What safety precautions should residents take during snowmelt season?

[D H]

OMG, it's snowing out! My dogs do not know what to make of it.

We never (almost never) get snow in Houston.

 

[franznietzsche]

I want snow :(

 

[turbo]

If you can pay shipping, I well send you mine!

 

[Astronuc]

OMG, it's snowing out! My dogs do not know what to make of it.

We never (almost never) get snow in Houston.

My mom called to tell me it was snowing.

We're waiting for a severe winter storm. We are told to expect power outages.

 

[franznietzsche]

If you can pay shipping, I well send you mine!

I'm afraid it wouldn't last long here. Stupid mediterranean climate.

 

[turbo]

I'm afraid it wouldn't last long here. Stupid mediterranean climate.

How much do you want?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Ha ha I also got a text message from Clear Lake about the snow. I thought Mom was pulling my leg!

 

[Evo]

OMG, it's snowing out! My dogs do not know what to make of it.

We never (almost never) get snow in Houston.

Houston can't handle snow. It snowed twice while I lived there, 20 years apart. If you could call it snow. It was a dusting, but the roads iced up making driving treacherous. The last time it snowed was around Christmas. I have pictures of my rose bushes in full bloom covered with snow. About 20 years ago.

 

[franznietzsche]

How much do you want?

Is all of it too much?

 

[D H]

So far, less than this:

We built a snowman four years ago!

 

[franznietzsche]

We built a snowman four years ago!

That is the greatest snowman I have ever seen. Palm fronds for arms.

 

[SticksandStones]

How much do you want?

Hahaha, finally someone who has more snow than here!

 

[Evo]

DH, your snowman is hysterical.

turbo, if I can get to my old upstate NY snow pictures, I can better your snow. I lived in an area of Upstate NY that got lake effect snow, one year, roofs caving in from snow were on the news every night. You would hire people to get the snow off of your roof, even though they were at extreme angles already.

 

[franznietzsche]

turbo, if I can get to my old upstate NY snow pictures, I can better your snow. I lived in an area of Upstate NY that got lake effect snow, one year, roofs caving in from snow were on the news every night. You would hire people to get the snow off of your roof, even though they were at extreme angles already.

I know where I want to move. I'm so sick of summer 9 months of the year.

 

[fluidistic]

More than the snow I need the cold. I used to live in Montréal some years ago and never left it for more than 2 years. That was before going where I am now. Here it snows once in a century and last time was 1 year ago.
The picture of SticksandStones reminds me good souvenirs, I better not watch these kind of pictures! I envy all of you that have snow and cold. (I mean by cold temperatures going below -15°C).

 

[franznietzsche]

More than the snow I need the cold. I used to live in Montréal some years ago and never left it for more than 2 years. That was before going where I am now. Here it snows once in a century and last time was 1 year ago.
The picture of SticksandStones reminds me good souvenirs, I better not watch these kind of pictures! I envy all of you that have snow and cold. (I mean by cold temperatures going below -15°C).

I haven't seen a temperature below 5 centigrade in years.

 

[mgb_phys]

Not a spot of snow here - even on the mountains.
Unemployed consultant, ski's waxed, season pass purchased - nothing!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We have a 70% chance of snow this weekend, and we reeeeeeally need it. The local and semi-local ski lifts still aren't operating.

 

[franznietzsche]

We have a 70% chance of snow this weekend, and we reeeeeeally need it. The local and semi-local ski lifts still aren't operating.

It's just not fair.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I haven't seen a temperature below 5 centigrade in years.

Go the the local butcher and ask if you can sit in his freezer; just for old time's sake.

 

[Borek]

I have pictures of my rose bushes in full bloom covered with snow. About 20 years ago.

Single flower bud on my rose right now. Not snow dusted.

It is half of December. And some crackpots state there is no climate change

 

[Andre]

Lot's of snow where I used to live (South Germany).

Single flower bud on my rose right now. Not snow dusted.

Seen my roses flowering in January some 25 years ago. Some variants just continue until the first frost.

It is half of December. And some crackpots state there is no climate change

Right, climate changes every month, Oops make that weather.

 

[LightbulbSun]

0.19" of ice accumulated already here and it's moderately freezing rain currently. Not looking good.

 

[Moonbear]

We're supposed to get freezing rain overnight. I don't mind if it comes in the morning, because the only thing I have to look forward to is the angry mob of students who got their grades back yesterday (I have one more set of office hours in the morning for the few who really want to understand what they got wrong on the final, but I figured I'd get plenty showing up who didn't care to understand but just wanted to demand extra points to pass). I just hope it goes away by evening, because I have a Christmas party to go to. It seems to snow every year for this party, and the roads can be pretty awful getting home if it freezes (it's more downhill getting there and uphill back). Plus, I have about a 2 hour drive to a friend's wedding on Saturday, so it better be good weather by then!

 

[LightbulbSun]

Lots of sleet and freezing rain overnight for my area. Possibly up to an inch of ice accumulation. What joy!

 

[Danger]

More than the snow I need the cold. I used to live in Montréal some years ago and never left it for more than 2 years.

Reminds me of an old limerick:
There once was a man from Quebec
Who was buried in snow to his neck.
When they asked, "Are you friz?"
He replied, "Yes, I is,
But we don't call this cold in Quebec."

 

[Shackleford]

Yeah, the last time it snowed in the Houston area was Christmas Eve 2004. Heh. We were at a Joe's Crab Shack when it started to snow. It was pretty cool last night, too. I went outside and played in the snow. My hands kept getting numb because I didn't have any gloves on. lol.

 

[Ed Aboud]

You are all so lucky!
I wish it snowed here (Dublin). It gets really cold and rains a lot but never snows.

 

[wildman]

It snowed here in Tucson on top of the mountains. They were white a few days back. It is still cold here (in the 60s during the day and 30s at night) and rain is predicted for the city so the mountains should get more this weekend. It may be a good ski year! Bring it on!

 

[Evo]

You are all so lucky!
I wish it snowed here (Dublin). It gets really cold and rains a lot but never snows.

If the trend for freak snowstorms continues, you just might get snow. Last winter it snowed in Saudi Arabia.

 

[Danger]

It is still cold here (in the 60s during the day and 30s at night)

Cold? We keep it like that indoors.

 

[turbo]

Cold? We keep it like that indoors.

You call that cold? Here, we keep beer in the refrigerator to keep it from freezing.

 

[cristo]

Cold? We keep it like that indoors.

Really?

 

[epenguin]

And some crackpots state there is no climate change

Rome is being washed away.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8738/romebridgenz0.jpg http://www.reuters.com/article/world...4BB2J720081212

 

[Math Jeans]

I must ask, but what is this "snow" that you all speak of? I have never heard of such a thing!

 

[Borek]

Rome is being washed away.

Link is broken.

 

[wolram]

England, wet and cold. frosty and wet, overcast and wet, sunny and wet, i guess i could make a mud man.

 

[Borek]

http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/LasrYearShow.htm

 

[Art]

England, wet and cold. frosty and wet, overcast and wet, sunny and wet, i guess i could make a mud man.

It was freezing when I was in the UK a few weeks ago. Thick frost every morning and a lot of places had snow brrrrrrr... Reminded me of why I left.

 

[epenguin]

Link is broken.

Everything is.

 

[epenguin]

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4BB2J720081212

Is this OK? Could you see the pic in the earlier post?

 

[mgb_phys]

Yes finally snow - about 1cm, just another couple of m and I can go skiing!

 

[turbo]

I must ask, but what is this "snow" that you all speak of? I have never heard of such a thing!

For someone who travels to the mountains to ski every winter, you sure have a short memory.

 

[turbo]

I just got back inside a while ago, after shoveling and scooping several inches of saturated snow (slush!) in the rain. I'd rather get a foot of real snow that I can move with a snow-blower. Shoveling gets old real fast when every load weighs 20-30#.

 

[Math Jeans]

For someone who travels to the mountains to ski every winter, you sure have a short memory.

Wow...I can't believe you actually remember me saying that. You have a nice memory.

My point is that in my area, if we get a centimeter of snow on the top of a mountain within a 300 mile radius, it is a top news story.

 

[Borek]

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4BB2J720081212

Is this OK? Could you see the pic in the earlier post?

OK now, I have seen picture earlier.

 

[Borek]

Wow...I can't believe you actually remember me saying that. You have a nice memory.

Bevare, collective memory of PFers knows no borders.

 

[Danger]

Here, we keep beer in the refrigerator to keep it from freezing.

Really?

Close. We have our thermostat set to about 15°C most of the time. The apartment tends to retain a lot of body heat.

 

[Astronuc]

We had freezing rain and flooding in our area. Some branches branches broke and fell, and I saw one tree in our neighborhood that fell over. But we didn't get it as bad as areas north and east of us, or higher elevations. There were about 35,000 - 50,000 people briefly without power.

But - Northeast struggles after storm blacks out 1.25M
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081213/ap_on_re_us/ice_storm

CONCORD, N.H. – Utility crews worked through a night of hand-numbing cold in the Northeast but they still had a long way to go before restoring power to all of the more than 1 million homes and businesses blacked out by a huge ice storm.

In New Hampshire, where more than 370,000 customers still had no electricity Saturday, Gov. John Lynch urged residents still without power to make overnight plans early.

"I think there were a lot of people who decided to just stick it out and stay home last night hoping that power would be restored today, but I think people have to assume that power will not come back today and seek shelter," Lynch said.

Utilities say it will be days before all service is restored.

Temperatures dipped into the teens Friday night and early Saturday in northern New England, forcing many people out of their homes and into shelters.

About 60 people spent the night at the Rochester, N.H., Middle School, including Debbie Reed, 57, who left her apartment Friday afternoon when she started seeing her breath.

"I still don't have power. I can't shower, I can't cook, I can't do much of anything," she said. "My plan is to go home and see how long I can stand it. If the power isn't back on by tonight I'll come back here. It's so cold I can only stand it for so long."

The ice storm compared with some of the Northeast's worst, especially in New Hampshire, where more than half the state — 400,000-plus homes and businesses — was without power at the peak of the outage. Far fewer customers were affected by the infamous Ice Storm of '98, when some residents spent more than a week in the dark. New Hampshire opened at least 25 shelters.

People lost power as far south as Pennsylvania, but most of the outages were in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and New York.
. . . .

 

[scorpa]

Ah it was -25 here today with the windchill making it -39 which I can believe after having spent the morning running around outside. Bit of a shock to the system when you get that for the first time every year. Yesterday was so nice though, only -15 or so so I went snowboarding.