Baby, it's cold outside...

The past few weeks, the above song has been on the radio quite a bit and its relevance the past couple of days has been remarkable. Winter weather is in full force here in New England. It started with snowfall on Christmas Eve (the weatherman says that this has been our first white Christmas since 2009) that caused me to fire up the snowblower to clear off the driveway and sidewalk on Christmas Day. However, an Arctic chill then blew in a few days ago and the temps have really dipped. This morning the thermometer read 2F/-17C degrees. The wind chill factor is much lower than that, of course. The only good thing about the cold is that it is probably too cold to snow now (water vapor stays frozen on the ground and does not make its way up to the atmosphere to form snowflakes.)

Providence and Boston are both touting their outdoor First Night activities tomorrow, but anyone who goes out in this cold needs psychological counseling. On the plus side, the ice sculptures will not be melting during the festivities. Times Square in NYC will be its coldest since 1962, but the part that I cannot comprehend is that people start arriving for the festivities around 3:00pm and once in the "corrals" that police set up, you cannot leave until the Ball drops at midnight. Here is the kicker: there are no bathrooms available! How do you survive for 9+ hours in bitter cold without a potty break?

Anyway, sitting here in a warm house with my hot cup of tea, I am pretty content except for wondering how bad my next heating bill will be.

 

Going to Washington DC after the holidays. Not looking forward to the winter weather.

Time to light up your fireplace.

 

We have a fireplace, but the wife hates the smoke and says it bothers the kids (asthma.) I love to sit in front of it watching the flames and smelling the burning wood. However, it actually is a net negative when it comes to heat in the house. The experts say that a traditional fireplace (like we have) actually loses more heat up the chimney than it provides. If we had a wood stove insert, it would be a different story, but I also have no desire to heat the house with wood (too much work loading it constantly.) As a result, I have not used the fireplace in 4-5 years, I am sorry to report.

Washington DC should not be anywhere near as cold as it is here, though it will be cold and they do occasionally get snow and ice. Are you driving or flying up there? Fun or business?

Will be staying in most of today to watch the Patriots game and then go out to our favorite Chinese restaurant tonight. Won't be out late, however.

 

I am driving (11-12 hours total). I will drive as much as I have to the first day and get to where I am going in the afternoon the next day. I don't want to get stuck in their outer beltway at night, so I will find a lodging right before I hit it. It's a business trip. Will be heading back the same day. I checked the weather, it's going to be in the 40s there.

It's going to be one freezing game today. I'll be shocked if Jets win today. They won 5 and lost 10 games. Patriots won 12 lost 3.

 

Wow, a daytrip to DC! Going to be a looong day.

The Jets have a habit of playing their best against the Pats and some times pull out a shocker. I cannot tell you how cold it feels outside today (I am 20 minutes from the stadium.) It has been subfreezing long enough now that EVERYTHING is frozen cold, buidlings, rocks, walls, trees, etc.) and that seems to intensify the overall temperature. I hear that Tom Brady is wearing a scuba suit under his uniform to stay warm.

 

So much for that theory. Yesterday morning it was 2F/-17C and it has been that cold for ten days now (possibly more.) Way too cold to snow. However, today it is going to warm up to around 32F/0C in anticipation of a major snowstorm due to arrive late tonight. Once the snow falls, the weatherpeople are saying we will immediately go back to the lower temps again. Mother Nature has a twisted sense of humor.

 

Calgary has been very cold as well, but it's gotten milder for a few days. The cold will be coming right back though! It's going to be a long winter.

 

I have been to Calgary (in July, thankfully) and you guys have it much, much worse than we do. My recollection is that just about all of the cars on the roads had cracked windshields that were not worth fixing because they would just crack again in the cold. What is your lowest temp to date this winter season? I hit 2F/-17C one morning. I'm betting you have a much lower number than that.

 

Oh boy, we had a few -30C nights so far in December, but I expect we'll be getting much colder by the end of this month. Time to hibernate!

 

Wow, hibernation seems like the only reasonable option. Stay warm!

 

I feel like climate here in my country is changing, typically, there are several very hot weeks in summers (with daytime temperatures surpassing 30 C) and one or two very cold weeks in winter (with nighttime temperatures going under -20 C). If you come from outside Europe, it may surprise you that Lithuania is quite far to the north: further north than any US, Canadian, Japanese or Chinese major city. While the warm Gulf Stream supports its temperate climate and never allows Klaipėda port to freeze, it could not change the day/night cycle. High latitudes mean that in the deep winter, Lithuanian the days are quite short (7 hours) whereas in mid-summer they are very long (17 hours), with nautical twilight lasting the whole night.
That said, every season in Lithuania has its own beauty as nature paints itself in different colors. Contrary to popular belief, the winters are not perpetually white, but you have high chances of encountering heavy snow if you visit in January or February, if that case happens again this year, i would definately purchase snowblower too )

 

Well, I have to say that both of you, @Slurpie and @VPSnet , are making me feel a bit better about our conditions here. Of course, today we are having what the weatherpeople are calling a "bomb cyclone" or a "winter hurricane". We are having a major snowstorm with expected 12 inches/30 centimeters of snow combined with hurricane force winds. I just looked out the window and it is truly "white out" conditions. Visibility is next to zero right now. However, the real issue is if the winds cause us to lose power because as soon as the storm ends, temperatures are predicted to drop to below 0F/-18C and without power, things can get pretty cold, really fast.

Here's a recent graphic of today's storm:



Stay tuned!

 

Woah, stay warm out there! We get a lot of snow up here, but it's usually more steady and not huge, powerful systems. That looks like a hurricane! Those big coastal storms down there are really something else. It's like you folks get the snow all at once instead of steady over time each winter. Stay safe and here is hoping your power and internet stay on!

 

In Buffalo for the weekend. Ofcourse I am in effing Buffalo over this weekend. Stay warm fellas and ladies.

 

They get some wild lake-effect snow there too, right? Hopefully it's more of a calm weekend precipitation-wise, but it looks like it will be cold at the very least.

 

Glad to hear @jrbiz but holy cr*p, that graphic doesn't look friendly at all, looks like winter "Katrina" is coming (we all remember 2005)...
Well lets just hope not!
Here in my country, people are always run out of positivity when winter hits, but looks like most of us doesn't want to understand, that there are way worse condintions to live in many, many places around the globe.

You and Your family - Stay safe, and keep us updated!

 

Thanks. We made it through the snowstorm and the really strong winds and did not lose power. We got about 14inches/35.5centimeters of snow that fell in about 8 hours and now we are headed into a deep freeze for the weekend. After I finish this cup of tea, I need to get dressed and get out there and dig us out. Fortunately, I have a very large snowblower that should be able to handle the job. My old, smaller one would have choked on the snowdrifts.

 

Well thats good to know, hopefully those winds won't come back anytime soon..

Many years ago, (in 1931) here in Lithuania, was fixed record breaking snow cover of 94centimeters... If that case happens again, i am gonna need as big snowblower as You got!

 

I have just spoken with my uncle in Canada, -40 degrees celsius in Toronto, wtf?!? He left his car with working engine and someone tried to steal his car, just to get warmer?!?

 

Eh, you get used to it after a while! It's important to be safe when the weather is that cold though. Dress warm and don't take any unnecessary risks by being outside too long. Frostbite can set in within minutes sometimes.