Surviving Winter Ice Stoms

[Adventure Wolf]

Living in North Carolina, I have only had to deal with a single winter ice storm in all my years of existence. It was a terrible storm that destroyed several trees, bent the pine branches down and took out most of the power lines. I was a kid at the time, and where I was living we didn't even have firewood for the wood stove. It was a terrible debacle.

For those that live in colder climates, especially in Minnesota and that area or Alaska, how do you all prepare for winter and specifically these ice storms?

[Rick]

You really can't prepare for an ice storm very much. We've had several here. You can do generic planning of course like getting a generator or trimming trees back so they don't end up on the roof. If it's in the forecast you can protect your vehicles either by getting them indoors or under some type of cover. Getting in a vehicle that's been left outside can be a chore sometimes. The rubber gaskets around the door will freeze to the body of the vehicle. You can keep kitty litter or shop clean up in your vehicles but that's just part of winter preps. Travel should be avoided until the roads are clear. Be prepared to spend a day or two at home. Keep an eye on house gutters. Ice can build and take them off the house. If you have electric gutter heaters make sure they are turned on. If you don't have them then a sock filled with salt tossed in the high end of the gutter can help some. That will help keep a brine solution in the gutters and help melt the ice.

[sjj]

removed...

[randyt]

It's best to hunker down during a ice storm and keep extra supplies on hand like firewood or kerosene.

[hayshaker]

it,8,degrees right now at 7,06 in the morning , got up at 6,30 and gnd the house was cold
got the wood stve going which tqakes a bit to heat the house. the bathroom thismorning felt like the back porch
almost.id put gloves on butthen i could,nt type.time to put some coffee on i think.im in mn near the SD border.
the weather people are saying -20 below by wed and it,s only the middle of november, this is going to be
a bad winter.normaly it dosent get that cold till late december mid-january.

[BornthatWay]

As Rick said keep trees well trimmed. If you have a wood stove be sure you have some wood out of the weather to get a fire started if you lose power. Get a box of fat wood from Walmart or a couple of those log starters work well get your fire going nicely. Be sure you have a way to heat some canned food and also some water. Of course if they are calling for an ice storm be sure you fill your bathtub with water for flushing commode. Have other water either in pots or bottles for drinking and cooking.
If you do not have a way to heat your home without electricity get a small tent that is free standing and put it up in your house. Everyone's body heat will help to warm it up and make it a little more comfortable.

Get a single burner propane stove for about 20 bucks and invest in some one pound propane canisters to be able to heat water for warm drinks and you can heat up some canned soup.

Just pull out those camping supplies and make do the best you can. The good thing about ice storms is that it usually warms up a few days after one so the ice melts and you can get out if need be.

If you have little ones or elderly you may need to try to find a place to go to keep them warm until the electric gets back on. This is the reason you want to have an emergency cash fund available. How much is up to the individual but at least enough for a couple nights in a hotel and meals out.

Also be sure you have your gas tank on your automobile full when you hear the weather report calling for this type of weather. Be sure you have your cell phone charged and get one of the movie or other external battery packs for your cell phone. Be sure you keep your cell phone warm as in a pocket so it does not get too cold.

If you have a generator be sure it is in good working condition and you have fuel for it. Be sure you know what you can hook up to it and be sure it sits outside of your home and not right against your house. So be sure you have a heavy duty long extension cord to plug into generator and then plug appliances into cord.

[Old Professor]

Ice storms are far more of a hazard than snow storms. The weight of accumulating ice can bring down power lines, even with out trees and tree limbs falling on the lines. Restoring electric service can take many days , so having an alternate power source would be a high priority. Roads become virtually impassable, due to lack of traction. Chains help some but not so well for stopping. My action plan is just sit out the situation until power comes back and roads have been salted/sanded/ plowed or what ever they do in your area.

[Rick]

I have actually walked down a span knocking ice off the lines. The ice was so heavy the lines stretched until they were about 5 1/2 feet off the ground. Beat the ice off with a lineman's hammer and the lines went right back up once the weight was off them. Even I was amazed.

[Adventure Wolf]

Thanks guys, this is not something I have to deal with often to really know about things. If anyone ever has a question about hurricanes prep or any common south eastern hazard, or a wilderness hazard I would be more then happy to repay the favor by answering questions about them.

So here's what I have for winter saved up. I have some money left over, and can buy more if necessary.

- All of my wilderness survival, hunting and camping gear
- 2 Generators with 25 gallons of gas
- 4 wheel drive 1994 Ford Bronco (351 Windsor Engine and Transmission rebuilt in 2010) w/good tires, snow chains, tool box and winch)
- Two entire oak trees cut as firewood
- 12 gallons of drinking water and 120 bottles of water
- 100 cans of food
- Winter Blankets
- Battery Operated Radio
- 2 Mobile phones (1 person, 1 business) with solar powered battery chargers)

Of course I have all the basic flashlights, batteries and general purpose stuff.

[hunter63]

Need candles and beer.......and beer......might be a long pull....and beer.

[1stimestar]

Yep, we just hunker down and wait it out. Since I live in an arctic region, I generally have good tires and always have 4 wheel drive. Gravel trucks and snow plows are common here so it's normally just a day till the roads are driveable. Since I live in a waterless cabin, we haul all our own water so don't have to worry about not getting publicly supplied water. I always do make a water run before an expected event occurs. Since I'm still renting, we don't have a generator but will once I buy my own place.

[crashdive123]

Before I joined the Navy and was still living in a place where that white stuff falls from the sky there was a very serious ice storm. I was attending a community college which was closed due to the storm. However I needed to get to the campus to complete some work (I had keys to the building I needed to work in). Roads were treacherous. I laced up my skates and ice skated 6.5 miles to the campus. It was kind of fun skating down the middle of the road. Yes, weather was clear, but there were no cars on the road.

[Rick]

If you have your ginnys and you are running your TV then a few movies might be a good idea and games. It's really not so bad when all you have to do is sit back and enjoy just spending time together and wait for life to return to normal. Avoid using salt on your sidewalk or concrete driveway. Salt brine will cause the concrete to pit.

[randyt]

I thought it should be thrown out there, run those generators outside.

[LowKey]

That's no joke. That ice storm we had a few years back, one of my co-workers almost gassed himself by putting the generator under the house eave to keep the rain off. Trouble was the exhaust went right up the attic vents and into the house.

We had power out for two weeks in that one and roads were impassible for 3 days. In the next town over the damage was so bad, they just bulldozed the whole mess, electric wires, poles, and tree branches out of the way and had to restring pretty much the whole town.
One important thing I learned, never trust the electric company telling you when the power will be back up. Ours didn't have an emergency plan capable of dealing with the scope of the disaster. They had no reciprocity in place. They had no damage triage teams. It finally ended up that a different electric company with linemen from as far away as Ohio got the power back. After they had finished with their own customers. I don't care what you say about National Grid, I'd buy those guys coffee any time.

Another thing about the electric company, they do not fix damage below their roof connection. If you have a stack, pole or line that runs from the connection to your house, and that is damaged, you need to call in an electrician right away to repair it or the line crew will pass you by. They won't connect you and getting them back can take forever.

Cell phone towers can be damaged. We lost one of ours and it's never been replaced. I get really terrible reception now with the cell.

Adventure Wolf, have you ever run your generator for a long period of time? Do you know how much gas it will use in 8 hours? Multiply that times 6 for 2 days.
How close is your nearest gas station? Does the gas station have a generator? Of all the stupid things I found out, none of the stations in the area had generators to run the pumps. Had to wait 3 days for roads to be cleared to get gas at a station 10 miles away that had power.

Secure your generators with chain and padlocks. They can become a commodity. There were thefts up and down the valley here after the storm. None were available in entire area for a radius of several states.

A chain saw is a valuable tool to have. With mix oil and chain oil.

Keep your refrigerator closed and your freezer covered with blankets and/or down comforter. If you think power is going to be down for several days, think about what you are going to do with the food about to spoil in your fridge. We had a big cookout after 5 days. The weather was too warm to keep stuff frozen the first week, then dropped below zero the second.

Get a GenTrans. Far more convenient (and safer) than running extension cords or backfeeding your house through an outlet (with the main shut off, I see Rick cringing.) Luckily I had one of those already set up.

Think about your heating system a little bit. I could run mine off a little 8000watt genny, though I couldn't run it higher than 45°, but had plenty of hot water because the tank runs off the boiler. If we'd had an electric water tank, there would have been no hot water. You do not know the meaning of "good hot shower" until you can't have one for several days.

Firewood is good if you have a woodstove. A fireplace isn't going to keep you too warm. We ended up sucking more cold air in than heating the place. So we had one of those oil radiator plug-in things that also ran off the genny and basically stayed in the one bedroom on the lee side of the house. I just got a fireplace insert last winter. Best investment ever. The fan doesn't work when the power goes out but those little heat activated ones circulate enough if needed.

When it got cold, we had blankets over all the big glass - the slider and the bay window - and over the doors. I stapled and taped plastic over the windows on the windward side of the house. I always keep a roll of heavy plastic in the garage attic. One of those 20' x 100 foot things. It has to be rotated out every 3 years or so if you don't use it or it gets brittle. Mine becomes cold frames then I bring it to work to be recycled.

We had a couple neighbors who have wells stop in for buckets of water for the toilets and to use the shower. We have town water that didn't stop running. They didn't want to use their drinking water to flush. The lake was already frozen over. I suppose they could have chopped a hole in it but I don't remember it being safe yet to walk on. If you have a well, getting a generator is a really good idea. The neighbors ended up at the shelter for most of the two weeks cuz they just weren't into it.

Have a plan to evacuate. A lot of my neighbors that stayed in the shelter didn't think to go back to their house and crack the faucets when the cold settled in. A LOT of burst pipes. I have to admit by day 13 I was pretty done with the sheltering in place. Was very glad to see those linemen show up.

The other thing is practice. My dad used to pick a weekend in summer (no stress then) and throw the house main for a weekend. Of course it was all planned so as not to lose any food, usually the same weekend was used to defrost the empty chest freezer, somewhere in June before the strawberry harvests, but at least it was practice.

[Adventure Wolf]

I have multiple chainsaws and I know all about my generators, I've run them on construction sites long enough to know how they handle.

[Tokwan]

How come I never did any of those things? Wait..oh yeah..I live in Malaysia..no winter for me...hahahahaha

[Rick]

If you backfeed your generator the other precaution is to ensure what loads your ginny will run. Backfeeding will allow everything in the house access to the generator and you could overload it very easily. You would need to know which breakers, besides the mains, that you need to shut down in order to be "right sized" for your generator load.

[Adventure Wolf]

My father rigged the circuit breaker box of his house to allow for back feeding (I have no idea how he did this). I don't feel comfortable doing this. He has a plug under his circuit breaker boxes. I will be over at his in a few hours, so I'll take some pictures and show you what I'm talking about.

[Rick]

I installed a generator transfer switch and wired only those things I wanted to run through the switch. I also hung a step by step instruction sheet on the power panel in case I wasn't home and my wife or someone else needed to fire it up.

[Phaedrus]

Here in SD we get some pretty bad ice storms and blizzards. I don't have a genny, my preps involve having stored water, plenty of batteries for various lights and devices, a bunch of different types of fuel for various kinds of stoves (mostly LP gas, big bottles for gas grill and little green Coleman ones for the stoves, and a couple cases of butane cannisters that work with my Iwatani torch and single burner stove) and some canned and freeze dried foods that can be eaten cold or with minimal cooking. There isn't much practical way to heat my house without electricity- there's no wood stove, sadly. So I have a crapload of blankets, at least six Wiggy's sleeping bags, a lot of quilts and warm clothes.

Another big prep item in the winter is common sense! I try to never let the gas tank in my truck get much below 1/2. This is key in case I get stuck or have to deal with prolonged bad weather.

[Rick]

You don't have to be cold just because you have no wood stove. Look into kerosene and/or LP heaters. There are some excellent, no exhaust LP heaters on the market. They may not heat a whole house to 68F but they might keep you and your plumbing from freezing.

[hayshaker]

one needs multiple heat sources here in MN ,if you have elec heat which i do a ice storm
can take the power lines out ,no elec=no heat . i have a large wood cook stove to supplement
our elec heat . covering the windows with 3m,plastic helps quite a bit it really does.
freezing to death is no joke. I also have many comforters and thermal clothing which helps as well.
worst comes to worst cost rica baby where,s my mojito and beach towel.

[randyt]

It'll be a cold day in hades if I freeze to death.

[hunter63]

It'll be a cold day in hades if I freeze to death.

The only chance of that is if the MN, Vikings win the Super Bowl

[randyt]

Anything is possible LOL.

[rebel]

The only chance of that is if the MN, Vikings win the Super Bowl

Vi-queens.

A cold weather bag for the car is good to have. It could be a while before the tow truck arrives.

[LowKey]

After that storm, I got an instant on generator with an auto transfer switch. That was another really good investment. Ran for 3 days after an October storm that took out all my trees.

Running generators on work sites intermittently is one thing but can they take the abuse of constant use over several days? My little Honda that I ran for a solid 2 weeks totally seized up when it finally got shut down when the power came on. I'm just lucky it didn't seize when I needed it. I got it fixed (rings and heads) and it's my backup, but I wouldn't ever trust it to have to run again for days at a time.

[Phaedrus]

You don't have to be cold just because you have no wood stove. Look into kerosene and/or LP heaters. There are some excellent, no exhaust LP heaters on the market. They may not heat a whole house to 68F but they might keep you and your plumbing from freezing.

Good point, I should look into that.

[TXyakr]

When an ice storm left my family without power for several days the biggest issue was not being able to charge our phones. We had plenty of water, fuel to heat the living room (central heat with natural gas does not work without electricity to blow it around), but fine in FP and space heaters. So we hiked to a McDonalds less than a mile away with an extension cord/power strip where there were dozens of other devices charging. So rather than go thru that again we got some high capacity external USB batteries. Something like a "Power Pot" with a USB charge port is also a good alternative to a solar panel when there is no sun, but this requires that you keep it full of water, and a camp stove. The big advantage of these over a gasoline generator is that they are very portable and you can take them in your car or even backpack or carry on luggage while traveling by air.

[randyt]

Someone makes a hand cranked charger for a cell phone.

[TXyakr]

Someone makes a hand cranked charger for a cell phone.

About 10 years ago someone gave me an LED lantern with radio and phone charge port with hand crank. It is poor quality not very useful for phone charging but OK as a light and radio. Some other brands may be much better. Power pots are very problematic as well, they must be continually feed with snow or water and heated with fuel from below for 1-2 hours of phone charging time. Solar needs time in bright light and a lot of surface area or it can take many hours even days to charge a phone. As a kid we had a stationary bicycle charger, not very space efficient but functional, only way for us to communicate with civilization via SW radio while in the "bush" for months.

But for many people in the USA an UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) with deep cycle marine battery replacing the tiny one that comes with it and a power strip with USB charge ports is a workable solution. Just replace the battery about every 2 years. I write the date replaced on the battery so I have an idea when it needs to be replaced. This will not fit in my backpack but fits under a desk at home. I also had a large UPS catch on fire at work one time so these are always a concern to me, don't stack paper or "fuel" items around them. Lighting struck house still blew out bunch of stuff, even some ran thru PC and out bottom of my wife's heal, it was plugged into a UPS with surge suppression. Now she follows my advice and "floats" all devices during a thunderstorm on battery power only.

[Rick]

Anker batteries. They are the bees knees. They last for weeks on a single charge. You can buy them with a 2A USB that will cut your charge time almost in half. I carry one with me everywhere.

http://www.ianker.com/External-Batteries/category-c1-s1

$40 will get you one with 15000 mAh, which is the one I have.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D5T3QK4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ianker-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B00D5T3QK4

[sjj]

Rick - that is a lot of ZEROs :)

[LowKey]

You can start your car and plug in the phone charger.
Just don't do it in the garage.
Car has a radio and heat too.

[Rick]

Oops. Nice catch. That one I use to jump start a 747. I fixed it.

No more current than a cell phone pulls you wouldn't even need to start the car.

[MrFixIt]

We tend to have more ice than snow here in my area.
Canned food, bottled water, and a propane camp stove with extra canisters of fuel.
Charcoal for the grill.
Batteries for the flash lights and radio.
Meds stocked (for the wifey)
Dog food (don't want my pups to go hungry!)
I fill the tub up with water to flush the toilet with.
Make sure the LP tank is filled.
Candles and battery operated lanterns.
Games, books, or hobby related items.
I tend to hunker down as well. My family and I look at it as an indoor camping adventure!

[TXyakr]

Rick that Anker 15 Amp hour USB battery is a very useful device. My wife's parents purchased a similar 12 amp hour one (different brand) after our ice storm a few years ago. I mostly used it, for camping and airline travel etc. Finally the micro USB connector got pushed in and broke off of the PCB inside. I can probably open it up and re-solder it back on, but have not gotten around to it yet. These batteries typically only last 2-5 years anyway, but are well worth it. Some other brands for about $100 are more resistant to shock, water and freeze but the tiny electric connectors may be the weakest point.

When Ultra Light Backpacking I take 2 extra Batteries for a Samsung phone and remove the battery from the phone, but this is not an option for an iPhone. Extra batteries allow me to go for 2 weeks no problem, even with power hungry S4 or S5.

I am probably just paranoid but technically and legally it is possible for 3rd parties to remotely turn on the GPS "radios" of your phone without your phone's screen or LEDs going on, receive its location, store it in a server. Thus allowing some unmentionable GOV agency to then get a warrant to request your movements at a later date or in real time. I am personally not concerned about anyone tracking my location, this would only enhance my safety in the wilderness, but it does drain my phone's battery with no benefit to me. A little irritating.

[Rick]

They do make an external batter/charger for the iPhone. My wife has one.

[LowKey]

You might have to turn the car on if that is the only way the power receptacle is activated. Like my truck...

[mukappa56]

Pretty well covered from what I've read, now just waiting on the vikes so it warms up a bit here.

It will come to mind in the moment (I trust), however, IF we/ you lose heat drain the water lines in case it does reach a freezing temp in the house/cabin, the reason should be a given.

Also its much easier to work with water we use if we dont let it freeze.

We keep a stock of wood as we have fire burners etc.

I read a comment about the house gutters, good point, *"Ice dams" (*when the ice starts to form under the shingles up the roof line past a water shielded area of aprox 4 feet up the roof line) can cause sever damage to the shingle layer and cause the ice to melt under the shingle & inside the home and water damage results.
ofc without power ice melting cables are off the table, however, clearing snow or ice off the roof vents helps hugely to regulate the temps and ice build up...
something to think of before damage occurs to the house. just sayin.

Though there is a huge cool factor and fun factor to takin the 4x4 out in the snow, as fore mentioned, it is best to wait for the roads to clear... it really sucks when the fun runs out and your stuck in the truck.. in the COLD, it gets old fast.

Candles.
lose, Layered clothes ready.
stay dry (we never know what will happen with the storm or our home during these.. some have had a roof collapse etc.)

At home camping... luv that!

*I hope this helps.

[hunter63]

.
....................................Though there is a huge cool factor and fun factor to takin the 4x4 out in the snow, as fore mentioned, it is best to wait for the roads to clear... it really sucks when the fun runs out and your stuck in the truck.. in the COLD, it gets old fast.

Be aware that a 4 wheel drive vehicle will allow you to get stuck in more inaccessible place that you have ever been before.......

[mukappa56]

Be aware that a 4 wheel drive vehicle will allow you to get stuck in more inaccessible place that you have ever been before.......

True that!

[TXyakr]

Does anyone have one of those natural gas or LP automatic generators for their house or cabin. Very expensive from what I have seen. Also what is long term cost to maintain it?

[randyt]

I've installed a lot of those automatic generators. Good option in my opinion. There are whole house generator that power up everything and there are some smaller units that power up a few circuits. Circuits like the well, freezers, heater and circuits like that. I'm not sure on the long term costs. For sure a oil change now and then.

[hunter63]

Does anyone have one of those natural gas or LP automatic generators for their house or cabin. Very expensive from what I have seen. Also what is long term cost to maintain it?

One need to figure what a electric service would cost vs a gen-set vs a solar/wind/water with inverter battery bank.
If the run for commercial service is too far the cost can really escalate, make other options more viable.

This should be taken into consideration when buying land or building your "place".
Many times this is thought of after the fact......

[LowKey]

I have one, an instant on, with an automatic transfer switch, running on propane. "Pricey" is a relative term.
It's a smaller one, running only a few circuits but it powers the furnace, the fridge, the freezer, the all important sump pump, one kitchen outlet and the bathroom lights. You might want to consider your hot water heater, as a small unit will not be able to power an electric one. Our water heater is off the furnace boiler and not electric so we still have hot showers when the power goes out.

Upkeep is an oil change and new filter in spring and in fall. The one I have uses two different oil viscosities for seasonal temperature. Not sure if they are all that way. Also an air filter. There's also spark plugs and a battery to consider.

The things are supposed to be exercised weekly too. I have ours set for late Sunday afternoon where I'm likely to notice that it's running.

Big thing is to check your local propane costs and contract stipulations. I had one company tell me it would cost $1000 a year just to set the tanks, whether I used the propane or not. My cost for two 250lb vertical tanks and the propane to fill them was nearly half the generator cost but I don't pay a rental, just the fill-up. That'll keep it running for 7 days straight. Consider too, if you have natural gas, to make sure it still runs when the power is off.

Site it wisely. I insisted mine be on the lee side of the house even though that is not the side the meter is on. Had to run a longer armored cable-snaked to the circuit box, but it keeps the exhaust from blowing up under the eaves and it is at the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms. Major pluses that offset the small cost of extra cable.

[hunter63]

Great hearing from some one that actually has one and great explanation.....
Thanks for posting.

[LowKey]

The household ones are all automatic. The exercise timer is set by actually being there to throw the switch at the time you want it to come on. You want to run it when you know you'll be around just to know it's working.
It takes the power being out about 10 seconds for the autotransfer switch to open, makes a hell of a clang when it does. When the power comes back on, it'll clang back shut and the machine will do a 10 minute no load run before powering down.

It is noisy though. More than once I've had that thing scare the living beejeezus outta me if it starts up when I happen to be standing near it. It's about as loud as a snowblower. You aren't going to be in stealth mode with one.

And I do keep a gas powered mini-machine for backup.

[TXyakr]

Great info LowKey. For my home I have natural gas for most heat appliances (water and central heat) so IF that does not fail a minimal unit running on NG to keep blower running and frig and freezer might work. Operating and on going maintenance sounds like the biggest cost of all, especially running it a bit every 2 weeks. Would be good to have "auto on" if gone for winter vacation for several days to prevent pipe freeze. I try to remember to shut off main valve and drain pipes, but easy to forget. Can always buy more cats for kids. Sorry cat lovers, only joking. Cat sitting on my chest licking my beard at 5am is my alarm clock, or alarm that heater has failed. Damn cats! I guess Psych therapy for kids if they come home to kitty popsicles could be more expensive. LOL

[LowKey]

The exercise cycle is only 10 minutes. I usually get a top off once a year for under $65. Or if it runs for 2 days like it did during the last tree-breaker storm, I get it topped right after. That one cost me I think $129 for the 2 days plus whatever had been used in the previous 9 months.

I think mine was pretty close to $4K all in. That includes the genny, the transfer switch, the concrete for the pad, the plumber for the gas line and the electrician with the extra long cable. The tanks were on top of that. I dug my own gas line trench with the help of a buddy and a few beers. By code, my tanks had to be at least 10 or 15 feet away from the generator and they couldn't be where a car would run into them but also had to be accessible to fill. They're darn near in my garden, LOL. I have peppermint and spearmint growing around them and they love the morning condensation that runs off the tanks. Healthiest plants I've ever seen.

I had one estimate from a Kohler dealer that wanted $18K all in. I think he was on drugs. Wouldn't put it where I wanted it, and wouldn't do it unless I put in a taller mast, which has absolutely nothing to do with the generator. The mast I have is legal height. I musta looked like a rube. I certainly don't look like a mark with money (and neither does the house. LOL.)

I bought a case of oil filters, a case of air filters and 6 spark plugs right after I bought the unit. Funny thing about this machine, it's very hard to find the maintenance kits for it now, and if you do, they are expensive. It takes a quart and a half of oil twice a year, plus an occasional top off. Not a lot of upkeep.

PS, cats won't freeze indoors. They have fur coats and they find places to nest. No worries as long as they have food, water that isn't frozen and a really big litter box if you leave them for any amount of time.

[Rollicks]

I think it was 7 years ago we lost electricity for one and a half weeks due to a really heavy snow storm. Power was out all over King County. People were buying generators up left and right from Sears, but couldn't get gas for them because the pumps ran on electricity.

We packed our perishable foods in a cooler and put them outside on the north side of the house where it's the coldest. We already had potable water stored away in the garage. I know you're supposed to fill your bath tub up, but mine is gross, if I seriously needed more water than what I have stored I'd drain the water heater.

Something I always do is as soon as November approaches I winterize the house and the car. In the back of your head remember as you leave the house to keep your gas tank, wallet and belly full.

Driving in a snowstorm sucks, avoid it at all costs. Here in Washington, people just leave their cars all over the road without any concern for other drivers. Please, if you get stuck, pull over to the side of the road so the plows can get past you. People drive really slowly up steep hills until a whole line of cars comes sliding down and plugs up the road (This happens every year without fail). It's because of this that it's a good Idea to learn 4 or more roads that get you to where you need to go.

Also, fair warning, plows are annoying. Be prepared for a 5 foot tall wall of ice smashed up against your car in the morning (Yay, the roads are plowed, but now I have to dig my car out). Although I can't speak for everybody, I'd say you can be prepared for a snow storm, but you can't be prepared for the way people are going to act during the snow storm. At the very least make sure that you can be comfortable wherever you are and consider staying there.

[TXyakr]

That is a very good and reasonable initial and ongoing cost LowKey. I had seen some very high quotes, due to labor etc as you described, similar with home water purification systems and wells etc. As a kid our neighborhood went a week with no power and I lived in the wilderness for over a month several summers without electronic power but a suburban house with absolutely no electricity for a week or so in winter might be a fire hazard. Or perhaps I am just getting paranoid with age. LOL
Seem that propane tank may be best option. Gasoline does not have a good "shelf life" and I don't trust N.G. delivery and utility companies. Just old age paranoid views perhaps but small leaks in propane tank less than failure of N.G. utility in my unprofessional risk analysis. If you lived on a ranch/farm and had large gas tank/pump and ongoing use those gas generators would be better, or just buy before winter and use it up by spring or end of hurricane season etc then put in car/truck. I don't like to store lots of gasoline.

One friend had a kerosene refrigerator, we just fished/hunted and potted meat a lot.

[TXyakr]

LowKey I looked into your propane generator and thought about using that technology on a smaller scale for a cabin in a remote area where propane delivery and gasoline storage was a problem but there was plenty of wood/forest. Here is an idea I am conceptually working on. Requires good welding skills and has many issues:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?26195-Woodgas-power-generation&p=449020#post449020

Posted in a separate thread because it goes beyond just the ice storm issue.

[Wildthang]

I have 2-8700 watt gasoline generators and a 3500 watt as well. Gasoline generators are fairly dependable but they do fail. When it comes to generators the old rule of 2 is one and 1 is none really applys!
An 8700 watt portable will run my well pump, 1 refrigerator, heater, 1 freezer, and some lights. I have also installed many LED lamps in most of my light fixtures so we can turn on as many lights as we want without loading down the generator from lighting. Both of my large generatora are identical so all parts interchange. I keep 70 gallons of gasoline on hand which will run 1 large generator for a week!

[TXyakr]

USB battery charging devices I got as "stocking stuffers" for relatives on Christmas tomorrow.
10469
10470
The 2.2 amp hour USB battery from Gear Head is about the size of a ladies lipstick but for my wife and daughter's 3 different models of iPhone requires a short cable that typically costs an extra $1-3 and does not last very long. IMO "SMT" Surface Mount Technology is a PITA I have fought with avoiding it in my electronic designs for decades.
The Juicy Pack Life Charge is 16.8 amp hours and can charge my Samsung S4 from dead to full about 5 to 6 times before it needs to be recharged itself. The % charge indicator is "non-linear" basically just a voltage A-D converter. I.e 75% after 1st use but last 12% charges phone twice. Yes I AM a science nerd.

Edit: 6000 and 16,800 ma devices have a led flashlight that is useful if there is a power failure or when camping. Much more efficient than using phone as a flashlight. I keep one of these beside my bed and on most camping trips. Ask wife and daughters to take one if they are going to be remote all day. Charging stations at airports are often overloaded/crowded.

[Rick]

We are under a Winter Ice Storm warning starting at 4:00 p.m. today and lasting until 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. The forecast is for a quarter of an inch of ice. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we don't have that much. In any case, I don't have any overhanging trees and we have milk, eggs and bread so we should be good to go.

[Pennsylvania Mike]

We are supposed to get our ice storm early Monday morning, Tuesday if weather permits I'll be traveling to Virginia for a week. I do not expect any problems from the Ice storm other than maybe power outage, so I have my generator ready to go. I do not have any big trees near the house anymore, and food and cooking is no problem for I got plenty of food and propane for heating and emergency heat if necessary.

[hunter63]

We left out of Louisiana Thursday as the ice storm/rain was predicted late Friday and over the week end.
Wednesday SIL went to the Dollar Store, all bottled water bread and milk was gone already.
Gas station was filled with cars and trucks filling up and filling gas cans.

Main topic of discussion around there....they are scared to death of the ice, bringing down the power lines.
Power company trucks stage along interstates and parking lots.....
It's a big deal.

[Adventure Wolf]

This looks like its going to be a cold winter. I don't like that. I don't like cold, snow or ice.

[Rick]

I guess we dodged the bullet. A small coating of ice this morning but nothing to write home about. Pleasant temps too...31 F. There is a cold front moving in so we'll enjoy it as long as we can.

[hunter63]

We are under a Winter Ice Storm warning starting at 4:00 p.m. today and lasting until 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. The forecast is for a quarter of an inch of ice. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we don't have that much. In any case, I don't have any overhanging trees and we have milk, eggs and bread so we should be good to go.

Milk, eggs and bread?

Ah, yes, I can recall the days of stocking up on beer and smokes.....and maybe some chips and Slim Jims
Weather to curl up with a good book......or a good blonde........

[crashdive123]

Y'all stay safe.

Just got home before the thunderstorms arrive. Weather radio going nuts.

milk....check
bread....check
eggs....check

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Y'all stay safe.

Just got home before the thunderstorms arrive. Weather radio going nuts.

milk....check
bread....check
eggs....check
I just looked at the map for N FLA and it looks like you are getting a great big storm, stay safe.

[Adventure Wolf]

We are expecting some freezing rain on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will hopefully buy a few things at Kroger.

[Fort fireman]

They're calling for freezing rain here tonight . I'm at the station so it may be a long night and a longer ride home in the morning. The schools are on a 2 hour delay to so I need to get home quick so my wife can get to work on time. That's gonna be a trick. :)

[Pennsylvania Mike]

I'm in Virginia since yesterday visiting friends, last night the temperature was around the low 20s, it snowed them we got the freezing rain; about 5;2 am we lost power but my friend has an all house generator with a 300 gallon tank. The power just came a minute ago, had the radio on and there are a lot of school delays and cancelation. we all are straying put in the house, everything is ice outside, the satellite dish looked like an ice sculpture among other things. It is supposed to turn into rain a while later and the temperatures are supposed to get above freezing.

[hunter63]

PM, What are you using for internet?

[1stimestar]

Y'all stay safe!

[Pennsylvania Mike]

PM, What are you using for internet?
I'm using a Verizon MiFi wireless.

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Y'all stay safe!

Thanks 1 stimestar.

[hunter63]

I'm using a Verizon MiFi wireless.
So am I...........

[Pennsylvania Mike]

The MiFi was a Christmas present from my son several years ago including service (unlimited use), so I had access while camping in Virginia for the 7 months duration, then back home I use DSL. I have had very good luck using it anywhere I have gone camping or on vacation as long as there is a tower, I can use it on the Rivah while fishing and crabbing but it is not waterproof so I used to carry a case in case of precipitation. He also gave me an iPad which is what I take with me on the Ribah with a waterproof plastic pouch.

[Rick]

We use WIFI On The Go when we are mobile. We used it on our trip to Yellowstone and back. Worked great. Same principle.

[Adventure Wolf]

We had freezing rain in NC earlier today. The streets around Wake Forest and Raleigh are mostly clear. It's been aboving freezing for a few hours. Nothing serious. A two hour delay for schools and a few wrecks.

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Back down to 32 degrees here in on the fringe of Gloucester County, VA. The ice never melted, tomorrow supposed to get as high as 41 degrees, so have to wait until tomorrow for the ice to melt.

[kyratshooter]

So far this year I have had a little snow, and some severe cold, but not at the same time. That is a little unusual for this area and this time of year, but the weather systems have not converged into a snow/ice forming pattern so far.

Never fear, it is only mid-Jan and we still have time.

[MrFixIt]

Woke up this morning to a rare phenomenon in my area...freezing fog!

[Rick]

I've actually only run into that one time. Unfortunately, I happened to be on the road when I did. The blasted stuff froze to everything on the truck. Couldn't see because of the fog and couldn't see because it kept freezing on the windshield. Crazy.

[1stimestar]

On my time hop ap, 3 years ago today it was -46. Today it is 20 above, in January! We have broken the warm winter record. It's weird. Not complaining, but it is concerning since we just had our wettest summer on record. Hope this doesn't mean we are going to have rain all next summer again.

[Rick]

Given the terrible mud slides you folks experienced last year this does not bode well.

[hunter63]

Hate freezing fog............drove through 8 hours worth at 35 mph, heading south on year....and as we came down off the plains is southern Illinois.....broke into the sun light....trees bushes and about everything was completely covered with crystals of sparking in the sun light.....

DW says "OOOOH Isn't that pretty!"

Noooooooo, it wasn't.....as I pried my fingers off the steering wheel.

[randyt]

Came across the mackinac bridge today with it blowing and snowing and ice, can't seem to get use to that.

here's a better view of the bridge from a few years back

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh227/randytlee/100_2218-1.jpg (http://s257.photobucket.com/user/randytlee/media/100_2218-1.jpg.html)

[Rick]

That is a seriously evil bridge to cross on a good day. Any bridge that needs a full tank of gas to cross is not on my list of good things.

[TXyakr]

According to NASA and NOAA 2014 was a tiny bit warmer, enough to make it a record year, and this has been a trend. So as long as you don't own low land near the coast, near a muddy hill or one with dry vegetation, farm in a dry area and about a thousand other things you may enjoy a bit of slightly warmer weather this year as well. Releasing less CO2 might help, but cheap petrol from Saudi Arabia will ensure that we all still do that and soon look like S.A.

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/january/nasa-determines-2014-warmest-year-in-modern-record/#.VLnD3d5tnFI

[Pennsylvania Mike]

I read the same thing on the local newspaper, and last year it was pretty cold in Pennsylvania, this year it even seems to be colder, eve during th summer, it did not feel that warm. I keep track on the weather in Nebraska Where my cousin lives, and the winter last year and this year seemed like it was warmer, I guess you have to take into account where the jet stream is dipping, and look back hundred or thousand of yeas back and see if the same applied back then, take into account that back then there were no cars or cows to contribute to the hot weather phenomena but they had some hellish volcanoes that by comparison make cars, cows, and factories small by comparison, just a thought for I'm no scientist, just try to use some common sense.

[TXyakr]

I was just being sarcastic about "Warmest Year" measurements. Loss of global biomass that buffers climate and more CO2 and other naturally occurring and man made gasses in the atmosphere that may result in more weather extremes both hot and cold. Geological samples in rock, ice core and sea floor sediments appear to indicate that these cycles have occurred for thousand or millions of years (young earth/old earth big bang take your choice). My biggest concern with carbon emissions is air and water pollution, its effects on human and other biological health. But then I probably read far to many science papers and am "lost in the forest" bumping into trees. LOL

BTW last summer was relatively mild here in Texas, this winter seems fairly cold. Finger to wind, toes in air and what the talking head on TV weather says. What the heck humans know how the adapt almost as well as cockroaches.

[hunter63]

All I know if Jim Cantore shows up....take cover...or shag his butte outa there, you are in for bunch of nasty......either way.

[Rick]

Yep. That would be a sure sign of the Apocalypse.

Barkeep: "Well I'll be."
Me: "Who's that"?
Barkeep: "Jim Cantore."
Me: Frantically dialing phone. "Honey, grab the bug out bags I'm on my way. I'll slow down but I ain't stopping so hop in quick like!"

[LowKey]

Jim Cantore doesn't worry me. What worries me is the height of the snow-measuring stick he's carrying.