We are under a Hard Freeze Warning every night for the next 5 or so days. I’ve been busy moving plants, putting a tarp over my Mother’s pond, and arranging places for the ferals to hole up overnight.
It isn’t a fun experience for man nor beast, and the houses aren’t built for it.
In the old days we would have three of these cold spells a year, and they would last three days at most. Not any more.
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12 comments
Bryan, you’re a saint for providing the ferals warm places. Thank you.
.-= last blog ..Show Your ‘Nads For Security =-.
Oh, yeah. Car owners, don’t forget:
– SB the YSS
Yikes that sounds cold. What sort of temperatures are you looking at Bryan? THe coldest it gets here in Romford is aboyut -5c and then rarely
.-= last blog ..A circular Ark =-.
Stay warm and safe Bryan and all! I hoped you stocked up on food and fuel, just in case! I know Lady Min has had some bad freezes. World has gone crazy.
Seems surreal you know… you all are freezing *up there*, and we are meting and burning down under!
Good luck everyone!
Yeah we’re getting it here as well. 20F last night and 15F forecast for tonight. Needless to say that finishes the last of anything in the garden for this season. Good for you for taking care of the ferals. I put a heater in the bird bath last night and this morning everyone is at least able to have a drink.
.-= last blog ..Balmy Atlanta =-.
Stay warm. We’ve been getting pretty chilly of late, too. And we have been having winds like we’ve never had before.
.-= last blog ..environmental news stories sunday =-.
…bundle up, Bryan, and keep warm. I just looked at your weather forecast and noted that your lows are going to be about what I usually get this time of year, except I don’t get Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches when it’s 20 degrees…
Keep the faucets trickling…
.-= last blog ..EXCLUSIVE: Jumped Shark Devours Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff In Self-Defense =-.
As I look around, I see that Houstonians are comparatively lucky: only two freezes between now and Thursday (though that Thursday night freeze is an unheard-of-for-this-time-of-year 24°F), and only a couple of instances of the sorts of precip drivers love to hate. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age, but when I remember that in my youth I’d think nothing of hopping on a bicycle (the plain old pedal kind) and riding five miles to work in weather just like this, maybe I’m getting sensible more than soft.
.-= last blog ..The Cheney Of Command =-.
Your heating bill is probably going to be larger than usual.
It’s been nasty cold in Missouri. The other night, when the temps were lower than 10F, the cold caused noises from my trailer… kind of like settling noises, but still concerning. Still had water and warmth in the morning, though, so not sure what the noises are. I think there’s a feral cat keeping warm under the trailer. Grey Feather will lay on my lap, then all of a sudden, run to the bathroom washer area – I think that must where the cat has found a place to keep warm.
I, too, am glad you’re caring for the ferals.
.-= last blog ..Friday Cat Blogging – New Year 2010. =-.
The ferals supply a very useful service, rodent control, and they are not adapted to this environment. I’m just glad there are no late kittens, as they would be in real trouble.
A few light bulbs in reflectors aimed at concrete slabs doesn’t take much time nor use that much energy. They learn to get along to share their body heat.
At least it is colder in Fairbanks, unlike last year.
Jams. it will probably get down to -8° C during this spell, so you can tell the Not-Wife that you saved a lot of money not renting a condo on the Gulf Coast this week. If we still had German tourists, as we did before the Shrubbery made it impossible for anyone to visit, they might even have worn socks with their sandals. I doubt they would have given up their shorts.
Well, you are in mid-Summer down under, Kryten, so it is to be expected.
Yeah, I noted the end of your growing season at your site. Fallenmonk. Keeping open water available for the critters is important. Fortunately it is going above freezing during the day, so they have access then.
I think the jet stream has probably dropped further South than usual and is pulling this cold air through, Jill. With luck you could get some snow pack to help with the drought.
Jack, the North wind is very dry, and is pushing the Gulf air off the coast. The Gulf is in the 50s, so a wind shift will warm things up quickly. Our relative humidity is really low as a result for the wind, which is the reason for the fire alerts. If a fire started it would be a mess because of all the hurricane debris still in the forests and pulp farms. Paper production is down, so the farms are being harvested as usual. Whenever the humidity drops they issue burn bans and fire warnings.
Steve, I was camping at -45° F in Arctic survival school, but I don’t want to walk to the mailbox now. The cold gets to your bones as you age, and your circulation isn’t as good as it was. This cold air mass seems to be centered on Mississippi and is spreading as the week progresses.
There probably is some critter under the trailer, OWL, looking for a nest out of the wind. The area under your water heater would be a nice warm spot for an individual. I remember the sounds from our farm house in New York, when it got really cold. It is the contraction of various things, like siding, at a different rate that the material underneath. Groans and snaps all night long.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. This is positively insane. We are used to occasional severe cold snaps here but not the prolonged one we are getting hit with this time. It went down to 3F/-16C yesterday and it’s going to get colder by the end of this week.
My house may be insulated for this, but it’s a tri-level, and warm air rises, so the lower level stays cold. Even my attached garage is below freezing inside, which rarely happens.
The backyard wildlife are stressed out too. The birds are so fluffed up they look like round balls. I put out a heated bird bath so they have some water and extra seeds and suet. I’ve even been putting apples and bread out for the bunny and squirrels. Yup, the same bunnies and squirrels that drive me crazy in the garden all summer.
At the Christmas bird count we observed hundreds of geese migrating out of the area… guess they knew something we didn’t know.
.-= last blog ..Chicken Cacciatore with Polenta =-.
The eastern half of the jet stream is almost at the Gulf Coast and is pulling this air down from the Arctic. It should be further North. It’s like we all shifted 500 miles North for the winter.
There is high pressure all across the country, so nothing to break up this pattern.
Normally an El Niño gives us a warm wet winter, but no longer.