# Minus temps to continue



## Huntindog1 (Jan 25, 2014)

Midwest to keep seeing temps and wind chills in the minus range.

I have started shoveling out hot coals to cope with the situation. I have to keep the stove going more and not much time to let coals burn down.

The positive is, as I hear stories on the news that people are paying much higher prices on fuel oil and LP gas due to the higher demand plus burning more of it costs them. I not taking joy in people having to pay so much for their heating but I am taking joy its not costing me anymore than it does any other winter as I cut my own wood.

This coming week has a -15 one night forecasted , pretty cold for this neck of the woods. Who knows what the wind chill will be.


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## Woody Stover (Jan 26, 2014)

Huntindog1 said:


> This coming week has a -15 one night forecasted , pretty cold for this neck of the woods. Who knows what the wind chill will be.


Wow. That much colder there than here? They got us for -2 Mon night and 2 Tues night....
Brought up three quad trailer loads of wood up to the on-deck circle today. I've given up trying to keep up; I'm just burning down the coals and being happy with 64 room temp when it's that cold out...still got too many air leaks in here. Back up to 67 in here today though, and tomorrow's warmer yet but still windy. I'm gonna try to seal one more air leak tomorrow; The three I fixed last week gave me an extra three degrees or so in the house....


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## bsruther (Jan 26, 2014)

We're forecast to have -10 Monday night and -6 Tuesday night. It seems that these will be the coldest nights of the winter for a lot of people.
For the past few days though, the GFS forecast model has been trending towards more normal weather after that.

http://wxweb.meteostar.com/models/ipsm_looper.php?PROD=2014012606_CON_GFS_SFC_TEMP_IMAGE


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## Swedishchef (Jan 26, 2014)

As I said in another post.."Polar Vortex the only thing Canada can give the US!!"

-10F tonight...eeek.

Andrew


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## northwinds (Jan 26, 2014)

Heading below zero tonight with a high of -7 F tomorrow.  Then dipping to -21 F on Monday night with wind chills to -40 F.


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## johneh (Jan 26, 2014)

Swedishchef said:


> As I said in another post.."Polar Vortex the only thing Canada can give the US!!




We get it from Russia and don't like it any more than you 
Today -28 c wind chill -45c  cold enough to freeze the ba--s off a brass 
you know what


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## Doug MacIVER (Jan 26, 2014)

Swedishchef said:


> As I said in another post.."Polar Vortex the only thing Canada can give the US!!"
> 
> -10F tonight...eeek.
> 
> Andrew


that is the" Montreal express "


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## Shari (Jan 26, 2014)

northwinds said:


> Heading below zero tonight with a high of -7 F tomorrow.  Then dipping to -21 F on Monday night with wind chills to -40 F.



We are a little east of you - Monday night's forecast is -47 windchill for us.  Argh!  Argh!  Argh!

When I was a teen I got frostbite - didn't realize it had happened at the time - not fun when I thawed out.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 26, 2014)

Think Spring!


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## BrotherBart (Jan 26, 2014)

Think Eeeeek!


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 26, 2014)

The good part of that BB is that the end of January is in sight!


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## BrotherBart (Jan 26, 2014)

The bad part is that the upward flow is gonna pull that "warm" air from the Gulf up with it and we are gonna get bombed with snow.


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## vinny11950 (Jan 26, 2014)

on the bright side, all those tree beetles that are killing all the trees will take a big hit.

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/10/261435111/the-upside-of-the-bitter-cold-it-kills-bugs-that-kill-trees

"There's no magic number in all of this," says Robert Venette, a research biologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Minnesota. "When temperatures fall to minus 20 to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, that's when things get interesting."

At 20 below zero, as much as half the population can die off. At 30 below, nearly all of the pests are likely to die, he explains.

It got cold enough in parts of Minnesota to possibly wipe out up to 80 percent of the emerald ash borer population and significantly slow the advance of the invasive insect there, Venette says."


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## 1750 (Jan 26, 2014)

Unrelenting cold
Coastal snow events possible
End of January

~ The haiku poetry of Accuweather.


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## bag of hammers (Jan 26, 2014)

Vinny that's an interesting bit of info.  There is a bit of a bright side to this relentless deep freeze....


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## Shari (Jan 26, 2014)




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## BrotherBart (Jan 27, 2014)

Gonna freeze your cheese.


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## Huntindog1 (Jan 27, 2014)

On the way into work this morning, had the news on the radio, said shortage of LP gas is causing price of a gallon of LP gas to go to $5.00, Wow!


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## Lighting Up (Jan 27, 2014)

They have to do something to get the price up, price has been dropping for a couple of years now...?


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## northwinds (Jan 27, 2014)

Probably lead to a whole bunch of people slamming in stoves and inserts, along with burning fresh-cut oak.


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## Warm_in_NH (Jan 27, 2014)

> At 20 below zero, as much as half the population can die off. At 30 below, nearly all of the pests are likely to die, he explains.



True for a lot of pests. The deer and moose have been ravaged by ticks, some say the northern caribou are being affected in a similar manner. It's a cycle, hurts some benefits others. If the beetles and fungi have their way up here our beech and ash population are going to get hit hard.

Last load of wood my gf had delivered in North eastern CT had ash borer larvae like I never seen. Luckily we were able to knock 90% of the bark off w little effort but each split had half a dozen or so larvae under the bark. 

Common sense, but after seeing that I realize how important it I'd to keep your wood local.


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## Ehouse (Jan 27, 2014)

I wonder, how will it affect the pollinators?  Honey Bees are in bad shape already.


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## vinny11950 (Jan 27, 2014)

the native species have evolved to survive these drops in temperature, the article says.  it is the new, invasive species that will suffer.


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## johneh (Jan 27, 2014)

This is for this afternoon and Tuesday

*Ottawa under wind chill warning*
A wind chill warning has been issued for the Ottawa area from Environment Canada. 

The temperature is forecast to fall to minus 16 degrees Celsius this afternoon, before plunging to a low of minus 26 overnight. The wind chill overnight will be around minus 35. 

Tomorrow's forecast high is minus 14, with a wind chill of minus 38.

Had an Alberta clipper through here last nite dropped 12 in. of snow 
and as they would say down east  now were haven a right good blow


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## BrotherBart (Jan 27, 2014)

20F last night, 52F and sunny an hour ago. 40F sliding fast now headed for 9F tonight. Want a wood heating challenge anybody?


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## begreen (Jan 27, 2014)

vinny11950 said:


> the native species have evolved to survive these drops in temperature, the article says.  it is the new, invasive species that will suffer.




Honey bees are not native to North America. This is going to be tough on them too.


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## woodgeek (Jan 27, 2014)

begreen said:


> Honey bees are not native to North America. This is going to be tough on them too.



Often native americans would note the arrival of european honeybees prior to the arrival of the europeans.  They were harbingers.


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## begreen (Jan 27, 2014)

Of sweet things to come, but with a nasty sting...


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## bag of hammers (Jan 27, 2014)

That jetstream used to like to dip down far enough to catch the great lakes, but generally not too much farther, in the past few years, if my fuzzy memory serves me at all.  It has a much bigger appetite now.   

johneh - i spent a few years in Ottawa back in the late 80's.  Did lots of walking back then (poor student) - no shortage of crazy cold days out that way, for sure.


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## Huntindog1 (Jan 27, 2014)

On news tonight  ohio natural gas asking customers to cut back


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## vinny11950 (Jan 28, 2014)

the South is pretty cold too.  it is snowing in Atlanta too with the threat is ice snapping power lines.

when's the groundhog supposed to make its appearance?


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## 1750 (Jan 28, 2014)

It's -2F here... I talked to my mom in Bradenton, and it's a chilly 68F there.   Brrrrr, mom... how do you stand it?


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## johneh (Jan 28, 2014)

vinny11950 said:


> when's the groundhog supposed to make its appearance?


Ground hog day is Feb. 2 next Monday
The ground hog will tell us if there will be 6 weeks of winter left or a month and a half left


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## bsruther (Jan 28, 2014)

Crocuses will bloom here in a month and a half, that will be my light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel moment.

Hope I don't plow through too much more wood between now and then.


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## vinny11950 (Jan 28, 2014)

johneh said:


> Ground hog day is Feb. 2 next Monday
> The ground hog will tell us if there will be 6 weeks of winter left or a month and a half left



there's gonna be a lot of pressure on that fat rat this year.


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## Woody Stover (Jan 28, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> The good part of that BB is that the end of January is in sight!


Yep, Jan. 20 is the coldest average day. Unfortunately, 'average' went by the wayside a while back this year.


BrotherBart said:


> The bad part is that the upward flow is gonna pull that "warm" air from the Gulf up with it and we are gonna get bombed with snow.


Man, that's what I'm dreading now; A one-two punch winter where we get buried in Feb. and March.


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## Swedishchef (Jan 28, 2014)

I just removed 50 cm of snow from my driveway in the past 3 days. At this rate I won't even come close to see my wood stacks in my yard within a month. A solid base of 4 feet is a LOT of snow in the yard come spring....ugh


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## begreen (Jan 28, 2014)

Truthfully now, how many of you were hoping for a cold winter last October? Be careful what you wish for...


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## Warm_in_NH (Jan 28, 2014)

This is great! It's winter it's supposed to be cold and snowy. I'm loving it here in NH, but this is how it'd supposed to be here.
I do have sympathy for those in the south that are really getting beat up and those who are affected by fuel shortages or outages. That's gotta be tough. 
Now if mid April comes and I'm still feeding the stove, I won't be so chipper.


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## bag of hammers (Jan 28, 2014)

begreen said:


> Truthfully now, how many of you were hoping for a cold winter last October? Be careful what you wish for...



Guilty -Still killing mosquitos in Nov and ready to welcome the cold just to kill the little ba$stards off.  Oooops


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## JoeyD (Jan 28, 2014)

The cold in South Jersey didn't kill off the stink bugs. It has been below 0 and more days with highs in the teens then I can remember but I found the cat playing with a stink bug that must have come off a piece of firewood yesterday. I was hoping this cold would have put a hurting on them.

I did warm him up in the wood stove though!


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## Woody Stover (Jan 28, 2014)

begreen said:


> Honey bees are not native to North America. This is going to be tough on them too.


Further on in the article, it says that bees will all swarm around the queen, vibrate their wings, and it's like ninety degrees in the hive!


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## Treacherous (Jan 28, 2014)

I might have to drain the gas in the snow blower this year.  A snow drought here.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 29, 2014)

begreen said:


> Truthfully now, how many of you were hoping for a cold winter last October? Be careful what you wish for...


 

Some cold . . . yes. Extended bouts of sub zero cold . . . no.

And I wished for snow . . . and have been sadly disappointed this year . . . just like last year and the year before that. If things keep up I may end up sellling my sled.


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## razerface (Jan 29, 2014)

firefighterjake said:


> Some cold . . . yes. Extended bouts of sub zero cold . . . no.
> 
> And I wished for snow . . . and have been sadly disappointed this year . . . just like last year and the year before that. If things keep up I may end up sellling my sled.


 i sold my last sled 2 years ago in disgust. I gave up owning one.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 29, 2014)

razerface said:


> i sold my last sled 2 years ago in disgust. I gave up owning one.


 

I tell ya . . . I love sledding . . . and this year looked so promising until we had a week of very mild temps and rain that nearly wiped out all the snow in my area.

Last year, the year before and now this year the only way I get any riding requires me to load up the sled and trailer it . . . it's fun . . . but more costly and the time on the road often is close to the same time on the trail. Just a few years ago we could get several months of sledding locally.

Add to that the much more expensive cost of both running the sled in terms of gas mileage (not to mention the cost of two stroke oil) and the repair costs (every year it seems as though I need to put anywheres from $100-$350 into sled repairs/maintenance) and when I stack that up against the very low cost of running my ATV I really am starting to think about getting rid of the sled . . . which of course would guarantee a fantastic snowmobile season next year.


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## razerface (Jan 29, 2014)

firefighterjake said:


> I really am starting to think about getting rid of the sled . . . which of course would guarantee a fantastic snowmobile season next year.



yep, that is what happened here. I also moved 50 miles south, which put me on the "snow line" of the state as I call it,,,less snow down here.  I could have ridden for the last 2 or 3 weeks, everyday in fresh snow. There are miles and miles of untouched snow all around me right now,,,but if i go buy a sled,,,it'll melt!

There is nothing like the pull of a powerfull sled. I have never found anything with more brute acceleration. I ran a zrt800 that I offered to either one of my sons if they could full throttle it, and not let up from one end of the field to the other end, behind our house. Neither could do it. It was one of those days where the snow was spotty. When the sled would hit the dry spots,,those carbide studs would grab the ground and stand that sled up....they would let off the throttle every time!  I always wore the safety cable on that sled. It would pull handlebars right out of your hands.

Now the new 4 strokes are supposed to be pretty mean with their turbos and all, but i never got past the power of the 2 smoker.


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## Hogwildz (Jan 29, 2014)

I just got back last night from Eastern Washington, and it is far warmer there than here. No snow, and drought situations.
Something just ain't right, seems like the weather is reversed. Was nice getting off the plane there to mid 40's. Felt like spring.


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## Doug MacIVER (Jan 30, 2014)

these kids are smart!!
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





no school now?


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## bsruther (Jan 30, 2014)

begreen said:


> Truthfully now, how many of you were hoping for a cold winter last October? Be careful what you wish for...


As much as I don't like it, I did hope for it because I think we need it to put things back in order. Although I'm not too happy about the way it's making me plow through my wood supply. Early last fall, I kept telling the wife that we were long overdue for a cold hard winter and that this was going to be the one.
She recently reminded me that I was right.


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## johneh (Jan 30, 2014)

Sent from my iPad​ 

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## razerface (Jan 30, 2014)

johneh said:


> Sent from my iPad​
> ​


received on my laptop


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## begreen (Feb 1, 2014)

Let's hope this long spell of cold kills off a lot of the bugs moving northward.


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## granpajohn (Feb 2, 2014)

Great Lakes ice coverage double normal; (the green line is average) Canadian Ice Service







Record highest for this date (Environment Canada)....


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## Shari (Feb 3, 2014)

-10 this morning


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## Jags (Feb 3, 2014)

Shari said:


> -10 this morning



I don't get this.  You are North of me and I hit -22 this morning.


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## Shari (Feb 3, 2014)

Jags said:


> I don't get this.  You are North of me and I hit -22 this morning.



I'm just outside of Milwaukee - that lake effect can work both ways (warmer/colder or colder/warmer).


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## Jags (Feb 3, 2014)

Shari said:


> I'm just outside of Milwaukee - that lake effect can work both ways (warmer/colder or colder/warmer).



I'm just cranky.  I am done with this cold weather.  It can be over anytime now.  I don't know if I can ever recall a winter with so many days that hit single or minus digits.


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## Shari (Feb 3, 2014)

Jags said:


> I'm just cranky.



You are not the only one.  I really hate to comment on the weather.  I could just talk about my truck doors freezing shut, or the frozen fan on my heater in my truck, or it's frozen leather seats.................


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## begreen (Feb 3, 2014)

Sorry to say that there's more cold coming. We are due to be cold and clear for the next few days. Low 20's in the city and possible single digits in the rural sections, all with strong north winds. While that doesn't sound cold next to -10, it's a harbinger of what is heading east. We are just on the edge of this next cold bubble.


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## Frozen Canuck (Feb 3, 2014)

Hoping that the cold weather lasts at least until the end of March. Plenty of pipeline breaks to fix here & that won't happen after it warms up. Need a solid -30 to settle in & just get bigger & stronger, deeper, more spread out so it can't be pushed away until then. Perhaps if all the Great Lakes freeze to a depth of 4' that will be enough. If you can get to your garden & start planting on May 21, then we have had the winter we need. Wear more layers everyone. Stay warm.


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## Jags (Feb 3, 2014)

Frozen Canuck said:


> Hoping that the cold weather lasts at least until the end of March. Plenty of pipeline breaks to fix here & that won't happen after it warms up



Color me confuddled.  Why do you want cold weather to fix pipelines?  Are the breaks due to the cold?


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## woodgeek (Feb 3, 2014)

Jags said:


> Color me confuddled.  Why do you want cold weather to fix pipelines?  Are the breaks due to the cold?



I'd assume it is easier to drive on the Muskeg in Jan than in August.  Fewer flies too.


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## Frozen Canuck (Feb 3, 2014)

Need the ground to be frozen solid to a depth deep enough to support all the equipment. 

Many of the pipelines run through the muskeg's here (think Louisiana swamps just not as warm). 

Breaks are due to the wear of the high sand content bitumen. 

Think pipeline buried at about 12' in the Louisiana swamps, it's a lot easier to fix if the ground freezes solid. Actually in many cases impossible to fix until it freezes solid, just shut the pipeline in & wait for cold weather & hope the cold lasts long enough to fix the pipeline. 

You can ask BB just how hard it is to get a pipeline right of way through anything that is not considered worthless ground, they almost always run through some of the worst ground possible to get to their destination. Makes fixing them a real challenge most times.


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## Jags (Feb 3, 2014)

Got it - makes sense to me now.


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## parthy (Feb 3, 2014)

It's a balmy -19C where I am today.  Everybody is out about like it's spring.  My car even started without being plugged in (it will start until -24C). My cat even has gone out twice!

That said I just had to pay someone 200 bucks to shovel the snow off my roof.  over 2 feet there was.  First time ever.  We get lake effect from Lake Winnipeg.


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## Doug MacIVER (Feb 3, 2014)

bastardi's weatherbell take on feb, released ten days ago


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## Frozen Canuck (Feb 3, 2014)

Yes, very warm here too today Parthy. Not good. Need it to get colder & stay colder. At the very minimum 60 more days of -30. Buy more sweaters & socks everyone & hope for a lot of cold.


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## Jags (Feb 3, 2014)

Frozen Canuck said:


> & hope for a lot of cold.



Nope - ain't gonna do it.


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## Frozen Canuck (Feb 3, 2014)

Lol . I understand completely Jags. Just doing my bit too keep all my friends on Hearth supplied with fuel so they can drive 4 abreast on I85 at 85 this summer. Don't worry plenty of folks here wish these breaks were summertime fixable as well.


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## parthy (Feb 3, 2014)

FrozenCanuk - hate to disappoint, but the coldest it's going to be here until mid feb is -27C.  Gimli, MB long term outlook.  Of course, it's snowing again right now.  It snows everyday here. I am getting old, but I used to think that when it was really cold, it didn't snow.  Now, here, where I live, it snows when it's -30.  The lake is frozen over, I just don't get it.  Cold is cold.  You don't  have to shovel it.


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## Frozen Canuck (Feb 3, 2014)

Yes I hear you parthy. Far too warm here as well. Hoping for a long deep, hard, cold spell. Or there will be a lot of unhappy folks when fuel prices go up do to supply issues. Gotta keep all my friends that want to drive at 85 on the I85 happy & in fuel for their drag racing.

The lady that keeps me in line was born in Boissevain, MB. She has family in Killarney, MB. Nice little community, I get quite a hoot out of those Turtle races.


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## bag of hammers (Feb 3, 2014)

parthy said:


> FrozenCanuk - hate to disappoint, but the coldest it's going to be here until mid feb is -27C.  Gimli, MB long term outlook.  Of course, it's snowing again right now.  It snows everyday here. I am getting old, but I used to think that when it was really cold, it didn't snow.  Now, here, where I live, it snows when it's -30.  The lake is frozen over, I just don't get it.  Cold is cold.  You don't  have to shovel it.



Yeah that's the kicker - crazy cold and snow.  Weird year.  Had to go up on the camp roof this weekend and dig down to get to my vent stack (30" and buried).  On the leeward side of the roof - wind just dumping a ton of snow off Superior.  My propane tank was gone.  Somewhere in front of the place is a 10' utility trailer.  I'm digging down to get to firewood.


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## Seasoned Oak (Feb 3, 2014)

Mostly just a bit below average winter temps for the next 10 days. Was 47 on saturday. These temps are a breeze. Anything over freezing(32) daytime is good.


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## Swedishchef (Feb 4, 2014)

-20 to -23C every night this week. I think this has been the coldest winter overall in the past decade. I am some glad I bought 15 boxes of eco logs. Mixing 1-2 per fire is making quite the difference in how much wood I burn.

Andrew


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## bag of hammers (Feb 4, 2014)

Pup on the trail I cut to get to the lake on Sunday.  I cut the same path down the middle of the driveway about a week ago, then it completely disappeared again this past week.  I had to take a bit of a detour into the edge of the treeline to the left as the drifts are 6 feet or higher in the driveway.  She's standing on about a foot of snow pack.  I need snowshoes to go anywhere now.  2nd pic is a plastic garbage can I use to hold small lumber scraps for kindling with a plywood scrap covering it - took a couple minutes to find the can, under a ton of snow.   There's a small pallet of maple rounds behind it somewhere too.  I gave up at that point.   3rd pic is where I cut another path into skid I can get to that's ready to burn now.   I have cleaned these off twice already this year.     The sleds are having a field day this year.  Me, I gotta get a tractor....


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## bag of hammers (Feb 4, 2014)

Swedishchef said:


> -20 to -23C every night this week. I think this has been the coldest winter overall in the past decade. I am some glad I bought 15 bozes of eco logs. Mixing 1-2 per fire is making quite the difference in how much wood I burn.
> 
> Andrew



For sure.  I think we went to -29 really early in December - what a shock that was.  Never really climbed out of it yet.  

Good idea with the eco logs.  I'm doing the same sort of thing with a load of 3" hardwood milled ends I picked up last year.  I toss a couple of these in with each fire for a full load and they really burn well.  Just weekend burning and I'm putting a good dent in the stacks this year.


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## Swedishchef (Feb 4, 2014)

bag of hammers said:


> For sure.  I think we went to -29 really early in December - what a shock that was.  Never really climbed out of it yet.
> 
> Good idea with the eco logs.  I'm doing the same sort of thing with a load of 3" hardwood milled ends I picked up last year.  I toss a couple of these in with each fire for a full load and they really burn well.  Just weekend burning and I'm putting a good dent in the stacks this year.


 
We hit -34 temps in December. The ice formation in the Gulf of St Lawrence is unlike anything we have seen in the past decade. The ice breaker Louis St Laurent was in town last week. It's the largest ice breaker in Canada. It made it to the North Pole a few years back (along with a US ice breaker). It hasn't been our way in years.....


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## Shari (Feb 4, 2014)

Swedishchef said:


> We hit -34 temps in December. The ice formation in the Gulf of St Lawrence is unlike anything we have seen in the past decade. The ice breaker Louis St Laurent was in town last week. It's the largest ice breaker in Canada. It made it to the North Pole a few years back (along with a US ice breaker). It hasn't been our way in years.....



Just out of curiosity, do you have any idea the thickness of the ice?


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## Swedishchef (Feb 4, 2014)

Shari: it depends where/when. Here is a chart for reference: http://iceweb1.cis.ec.gc.ca/Prod20/page3.xhtml The chart gives the color codes on a link at the bottom. Some parts are 15-30cm thick.  South of PEI there is ice up to 120cm thick. But that is in the Northumberland straight and no freight goes there.

With the cold weather forecast it will only get worse. The days are not long enough yet to offset the cold from the night. That normally starts in March.

I hope this helps

Andrew


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## bag of hammers (Feb 4, 2014)

Andrew that's a cool site.  According to one of the charts for the Great Lakes, I see where I am it's what they call "fast ice".  I took this pic from up on my roof last weekend - facing southwest towards Whitefish Point (on the Michigan side) the lake looks like the surface of the moon, if you can see beyond the treeline (sorry my crappy cell camera doesn't do it justice).  The ice moved in early Dec, broke up once in a big wind, then pushed in and froze over again into a huge dog's breakfast as far as the eye can see.  That's now covered with tons of snow.  In the spring we get huge sheets pushed up along the shore that are easily a couple feet thick, I think this year it will be quite the show.  That icebreaker would be cool to see in operation.  

.


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## Swedishchef (Feb 4, 2014)

bag of hammers said:


> Andrew that's a cool site.  According to one of the charts for the Great Lakes, I see where I am it's what they call "fast ice".  I took this pic from up on my roof last weekend - facing southwest towards Whitefish Point (on the Michigan side) the lake looks like the surface of the moon, if you can see beyond the treeline (sorry my crappy cell camera doesn't do it justice).  The ice moved in early Dec, broke up once in a big wind, then pushed in and froze over again into a huge dog's breakfast as far as the eye can see.  That's now covered with tons of snow.  In the spring we get huge sheets pushed up along the shore that are easily a couple feet thick, I think this year it will be quite the show.  That icebreaker would be cool to see in operation.
> 
> .


That is one nice picture! You're that close to the shore of the lake?! WOW!
   Yes it is a cool site. I use it for work this time of the year (long story...).

The Chief first officer of the Louis St Laurent called me upon arrival in the local bay and invited me for a tour. I brought along a co-worker of mine. Very impressive vessel (considering it was built in 1969). 27 000 horsepower. It will be replaced in 10 years.


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## bag of hammers (Feb 4, 2014)

Swedishchef said:


> That is one nice picture! You're that close to the shore of the lake?! WOW!
> Yes it is a cool site. I use it for work this time of the year (long story...).
> The Chief first officer of the Louis St Laurent called me upon arrival in the local bay and invited me for a tour. I brought along a co-worker of mine. Very impressive vessel (considering it was built in 1969). 27 000 horsepower. It will be replaced in 10 years.



I had the chance to build much closer to the shoreline but I deliberately stayed back @ 75 feet from the legal limit - after many years of the winter winds I'm glad I did - there are days when it's calm as can be, and other days (like the November storms) when just stepping out beyond the treeline is a gamble.  But it is a beautifully rugged area.  

27,000 hp - holy crap - I can't imagine what it must be like being on that icebreaker ship out in the middle of nowhere busting through the heavy ice.  That would be an experience.  Wouldn't want that captain making a wrong move coming into port though....


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