Skip to main content

Prepping for the big winter storm

     


    The first great Winter Storm of 2022 is slowly making its way across America.   It's supposed to hit us here Sunday afternoon and bring anywhere between 8 to 12 inches of snow.  The worst part of this storm is the anticipation of it.  

    It's slowly moving across the United States and the local weather service has given us advanced warning going back several days.   As such, we have weatherproofed some of the windows - at least those that we know our young kitten is not likely to destroy.   We have tested the generator, and cleaned our wood burning stove.  

    We have the staples of milk, bread and toilet paper in stock.  I have a huge can of ice melting salt at my disposal, a brand new snow blower ready in the garage.  I have my boots, heavy jacket and scarf laid out;  I am ready for this storm.

    I have never liked winter.  Moving south was always part of my plans and I moved south shortly after college to escape the cold.  So I find it ironic that I've moved back up north to escape the heat caused by climate change.

    Generally speaking, winter in Pennsylvania is not that bad.  Historically we have had average lows of 19 F (- 7 C) to highs of 45 F (7.2 C), it's just that our part of Western Pennsylvania seems to be perpetually grey.  

    According to the locals, last winter was the worst winter we had in some time.  I was surprised by how mild it seemed to me.  Climate change however is affecting even my home state.  Our average temperature has gone up by a whole degree in the last 50 years with a steady increase in rainfall and flooding during the spring and summer months.

   We live 1 exit above the so called I-80 border, it is part of the US highway system that cuts the state in an east - west direction.  It's also the unofficial snow line that separates the "south" from the "north" of Pennsylvania and historically the worst of the winter weather is to the north of the I-80 separation. When I mean historically I do mean "Historically," as even the glaciers of the ice age only went as far south as nearby Moraine State Park.   


    The funny thing is that if we can make it through these next two weeks; thanks to the storm and its cold front we expect temperatures to remain below freezing, it starts to warm back up and we can expect a rather warm February.

    Thankfully I am continuing to work from home and don't have to worry about a commute.   Our house is well stocked with a variety of food and drinks.  If I have learned one thing about living in the country it's to be prepared for whatever may come.  

    Have those tarps ready, have that extra gas can available, have those blankets in the car.  When I lived in the city I could rely on public transportation, or on the roads being plowed.  Here, we have to be prepared.  We have to be a bit more self reliant because those services I once took for granted simply are not available.  I am frankly as ready as I can be as I interned to simply hunker down and ride it out.  

Be safe everyone.

Labels:
Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

What all the cool kids are reading.

Paradigm shifts and Project 2040

In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “ There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy. ” His observation has been echoed by people ever since and changed a bit over time, but has remained a stark warning. Only anarchy the way most people think of it rarely occurs.  We have found that people are more likely to band together when their communities face some sort of disaster, be it from war, plague or natural disaster.   We are all too familiar with pictures and videos of communities digging through the rubble of bombed buildings searching for survivors...but how many of us remember the moments during the Covid epidemic of people singing from their balconies?   When you have a community; people will always help people.  Despite these bleak times the things that make us human - our compassion - will see us through. Recently my life changed due to issues with a car .  While, in the scheme of things it was a minor crisis it did make me think if things coul...
1 comment
Read more

Want a greener and technology advanced future? Look to the Amish for guidence.

Years ago when I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina I was teaching 7th and 8th grade science.  One lesson in particular I remember very well.   It was on the uses of technology and I hoped to impress upon those kids one thought and one thought only.    Technology is neutral; it's what you do with it that matters. At that time there were no computers in the classroom and cell phones were still big bulky devices.  However these kids would be one of the first generations to deal with the technology we now take for granted.  So it was important that they at least an inkling of the promise of technology,  and how to deal with those consequences of technology. I still have my concerns about how we as a society approach technology and what, if anything, we have learned about it. We can learn from the past of course, but that's always jaded.   If only we had a real world example in the here and now that could serve as a guide on how t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hallowed grounds

      September got away from me it seemed,     A lot of personal things happened in the last month which made me question a few things, including if it was worth continuing this blog; considering how my readership is so small.   In the end however I decided it was.  Rome, as the saying goes, was not built in a day.     I can already feel the winds of the coming winter starting, our garage is all ready full of three tons of wood pellets for our stove and yesterday was the first day we lit it.   It was not a bad or particularly cold day but we had a chill in the house that caused my hands to be ice cold, and lighting the stove helped chase that chill from them.            Soon it will be time to work on winterizing the home.  First however, we had one last trip that Sue and I had wanted to make; or more of a pilgrimage of sorts.  We were going to visit the National...
1 comment
Read more