Y'all be safe during the big chill this week!

[Gewehr98]

Weatherman says ambient temps here will be -25 degrees Sunday night/Monday morning.  With these nice breezes, that means wind chills will vary between -40 to -55 degrees.

While this may be shirtsleeve weather for Tallpine in his Unabomber retreat out there, it's still pretty damned cold in my neck of the Wisconsin woods.  We haven't experienced stuff like this since back in 1996.

Wife #2 understands that when we walk the dogs, it's The Buddy System.  We walk together, dogs stay close, and not too far from the front door.  We eyeball noses and ears of both humans and dogs, and once business is done, hustle back to the house.

Grocery stores were madness today with people buying more toilet paper and french bread fixin's.   (Eggs, milk, bread)  I didn't see many folks buying bottled water.  

That's my biggest concern.  Water mains have already started breaking in the bigger cities nearby, and when that happens at -20 degrees, the crews fixing them aren't the quickest.

You can't eat all that french toast, and flush the byproducts using toilet paper, without water.  

I filled the 20 gallon food-grade barrel today, and the bathtub's full with buckets nearby for flushing the commode.  

Several more gallon milk jugs are full and frozen on the back deck, plus we can melt snow until spring if need be.

I don't think the power will go out, but I have the Generac fueled and oiled, 10 gallons of fresh gas nearby, and all the railroad lanterns inside are full of lamp oil just in case.

I couldn't find my magnetic engine block heater.  That would've been nice come Monday.  Wife #2 understands that her Jeep will require a gradual warm-up well before she departs for work Monday morning.

Otherwise, about the only inconvenience I foresee is that I can't use the gas grill on the deck for the next few days.

I'll call my elderly neighbors in the morning and see if they need any errands run, otherwise it's an experiment on my part to see how fast I can chill a 6-pack of Spotted Cow on the front porch to go with the chili in the crock pot.

To my fellow APSers in the path of this icy blast, stay safe!  

[Scout26]

High temp expected here on Monday is -14F.  

And when we went to the Aldi in Wheaton this evening it looked like locusts had hit the place.  The only fruit and veggies left were four cantaloupes, five packs of corn on the cob and half a case of blueberries.  Only bread left were 8 packs of hot dog buns, 2 packs of Italian beef buns and some pretzel rolls (which Robert likes for his lunches, fortunately.)  Nothing but lots of empty cardboard otherwise.  The store manager told me she ordered an extra truck tomorrow of nothing but produce, since the cupboards were literally bare by noon today.

Meanwhile, I broke down and invested in a snow blower.  Robert is excited and has instructions/a deal to go out tomorrow and earn me back a portion of my investment, and yes, he does get a substantial cut of the take.

There's a conference call of all the school superintendents of DuPage County tomorrow at 3pm to discuss whether or not to open school.  It would be their first day back after the Christmas break.   I say they need to open so it will build character.  

Anywho, firewood is stocked by the fireplace and at the back door.  Propane tanks (both large and small) are filled.  Generator is ready, all gas cans are full (except the 2.5 gallon one for the snowblower) as is the car (well over 7/8ths) so we're good for 72 hours on backup.  Plenty of bottled water, but I'll fill some 5 gallon buckets for the toilets, plus snow can be melted if need be.  

I'll be the guy under the blanket by the fireplace, sipping hot chocolate and saying "Brrrrrrrr, sure looks cold out there.  Pass the mini-marshmellows."

[Sergeant Bob]

I'm in the path of all that as well. Couldn't get the snow blower to start today. However, the wife and I both have 4WD's so I'll just drive up and down the driveway to keep it passable. Will have to shovel the sidewalk and a spot for my short dogs to do their business without freezing their pee pee's off.

The generator and both cars are fueled up, and I have about 30 gallons in reserve just in case.

Sure glad I had a 5 inch well (with submersible pump) drilled in 2006, to replace the point with an above ground pump, which tended to freeze up. Not much sucks more than going out to thaw out the pipes when it's pushing -30 degrees.

[zxcvbob]

I'm still planning to goto church in the morning, but when I get back I'll bring an armload of firewood in the house and then dont plant on going out again until Tuesday.  Maybe Wednesday.

2nd level boss at Enormous Computer Company (wanna buy an enormous computer?) told us to work from home Monday if at all possible.

Grocery stores were madness today with people buying more toilet paper and french bread fixin's.   (Eggs, milk, bread)  I didn't see many folks buying bottled water. 

I bought another 1.75L bottle of booze this afternoon, so I should be set for a while. *hic*  Maybe I ought to fill a carboy or two with water in the morning too, jic.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Stay safe in that crazy weather!

Here in Arizona it's a frigid 52F right now. If I go out I might have to wear socks. 

[Perd Hapley]

High temp expected here on Monday is -14F.  

God loves us better. We're supposed to get all the way up to -2.

[freakazoid]

Google says a chilly high of 70 on Monday.I guess global warming decided to come this way.

[dm1333]

What a difference a few miles and a lake makes.  Milwaukee is supposed to hit -16 with a high of -10.  Eighty miles east a low of 9 at night and a high of 8 tomorrow.  It's like Key West over here!   

[lupinus]

We'll be reaching a balmy 45 today.

[Stetson]

Snowing here this morning.  Hosed up plans for lunch with a friend.  29F right now.  The wind off of Lake St Clair in the morning is going to make going to work brutal.

I have water, need more food but can get by with what I have if I am skimpy on meals.

[Boomhauer]

Cutting firewood today. We will probably drop 3 trees.

[lupinus]

So water to flush the toilet incase the water line freezes begs the question...

What do you do when the sewer line freezes?

[Boomhauer]

So water to flush the toilet incase the water line freezes begs the question...

What do you do when the sewer line freezes?

Lots of hot spicy food...

[Boomhauer]

Its going to get down to 5 deg or so tomorrow night here in upstate sc. That is going to be *expletive deleted*ing cold for this area (most people do not have access to good cold weather gear here like quality base layers and such)

[Jamisjockey]

Expecting lows in the upper 20's for 2-3 consecutive nights here in SETex. 
The humanity! Where in the *expletive deleted*ck is FEMA?

[Perd Hapley]

We'll be reaching a balmy 45 today.

Unpack the Bermuda shorts, and the SPF 200!


Looks like the snow started sometime after 1 am, and is expected to keep going until the afternoon. We are actually going to skip the morning service today.  

[never_retreat]

Here is the real question. How solid has you forecast been? Ours has been all over the place.
This is for Monday.
Friday they said high of 74 low of -5
Saturday they said high of 50 low of 0
Now they are saying High 54 low 4

I think they have given up on the guessing and gone straight to making it up.

[Perd Hapley]

The NWS forecast for St. Louis, MO has been about the same for the past few days, at least far as temperature, and that we will have snow Saturday night through Sunday. The amount of snow is the only thing that keeps changing, but even that has consistently been in the "several inches" range.

The Accuweather extended forecast is predicting that, after the sub-zero temps this week, we're supposed to be pretty much in the forties for the next month or so. That's been consistent for at least a few days, as well, for whatever that's worth.

[Monkeyleg]

Supposed to be 52 today, but forecasts are showing a high 18 with a low of 2 for tomorrow. I don't think people around here a accustomed to that kind of cold. I still have all my Wisconsin cold weather gear, so I'll be fine. I'll bet that much of the city closes down.

[lupinus]

High today of 45 with a low of 34.

Tomorrow we're looking at a high of 35 with a low of 8. Also a good chance of snow showers. I think that's the coldest it'll be since I moved down here.

Part of the issue when we get that low is just that you don't see the clothing and coats for that around here. You aren't walking into a Southern Walmart and seeing the same kind of coats you are up north, least not around my area.

[geronimotwo]

we just had -8 2 nights ago.   tomorrow we'll have a high of 40 with freezing rain.  Tuesday will be back to a low of 1.  

we had a big chill here about 12 years ago, as I recall it was in the -25f range .  a friend of mine got off the late shift to find he had a flat tire.  while changing it he had his right knee on the ground.  his knee had bad frost bite.   it looked like someone held a blowtorch to it and gave him a 3rd degree burn about 4 inches in diameter. 

[RoadKingLarry]

We're forecast for the low single digits over night, with plenty of wind to add to the fun. We've got about 2-3 inches of snow that fell during the early morning hours but not enough to really hamper travel. Should be an intersting night at work. I'll be bringing the serious cold weather clothes just in case.

Still not as bad as what we got in 2011.
We recorded a record low of -30 just a few miles up the road from my place. We also had record snowfall with that event. My work van was stuck in the parking lot for 2 weeks because the company wouldn't hire someone to clear the lot. My boss suggested I shovel it out.
My question to her was "What part of having an overweight, middle-aged, office worker out shoveling snow in sub-zero temps, at night, alone, really sounds like a good idea? She never responded to that.

[French G.]

Calling for -10 monday night. I've already rescued the joint custody dog from she who might remember to put him in her basement...or not. The fun part is getting home from work at 4 am. I think -10 sounds better than the other night where it was 9 with a 40mph breeze.

[Scout26]

And school is cancelled tomorrow.  He was all excited when I told him when he came back for lunch. 


He won't be so excited when I unveil the list of chores that need to be done tomorrow.

 

[Physics]

You guys suck, we're still looking at early season conditions on all the mountains.

http://www.skiwhitepass.com/the-mountain/snow-report.aspx

And that is better than it's been!