Winter Freeze prep

Os Trigonum · Jan 14, 2024

Buck Turgidson said: ↑

When you die, you'll **** your pants anyway, so this is a worthless extra step.
Click to expand...

although it occurs to me that if you die freezing your ass off . . .

Buck Turgidson · Jan 14, 2024

Os Trigonum said: ↑

although it occurs to me that if you die freezing your ass off . . .
Click to expand...

Then they'll find you naked, because the brain thinks you're hot and you mindlessly strip off all of your clothes

Kevooooo · Jan 14, 2024

No wind today so it doesn’t feel that bad.

I ghetto rigged the spigots with insulation, plastic bags, and duck tape. Ran some lights under a frost blanket for some of my plants but leaving all the garlic and cauliflower uncovered.

CrazyJoeDavola · Jan 14, 2024

MadMax said: ↑

If your Taun Taun dies, you can cut it open and get into it for warmth
Click to expand...

Here is a tip:

Your Taun Taun won't die if you don't take it out when it's cold like this. What kind of pet owner are you?

@sshole

Mango · Jan 14, 2024

rocketsjudoka said: ↑

A good piece about the different perceptions of cold. From own personal experience I think this is true. Having lived in Minnesota for quite awhile now I do notice my body does adapt to cold and after being around subfreezing temps for awhile I find I can tolerate colder temps and will even start wearing less layers while outside.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/14/us/extreme-cold-definition.html
Why the Definition of ‘Extreme Cold’ Is Different in Duluth and Dallas
“Everyone’s extreme is a different level,” said a meteorologist in Minnesota, which is much more familiar with subzero conditions than much of the U.S.

With a mass of frigid Arctic air descending on much of the United States this upcoming week, meteorologists and public health officials are well aware that a North Dakotan and a South Texan are unlikely to agree on what amounts to “extreme cold.”

As such, the National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stress that there is no set definition for extreme cold, and the point at which forecasters will warn residents that the plunging temperatures are a danger to them is calibrated to the region’s prevailing climate.

“Everyone’s extreme is a different level,” said Ketzel Levens, a meteorologist in the Weather Service’s office in Duluth, Minn., where the average daily temperature in January is a crisp 9.4 degrees. “Folks up north might have better protection. They might have a lot more clothes and layers. Our houses, our water infrastructure, they’re built to a different standard.”

And so if you warned Minnesotans every time it is merely freezing cold, you would struggle to get their attention when it was dangerously cold. Ms. Levens’s office issues a wind chill advisory only when the temperature reaches minus 25, and a wind chill warning when it reaches 40 below.

While it won’t be historically cold in Duluth this week — temperatures are expected to reach as low as minus 7 degrees — Ms. Levens said that residents might still feel the bite of the cold as the city is coming off its second warmest December on record.

Roughly 1,000 miles south, the Dallas-Fort Worth region won’t get as cold as Duluth this week, with a low temperature of 14 degrees. But the freezing temperatures there could pack a more significant punch, said Tom Bradshaw, a meteorologist in the service’s office in Fort Worth, where the average high temperature for January is 56 degrees.

“We could be looking at as much as 80, 85 hours of below freezing temperatures here,” he said, “which for us is definitely on the colder side of what we normally experience.”

His office sends out an advisory when wind chills are expected to fall below zero, while a wind chill warning comes when it’s likely to plunge below minus 18, Mr. Bradshaw said.

On the plus side, he said, this week’s cold snap isn’t expected to come with precipitation and icing, which battered Texas during a storm in February 2021. More than 200 people died, and millions were left without electricity and heat in the cold. Many also had no clean water, as pipes had burst or water treatment plants had failed.

Not only is the infrastructure in the South not as comfortable in such extremes, but also its population — which is less acclimated to severe winter weather — can also struggle more, according to Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, an expert on cold weather physiology and hypothermia at the University of Manitoba.

The body responds to feeling cold, he said, by tightening blood vessels to stanch blood flow to the extremities. That protects a person’s core and vital organs from getting cold. The body can also shiver to increase heat production, he said. But both those protective tendencies mean that the skin gets colder and is at a higher risk of frostbite.

“People who are more adapted to cold, like if you live in Minnesota, your skin will not get as cold,” Dr. Giesbrecht said. “Your body figures out through continued exposure that, ‘Well, we can afford to lose a little heat at the expense of keeping our skin warm because it takes a lot to actually cool the core.’”

People who are not used to such cold will probably experience more constriction, he said, leaving them more at risk of frostbite. Dr. Giesbrecht advised keeping the head, fingers and toes well covered.

The possibility of frostbite confronts anyone who is cold, of course, whether they’re better adapted to extremes or not.

“People often get fooled. They don’t feel anything and say, ‘OK, I’m OK now,’” Dr. Giesbrecht said of the numbness induced by icy temperatures. “You have to do something: Either put more insulation on, or do some exercise to increase your heat production, or go inside.”

And bear in mind that even Minnesota is relatively warm by some standards. Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist for the Canadian government, said that on the shores of the Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba, the threshold for a wind chill advisory is minus 50 degrees Celsius, or about minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

It’s not that people there are “super human,” she explained, because anyone’s skin could freeze in five to 10 minutes of exposure to temperatures below minus 40, or even more quickly in strong winds.

“But it just happens so often there that they’d never hear the message of when it would be really bad,” Ms. Hasell said. She added, “If you only have two minutes before your skin can freeze, you want to hear that if you’re used to having 10 minutes.”
Click to expand...

It makes sense and I experience something similar with my body not handling well the first heat wave of the season. Things gets better with subsequent heat waves.

Mango · Jan 14, 2024

Locate your jumper cables or battery charger before you actually need to use.

Cold weather isn't kind to vehicle batteries.

MadMax · Jan 14, 2024

CrazyJoeDavola said: ↑

Here is a tip:

Your Taun Taun won't die if you don't take it out when it's cold like this. What kind of pet owner are you?

@sshole
Click to expand...

Who’s scruffy looking?

Dr of Dunk · Jan 14, 2024

rocketsjudoka said: ↑

A good piece about the different perceptions of cold. From own personal experience I think this is true. Having lived in Minnesota for quite awhile now I do notice my body does adapt to cold and after being around subfreezing temps for awhile I find I can tolerate colder temps and will even start wearing less layers while outside.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/14/us/extreme-cold-definition.html
Why the Definition of ‘Extreme Cold’ Is Different in Duluth and Dallas
“Everyone’s extreme is a different level,” said a meteorologist in Minnesota, which is much more familiar with subzero conditions than much of the U.S.

With a mass of frigid Arctic air descending on much of the United States this upcoming week, meteorologists and public health officials are well aware that a North Dakotan and a South Texan are unlikely to agree on what amounts to “extreme cold.”

As such, the National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stress that there is no set definition for extreme cold, and the point at which forecasters will warn residents that the plunging temperatures are a danger to them is calibrated to the region’s prevailing climate.

“Everyone’s extreme is a different level,” said Ketzel Levens, a meteorologist in the Weather Service’s office in Duluth, Minn., where the average daily temperature in January is a crisp 9.4 degrees. “Folks up north might have better protection. They might have a lot more clothes and layers. Our houses, our water infrastructure, they’re built to a different standard.”

And so if you warned Minnesotans every time it is merely freezing cold, you would struggle to get their attention when it was dangerously cold. Ms. Levens’s office issues a wind chill advisory only when the temperature reaches minus 25, and a wind chill warning when it reaches 40 below.

While it won’t be historically cold in Duluth this week — temperatures are expected to reach as low as minus 7 degrees — Ms. Levens said that residents might still feel the bite of the cold as the city is coming off its second warmest December on record.

Roughly 1,000 miles south, the Dallas-Fort Worth region won’t get as cold as Duluth this week, with a low temperature of 14 degrees. But the freezing temperatures there could pack a more significant punch, said Tom Bradshaw, a meteorologist in the service’s office in Fort Worth, where the average high temperature for January is 56 degrees.

“We could be looking at as much as 80, 85 hours of below freezing temperatures here,” he said, “which for us is definitely on the colder side of what we normally experience.”

His office sends out an advisory when wind chills are expected to fall below zero, while a wind chill warning comes when it’s likely to plunge below minus 18, Mr. Bradshaw said.

On the plus side, he said, this week’s cold snap isn’t expected to come with precipitation and icing, which battered Texas during a storm in February 2021. More than 200 people died, and millions were left without electricity and heat in the cold. Many also had no clean water, as pipes had burst or water treatment plants had failed.

Not only is the infrastructure in the South not as comfortable in such extremes, but also its population — which is less acclimated to severe winter weather — can also struggle more, according to Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, an expert on cold weather physiology and hypothermia at the University of Manitoba.

The body responds to feeling cold, he said, by tightening blood vessels to stanch blood flow to the extremities. That protects a person’s core and vital organs from getting cold. The body can also shiver to increase heat production, he said. But both those protective tendencies mean that the skin gets colder and is at a higher risk of frostbite.

“People who are more adapted to cold, like if you live in Minnesota, your skin will not get as cold,” Dr. Giesbrecht said. “Your body figures out through continued exposure that, ‘Well, we can afford to lose a little heat at the expense of keeping our skin warm because it takes a lot to actually cool the core.’”

People who are not used to such cold will probably experience more constriction, he said, leaving them more at risk of frostbite. Dr. Giesbrecht advised keeping the head, fingers and toes well covered.

The possibility of frostbite confronts anyone who is cold, of course, whether they’re better adapted to extremes or not.

“People often get fooled. They don’t feel anything and say, ‘OK, I’m OK now,’” Dr. Giesbrecht said of the numbness induced by icy temperatures. “You have to do something: Either put more insulation on, or do some exercise to increase your heat production, or go inside.”

And bear in mind that even Minnesota is relatively warm by some standards. Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist for the Canadian government, said that on the shores of the Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba, the threshold for a wind chill advisory is minus 50 degrees Celsius, or about minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

It’s not that people there are “super human,” she explained, because anyone’s skin could freeze in five to 10 minutes of exposure to temperatures below minus 40, or even more quickly in strong winds.

“But it just happens so often there that they’d never hear the message of when it would be really bad,” Ms. Hasell said. She added, “If you only have two minutes before your skin can freeze, you want to hear that if you’re used to having 10 minutes.”
Click to expand...

I really don't have an issue with the cold. If it's too cold, just stay inside. What I'm more scared about when temps drop below 25-28 degrees is the pipes blowing up even if you drip them. Especially with water heaters in the attic (genius) in some of these homes. I won't even get into some of the trash building standards and inspections going on around Texas where people are missing wall insulation in some cases that doesn't help pipes.

You also have the fact most major cities in the South aren't equipped with much in the way of equipment to handle snow and ice because it doesn't happen frequently enough. Which means they don't de-ice a lot of intersections/roadways. Compound this with the fact you've got people from the North posting stuff like "we're from NJ, we know how to drive in snow and ice" then wondering why intersections and roads still have ice and snow on them or why their AWD system didn't save them, and you have hilarity.

I think it got down to around 10-12 degrees here so far which isn't as bad as a couple of years ago even though the wind chill is/was below 0. Right now it's 14 degrees but my attic temp (where my water heater is... yay) is around 33. Hopefully people's pipes survive. Especially mine.

Buck Turgidson · Jan 14, 2024

CrazyJoeDavola said: ↑

Here is a tip:

Your Taun Taun won't die if you don't take it out when it's cold like this. What kind of pet owner are you?

@sshole
Click to expand...

You should at least start it every couple of weeks.

CrazyJoeDavola · Jan 14, 2024

Buck Turgidson said: ↑

You should at least start it every couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

Yes, but when it's this cold you should never take it past the first marker.

DonkeyMagic · Jan 14, 2024

Love the idiots in our neighbor dripping pipes and ruining water pressure ….it’s not freezing tonight in our area you nincompoops

ThatBoyNick · Jan 14, 2024

I did nothing and am ready to face the consequences

Kevooooo · Jan 14, 2024

I’m prepping by grilling a steak.

Surfguy · Jan 14, 2024

ThatBoyNick said: ↑

I did nothing and am ready to face the consequences
Click to expand...

I see a pipe busting and a spluge of water inundating you until you drown.

Snow Villiers · Jan 14, 2024

ThatBoyNick said: ↑

I did nothing and am ready to face the consequences
Click to expand...

You’ll be fine. People exaggerating.

Haymitch · Jan 15, 2024

Covered sprinkler pipes. Covered outdoor spigots. Am going to pickup a curb shut-off key this morning.

Don't think I'll use the shut-off key this time, but I'm sure I'll need it at some point. So, why the hell not.

Rocket River · Jan 15, 2024

A_3PO said: ↑

I'm turning my water off Monday and Tuesday night. I've had pipes burst 5 due to freezing times in my 23 years living at this house.
Click to expand...

The drip doesn't prevent that?

Rocket River

A_3PO · Jan 15, 2024

Rocket River said: ↑

The drip doesn't prevent that?

Rocket River
Click to expand...

I don't trust the drip.

I stayed awake until ~3:00am (which is normal) and was very close to not shutting off the water based on forecasts in my area for a low of 33F.
Good thing I played it safe and shut it off before going to sleep because it's still 27F where I live and has been that way several hours.

Haymitch · Jan 15, 2024

So I guess it's more likely than not that there will be a blackout tomorrow morning, right?

MadMax · Jan 15, 2024

A_3PO said: ↑

I don't trust the drip.
Click to expand...

Hang this post in the Louvre Me neither, bro!

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