*Winter Survival Questions**

[Daisy and Delilah]

I just can't help myself from starting this thread because it's so intriguing to me. I sometimes look at the NOAA(National Weather Service) website and plug in names of cities just for the heck of it. Yesterday, I noticed that alot of you PT members are having continuous(all week) temps as low as minus something and only up to single digits or teens(all day).
This blows my mind. Everything in my yard dies at 35 degrees. Basically, I can't understand how you all can live in these conditions.
Do your cars freeze up so you can't drive them? Are you stuck in the house or do you get out? How does any machinery of any kind keep running if outside? Anyway.....you all can probably get the picture as to what I mean.

Please feel free to laugh and call me a crazy Floridian but it's just unimaginable to me that anyone can actually keep functioning under these conditions.

[critter crazy]

Quite used to the temps! Never had a car freeze on me, well except for the doors! We keep our woodstove going non stop to keep the house nice and toasty. But it is nothing realy new around here, although i do prefer the warmer weather! This year has actually been much warmer than most! The dogs just adore the cold weather! they spend more time out than in! The chickens hate it, and spend most of their time inside, but the ducks spend all of their time out! they love making little duck angels in the snow!

Now my hubby works for a construction company, and all their diesel run trucks, have a hard time starting! which is good for him, cause it keeps him busy!

[Laura's Babies]

I am like you, living in the south myself. We grew up in Virginia where the winters were cold and bitter and my sister loved it when it got cold and everything froze... I hated it and couldn't wait to get grown and move to the south or somewhere, where it was warmer, we ALL did move to warmer climate. Sis lives in Florida right now but is packing up and fixing to move to Washington state..

Now for a funny for you.... My brother also, just last summer, moved from the south to Oregan and I saw they had snow... I made to comment to my co workers that I wondered how he was doing driving in all that weather that he is not use to... I get home and find these in my email....





This was the 4th cruiser that had been wrecked in that weather that month.. THANK GOD this had a happy ending... he said it was cliffs on one side, the mountian on the other and he hit ice, the car went into a spin and he lost all controll of it.. THEN, we he got out of the car and stood up... BAM! Down he went on his butt!

[borzoimom]

We are not as cold as Canada etc, but temps like 10 to upper teens in the mornings is norm up here on this mountain. Normal day temp is in teh 20's F.
We do several things in the winter because we can loose power. We keep the woodstove at least on low burn incase we need to fire it up hotter. We also, since we have a well that the pump needs power, keep water in 5 ga. containers. I keep dry dog food on hand. We do have a generator- but its really to keep the freezer running but still if we loose power we have to adjust where things are. We have battery chargers with the battery to light sets ready all the time and of course candles. We already had two nights we stayed in the great room with the woodstove- all 6 of us ( my husband and I and the 4 dogs) on comforters lol..
Also if the power goes out, I turn off the circuit breaker on most things so there isnt too much of a draw when the power comes back on. Also we have one regular phone that isnt a cordless phone. And of course- our cells. ..

[sirrahbed]

The AirForce sent us to Rapid City, SD many years ago and it was pretty shocking.

At times, we had to keep our faces nearly covered when we were outside - peering out through the weave of fabric. Our cheeks and lips could be painful within just a few minutes.

We had only a covered carport. We had a a gadget installed in the car that kept the oil stick warm - we would plug the car into an electric outlet when we parked it at night.

Lots of snow at times. Once, we went out of the upstairs window to get outside

During one particularly bad storm, we were all stranded to the house for 4-5 days. It was creepy as we could not even see out of the downstairs windows (snow was that high)

Now we live in Ohio and are pretty used to the cold and snow. But we don't get the weather that others have. We keep salt around to sprinkle on walks. We keep weights in the truck so it will be heavy (bags of salt actually) We also try to stock the cupboards well when bad weather may be approaching. We keep wood near the house for the buckstove.

The garden does just fine. Yes everything dies but then we look forward to the spring thaw and plants start peeking back up. I think most of us have varieties of grass in our lawns that is weather tolerant because there always seems to be a bit of green no matter what.

[cyber-sibes]

I grew up here in Ohio along the lake, and the winters now are much milder than fifty years ago! We used to get a lot more snow. We're due for single digits highs all week, and below zero at night. We have a fireplace, but have only had to use it once for warmth when the power went out. My car always starts, but in the past when my older cars didn't, it's usually from something that needed fixed anyway, like an alternator or battery. You just bundle up to go out. Hat, gloves, scarf, good winter coat, boots - it's not such a big deal. The only thing I don't like is driving on ice, but highway maintenance in the northern states is really good compared to states that don't usually have snow. And people are used to driving in it. The perennial plants are hardy enough to take the cold, but we plant a lot of annuals each year. Apple trees need extended cold to produce fruit.
Knowing how our weather is figured into our choice of dog breeds. Huskies are good outdoors to -75 F. Thank heavens it's never been that cold here! They really do prefer the cold weather. Most people take good care of dogs that aren't as weatherproof - coats, boots, not out a lot. I do wonder about our Alaskan, Canadian, & and our Yukon neighbors (Hi, Glacier!) They have such extreme temperatures for long periods. I don't mind winter, but at least here it's only super cold for 2-3 months.

[K9soul]

We are at -18 F right now (wind chill -30)! Survival is a mix of warm clothes, coats/gloves and staying inside a lot! It definitely takes some acclimation, but believe it or not it can get to the point where 30 degrees feels nice. A lot of cars here have to be plugged in when it gets that cold if you don't have a garage. I was puzzled when I moved here from Missouri and saw so many cars with little cords with plugs coming out of the hood. My car has been starting pretty well but I let it run at least 10 minutes before going anywhere so it warms up. Also it's best to keep the tank at least half full of gas.

When the wind chills get close to -40 like they did this weekend, it's hard to breathe outside unless you breathe through a scarf or something. I hold the collar of my coat up over my mouth and nose and breathe that way. I also keep warm head covering for my head and ears and have a fleece face mask thing if it's really windy and I have to be out in it too long. It looks silly but better to look silly than freeze your face off . Good insulation is a must, and sometimes you have to let the faucets drip a bit to keep the pipes from freezing.

But the beautiful spring, summer and fall make it all worthwhile!

[borzoimom]

For what it helps- my dad use to say make sure the gas tank is full so the lines do not freeze, and he use to put a blanket over the hood of his car if you have bad winds.

[Daisy and Delilah]

WOW WOW WOW!!!! I'm amazed at all the energy it takes to survive those temps.!!! I never knew you had to plug in the cars. WOW!!!

Laura: That ice just scares the living daylights out of me just thinking about it. It seems that not only cars are crashing into everything but people are sliding and falling all over!!! I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for all of you!!!

I lived in Virginia for awhile but not long enough to learn anything about survival for a long period.

Keep warm everybody and be careful!!!

p.s. Here's another stupid question, does gasoline freeze? Sorry if I sound like I'm as dumb as a bag of rocks

[jenluckenbach]

I too am interested in how people survive the continuous cold. We are having a cold wave right now.....single digits with below zero wind chills. It is due to stay only a few days, but that is TOO long for me! I also wonder how people deal with the LARGE snowfalls (like those mentioned above). The most I have ever lived through is 30 inches. But 5 inches is TOO much for me!

I hate cold and snow....can you tell.

[sirrahbed]

As I understand it, pure gas will not freeze. But sometimes it has water in it and that will freeze. That is why folks try to keep the tank pretty full in the winter - to prevent the condensation in the lines.

But, big semi trucks would keep the engine running all the time I recall. We would see them at rest stops - always running. I wonder how much gas is burned up while idling?

[Karen]

Gasoline would I suppose freeze at low enough temperatures, but not the temps we humans experience.

No the cars don't freeze, but when it is very cold out, the oil and gas are thicker - more viscous - so it is best to let the car warm up for a minute to be things moving.

The reason you want a full tank of gas when it's really cold out is so there's less air in your gas tank. Lots of air means condensation can form, and you can end up with water in the gas lines - not a good thing.

Being outside is fine, when it gets very cold, you have to be extra vigilant about keeping your skin covered so you don't risk frostbite, but people aren't running around in shorts in zero-degree weather anyway!

As cyber-sibes mentioned, our road crews are prepared for snow and ice, so if you can wait a bit, the roads aren't bad to drive one, and people - except for newcomers, are used to driving in snow. And when there's LOTS of snow, well, we just all shovel. A lot.

[K9soul]

Here's the plug on my car. I used to plug it in when I lived in an apartment and had to park the car outside, ran one of those big orange extension cords out to it. Now that I have the garage I don't plug it in although I might if I drove it every day.




As far as gas freezing, I think it depends on the content of it. I believe it can freeze if it gets cold enough but can still burn until -90s or something. People can add methyl alcohol to the tank to help keep it from freezing. Here's a Q&A I found that explains it some. http://van.physics.uiuc.edu/qa/listing.php?id=2479

[Daisy and Delilah]

Thanks for the info everyone. This is just fascinating!! Thanks for the picture of the plug, Jess, and the link. Does that plug go into an ordinary outlet? If so, I can imagine what happens if the power goes out.

Another question; Do you all enjoy the cold weather or find it a drudgery? I always love seeing the winter pictures but I'm thinking of it in a different way now. Does the sun come out on these terribly cold days or is it gray out?

As I've said before, I don't think Daisy and Delilah could stand those low temps. Even in Florida, when it gets below 60, Daisy is shaking so hard outside, her teeth are practically falling out. I have a hard time taking them out when it's chilly. Actually, I have to pick her up and take her out because she gives you a look and backs away from the door.

[Karen]

I love the cold weather - and there's no pollen to make me sneeze!