Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Winter Storm Update

We are getting more than a little bit of snow. So far, we've gotten around 16" or so here at the house. The power has been out for almost 24 hours with no end in sight. I read that something like 15,000 - 21,000 people don't have power. That is something like ⅓ of the population of the area. The power company said that it may be out for days.

I just cleared the driveway for the 5th time and starting to seriously consider a snow plow for on this truck. Not simply for the driveway but our subdivision road hasn't been plowed and maybe use it for supplemental income. We'll see.

Right now, I'm using the Ural to charge my devices courtesy of the USB ports that I had installed for the road trip. Pretty handy to have.

Update 3:15PM - The power came back on! Hopefully, it stays on. Last night it came on for 30 minutes then shut off again...

15 comments:

  1. Here's a comment from Bridget that wouldn't post.

    Hello everyone. I posted a comment on Richard's blog, but it didn't take, so I am just posting on the blog itself. My view of this weather.

    School was cancelled today. Fairbanks had gone decades without school closures until about 5 years ago. We started getting ice storms. They would hit in November. One year it was wind and ice and power outages, so no school for 3 days. It was the 3 days before Thanksgiving, made a nice week vacation.

    This time it was for heavy snow.

    We had much snow dumped on us last Friday, and of course, yesterday. I stayed after school both days to help with the students on the late buses. We had one student get on the wrong bus on Friday. He knew it wasn't his bus, but his reasoning was that bus was leaving and the other bus takes too long to get him home. I had to explain to him that the bus he had gotten on would not be going near his house. "But the other bus takes too long." Poor guy. His bus finally came 2 hours after school was over for the day. 20 kids to give snacks to, entertain, keep calm.........parents calling the school.

    Yesterday a bus sat in the parking lot taking 30 minutes to get the chains on. We loaded the students on the bus when she was done. When she started driving they fell off. The students came back into the school.....

    Predicting freezing rain for Friday. hmmmm. Richard said school is cancelled until May.
    I'll be in Nashville in 3 weeks. Richard will be home.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are you about ready to trade your motorcycles for a team of sled dogs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you kidding? Maintenance with dogs is huge both in time and $$ compared to a Ural. ;-)

      Delete
    2. Yeah, now that you mention it, I have heard that there can be pretty bad exhaust issues with dog sled teams.

      Delete
  3. Wow, have you thought about moving to Corvallis. I am sure your mom would take you in.

    We never had snow days in BC, but we've had them since moving to Oregon, go figure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For now, no plans to move anywhere. "Snow days" used to be a real novelty around here as well. Something changed...

      Delete
  4. That's a lot of snow. I hope everything goes well and that your power is restored soon. Have you got an alternate source of heat ? wood stove, fire place?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our power was back as of 3:15 yesterday afternoon. Others in the area are still without power.

      No other heat source. Actually, we have a multi-fuel boiler but I've neve used solid fuel in it.

      Delete
  5. Isn't it a bit too early for a power outage? Hope it doesn't repeat.

    Snow days want me go to school again ;-) I never had a day off due to snow or ice in my time...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Back in 1992, there was a really heavy, wet snow near the beginning of September before the leaves fell so the snow really stuck to the trees. Lots of trees fell down from the weight and it took weeks to get power restored for some.

      Delete
  6. Hmm power outages in Alaska, major storms in the Bahamas, heavy rain Up North, drought and fires in California.
    So what do we do in the Keys during hurricane season? Watch everyone else cope I guess. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Power outages at this time of the year is no major problem. But in January, it's a bit different.

      Delete
  7. I feel for the power crews out there working to restore power, it's got to be sucking for them.

    Glad you have power now. Most folks take power for granted. A little preparedness goes a long way but I myself am barely prepared for extended power outages.

    Are you able to run the rig or too much snow, not enough studs....?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that there is still something like 5,000 houses without power. They say that they have hired most of the available contractors to clear trees off of the lines.

      The rig is kind of squirrelly in the deeper snow on top of ice. Really need more studs in the back. Also the screws don't do as well as regular carbide studs in the front. I did end up ordering one set of the tire chains from Old Time Garage.

      Delete
    2. I've got two sets of those Old Timer Chains, nice. Used them once just to test...never had reason to use for real....perhaps in next year's Elephant Ride.

      Delete