Almost reached record lows Tomorrow will be colder

We love our wood furnace. We stay nice and warm.

My husband asked me if we had blankets.  Of course I have blankets.

He said we might have to sleep in recliners if the electricity goes out.

Do I know where the blankets are?  Yes, I know where the blankets are.

How much more snow do you expect to accumulate on tour roof?

What is the max you have seen it hold?

When I see snow built up like that, and a shovel at the door, I ask, 'why not build the houses off the ground'?
That seems like a logical thing to do?

John - it is difficult to keep the floor and piping warm if  building on posts or piles off the ground.
Snow around the base helps keep wind off.
cheers Doug

Also in  mountains like the Sierra Nevada, John,  houses will often have a working door built into the roof. With 4 friends, I Nordic skied for 9 hours to a cabin like that, we packed in all our gear for a week stay. We often had to dig DOWN to reach the roof.  Stunning spot, on the east side of Yosemite, but the 99 year lease has expired now.  Those were the best of t8mes...

Snow is a decent insulator. Yes, you don't want your roof to collapse, but a foot of dry snow on the roof, and more around the house to block the cold wind, can be more of an asset than a liability.

The thing to watch for is if you get rain on top of the snow - the weight increases dramatically.

Thanks.
What happens to improvements on a 99 year lease?

Good question John,  wish I could supply a definitive answer. My pal Andy had permission to occasionally camp there in the snow months, but the owners would stay for a month in summer. It was in their family since 1800s, then came national parks and national forests, and the rangers issued a lease for that remote cabin. No road , but game trails and bushwhacking to get there. It was about 10k feet elevation and serenely quiet.  

To my knowledge the 99 years ended in 2015....we skied there in 1980s . Amazing workout when you're Nordic skiing up a steep slope with 75 pounds of food and whiskey in your backpack.  Needless to say, there was no shortage of epic wipeouts when top-heavy skiers took a tumble

Hours of uphill work, but back down the mountain took roughly 90 minutes. A slice of California that too few folks ever experienced....  

I am reading about the big storm you have at the moment, why are power poles not made stronger so they can carry the weight of the ice as it builds up?

John C Daley wrote:I am reading about the big storm you have at the moment, why are power poles not made stronger so they can carry the weight of the ice as it builds up?

Economics: It's like the Fukushima nuclear problem following the tsunami in Japan. Statistics said that the wall was high enough for above average earthquake results - but not the highest possible. Then Mother Nature threw a curve ball.

Stronger power poles cost more money, and if the usual storms don't require them, the pole could wear out or be obsolete by the time the once every 100 year storm, or once every 1000 year storm hits an area. It's hard to justify if you're a government setting regulations and even harder for a private company to justify if no one says you have to.

Trouble is that weather is getting more erratic. Those 100 year storms are coming more often than 100 years apart. There is good evidence that both winds are higher and amount of rainfall is greater and that things like tornados are more likely further north than historical records show. This doesn't mean it hasn't happened in the distant past, just that current humans, who aren't terribly reliable at planning for or coping with 1 in 100 odds, figure it won't happen in their lifetime. This is why I am always encouraging people to plan and prepare for the worst. Extra insulation may cost more up front, but in both heat and cold, it can pay back over time.

And I admit I'm preaching to myself - if the Cascadian Subduction earthquake lets go, I am in the danger zone. The house we bought 30 years ago because it was what was available, is not likely to survive. But if the experts are wrong, I could actually be underwater. But will it happen in the next 30 years? Maybe yes, likely no. I am not likely to live even 30 more years, so I live with the risk, but try to keep extra food and water, and emergency and camping equipment, where we can hopefully get to it, if my hopefulness is misplaced.  

Where is the cold actually coming from?

Long answer: Siberia.
Most of the time poles and wires don't carry near as much load as when ice builds up and wind starts blowing.
Building them to always handle that much load would be expensive.
We had an ice storm that even brought down the big metal transmission towers.

Craig, how does a community operate if the transmission towers fall over?
It seems ridiculous.

John C Daley wrote:Craig, how does a community operate if the transmission towers fall over?
It seems ridiculous.

You build resilience and community - know who has a generator, or have back up sources of heat and power.

Keep safe everyone!

Jay Angler wrote:Snow is a decent insulator. Yes, you don't want your roof to collapse, but a foot of dry snow on the roof, and more around the house to block the cold wind, can be more of an asset than a liability.

My husband was watching this video recently - a chap in Scandinavia piling up snow around the house to insulate it at -4F. (!)

John C Daley wrote:Craig, how does a community operate if the transmission towers fall over?
It seems ridiculous.

Electricity in my town was only out for 3 days. They do have redundant systems.
Seems ridiculous to build everything all across the state to handle a worse case scenario.
Because a worse case scenario almost never happens and when it does happen it doesn't happen all across the state.

John C Daley wrote:Thanks.
What happens to improvements on a 99 year lease?

The Forest Service revoked the 99yr leases for the private cabins along Arsenic Creek just south of Montana's BobMarshall Wilderness early 80's.
All of them built in the 40's and 50's.  
My dad's owned one of them. He saved his yearly one month of AirForce paid leave, and we lived there in the summers.
My dad and I carried out what we could in packs, the dude ranch down the river took some of the furnishings, a lot of period 50's 'western' stuff, a very popular style.
The stone chimney and root cellar are still there, Forest Circus burned all the cabins following winter.

John C Daley wrote:I am reading about the big storm you have at the moment, why are power poles not made stronger so they can carry the weight of the ice as it builds up?

At the (semi) remote rural level, power poles are still just treated trees. They take what they can.
Like the Ford Pinto, easier to pay later when problems (lawsuits) arise than to re-spec or re-engineer much costlier/more difficult designs/substitutes.
In Thailand and I'm guessing in Australia,at least some places, poles can be reinforced cast concrete.
Maybe ultimately stronger, but not as wind limber I'd bet.

Ron Kulas wrote:We love our wood furnace. We stay nice and warm.

As do we.
Also trying to come to appreciate our LaNina winter. Still have decent snow, but the worst of it seems to have slid east, along with our yearly bouts of -35 40F.  Enjoy.
Downside is possible rain on top of snow, absolute sheeite weather. Junk snow/ice, no good for snowmobile. Needs to get cold and stay cold, Spring once a year is far more than enough.