Very cold in the midwest and snowin in the East.

Last week was the week to prepare folks...stay home, stay warm and watch the news

...or, you could dress for it and go play in the snow. and then go home, get warm and watch the news

Opting for watching it on TV. Cold here, though not unseasonably. Good weekend for homemade soup and bread.

Another advantage of SOCAL is that toorrow AM when I walk the dog it will be 14 degrees above freezing (46 deg F). It's 75 F as I type.

Colder in Winnipeg than on the surface of Mars

Went sledding with the kids yesterday.
Gotta say that people in the Midwest are like hobbits. When it gets cold and snowy, they're always in the kitchen planning their next meal :-)

Pete

The good folks at our quintessential Canadian Tire have come up with a new advertising campaign. Pretty unique and very fitting for this time of the year.

Behind the Scenes Documentary of the Canadian Tire Ice Truck
http://youtu.be/rrFRaviVyQU

Numerical milling machines with ice.
I am lovin' it.
That is some great work!
Hahaha!!

Pete

Us Canuckians are getting blasted too.

I was supposed to take my son and nephew camping last night but on the heels of last week's ice storm, it was 42 below zero with blowing snow. We huddled around the woodstove instead. BRR!!

LOTS of accidents on highway today. (Lots of people driving too fast too. Coincidence?) It was bright and sunny but the ramps weren't plowed and there were patches of black ice. We must have seen 8 accidents on our three hour drive home. Nothing like what the accident we passed heading out of town on Tuesday, which closed the highway for several hours, or the fatal one that happened on the same stretch the day before.

PSA: If the highway is closed because of an big accident, and you find yourself stuck in an unexpected parking lot, wait it out. Don't turn your vehicle around and drive on the icy snowy shoulder of the highway, going in the wrong direction, towards an emergency turnaround point which the police have closed. Especially when the accident is the result of icy snowy blowy conditions. At best you'll get a huge ticket, at worst.... just don't! Be patient.

God bless everyone about to get blasted in the next few days. The article below has some stunning graphics and references the January 1994 ice storm that brutalized the east coast (including rolling blackouts) and started my quest in emergency preparedness (didn't know that term then).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capi...end-on-the-u-s/

Be careful everyone and spread the word -- be prepared at home and in transit.


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Dagny, some of those pics remind me of the graphics in The Day After Tomorrow, a so-so apocalypse movie, but I'd take that fantasy over the real thing that appears to be happening. Dress warm and stay safe.

Speaking of cold snaps ... There are about 1000-1500 Canadian geese in a field near where i am staying. I guess they are preparing for a new storm that is coming tonight.

What i cant figure out is this ... How do they find each other? How on Earth do they know that several thousand companions are sitting in a field three miles away? Who tells them to all collect in the same place??? I dunno what jungle telegraph they are using, but it is amazing. :-)

Pete

Twitter

An astonishing, dangerous cold snap is about to descend on the U.S.

Be careful, and stay safe and warm down there folks! Here at my house in Anchorage, it's about plus 29F (-2C) and snowing lightly. I will probably go for a short XC ski this afternoon for some exercise.

It's only supposed to be -21 F at the coldest (low predicted for tomorrow night). Frankly that's not gonna make much of an impression here. Last winter we got one day where it was -35 F. I won't even have to plug my block heater in for -21 F.

It was 40 deg F when I walked the dog this morning. Not even cold enough to wear boots -- wool socks and running shoes. So it's probably no surprise that we haven't even turned on the furnace yet this year.

Peeps who live in MN and VT are geared to this kind of weather. Besides bigger negative numbers, really cold is really cold; they dress for it. I haven't seen a car/truck with a block heater since the 60's.

I wish it would get warmer here in SE Pennsylvania. Hovering right around 32 F and lightly raining making clear slick ice. Took two steps outside and decided not to go get the news paper.

When it gets cold that ice will be hiding under some snow. A bad combination.