Saturday, February 14, 2015

What a night!

Drove home through blowing snow that was so heavy that the highway came to a complete stop for over five minutes at one point as no one could see to move. Winds gusting fiercely now, expected to blow 50-60mph tonight. Sure am glad my plane's inside a nice hangar. As for temps, it's going to get down to -1 by morning, and with these winds and all the trees here, it's not a matter of "will the power go out?" but "WHEN will the power go out?" It's almost a given that we'll lose power sooner or later tonight, and when that occurs with these temps, I'm predicting a lot of frozen pipes across this area. As for me, I'm charging my phone and rechargeable lights, setting out lanterns, filling extra containers with water for me and the dogs, running the pellet stove at it's top settings to get the house as warm as I can, and bringing in firewood for the basement wood stove, which won't heat the rest of the house, but if need be, the dogs and I can sleep down there. And that stove WILL keep my pipes from freezing.

As for all of the aforementioned trees...just gotta hope that God keeps them off my house tonight, because that would be bad indeed in these wicked temperatures, which aren't expected to get above freezing again for days.

Of course, while some of us worry about such conditions here, the Yukon Quest is currently running across western Canada and eastern Alaska, and 17 mushers and their dogs are trekking a thousand miles in worse conditions, even sleeping outside as they run this race, which could take as long as two weeks from start to finish.

(As of this writing, Brent Sass has taken the lead from Allen Moore, and Lance Mackey needs to get it in gear if he ever wants to move up out of 13th place. Ain't no money for 13th, Lance!) Dave Dalton's in 9th, and my dogs are looking at me like I'm insane for saying that we should try this next year. "Not even in a heated car," they say.

Looks like most of the mushers are still bunched up in Dawson City for the mandatory 36-hour rest, but a few are already about as far as Eagle. Should be a good finish. Current weather in Dawson, Yukon, Canada, is 19f, or, warmer than here, and with no indicated wind. Hell, the Yukon dog-sled teams actually have better weather than I do right now!

If you're under this storm system, take care. It's no joke out there. And if when the power goes, it won't be very funny inside a lot of homes, either.

10 comments:

  1. At least you got home safely...

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  2. Hey Murphy,

    At least you prepared for the eventuality....unlike most of your neighbors...Take pride in that. Now on a wicked evil note....perhaps the cold spell will thin out the herd of feral cats that hang around your crazy cat neighbor?.....You know me...I am the glass half full of snow kinda guy.

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    1. Sadly not. They built a new addition to their HOUSE a few months ago just to shelter the outdoor cats.

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  3. I'm contemplating sleeping on the sofa in the interior of the house tonight. The part of the house that doesn't have trees immediately outside.

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  4. Reminds me of more than few winter storms back in Illinois.

    Keep warm, Murph!

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  5. I feel you, brother.
    It's windy as hell down here too, and temps have dropped to 56f this morning.
    I have to smoke in the garage with the propane heater.

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  6. My house is surrounded by 50ft tall spruce trees. I sat last night and watched them tossed in the 40+mph gusts. I know how you're feeling about your trees. Kept checking the pipes in the basement last night, too.

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  7. Just a tip about the pipes from someone in Alaska, keep a trickle of water running out of each faucet and they won't freeze. Standing water in the pipes freeze easily.

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    1. Yeah, I know enough to run my water, for I lived in a trailer in mid-Michigan for a while, but I'm betting that many of my West Virginia neighbors who are not used to such climates would not have thought to do so. And welcome to the blog. Keep coming back, because we love us some Alaskans here.

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  8. Stay safe and warm you three. Got up to 14 today in sunny Illinois. We bundled up to go out for thai to celebrate getting Book No. 2 DONE. The good food and company was worth the chill and a car that starts from the house is kinda nice as well.

    Talk to you soon!

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