I haven't personally experienced frozen pipes except when I was a kid living in a trailer in the Soo. I remember my dad crawling around under the trailer in the freezing cold with his tools and a blow torch. Houses I guess are engineered for the climate where they are built--at least mine is. There have, however, been problems with underground pipes in our town (Antigo) in the late winter. Residents are sometimes advised to keep a faucet running. We live out in the country and happily so.

Jim

PS. The prevailing winds must not be right for lake effect snow in our area.

 

Our overnight low temp last night was -20F. I'm thinking that Groundhog in Pennsylvania should have his professional license suspended. Phil, I believe is his name. His employer must be getting lots of complaints. I wouldn't want to be Phil and have to sit through his next performance review. LOL.

Jim

PS. Someone other than Phil is saying a warm-up is on the way. We may even have some rain by the week-end.

 

I'm not sure where Al Gore is today or what he is thinking about, but we had an overnight low of -20F here again last night. The rain we had in the forecast for the week-end has been changed to 5-8 inches of new snow. It appears that Spring is coming late this year! The robins must be beginning to wonder if maybe there isn't some "global cooling" in play here.

Jim

PS...and if Spring is coming late this year, this is what Easter looked like last year:



April 15, 2018

 

...So we didn't get the rain, but we didn't get the 5-8 inches of new snow either. It's 28F this morning (and the robins are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief)--maybe Spring is just around the corner:




...Perfect conditions for snowmobiling! I'm not really into snowmobiling, but I do have a 1995 Polaris Classic Indy, and got out a few days this week. For whatever reason, I continue to find excuses for not tackling the to do list for my truck. I'm blessed with a wonderful garage, and my heater would work great on a day like today. I should be out there--but maybe "tomorrow" would be better. I am, after all, a member in good standing of Abe's Procrastinator's Club.

Jim

 

Looks like you're in good shape to take over Tom's snow melt contest this year. I'm guessing May 5th.

 

Ha, the snow melt contest. Glad you remember that. We had two mornings below zero here this past week. That almost never happens in March! My driveway is still piled high from snow that hasn't melted since before Thanksgiving. Haven't had a break this season.
Global warming? Nope, not this year. Just got another 5 inches of snow today.
Tom

 

I'm not exactly sure where Tom lives in Maine, but if he lives inland and at all in the northern part of his state, I'd say he would have the edge. Our snow has apparently compacted some, and we are down to 38 inches on the ground. I just heard tonight from some friends that we received 61 inches of snow in February.

Jim

 

As you can see, we've lost a lot of snow. There are even some brave robins that have returned. Ice usually goes out on the lakes early to mid April. Last year was later, and there was still ice on some lakes into early May. An ice fisherman friend said we still have several feet of ice, so we'll see.



With spring in the air, I finally started working on my signal switch problem. Hopefully I'll have some progress to report on my Signal Stat thread. I've got the wiring for the relays figured out, and I hope to make the connections in the truck Monday.

Jim

 

Ding, Ding,Ding! I'm declaring Dan the unofficial winner. He predicted the snowbank next to my garage would last until May 5th. We're not quite there yet, but I'll be away from my computer for a while, and Dan will be close to being correct. This is what's left of the bank:



We had a winter to remember in Wisconsin, but I'm betting Tom in Maine still has more snow. Our ice on the lakes went out last week. We've had our three snows on the robins, so we can now, with confidence, declare: Happy Spring!

Jim

 

Well Jim, you had me beat. The snow melted in my yard the day before Easter thanks to a lot of rain. The lake down the road from the body shop where my truck bed is being painted had ice out on April 26th.
Way up north where my brother lives at the Canada border, they are still doing some snowmobiling. Up there summer is quite short. Last year it fell on a Wednesday.

Together maybe we can do another snow melt contest next year. Tom

 

I'm not sure it was a fair contest since I think I'm the only one who made a guess. Anyway, I'm glad I won.

We don't have any snow left in CT, however, most of the snow from up north has melted and headed our way. The Connecticut River crested this week at around 20 feet, 8 feet above flood stage. The river is actually about a half mile away but the flood plain comes up to the back of our property so at this point we have river front property. It's not really a threat since our house is around 31 feet. Here's the view looking west across what is usually an open meadow.

 

Wow, Dan that's impressive! Some of that water probably came from Tom's yard. I'm sure there are a lot of folks close to the Connecticut River that are not 11 feet higher than the flood like you are. Take care.

We are going to Nebraska for our 50th college reunion. We were told the flooding there has mostly subsided, but many of the secondary roads remain closed.

Congratulations on your big win. You can pick up your prize money at Abe's Truckstock event in September. LOL.

Jim

 

Last of the snow is melting here, too. Today it's already 61F, won't be long now.

Congrats on finishing the Birkie!

 

...Took a little drive into the UP today to get in on some pre-Thanksgiving skiing. It was a glorious day to be out and about. Here are some pics for all you guys that still have leaves on your trees--Enjoy:





Jim

 

That trail looks great, I'm jealous. I think they already have snow like that up north in VT & NH but down here in CT it probably won't arrive for another month. I'm still riding my bike. Did 28 miles yesterday but it was a bit chilly at around 43 and windy.
Dan