WHAT'S THE WEATHER IN YOUR AREA? How are you preparing for a daily chore of staying warm?

[Littlesister]

The sun is shining and in the mid 40's today. I'll take that. 

[Jeepers]

Brrrrrr. I woke up during the night and it was 7°. It has warmed up to 9° now.  I need to go to Verizon but I think I'll put it off for a few days. It's supposed to warm up next week. It's just for a change of address that I forgot to do. I can't believe how many change of addresses I had to do with this move. 

[The WE2's]

Another ditto day...Today is another fairly nice day.  A bit chilly because of the wind, but the sun is out.

[Jeepers]

It's 13° and snowing now. It's supposed to be precipitating at least until Monday. We are to have a gradual warm up though and its supposed to be in the mid 50's by Monday. So snow shouldn't last very long. I think Mother Nature has menopause this winter. 9° one day and four days later it's 50's. 

[Mother]

Here in our art of Illinois we were at 3° last night with wind and bitter cold.  Supposed to have freezing rain early tomorrow morning with 1/4” or more ice accumulation by late morning.  Then it’s supposed to reach the forties with rain all the rest the day.  It must be the Midwest!!!  

[Jeepers]

Midwest indeed! Stay safe in the icy conditions. They are the worst. No traction. It does make everything pretty though....for a minute. 

[Necie]

1 hour ago, Mother said:

 Supposed to have freezing rain early tomorrow morning with 1/4” or more ice accumulation by late morning.

Be careful. And ready for power outages, have ice melt salt ready, etc. I think I hate ice more than anything. 
When my DX and I were young, we ended up stuck in a mobile home over New Years weekend because of ice. No water (pipes froze), no heat or stove (lp ran out), car engine froze up. We did have electric, but no phone. We had a small, electric space heater that we’d switch from the small bedroom (roommate’s that was gone for the weekend) to under the car engine (DX tarped the hood). I didn’t have a microwave, but did have an electric frying pan. Had to melt snow in it for water.... it takes A LOT of snow to get a little water. Three days before my dad could come get us because of trees down, ice and heavy snow on top. Fun times!!. because we were young... 

[Littlesister]

Today is going up to 52* and no wind today.  When I get back from DGD's house I will be getting the empty Christmas boxes back out to the shed and out of the house. 

[euphrasyne]

Stove and fireplace are both gas.  we have plenty of propane for the grill and plenty of wood for the outside firepit.   It has been getting down to the 20s this past week.  We are wearing sweaters and socks in the house.  The house heat is also gas so it will run with the power out.  I also have plenty of sterno cans for chafing dishes/smores/etc.  As long as the cell towers hold, I have a solar powered phone/usb charger to charge electronic stuff.  

[Necie]

1 hour ago, euphrasyne said:

  The house heat is also gas so it will run with the power out. 

If the power is out, the blower won’t work though. And depending on how old... if it has electric ignition or electronic valve. 
A friend gave us their old stove when they were remodeling. It really is much nicer than the one we have. I told DH to put it in the basement... it has an electronic valve. If the power goes out, at least I can light my stove with a match/lighter (electric ignition), but with the newer one there’s no way to open the valve and keep it open to even get gas to the burners. 

[The WE2's]

18 hours ago, Jeepers said:

icy conditions

I used to run studded tires when the weather started icing etc.  In our state you can only run them from October through March, but they sure saved my hide a time or two!

[The WE2's]

About 50 but it's somewhat sunny with a breeze.  Should dry most of our clothes that on the line.  It's supposed to rain tonight and the next several days and nights, so it will be good to have the laundry done.

[Mt_Rider]

Fairly "warm" today.  As warm as one gets with mountains of snow all over.  Walking the dog on the road with steep snowy hillsides on both sides -   Bundled in layers of shirts, down vest, jacket, jeans + snowpants and high boots.  Lucky the boots are very light weight but warm.  Hustled down the road with dog.  9/10ths of a mile.  Don't think I'm getting a horse ride this week. 

 

MtRider ....Winter is here!! 

[Littlesister]

I have a gas furnace but if the electric goes out the thermostat will not operate therefor no heat. I do have the wood stove and lots of wood. I also have a gas stove top, but the oven is electric. But I have other ways of cooking also. 

Today is only going to get up to 45* It has been in the 20's at night just about all week. There is a slight breeze but not too bad. It is going to be cold shopping day. And with both GD being sick with a sinus infection and the baby also has a cold I am not too thrilled about them being out all day in this weather.

[euphrasyne]

Our stove and heat are entirely gas based.  Can confirm throughout several power outages it still worked each time over the last decade+ we've lived in this house.  We put them in this way on purpose.  

Edited December 14, 2024 by euphrasyne

[The WE2's]

Last night was a freeze your bum off, with rain most of the day.  Drizzle and cloudy.  Did go to WM for some needed things, but came home to stay put.

[Jeepers]

40° with rain here today. Supposed to rain off and on for the next 4-5 days. Daytime temps should stay above freezing though. I'm good with that. Don't have to shovel rain. 

 

Not that I'm out there doing any shoveling. It might be a chore pushing my wheelie bin down the driveway in the snow though. It's always something, huh? 

 

[Mt_Rider]

    A very good idea, Euphrasyne!  Unusual, tho more folks should do it that way!  I wish ours were wired/whatever like that!  But we're renters and don't get a choice.  Electric stove but a gas furnace. 

 

MtRider   

[Littlesister]

It was cold yesterday running around shopping. That wind would go right through you.  DGD would not put a coat on that baby. She never does. She claims that they say it is unsafe to put a baby in a car seat with a coat on. Really! Everyone else does it. And no harm ever came to a baby that had a coat on in a car seat. Both my DD and I got on her about it. Both the baby and DGD has colds as well as her DH took off from work yesterday with a bad cold. If she keeps this up, they will all have pneumonia So when DD and I went back to DGD's house to pick them up again after the baby's nap. Yep, she put a coat on her. And because DGD is almost 7 months pregnant, she couldn't get her coat around her stomach. So, I got her a hoody to wear. That hoody was warm, and she has room to grow. I hope she understands about needing a coat when in cold, windy weather. Those colds are not just coming from the YMCA where she was working. Her DH made her quit that job. He has been sick 4 or 5 times since she started working there and they all stay sick. DD is looking for those sleeveless T-shirts that I always had on DD when she was a baby. She only got sick once when she was about 15 months old with a virus. But she had those t-shirts under her regular shirts daily and when she started school, never got a cold and she wore her coat also. I have been looking for those same t-shirts for a long while now. I'm thinking I might have to go to the boy's department and get them from there. Though they used to be for girls also. 

 

Going to run to Food Lion in a bit for a turkey. They finally started putting Butterball turkeys on sale. I like those the best. They have a sweeter taste to them. I am trying to make room in the smaller freezer in garage and moved most of the food in that freezer to the big freezer. 

 

Getting ready when I get back to get the totes back into the shed from the Christmas decorations. Then break down some boxes. That will clear out my house of those and I can start doing the deep cleaning. I think I might just make it yet. 

[The WE2's]

Had a rainy night with a bit of thunder for a bit, but it's a bit sunny so the low temp doesn't feel so bad.  We're tucked in until we feel we have to get out.

[Necie]

Oooooh BOY!! It’s FOGGY out. Started raining last night. Misty/drizzley all day. Got up to 48*. Snow is mostly melted... turned into FOG! 

[Jeepers]

Necie, sounds just like here. It is 43° but very foggy/misty. I was out between 1:00 - 5:00 this evening and it was nasty driving home. It was so foggy, I was driving about 30 MPH on some stretches of the highway. Fortunately, about 95% of the drive is highway unless I want to go the back road. No snow though. I'll probably take advantage of the warm weather to run errands tomorrow. I could have done it today while I was in town but I know the places would be packed. 

[Littlesister]

Jeepers the stores are packed. My DD got back home and went to the store, and she said the store was packed to the brim.  My DGD also went to the store today and said the same thing. When I went it was packed but by the time I got in line to check out, it wasn't as bad. Only 2 ahead of me.  

It warmed up today, but it did start drizzling early this evening. But no rain to speak of.

Tomorrow is going to be even warmer. 

 

[Jeepers]

Littlesister, I figured they were packed. I don't need anything that bad. I saw from the highway, the line going toward Meijers etc. was backed way up. DIL ran to the store for some carrots for school tomorrow, but that was all she needed. I forgot to ask her how it looked out there but she wasn't gone very long. Probably grabbed the carrots and went through the fast 5 or less aisle. 

[Necie]

@Jeepers, I went to Mom’s today. About 45 minutes north. Fog was patchy at about noon on the way there. Left at 3:00 and it was SOLID. It’s all back roads and I can’t believe the number of idiots that drive in pea soup with their headlights off. 😡 

I stopped at a small local grocery on the way for a couple things. I think there were 2 or 3 other customers while I was there. I love small groceries. They might hurt more in the pocketbook, but so much easier on the nerves and less of a headache. 😉