*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.

[GreyhoundGirl]

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.

I save my laughing for areias. hehehe. Wimp!!! She complains about the cold when it is on the plus side. hehehe.

I guess I'm just used to it... here right now it is -36. It will be -38 or so after dark.

I get less questions about how I survive it... more about how my little greyhound survives it. haha. If you get cold, follow Jennys advice and run in circles like a lunatic untill you get warm.haha

[Glacier]

I'd be inside from October to May if I stayed home because it was cold. I have called into work once when with the windchill it was below-50C. Cold weather isn't a reason not to go to work up here! Schools move recess indoors, but kids are still expected to be there. We get our first freeze in late August and it is not safe to plant anything outside until mid-June, at the earliest.

We burn 10 cords of wood a year between the house and the shop. We have a propane furnace, but it only kicks in when the temperature in the house drops to the point the pipes could freeze. We only use it as a back-up in case we can't get home for some reason. There is a heater on the propane tank as well. Propane turns to a gel at -40C/F.

For our water, we buried the lines six feet underground in an insulated wooden box. There in an insulated shack over the well and pump itself. There is an electric heater in there. It has to stay at about 3C or we won't have water in the house! We have a fan set up that forces heated air into the box around the pipes.

My husband drives a diesel car. When it's cold he often borrows my truck or he has to leave the diesel running all day. At more than -15C it freezes solid in a hurry.

The dogs go through a dozen bales of straw a winter, which costs about 10 times the Southern price up here! Their doghouses are all insulated and stuffed with straw. The old dogs don't go outside for more than a few minutes in really cold weather. I carry water to them several times a day since it freezes so quickly. Their food intake doubles in extreme cold.

Layers are very important for dressing. I find Helly Hansen makes the best base layer underwear, top and bottom. Another layer of wool on top of that. Cotton is deadly in the cold and completely useless. Nothing works as well as well. The new synthetic fibers are nice and light, but in extreme temps you can't beat good ol' wool. I have several down filled parkas. Down insulates very well.

The US Army makes great cold weather gear. I have a pair of flight pants that I've worn at -45C and never been cold in them. They weigh about 15 pounds but they are toasty! The Army also makes Bunny Boots, which are also ridiculously heavy and ugly as sin, but your feet never get cold in them. I love my army surplus dealer! Fashion is irrelevant when your life depends on staying warm!

On my hands I wear a base layer of light gloves, topped with fleece lined leather gauntlet mitts. Can't work dog clasps in mitts so I have to wear the gloves too. If it's very cold, I sometimes put chemical handwarmers inside my mitts.

You have to be careful not to sweat. If you start to sweat, loose a layer. Sweat will kill you if you get stuck in the cold afterwards.

I find the dark harder to deal with than the cold. We get about four hours a day of light in our darkest months. We are up to almost 8 hours again now. I use a light therapy lamp every day while I am getting ready for work.

With the windchill today it's about -20C right now. I'm heading back out to run a second team of dogs now!

[Pembroke_Corgi]

I think it's all what you get used to. I've lived in Iowa, Virginia, Arizona, and Colorado. I don't enjoy cold, but I really hate frigid temps! Luckily it is in the 50's here now, but there is still tons of snow on the ground. We had 7 weeks of snow. I'm not sure what the grand total was, but I bet it's about 4 feet. A lot of it has melted, but there's plenty left!

[mike001]

Glacier and I seem to be the only ones living in frigid conditions. We plug our cars in if it goes below -35C. But we wear downfilled parkas for walks and heavy socks and boots, toques, mitts and scarves. We got up to -28C this a.m. but it's -16C right now. At this time of year we usually have in the -40'sC so this is a nice kind of winter. Nice to live in the heat, but I bet you don't go downhill or X-country skiing, no skidooing, tobogganing, skating etc. I guess we all have our different kinds of entertainment. I must say most of us snowbirds end up in Florida or Arrizonna for the winter mos when we've had enough.

[GreyhoundGirl]

Glacier and I seem to be the only ones living in frigid conditions. We plug our cars in if it goes below -35C. But we wear downfilled parkas for walks and heavy socks and boots, toques, mitts and scarves. We got up to -28C this a.m. but it's -16C right now. At this time of year we usually have in the -40'sC so this is a nice kind of winter. Nice to live in the heat, but I bet you don't go downhill or X-country skiing, no skidooing, tobogganing, skating etc. I guess we all have our different kinds of entertainment. I must say most of us snowbirds end up in Florida or Arrizonna for the winter mos when we've had enough.

Haha, where are you? It's -36 or so here now. I'd call that frigid.

I freeze in this weather, I'm at least going to get some credit for it. lol