Spring Has Sprung: Cycling Through the Park to Work

[J77]

Cycling through the park on my way to work today, I noticed all the daffodil bulbs had started to come up -- some have even flowered!

Where's the winter gone?

I haven't even got a Christmas tree yet!

 

[ZapperZ]

This isn't that unusual... in the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE!

:)

Zz.

 

[J77]

...but I'm in Holland!

I want snow!

 

[Evo]

We've already had two snow storms and they are predicting an ice storm tonight. I have to scrape ice off of my car windshield every morning. I'll gladly trade places with you!

 

[SticksandStones]

It's 8F here and we're supposed to get up to two feet of snow by monday.
Jealous yet? :)

 

[Andre]

...but I'm in Holland!

I want snow!

I'm in South Germany, have some of my snow. 4-5 inches

 

[turbo]

Yesterday we had snow followed by freezing rain, and we're heading into single-digit temps (F) this weekend. This is the first year in 4-5 years that we've had something resembling winter in November. I hope it holds, for the sake of the ski areas, the snowmobile clubs, the winter tourism industry in general, and the maple-syrup industry. The last few winters have hurt them badly.

 

[J77]

Well, at least we haven't got a ski season to ruin...

e2a: Apparently it's about 50 degrees (F) right now -- at 5pm!

 

[Kurdt]

We've already had two snow storms and they are predicting an ice storm tonight. I have to scrape ice off of my car windshield every morning. I'll gladly trade places with you!

If this is a sign of global warming, Holland is certainly the wrong place to be.

 

[G01]

Here in Pennsylvania, we're having very nice weather for this time of year. Only recently has it even begun to drop below 40F during the day. Honestly, I hope it lasts. The less snow, makes my interstate commute much easier.

Commuting is hard with snow. When there is snow outside I start off at my house and by the time I drive to school, I end up being the negative of myself. Commuting just doesn't work with snow...(I know. I apologize in advance.)

 

[Math Jeans]

We've already had two snow storms and they are predicting an ice storm tonight. I have to scrape ice off of my car windshield every morning. I'll gladly trade places with you!

Phoenix for the win.

 

[turbo]

Phoenix for the win.

Yeah, but you don't get to snowshoe through the snowy forest out back of my house, and your summers are a bit on the warm side. I don't think it hit 90 here last summer - maybe a few days in the mid-80's. I'll admit I waited a bit too long to get my garlic in the ground, and spent much of last Sunday busting up dirt frozen to a depth of 3-4". A 1' x 35' raised bed didn't look all that big when I started, but I was sore and tired when I got done.

 

[Math Jeans]

Yeah, but you don't get to snowshoe through the snowy forest out back of my house, and your summers are a bit on the warm side. I don't think it hit 90 here last summer - maybe a few days in the mid-80's. I'll admit I waited a bit too long to get my garlic in the ground, and spent much of last Sunday busting up dirt frozen to a depth of 3-4". A 1' x 35' raised bed didn't look all that big when I started, but I was sore and tired when I got done.

1) I'm never home during summer, I'm always on vacation.

2) I go on skiing trips every year.

 

[Gokul43201]

Commuting is hard with snow. When there is snow outside I start off at my house and by the time I drive to school, I end up being the negative of myself.

Groaaan!

 

[Evo]

We've been having unusually cold and icy/snowy weather for December. Our average high temperatures are what our average lows should be.

We've had snow and ice every day since Friday. Tonight and tomorrow, well here's the forecast.

AN ICE STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT CST TUESDAY NIGHT.

FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHWEST MISSOURI AND ADJACENT NORTHEAST KANSAS THIS EVENING...WITH THE HEAVIEST AXIS OF PRECIPITATION SHIFTING SLOWLY SOUTH AND EAST ACROSS THE WARNING AREA DURING THE DAY TUESDAY. PRECIPITATION WILL BE MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES... AND SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF ICE FROM ONE HALF TO ONE INCH ARE EXPECTED. IN ADDITION...EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...WHICH WILL PRODUCE RAPID ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY EXCEED ONE INCH. THIS LONG DURATION STORM SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWER LINES.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FOOD. CHECK FURNACES AND FUEL LEVELS. DO NOT RUN GENERATORS IN ENCLOSED AREAS! TRAVEL IS DISCOURAGED BUT IF NECESSARY...MAKE SURE YOUR CAR IS WINTERIZED AND IN GOOD WORKING ORDER AND CARRY ALONG A SAFETY SUPPLY KIT THAT INCLUDES FOOD... BLANKETS AND A CELL PHONE.

AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED ONCE THE FREEZING RAIN BEGINS. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL LIKELY LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THAT ADD TO THE DANGER.

We're hoping they officially close our office tomorrow.

 

[turbo]

Sorry to hear that Evo. We had an ice storm like that in 1998 and the forests still haven't recovered. All the trees that were damaged by that provided feasts for insects. Many parts of the state were without power for weeks, and the only gas stations operating around here were ones that had the foresight to provide backup power generation to run their pumps. That storm was such a big event that if you Google on "ice storm" and "1998" you'll get thousands of accounts of the impact of the storm. Some parts of Canada got nailed pretty hard, too.

 

[Evo]

Dang, by the time I leave work I'll bet there will be no firewood left to buy and I am out. I have some sterno and a lot of candles, batteries, etc. I'm going to have to get a harness for the Fruit Bat, I can't let him go sailing over the edge, I almost lost him again this morning. I'd better stock up on booze, just to keep the chill off, of course.

I've got my ice cleats ready to strap onto my shoes.

If you don't see me online tomorrow, you'll know I'm without power.

 

[Phred101.2]

This same type of thing occurred here in Auckland, NZ, about 5 yrs ago. Winter was coming and the days getting cooler. Trees were starting to shed leaves all over the place. We had two big cherry trees in our front yard, and they had lost about half their foliage.
Then things got warmer. The trees stopped dropping leaves and started budding, in the course of about a week. Winter went down the tubes and we had an 'Indian Summer' that year. The cherry trees looked a bit weird, with half their leaves from last summer still attached and new growth at the ends where the first lot had gone through the abscission process, and hit the ground. I guess it threw a few worms and insects who didn't get the 'expected' dead leaf-mass that year. Haven't seen many bees around either, like back in the day. Used to be dozens buzzing the dandelions and daisies in someone's lawn, or garden flowers.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I bought a few of the shake-them LED flashlights to keep around. They're not as bright as the battery-powered lights we've got, but they're awfully handy - batteries don't last forever, but these little charged-capacitor lights can be recharged with just a few shakes. If there is a hardware store or (last resort - yuck!) a Wal-Mart near you, it would be a good idea to see if you can snag one of these when you get F-B's harness.

For more light (for quite a long time, actually), you can get a rechargeable work light, too, and charge that big battery as soon as you get home. My Makita cordless power tools came with a charger, two 18-volt power packs and a work light with a swiveling head. Those power packs last a LONG time running that light. I've have never managed to run down a battery with it yet. I can set it up on the kitchen table pointed up at the boarded cathedral ceiling and the kitchen will be lit up well enough to prepare meals, etc. Luckily we have a gas range and oven. If you have some jugs and other big containers like lidded pots, you might want to fill them with water, because if the power goes out everywhere, the water treatment plant might not be running so good.

Good luck, Evo!

 

[Evo]

Thanks! I think I will.

I've got some oil lamps and I hope my coleman battery operated lamps didn't get tossed.

 

[Evo]

No power outage, but the trees and power lines are very heavily coated with ice and the storm isn't supposed to stop until midnight tonight. The temperature has been hovering right around freezing, but is supposed to start dropping again in a few hours.

Of course, I drove into work and there were only eight cars in the parking lot. Turns out that since Kansas and Missouri declared a state of emergency, we're officially closed today. Our director decided to reward those of us stupid enough to show up with a free lunch from the Bistro in the building. <burp>

Incase anyone has missed it http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm

 

[jim mcnamara]

For years we lived in a remote area with lots of power outages. One lasted about 2 days. 'Cause we heated with wood, there never was a problem with pipes freezing during outages. When we had that long outage the nightime temp was minus 18F. Cool.

Now that I'm nearer civilization, when we lost power for about six hours last winter, the inside temperature went from 55F to about 40F. Hmm, that means a longer outage and we've got problems...

 

[turbo]

No power outage, but the trees and power lines are very heavily coated with ice and the storm isn't supposed to stop until midnight tonight. The temperature has been hovering right around freezing, but is supposed to start dropping again in a few hours.

Of course, I drove into work and there were only eight cars in the parking lot. Turns out that since Kansas and Missouri declared a state of emergency, we're officially closed today. Our director decided to reward those of us stupid enough to show up with a free lunch from the Bistro in the building. <burp>

Incase anyone has missed it http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm

When the gentle freezing rains and drizzle let up, and the cold front on the back side pushes in, even very gentle breezes will wreak havoc with the trees. With an inch of ice on them, they are badly stressed already, and the momentum of all that mass of ice will subject those branches to forces that they have never felt before, even during severe storms, downbursts, etc.

 

[Astronuc]

No power outage, but the trees and power lines are very heavily coated with ice and the storm isn't supposed to stop until midnight tonight. The temperature has been hovering right around freezing, but is supposed to start dropping again in a few hours.

Of course, I drove into work and there were only eight cars in the parking lot. Turns out that since Kansas and Missouri declared a state of emergency, we're officially closed today. Our director decided to reward those of us stupid enough to show up with a free lunch from the Bistro in the building. <burp>

Incase anyone has missed it http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm

I was wondering how you were doing out there. We had freezing rain on Monday, but all I had to do was scrape the ice off the cars and come to work. We were prepared this time.

Several years ago, after we had a severe ice storm, the local utility began a tree pruning compaign, and many rights of way have been cleared so we are less likely to have a power outage as a result of iced trees falling on power lines.

The roads were sanded and salted Sunday night so the morning was not so bad.

I'm seriously considering a portable generator. We lost power one year and didn't get it back for about 24 hrs. By then the temperature in the house was about 35-40F. We have oil heat, but the furnace blower and circulating fan use electricity.