'Bout to get reeeaaaaal cold, who's ready?

[John-Eddie]

These temps have been soooo strange. It was -15F two nights ago and today it is 60F here in MA. By 10pm it is going to be in the 20's with a low of 10F tonight. Tomorrow wont get any warmer either.

In a sick sense I kind of wish I was experiencing the -30F temps....only to see if my Englander 30 could keep up!

Same story here in NH. It's over 50 right now, single digits tonight. Weird.

-JE

 

[jharkin]

I think the temps bottomed out around -10F Friday night. It had been about 74or so in the living room when I loaded the overnight load of my best black locust. Usually a load like that will have the room steadily rising close to 80 before slowly cooling overnight. Well not this time, temps just kept falling till the gas boiler came on to start assisting around midnight.

Now this morning its in the mid 50s and the fog was so thick on the way into work that I couldn't see 15ft inside the parking garage!

And then we drop back again tonight, cold but not like last Fridays deep freeze. Ive heard low teens.

 

[Woody Stover]

Bottom fell out yesterday afternoon; Went from 35 then, down to -5 this AM. Luckily, we got less than the 6-8" of snow that was originally forecast. I loaded in the wee hours on a pretty big coal bed, so not a lot of wood. I just got another load cruising now, nine hours later after burning down coals for a couple hours and getting the stove top back up to 340. With that long a time, and limited net heat off the stove, room temp has dropped from 67 to 63. It'll be interesting to see if I can recover room temp at the current level of weatherization, with the stove chock-full o' Pignut Hickory and a probable high of 2 degrees with 15-20 mph winds. She's just crested 500 and should level off around 530 or so, I think.
Like many other posters, I haven't yet tested this stove, with this dry of wood, under conditions this severe. This is fun ....until I have to go outside for more wood!
One more below-zero night is forecast. I think I'll load up on some BL tonight and try to get a more timely reload in the AM to keep the heat flowing better than I did this morning. 67 ain't too bad....63, and the pooches look at me, then at the stove, then back at me.

Well that sucks ha? Not! and it is the Arctic here!

I lived in southern WI for thirty years, but that is a couple climate zones warmer than up there!

 

[Jags]

My high temp for the day is supposed to hit -11F. Yes, minus. This weather sucks.

 

[rideau]

We had freezing rain last night, 24 F now, windy, going down to -9 F with strong wind. Wind chills tonight, tomorrow in the order of -30 to -35.

My yard and road are glare ice. Can't walk on it. I've resorted to ashes by the doors and to the woodpile and car, which I do reluctantly because of the mess. But at least no one falls. My road is 1000 feet long and with tight curves. I'm not looking forward to driving out tomorrow morning.

 

[Ashful]

My high temp for the day is supposed to hit -11F. Yes, minus. This weather sucks.

Yikes. I've seen daily low temps close to that here, but never a high temp! I had always thought Illinois had a climate pretty close to PA, but your northern Illinois, and I'm southern PA.

... actually just confirmed. Our lowest recorded daily high was +2F in Jan 1994, the year of the brutal ice storms.

 

[Badfish740]

My yard and road are glare ice. Can't walk on it.

I'll be getting as much wood as I can in tonight for this reason. There's no way my soggy yard will dry out enough for it not to be a skating rink tomorrow morning.

 

[Jags]

I had always thought Illinois had a climate pretty close to PA, but your northern Illinois, and I'm southern PA.

For the last 12 months Philly has had 4917 degree days.
Rochelle, IL (closest town to me) is at 7399. A pretty good difference.

 

[rideau]

Wow, Jags, more than 50% more degree days. Sort of surprising.

 

[Jags]

Wow, Jags, more than 50% more degree days. Sort of surprising.

Just for fun - Peterborough (not sure how close that is to you) is 8075. There is less difference between you and I, than there is between Philly and I.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I even spent some time crawling around the aptly named space under my house yesterday

I always send the sheepdog in first

 

[Ashful]

Just for fun - Peterborough (not sure how close that is to you) is 8075. There is less difference between you and I, than there is between Philly and I.

Yeah, that is a surprise. I'm in a suburb north of Philly, and we average almost exactly 5000 HDD's per year. I had always assumed you guys were similar (or warmer) than us, because most of Illinois is actually south of Pennsylvania. However, being more inland, perhaps you see less ocean moderation?

Looking at Peoria average highs and lows, I see the summer highs almost match Philly (within 1F), but Peoria winter highs are a good 7F lower than Philly.

 

[Jags]

because most of Illinois is actually south of Pennsylvania

Mid to Southern IL is vastly different weather than the North boarder. No ocean moderation (or any other kind) where I am at.
Another comparison - Madison WI. - 7702. Only 300 degree days different than me. (a 3 or 4 % difference).

 

[Jack Fate]

Just fired 2nd stove NEVER did this before -11 with 35+ wind but the suns shining

 

[Shari]

Well......... it is 2:30pm and it is -42 windchill. Tonight is forecast to be -46 windchill.

I went out to start my truck (just to see if it would start) and it went grunt-grunt-splat.

Good thing I don't have to go anywhere.

Oh well, temps will be back up in the 20's-30's on Thrusday/Friday. Sounds like hubby and I will be 'nesting' for a few days.

(Location: Just outside of Milwaukee, WI.)

 

[WiscWoody]

Bottom fell out yesterday afternoon; Went from 35 then, down to -5 this AM. Luckily, we got less than the 6-8" of snow that was originally forecast. I loaded in the wee hours on a pretty big coal bed, so not a lot of wood. I just got another load cruising now, nine hours later after burning down coals for a couple hours and getting the stove top back up to 340. With that long a time, and limited net heat off the stove, room temp has dropped from 67 to 63. It'll be interesting to see if I can recover room temp at the current level of weatherization, with the stove chock-full o' Pignut Hickory and a probable high of 2 degrees with 15-20 mph winds. She's just crested 500 and should level off around 530 or so, I think.
Like many other posters, I haven't yet tested this stove, with this dry of wood, under conditions this severe. This is fun ....until I have to go outside for more wood!
One more below-zero night is forecast. I think I'll load up on some BL tonight and try to get a more timely reload in the AM to keep the heat flowing better than I did this morning. 67 ain't too bad....63, and the pooches look at me, then at the stove, then back at me.

I lived in southern WI for thirty years, but that is a couple climate zones warmer than up there!

Anything less than 10 F Is cold but it is funny how you become acclimated to temperatures and then it warms up to 10 above and it feel nice. I dress for it up here now but when I lived in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) I didnt so much since I was in warm buildings most of the time.

 

[bag of hammers]

I even spent some time crawling around the aptly named space under my house yesterday I always send the sheepdog in first

Speaking of crawls and dogs, an exposed drain line from my kitchen sink at the cabin froze solid this weekend (it's a straight / steep run under part of the cabin, into to a grey water pit). This happened once before during a long deep freeze, but that time there was an issue with the pipe (the neighbour's dog ran under there and knocked the pipe off of a support, water started to collect a bit there and then gradually froze up).

I fixed that (the pipe, that is, the dog still likes to tear around there ) and it's been ok - I thought I had it beat, at least until I'm able to get the reno's done and get this part covered / plumbed into the septic.

But this year and many days of arctic air blasting around there nixed it again - little trickles of stuff (end of a coffee, etc.) going down the drain would freeze against the side of the pipe in layers about half way down. Since it's all being replaced, my "fix" is a couple of Fernco couplings - can remove the offending section in @ 2 minutes, sit it end-up in a bucket inside to thaw, re-attach and good to go. Insulation would likely end up in the mouse houses around the wood piles.

 

[yooperdave]

It "warmed up" to -43 windchill today...more of the same for tonight and tomorrow.

 

[Retired Guy]

Portion of a weather summary from the NWS for the next few days

Lake Effect Snow Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 338 PM EST MON JAN 6 2014
JEFFERSON-LEWIS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WATERTOWN...LOWVILLE 338 PM EST MON JAN 6 2014 ...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST WEDNESDAY... ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM EST TUESDAY... * LOCATIONS...JEFFERSON AND LEWIS COUNTIES. * TIMING...THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. * HAZARDS...HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS...1 TO 3 INCHES THIS AFTERNOON...MORE THAN 2 FEET TONIGHT...MORE THAN 2 FEET TUESDAY...10 TO 20 INCHES TUESDAY NIGHT...AND 3 TO 5 INCHES WEDNESDAY LEADING TO STORM TOTALS OF 3 TO 5 FEET. * WINDS...WEST 20 TO 30 MPH. * WIND CHILLS...AS COLD AS 25 BELOW ZERO AT TIMES. * VISIBILITIES...NEAR ZERO IN WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Let's face it, when the outdoor temperature gets over 30 degrees below the normal or average temperature, it is cold no matter where you live.

 

[HotCoals]

Wow..it's colder in Kentucky then upstate NY!
10f here. the wind be a blow'n though!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just wait a bit HotCoals. It will come to you too.

 

[Jeffair10]

It's bloody cold here..

I have the little Magnolia cranking between 500 and 600 degrees, it helps at these temps but the gas furnace still kicks on. I need a bigger burner and a bigger supply of wood...

 

[midwestcoast]

That is a nasty mix of weather headed to Upstate NY Retired Guy. Sure don't want to be caught out on a lonely road, stuck in 4' of snow in a whiteout with -25 wind chills. Not a fun way to die or live!
We had somewhere over a foot here (the tiny flake stuff that packs in heavy) followed by wind chills getting down to the -40's. I love this weather as long as there's a warm house waiting for me. This morning I was shoveling in -14 with WC of -38. Had to take off my coat for a while when I started sweating. My 75 Y.O neighbor came out to blow some snow & his wife was shoveling the steps.

 

[Ehouse]

9:30pm still holding at +13* in Central NY. Nighty night.