Monday, January 27, 2014

No, Really this is NOT normal





I have read many a blog post or comment basically saying "it's cold, DUH it's Winter". Well I certainly am no expert on the rest of the country but let me tell you right now this is cold even for Winter. Perhaps this kind of thing was normal around here during the last mini-ice age or something but I can assure you that wave after wave of frigid temperatures blowing in at 50 mph has not been the normal around these here parts for at least half a century.

Now I am not saying we are breaking any lows, that's not what I am talking about. We have seen more sub zero temps in the last month here than we typically see in two Winters combined and they came accompanied by high winds which simply adds to the problem. Certainly it's been cold before and it isn't uncommon to expect a few good blows each Winter in pretty much the same manner we are getting now, but it is also typical that they wait longer than a couple of days or at most a week to repeat themselves.

All one can do is adapt and overcome. Sure this Winter has completely blown my prior firewood usage records all to hell and gone.  I had to compensate by making two cutting runs (Sometimes three) a week for the last month or so. That is more than double my normal amount. On the plus side however my usual firewood supply issue has almost always been mud and snow not allowing me to get to the trees I have marked as needing to be cut. For the most part that has not been an issue at all this year yet.

According to my notes last year's usage was just shy of about 10 cords with six of those coming in January and February. We have almost doubled that this year and it shows that my system I have in place for dealing with unusual extremes is working quite well as I still have multiple dead trees down in several locations that can be easily gotten to depending on conditions. Tomorrow I believe I will make a run to an old Elm I dropped last week by my North apiary to add a bit of flame to this Oak I split yesterday.

No this hasn't been a normal Winter but it has certainly been a good learning experience and a new marker for what "extreme" can actually produce.

So far we have met the challenge with good results and that's about all you can ask for.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!


21 comments:

  1. The grass stopped growing in November, we usually get a little growth though December, it isn't normal to have night after night in the teens. I have plenty of wood but the propane backup heat has kicked in a lot since it has been so cold and windy, the wood furnace just won't keep up so next year the back up wood stove goes into use after putting a liner in the old chimney. The global warming religion has been extremely silent but be ready for them to get back in their media supplied pulpit come the first hot day.

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    1. Since I adjusted to the new normal of these cold pushes the temps have not fallen below 60 inside the house so I have not had to turn the propane furnace on even once. It doesn;t matter what happens the Global warming crowd will find a way to keep their faith.

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    2. They do have the way to keep their faith. It's called "climate change" now, so any adverse weather event can be lumped into the same things.

      Whether it's too much snow, too little snow, too much rain, too little rain, too hot, too cold, too many hurricanes, not enough hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts etc etc, the solution is everyone paying more money to Al Gore and liberal feminist socialist clan to keep us safe from it. Oh, and it's all our fault too.

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    3. Too true Anon... Too true. As I said earlier today I might give their concerns a bit more of a look if they weren;t so focused on one particular group paying for it.

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  2. We are certainly not normal in NW Florida... Our temps are dropping into the 30's tonight and will remain there until Thursday. Snow and sleet is on the way! Weatherman says sleet will begin around 4PM tomorrow and snow flurries off and on all day Wednesday...80% chance that is. How fun is that for us?! Back in the 70's by Saturday.

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    1. It'll be a refreshing experience for you :) Keep the bugs and vermin down maybe? I imagine it is a bit tough to deal with when it happens so rarely and isn;t really viable to adjust for it. Still weather-wise it's a nice trade off overall.

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  3. What Mamma Bear said...here to. We're in Northeast Florida and today had a high of 75. Tomorrow we expect freezing rain, sleet to the north with possible snow near Waycross, Georgia. Sunny one day and wind and cold rain the next. This, as you said, is not normal.

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    1. I can usually handle about any extreme except wind. That cold wind is the real terror around here.

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  4. PP - your astute observations are again, right on the money! no, this winter had not been normal for us either. it has been a mild winter, not too cold like some of you have been getting, but mild winters are normal for us. what isn't normal is for snow to become staying snow in the first week of december and it just keeps staying and more snow keeps being added to it. mind you, it is regularly melting...and if we didn't have so many local events and whatnot we could just leave the snow where it was and wait for it to melt. but i really sympathize with those of you who are getting belted with way lower temps than you are used to...THAT really sucks!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. As I said to Stephen I don't mind the cold it's that wind that really puts the hurt on ya. It sneaks into cracks and then takes over. You think you have it all blocked and then bam it comes at ya from a different place.

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  5. DUH! You probably read one of those from my blog :)
    I agree, it isn't normal. What really gets me though is the fact that the news outlets are making such a big deal about it, having to remind people to do things like "wear warm clothing" or "fill up your gas tank" or "make sure you have three days worth of food in the house". I mean, are people THAT shocked by the fact that it can possibly get really, really cold and that they should be somewhat prepared for it?!

    Oh, and even though it's been DARNED cold here, would you know it, I'm still picking ticks off the dog. Does NOTHING kill those bastards?!?

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    1. Carolyn - Well I can see how some, especially say younger people like my son, just wouldn't get it because I don;t think he has really ever experienced cold this bad here before. At least not during the time he is making his own decisions on how to dress. I was out cleaning the furnace the other day and he came out on the deck to ask me something and before I could answer he said his face hurt and ran inside. He will learn.

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  6. No, not normal at all. It was 50 here today in Anchorage, and patches of grass are starting to appear where we had two feet of snow cover just a couple of weeks ago. There have been warm spells in January before, but not this warm, nor lasting this long - 3 weeks & counting.

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    1. RP - That's the thing with us here. It isn;t uncommon to get these cold snaps it's just not normal to get so many and this close together. I guess it isn't the temps just the overall pattern.

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  7. I know that your not a big fan of global warming, but the studies that I have read claim that the increased moisture in the air will cause more extreme weather. More water, more energy can be stored thus more wild swings in norms. My $.02

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    1. K - It's not that I don't believe in a changing climate it's man made and/or man controlled climate change I will not give any credence to. Especially since their methods to deal with it seem to only concern re-distributing the wealth of one particular racial group. I also believe it is the height of arrogance to assume it is being caused by or can really be controlled by man's intervention. A simple look at history shows us that weather patterns like we are seeing may not be "normal" on the short term like a lifetime they do become more normal over a few centuries.

      If a "warmist" would look at things with a bit less focus on attacking one group and let nature make it's own adjustment I have no problem with them. There is plenty of data that opposes their facts as well however.

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  8. Yesterday on my third trip out to water the critters. I was outside for exactly 13 minutes (yep I counted). My (gloved) hands hurt so bad from the cold I could have cried. The hubs sitting on the couch with his leg propped up said. It wasn't that cold! I wanted to throw his butt out there and let him see how cold it was! This Winter Sucks!!!!

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    1. Kelly - Yes it was cold yesterday morning that wind was dying off but it was still strong enough to hurt. I think it was a bit better than the last cold storm that hit us but it was still bad. After a few minutes of using the pitchfork my hand did literally hurt.

      This morning was a bit better but still got cold it jjust took a few more minutes to work it's way in.

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  9. I spoke with my parents in the CA Sierra Nevada foothills. Not a normal winter there at all. They may have set a new record for moisture free days - over 50. Unless they have a miracle March (it has happened before), it will be a long dry summer.

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    1. TB - Ya know I don't wish drought on any one. Yet I am looking at this California drought with some sense of opportunity. A drought out there may just be the right situation to put more local produce into a viable alternative position around here. As long as we don;t get a drought ourselves.

      there's always that "as long as" situation though isn;t there?

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  10. Somehow I missed this posting. Because of this bitter cold that I am now sick. I don't know how.?? I don't get sick. 20 tomorrow its going to feel like fricken summer.

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