USA Weather Alert and Warnings Thread

[Davey Crockett]

One thing I noticed about the power outages: Only those unfortunate like me and our street and others with less congestion suffered the long power outage. I checked with several friends in the area and saw the pattern: The more congested, the less power outage. Maybe because people like me are some 'low priority' and/or too many trees compared with people in our area. And while I understand that, I am not happy about the circumstances!!
PS. Thanks to all above for the firewood tips. I am learning from this experience but as soon as I am able to, I'd like to invest in a backup system like Generac. I don't foresee myself chopping wood a lot although there is virtually unlimited amount of potential firewood on my property from fallen trees and branches. I am too lazy for hard yard work!

Go with propane with your Generac.

My 85 year old father just flip a switch when the power goes out.

Go with my suggestion and have fun swinging a maul a few times a day throughout summer.

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

Right, same difference between Juneau, Alaska and Chicago.
Honestly, Chicago sounds like just sucks! Too warm in summer and too cold in winter!

I've been to ORD easily 100 times. And in all 4 seasons. And it sucks.

 

[Meengla]

Go with propane with your Generac.

My 85 year old father just flip a switch when the power goes out.

Go with my suggestion and have fun swinging a maul a few times a day throughout summer.

Yes, it will have to be propane because we can't run a natural gas line to the house due to the distance. VERY expensive, as told to me by a local NG provider. Since yesterday, I have started to look into Generac.

 

[Davey Crockett]

For fun, when it is below zero, we can throw up a cup of water up in the air and have it fall back down as frozen drops (makes for great photos BTW). I suppose that is our equivalent of people frying eggs on pavement down south.

My neighbor has six foot long icicles hanging from her roof.

None on mine.

I am not running up the heat, instead, putting on layers.

My weekend starts now. Truck stop manager thanked me for being the ONLY employee that didn't call in the past five days.

 

[VCheng]

Yes, it will have to be propane because we can't run a natural gas line to the house due to the distance. VERY expensive, as told to me by a local NG provider. Since yesterday, I have started to look into Generac.

Get an automatic switchover so that the generator kicks in automatically even if no one is home, and be generous with the capacity calculations.

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

This year's mistakes were downplaying the threat of the ice storm to bring the power outage and not ready with the generator and not enough firewood. Those mistakes I need to never repeat!

But long term, yes, the property is very challenging due to where it is built. We can get natural gas if had built at the street but can't now. Heck, our waterline is 800 ft long and can break--and has broken mid way--before. Even right now, we can't drive to the street from the house because the long driveway is hard frozen!! Means, we can't even go to some stores to get some fire logs or whatever until things thaw!

Where does your waterline come in from? Have you considered running a 2nd line?

My former manager from when I was in DGF lives on the family ranch NW of Wickenburg. Can't remember how far his house is from the well (maybe 50 or 60 yards?) but he was dual lines coming into the house.

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

Get an automatic swtichover so that the generator kicks in automatically even if no one is home, and be generous with the capacity calculations.

Exactly! Minimum 50% overcapacity.

 

[krash]

Its insane how cold can be so brutal, can't imagine how people operate in that, here at 36F I don't want to leave house to do anything.

It's all about the outerwear. Winters have a lot to offer once you get that right.

Lived through -37 C for years without layering. That's without windchill.

But not only the firelogs were old but we had thick round firewood which just refused to burn for a long time. Some one said later to have the firewood chipped--and not thick log. So the fire in the fireplace became a struggle to keep it warm as the temp dropped outside--and of course no power. We started to exhaust the firewood and the firelogs and, as I said, finally early morning hours gave up and snuggled under the warm blanket in bedroom.

Not as romantic as logs but bio bricks burn a bit longer. Throw in some chips or logs for the scent. Great for hot tents if you don't mind lugging them in.

 

[Davey Crockett]

@Meengla

Take notes.

Next winter, we want to hear how you are prepared.

Power out. No worries, honey want to listen to....

 

[Meengla]

Get an automatic switchover so that the generator kicks in automatically even if no one is home, and be generous with the capacity calculations.

Ours is only a 1307 sq ft house; from what I have seen, even a 10kw should do but I have only started to research since yesterday.

Where does your waterline come in from? Have you considered running a 2nd line?

My former manager from when I was in DGF lives on the family ranch NW of Wickenburg. Can't remember how far his house is from the well (maybe 50 or 60 yards?) but he was dual lines coming into the house.

Coming from the street and no issues with water supply. I have tested the water for TDS and is very good quality; I guess benefits of low population/congestion. I don't mind drinking out of the faucets. Problem is that the water line is very long! And a few years ago, it broke in the middle of the line and we were alerted to fix the 'leak'. But where was the leak? The line is buried deep in the ground. I started out with a water hydrant we had installed in the middle to water some fruit trees and got lucky: As I dug, I saw water at the water hydrant's bottom, so there was the leak and then it burst open like a dam and I was in full panic mode and called the water company who sent people to turn off the supply at the street. Lucky, a plumber was available and he fixed that leak but in just 3-4 hours, we had leaked about $60 worth of water.

It is one of my nightmares the water line breaking somewhere along its 800 feet! So every some days, I watch this for our water usage: https://eyeonwater.com/

 

[Meengla]

It's all about the outerwear. Winters have a lot to offer once you get that right.
Lived through -37 C for years without layering. That's without windchill.

Right. You can't put on an A/C over you for 9-10 months a year but you can certainly put on a few layers of warm clothes for 5-6 months a year and be bug free and even be stylish! I can't imagine why any healthy, young person, given the choice, would choose hot, humid climate over colder climate. But that's not criticizing anyone here. We all make our choices.

Not as romantic as logs but bio bricks burn a bit longer. Throw in some chips or logs for the scent. Great for hot tents if you don't mind lugging them in.

Never heard of 'bio bricks'. Thank you!

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

Ours is only a 1307 sq ft house; from what I have seen, even a 10kw should do but I have only started to research since yesterday.


Coming from the street and no issues with water supply. I have tested the water for TDS and is very good quality; I guess benefits of low population/congestion. I don't mind drinking out of the faucets. Problem is that the water line is very long! And a few years ago, it broke in the middle of the line and we were alerted to fix the 'leak'. But where was the leak? The line is buried deep in the ground. I started out with a water hydrant we had installed in the middle to water some fruit trees and got lucky: As I dug, I saw water at the water hydrant's bottom, so there was the leak and then it burst open like a dam and I was in full panic mode and called the water company who sent people to turn off the supply at the street. Lucky, a plumber was available and he fixed that leak but in just 3-4 hours, we had leaked about $60 worth of water.

It is one of my nightmares the water line breaking somewhere along its 800 feet! So every some days, I watch this for our water usage: https://eyeonwater.com/

Ok, very good. So you're on city water and correct, supply line on the house side of the meter is your responsibility.

Do you know how deep the line is? Will likely depend on the depth of the frost line in your area? With a run like that, a redundant line is not a bad idea. Could be pricey though.

Also, something else to consider: a storage tank. As part of the new build, I'm looking at a minimum of 1500 gallons to maybe a max of 2500 gallon storage tank. Why? The well on the property is 600 ft deep (water was hit at 450 and the driller went another 150 ft). Having the storage tank will take the stress off the well pump and, in the event of a pump failure, we won't be without water until the pump is replaced. Yes, it means an extra pump and electrical work for the system but I'd rather deal with it one time only.

 

[VCheng]

Never heard of 'bio bricks'. Thank you!

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[Meengla]

Ok, very good. So you're on city water and correct, supply line on the house side of the meter is your responsibility.
Do you know how deep the line is? Will likely depend on the depth of the frost line in your area? With a run like that, a redundant line is not a bad idea. Could be pricey though.

The guy we hired to put the water hydrant on two places on the water line said something like 'Two feet. Too deep for the frost line in our area'. And it was one of those hydrants which broke.
I am already nervous about one waterline breaking, let alone another one to worry about, which brings me to respond next:

Also, something else to consider: a storage tank. As part of the new build, I'm looking at a minimum of 1500 gallons to maybe a max of 2500 gallon storage tank. Why? The well on the property is 600 ft deep (water was hit at 450 and the driller went another 150 ft). Having the storage tank will take the stress off the well pump and, in the event of a pump failure, we won't be without water until the pump is replaced. Yes, it means an extra pump and electrical work for the system but I'd rather deal with it one time only.

We get about 50 inch of reliable rain every year. The driest month still gets about 3 inch, so for me better would be to have some rain-harvest tanks but I see no need for them. It is the water line bursting which worries me but maybe it was just a one time bad plumbing of the water hydrant the guy installed. Per the plumber who fixed, low quality material.

 

[Meengla]

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