Will the Arctic Cold Front Cause Severe Weather and Damage to Crops?

[Klockan3]

Borek, you could build an igloo.

Nah, that is not nearly enough snow. Ideally when you build an igloo you have a meter or so of snow and then you just make blocks by cutting it out straight from the snow mass on the ground to build the igloo. You don't want to build with packed snow like that.

 

[EnumaElish]

I'll steam off about men's winter headgear -- I cannot find a product that has a visor and good insulation. My microfiber beanie (underarmor) is very warm, but doesn't have a visor. I recently bought a flleece cap (patagonia) with a visor and earflaps, which looked like what I needed, only to discover it doesn't really protect in sub-zero temperatures because (unlike the beanie) it does not have an additional layer. Has anyone run into this problem before? Any suggestions??

 

[Loren Booda]

Me and my baby got Popsicle toes.

 

[turbo]

it's still above 20 deg here. Too warm for January, though if the wet lows from the Gulf stay away, we might be able to duck some heavy storms.

 

[turbo]

We seem to have hit our high for the day. 15 degrees and sunny with 15-20 mph winds. Not the arctic stuff that Januaries used to be made of, but more normal, at least. If the arctic high will settle on us and steer storms around us, that would be fine by me. I hate shoveling snow.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Finally, no snow here!

In central southern England, our temperature went up to around 45F (7C) yesterday, and overnight there was heavy rain, which has washed away the remaining snow (and left large puddles everywhere). Now we can get back to moaning about the rain again.

 

[sas3]

Me and my baby got Popsicle toes.

What flavor?



When God gave out rhythm
He Sure was good to you
You can add, subtract, multiply and divide by two

I know today's your birthday and I did not buy no rose
But I wrote this song, instead, and I call it "Popsicle toes."

Popsicle toes
Popsicle toes are always froze
Popsicle toes
You're so brave to expose
All those Popsicle toes

You must have been Mr. Olympian
With all that amplitude;
How come you always load your Pentax when I am in the nude?
We can have a birthday party and you can wear your birthday clothes,
Then we can hit the floor and go explore those Popsicle toes

You've got the finest North America
This sailor ever saw
I like to feel your warm Brazil and touch your Panama.
But your Tierra del Fuegos are nearly always froze
We've got to seesaw 'til we finally thaw those Popsicle toes.

 

[Borek]

It was between 0-5 F tonight here. It was not snowing since I posted pictures, but the snow from the street was removed.

 

[turbo]

Heat wave! We just broke through 40 deg F and climbing.

 

[Borek]

So you are approaching stage two: flood.

 

[joelupchurch]

I live in Orlando. The cold finally let up yesterday, but too late to save the Citrus crop for most of the farmers.

Right now, it is in the low 70s and I have the French doors open to the porch to let the house warm up.

 

[turbo]

The low in Bangor was 25 deg F today. A year ago, the low was -24 deg F. A difference of 49 degrees.

 

[Loren Booda]

What flavor?



When God gave out rhythm
He Sure was good to you
You can add, subtract, multiply and divide by two

I know today's your birthday and I did not buy no rose
But I wrote this song, instead, and I call it "Popsicle toes."

Popsicle toes
Popsicle toes are always froze
Popsicle toes
You're so brave to expose
All those Popsicle toes

You must have been Mr. Olympian
With all that amplitude;
How come you always load your Pentax when I am in the nude?
We can have a birthday party and you can wear your birthday clothes,
Then we can hit the floor and go explore those Popsicle toes

You've got the finest North America
This sailor ever saw
I like to feel your warm Brazil and touch your Panama.
But your Tierra del Fuegos are nearly always froze
We've got to seesaw 'til we finally thaw those Popsicle toes.

Wonderful. Is that the jazz version? One advantage we Northerners have.

 

[Dembadon]

Quote from a winter storm warning I received this morning:

... TODAY'S STORM WILL PRODUCE UP TO 3 FEET OF SNOW IN THE SIERRA ABOVE 7000 FEET. AMOUNTS OF A FOOT OR MORE ARE LIKELY IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE TAHOE BASIN NORTHWARD INTO PLUMAS AND WESTERN LASSEN COUNTIES... WITH UP TO 6 INCHES ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE SIERRA.

* AFTER TODAY'S STORM... LIGHT TO MODERATE ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE SIERRA TUESDAY WITH SEVERAL FEET OF ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. ...

I live at elevation 6,900 feet -- looks like I can expect 7-10 feet of snow over the next few days. Typically we'll only get 1-3 feet out of a single storm. This will be the biggest dump in the last two years if it lives up to expectations.

 

[dlgoff]

I'd like to see some pictures of this Dembadon. Can you even get out to get pictures with 7-10 feet of snow?

 

[Dembadon]

I'd like to see some pictures of this Dembadon. Can you even get out to get pictures with 7-10 feet of snow?

Absolutely! I'll post a few over the next few days.

Edit: We'd be lucky to get 10' though. I'm not expecting much over 6'. NOAA says:

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL REACH THE SIERRA THIS MORNING...WITH
HEAVY SNOW AND HIGHER WINDS AFFECTING THE MOUNTAINS FROM LATE
THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES
THROUGH THE SIERRA...SNOW FALL RATES OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR OR MORE
WILL MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT WITH POSSIBLE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. ...

Most reports (weather.com, noaa.com, local news) claim that there will be constant snow; 80%-100% chance of precipitation. Storms like this were common in the 80s, not so much anymore.

 

[Borek]

10 feet snow picture preview:

 

[Dembadon]

10 feet snow picture preview:

 

[turbo]

That's not exactly accurate. Once the windows are blocked, it's hard to see much white. Shades of gray, though.

 

[Dembadon]

From my back deck -- 30 minutes after it started snowing. 'bout .5" accumulation.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Hey turbo-1, does it ever get this cold in Maine? It sure does in the People's Republic.
http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/epic-fail-polar-bear-win.jpg"

 

[Borek]

We had 0 deg F tonight, more like 10 now with beautiful Sun.

Seems like I may have to buy more firewood, last 4 weeks consumed more than 8 weeks share.

 

[turbo]

Last night got down to 0 deg F and tonight looks like the same or colder, then Sunday a warm front rolls through with rain. Crap!

 

[Astronuc]

My kale is still alive - even after several nights at 0F last week!

 

[turbo]

My kale is still alive - even after several nights at 0F last week!

Wow! I may have to pot some and put it in the greenhouse to see how long we can harvest it.

 

[MotoH]

Tahoe got 5 feet of fresh pow, which is insane riding, and I get rained on. The slopes are going to be absolute shyte for some time until they get the snow machines started up again. Damn you mother nature.

 

[Borek]

Still nights below -20 deg C, but it is about to change to minus few. According to the forecast pressure is going to drop down by 50 hPa in next 50 hours - that is 37 mm Hg. :zzz:

Meteopaths (is such a word in English?) are going to die, all of them simultaneously.

 

[turbo]

The temperature (night-time mind you) is 45 deg F and rising with high winds and torrential rains. We've probably already gotten 2-3 inches since mid-afternoon, with flood watches in place over most of the state.

 

[Borek]

Quite the opposite here, we woke up to -15 deg F. Unfortunately that was enough for the main water pipe to freeze, we have no water at the moment. Chances that the pipe burst are minimal, ice is most likely only in a short vertical part between ground and the house - enough to block.

I have put a heater next to it and we are waiting. It is isolated with 10 or 15 cm of rock wool, apparently when it gets that cold that's not enough. Trick is, now the heat has to penetrate the isolation, so we have to be patient.

 

[Vasara]

It's been around -25 °C (-15 °F or so) for a while here in Finland. It should be getting warmer later this week, up to -5 °C even, and it's also going to snow some more.

 

[Evo]

Quite the opposite here, we woke up to -15 deg F. Unfortunately that was enough for the main water pipe to freeze, we have no water at the moment. Chances that the pipe burst are minimal, ice is most likely only in a short vertical part between ground and the house - enough to block.

I have put a heater next to it and we are waiting. It is isolated with 10 or 15 cm of rock wool, apparently when it gets that cold that's not enough. Trick is, now the heat has to penetrate the isolation, so we have to be patient.

I hope you have water again.

 

[Borek]

Ice in pipe melted after about 3 hours, I have blocked ventillation opening that is close to the pipe, hopefully that'll be enough. It is already -18 deg C (around 0 deg F), it will be even colder tonight, but probably not as cold as yesterday.

 

[Andre]

Relatively cold here too, so close to the sea -5C at maximum today, mid twenties, -10C or colder expected tonite. But these are records for this area. However, it did not stop Enrunwen to go to her social obligations by bike.

Success with the water Borek.

 

[Borek]

Freezing pipes are nothing new here.

House was poorly isolated from the very beginning. Up to now we had similar problems twice, different pipes were frozen each time, with unexpected effects like only hot water in some taps. Two years ago we have added additional layer of isolation below the house, so now pipes that go "inside" the floor but over the isolation are safe. However, that also means that empty space below the isolation is much colder (we are not heating it from the top), and the pipe that got frozen this time is just in this free space - so I was not entirely surprised by what have happened. I couldn't decide to add isolation just in case - if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Now I know it IS broken. I have to remember to add some additional isolation to the pipe in spring or summer.

 

[turbo]

I suggest that instead of additional insulation, you consider wrapping that section of pipe with a thermostatically-controlled heat strip. I don't know if you have access to them, but you can buy them around here, and they do a pretty good job. They only turn on when the temperature falls below a pre-set level, so they don't consume that much electricity. You can get cheaper resistive heater-strips with no thermostat, but you end up paying for extra electrical consumption whenever you "guess" you should plug it in and when you forget to unplug it.

If you want to Google the stuff, it's often called "pipe wrap heat tape" or similar in the US.

 

[Borek]

Thanks, will look into it.

 

[turbo]

Thanks, will look into it.

Good luck. Places that sell heat tape often sell neoprene insulation. It looks like a pipe made of foam, with a split down one side. After you wrap the pipe with heat tape, pop the insulation over the wrapped pipe and seal the split with duct tape. It increases the effectiveness of the heat tape and saves you more money. Around here, there are lots of people who heat primarily or entirely with wood, and their cellars are cold and uninsulated, so we are pretty dependent on heat tape and neoprene pipe insulation to keep the water flowing.

I had to install extra rigid foam insulation on one wall of my cellar. We leave the floor of the house uninsulated so some heat gets down there, but we needed some extra help keeping the cellar warm enough so that our garlic and squash don't freeze.

 

[radou]

It's -7 C right now in here in Croatia, which is pretty cold, but still okay, since we've had a one-week period of an average -15 C a few weeks ago. You get used to it.

 

[rewebster]

Cold weather and potholes--

boy, hitting a pothole at ~65mph compared to ~30mph gives a whole new meaning of 'shocks' to the car. Another alignment for the car in April or May

 

[Gokul43201]

It's -7 C right now in here in Croatia, which is pretty cold, but still okay, since we've had a one-week period of an average -15 C a few weeks ago. You get used to it.

Wow! I thought I was gone a while, but this is a blast from the past. You been hibernating, radou?

 

[dlgoff]

I suggest that instead of additional insulation, you consider wrapping that section of pipe with a thermostatically-controlled heat strip.

When I did a little modification of my incoming water line, I noticed that the copper line was really starting to get deteriorated for being too warm. The heat tape was wrapped without any space between the wraps. I replaced the copper and heat tape but this time with a shorter one that just runs parallel to the pipe that was suggested by the installation instructions. I should have know this since when I was working at a chemical plant, we would make heat tape runs of hundreds of feet parallel to the lines.

In short, too much heat can be bad.

 

[rewebster]

When I did a little modification of my incoming water line, I noticed that the copper line was really starting to get deteriorated for being too warm. The heat tape was wrapped without any space between the wraps. I replaced the copper and heat tape but this time with a shorter one that just runs parallel to the pipe that was suggested by the installation instructions. I should have know this since when I was working at a chemical plant, we would make heat tape runs of hundreds of feet parallel to the lines.

In short, too much heat can be bad.

that's why hot water lines always freeze (and break) first just about always in colder weather before the cold water lines---the heat from warm water changes the copper


"In short, too much heat can be bad."--but I do like summer a lot more than winter!

 

[Borek]

Plastic piping and we are talking only about one cold line which can freeze, but thanks for the remarks.

 

[S_Happens]

I just got back from a Ski trip in Colorado where it stayed below 20 F at the base of the mountains the whole trip (so mostly single digit skiing). I was watching the sun rise monday and the thermometer stayed at 0 F until an hour and a half after the sun peeked over the mountains.

Being from Houston, I'm not used to anything like that.

 

[rewebster]

Plastic piping and we are talking only about one cold line which can freeze, but thanks for the remarks.

is that your main feed line from the street?


In the way of plastic, here in my area (Illinois), the plumbing store used to sell a plastic pipe product line called Qest, and it advertised as being 'freeze proof'---I don't know if they even make it any more---but the pipe itself could stands multiple rounds of freezing and thawing--the connections though, I had trouble with. It was gray and flexible---and if I remember it was a polypropylene.

 

[Astronuc]

It's nice and sunny here, although the temps are in the 20's F. We had snow showers yesterday, and last night the low temp was about 10 F.

We seem to be doing better than these folks:
Heavy snow, ice bury southern Plains, cut power
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_re_us/us_winter_storm

 

[turbo]

Weird weather! Yesterday was in the 40's with light snow - today we have just managed to get up to 10 deg F with 20-30 mph winds with higher gusts. Brrrr. In normal winters we don't have fronts moving through in rapid succession, and once an arctic high settles over us, the winds subside and the weather is crisp, clear, and calm for days at a time.

There has been some discussion of global warming locally, and a nay-sayer said that last winter wasn't warm and instead of citing temperature trends (the logical thing to do) he offered as "proof" the fact that Presque Isle got 200" of snow last winter. Here, winter temperatures are negatively correlated with snowfall - a fact that seems to elude the "experts" when they want to delude the public, for whatever reason. The warmer our winters, the more snow we get.

That has been common knowledge among farmers, wood-cutters, etc forever. In fact, when I was a kid, there was a common belief that if we had a "green" Christmas (no snow on the ground) the elderly would die in greater numbers over the winter. No snow=colder than normal and houses around here 50 years ago were very poorly insulated and drafty, usually with single-pane windows. "Green Christmas, full graveyard."

 

[physics girl phd]

Our boys are home from school today. The county canceled it early (last night as about 6ish). We've yet to see ANY snow (it's nearly noon). Blockhead Southerners. I can't believe I've had a baby with a Tennessee birth certificate. At least they know their grits and sweet-tea.

Thus far:
Soundly defeated M in Monopoly.
Did some work-related emailing... and now goofing off on PF.
Soon to come:
We have lunch.
P gets a trolley-ride (and hence little E gets her outdoor time).

 

[Evo]

It's 16F outside and snowing.

 

[Borek]

Just above zero C, so we are thawning a little bit, somewhere between 5-10 cm of new snow in the last two dys. But we are to expect new wave of low temperatures.