happy to discuss climate science, solar and geologic record, and the like in a more general forum. And therein lies the rub. Would it be appropriate for the admin team to open up this forum to those topics. Might be worth discussion, but I think we generally err on the side of caution and civility.

[Condoman44]

I'm considering the Toro E26 (39926) 60V 2 stage. Watched several video's and was impressed. Not cheap but appears well made. In the video's I look at how much the operator struggles or doesn't to try and see how it would be with me behind it. Just dreaming...

[capncarl]

As fellow from the south that is ignorant of the ways of snow I want to ask. How much time do you have to devote to snow removal? Is it a requirement or just something you like to do to maintain you yards beauty? Does snow removal require much equipment and tools that help fill up your tool shed or shop? How long is your snow removal season, and when does your grass cutting season begin and end?

[Jim Frye]

Typically, here in NWOH, the snow thrower gets used maybe three times a season and I would shovel the other times it snowed. That's why the old Toro CCR1000 is 21 years old and still runs like new. I'll be 75 next month & shoveling gets less and less attractive each year. The cordless 40 volt machine is easier to use, as good/better as the old two stroker, and costs 1/10 to run. In addition to my property, I help care for the lot next door with other neighbors and there are two homes on the street whose owners can't clear snow themselves so several of us neighbors do it for them. Since the township requires landowners to clear the public sidewalks we do it for them to help our neighbors.

[twistsol]

The answer is it depends. There are years when the snowblower and snowmobiles are barely used. There are times when clearing snow is a daily occurrence. It also depends alot on the equipment you have and the area you need to clear.

Here in the suburbs, my driveway is 35 feet long and goes from 30' wide at the garage to 18' wide at the street. I also have about 60' of sidewalk that is mandatory per city ordinance to keep clear. With a medium sized walk behind gas powered snowblower, that's half an hour of work whenever it snows, a little bit longer if it is a foot or more of wet heavy snow. Unlike grass cutting, you have to respond to mother nature immediately. Grass doesn't suddenly grow 8 inches on a Wednesday afternoon.

When we lived in the country, I had a 48hp 4WD tractor with a 6' wide rear snowblower and a front push blade. The driveway was a half mile long. If the neighbor did the main drive with his truck on the way to work, I'd widen it to the edges one pass up and back and it was half an hour to 45 minutes. If not, it was an hour plus for the main drive, plus another half hour or so the parking areas in front of and behind the house.

There are also the outliers where a neighbor is on vacation, or is having equipment problems or for the young shoveler crowd when we get a really big snow. In Minnesota you are morally obligated to help them clear their snow.

[furthermore]

I live in Maine (born here, now back after ~14 years in Boston), and snow removal is just a part of life here. Currently I have a John Deere x350 mower with the snowblower attachement, and that's what I use to clear my snow. It sits in the place of most use in my garage bay (closest to the door, right next to my motorcycle). If I didn't have a large garage, it'd probably live outside in a shed, like my dad and grandfathers did (and do!). Thankfully for me, the Deere does a great job of throwing the snow, although I could use a bit more traction, as my driveway is sloped down towards the road and it doesn't do much going uphill. I wouldn't have sprung for such a nice machine, but we bought it from the lady we bought our house from and she gave us a screamer of a deal on a machine with under 20 hours on it.

Is it a requirement? Not technically, no, but the delivery guys, mailmen, etc. won't deal with you if you don't clear the snow. Plus, it's a liability. If someone slips on ice in my driveway or walkway, that's on me. I think there's a point of pride in there, too. I love a well cleaned walkway as much as I love a freshly mowed lawn.

Grass cutting season usually begins in April and ends around the beginning of November, however, those are fuzzy dates. I've seen snow in October and grass in March.

[cwsmith]

Whille I was born in NC, I've lived in NY's southern tier my whole life and thus have faced winters for all those years. To me, snow removal and snow in general is just an adventure that I personally like. I mean really, its never been a big deal to me. I don't remember it being much of anything before 5th grade, except dressing warm and putting on those foldover snaps on my boots and trogging several blocks to elementary school. We did have one street in the neighborhood that the city would close so us kids could go sledding.

We moved to the country when I started 5th grade and we lived on Old Rt 17 on a pretty decent hill. The wind would blow almost constantly and our driveway would be a challenge between the snow and the drifting. You could look across a quarter mile of field to see the trucks gradually grind to a stop on the slippery highway and within minutes the cars would start coming up our road, where crazy drivers would soon come to a stop. With both the highway and the old road plugged with cars, the town trucks and plows couldn't get their sand (not much salt was used back then) spread. My Dad and I, as well as the local neighbors, would be out shoveling our driveways and would always have to stop to help the drivers and clear the road the road of traffic for the plows. My father would always mutter about the driver who would accelerate instead of taking it slow and easy. They'd spin and side-slip and end up off the road, often taking a mail box with them.

One year, shortly after I bought my new 65' VW we had a tremendous snow storm, my Dad and I shoveled for several hours that morning, to clear the driveway and about the time we finished, the bottled gas supplier came down the road and stopped to talk to my Dad. I went in and asked my Mother if she needed anything at the store. With her order I went out and jumped in the VW and launched my self out of the driveway and down the road. I couldn't see all that well with the blowing snow, but what the hey, I was in a VW and they more or less handle snow quite well. (More because of the added traction from the engine being in the rear and 'less' because the body was build on a 'pan' which acted like a sled if the snow was too deep. In addition, the front wheel wells would easily clog if the snow was wet and then you couldn't steer the darn thing.)

So there I was pointed down the road and I quickly went through all four gears, and ran right into a huge snow drift that was across the road. Buried my car completely. All I could see was that little blue light that was on the VDO speedometer. I was sitting at a wierd angle with the left rear down and the front right slightly up. I could see a slight bit of daylight on the upper right windshield. I unbuckled but couldn't budge the drivers door, so I crawled across to the passengers seat and slowing rolled down the window, brushing away the snow, and then crawled out through the window. Yep, completely buried in the drift!

By that time the neighbors were gathered and after making sure I was okay, the jokes started. We got the VW shoveled out and drove back up to the house where I found my Dad, muttering about the **** stupid kid he had.

Snow removal, even at 77 is not a big deal. Up until about five years ago I did it with just a shovel. Here in Binghamton our side walk is double-wide and you can actually drive a truck down it. My neighbor, a a Doctor, has a plow-equipped pickup which he uses to clear the parking lot at the back of his house. When finished with that, he'll clear the snow from our sidewalks for the three houses on this corner of the street. Unfortunately, he's gone from mid-December through the end of January and if the snow is really wet and heavy his truck can't handle it. In return however, I shovel both our sidewalks when he's not here. And of course there's my driveway which runs the length of our property to the street.

Snow is not a big deal to me and now that I have our Son's snow blower it's a bit easier. My driveway is a bear, because there's no place to the side to place it, so I have to blow it forward until I clear the house. That means that the snowblower is handling it over and over until I clear the house and then much of it goes onto the sidewalk where I again have to deal with it. The biggest problem here in the city is the street plows. It seems that you no more get your driveway cleared and they'll come by and plow you in again. On a serious snow day, that can often be three or four tiimes as they widen their path. And, most of the time that plowed snow is wet and heavy, consisting not only of the snow fall, but also the salt they used and the melting sludge that drains down the street near the curb. Once that sludge freezes the snowblower or a common snow shovel will not touch it, and I have a steel square dirt shovel that I use to chop and remove it. That's sort of a 'back-breaker', it works.

When I lived in Painted Post (30 years), I lived on a hill overlooking the village. My driveway was gravel and sloped slightly down from the road. Fortunately the weather there was much milder and we normally got less snow then Binghamton which is 75 miles to the east. Just something about the location being just below and sllightly to the east of the Finger Lakes, most snow storms passed us. The year our son started Cornell, we got hit with a hefty storm. He was coming home that day and the snow fall started around 11:00 AM, he arrived at noon and we had three cars in the driveway counting his. By 3:00 I measure 34" in my flat garage roof and went out to shovel it off. (Flat rooms and heavy snow can be a serious problem). I to continued to snow into the evening. I had converted our attached garage to a family room a couple years priot and during this storm we sat out there playing Monopoly. My wife went it to pop a pizza in the oven and our son Jason went to check the mail while I went up to watch the News. We ate our pizza while watching the weather News and my wife came back down to the kitchen for something and all of a sudden started yelling for us to come down.

Jason had not shut the door securely and the wind had blown it open while we were all up in the TV room. There was about a two foot drift halfway across the family room floor!

The following morning all you could see was maybe two or three inches of the antenna on the van. The old MG and his Honda were completely buried. We shoveled those out but it took several hours.

Such are the adventures of living here in NY's southern tier. In the northern part of the state it's worse especially in the Adirondack's and to the west, Buffalo where they get the lake effect snow.
Up there they measure it in feet, not inches.

CWS

[Jim Frye]

Almost all of the schools in the area are already closed for the rest of the week. All of my 40 volt batteries are charged and I am planning to spend a large part of the rest of the week in the shop.

[capncarl]

My only driving on ice was s couple of years ago when Atlanta had an ice storm. We put chains on but they didn’t do much good!

[twistsol]

That is funny!

[Condoman44]

No path to propane tank = no delivery. It's 70 feet to roadway. Otherwise I could wait till spring.

[LCHIEN]

Hopefully things will be better in Texas this year.
Some of the problem at least was that gas for generating plants is pumped directly from wells in Texas to the plants giving a direct on demand path which is usually good. No trucks, no storage tanks.
The gas coming from the wells contains a large amount of moisture that is removed at some point along the path to the generators and distribution. But at the well head, low temperatures can cause it to freeze in the pipe, blocking gas flow. So they have heaters on the well heads and piping to the dewatering equipment.

Well, when the electricity began to run low they instituted rolling blackouts and when they blacked out the area with the gas pumps they froze which then cut off the gas to the generating plant.

Now there is exemptions to blackouts for critical infrastructure, but you have to periodically re-apply for them - infrastructure includes police, hospitals, emergency services and yes, gas producing equipment.

So part of the problem last year was that many of the gas well operators didn't know or let their exemptions lapse. This is a matter of education and sometimes the guy who does it once a year retires or is laid off and renewal notices get lost when addressed to departed people.

So when power companies do a blackout on the gas producers it is like just kicking the ladder from under your feet. Once the plant is offline other plants need to take up the load and that causes cascading failures (like dominoes) when the now newly overloaded station blacks out its providers.

Hopefully they have learned enough lessons to at least avoid the domino problem.

[Jim Frye]

Utilities management learning from past experiences? As my FIL used to say "don't hold your hand over your butt waiting for it to happen".

[dbhost]

Well, overnight low tomorrow night is forecast to be 30 degrees, and my native Houstonian wife is in full panic mode. Sigh...

She's never been introduced to the joys of winter fishing / camping in the mountains. Or the joys of a big poofy sleeping bag...

[capncarl]

If your wife is like mine, she doesn’t have anything against a poofy sleeping bag as long as it lain over her big poofy mattress! Sleeping on the hard frozen ground doesn’t sound like much fun regardless to the sleeping bag!

[dbhost]

We've got HD double high air mattresses. Good ones. And a memory foam topper to keep from frezing... Set it up like a split king bed... She's golden on camping trips, but when power goes out she kind of freaks out. City girl and all...