East Coast US Nor'easter coming

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

Glad to hear you are OK as the first thing I though about this morning were you and your loved ones as the weather storm in the states where you are was in the news and it said over 120.000 households with no electricity and many people relocated due to no heat etc.

I am happy to see you are alive and kicking Jack

Thanks for the kind thoughts - much appreciated.

Originally Posted by mjslakeridge

Glad to hear you made out OK. Looks like the forecasters kind of over-hyped the storm.

Being without power is the worst. I had no power at my house for 10 days after Hurricane Ike hit a few years back. And it is still very hot/humid here in Sept. Lost 2 refigerators/freezers worth of food.

Yeah - the weatherpeople really missed the target on this one. Then again they've had a horrible track record this winter as thankfully we got far less snow than they predicted.

Power so far is okay although we do get a few light blinks and the ups's are doing their job very well with all the electronics. Everything electronic here at home is on an ups of some sort and it's funny when the power goes out and they all start beeping - no two have the same pitch to their beeps. We lost power for three days in Superstorm Sandy with a fridge and freezer full of home made food. Thankfully it all stayed frozen as we were smart enough not to open the doors. Had plenty of canned food and with a gas cooktop all it took was my welding torch sparker or matches to light up and cook. What we did for the freezer was we had a large plastic container of water that was frozen solid and with that cold mass it kept things in good shape.

[mjslakeridge]

The large plastic container of frozen water was a good idea. In my case it wouldn't have lasted for 10 days. Luckily, I am pretty good with a BBQ grill and a smoker, so after some of the grocery stores opened in a few days, we were OK for cooking meals. Had no water for a day or so after the storm due to the grid being down, but had filled the bathtubs with water to flush the toilets. Biggest issue was lack of information, so I ran a wire from my car's battery to a small lcd tv to see what was going on. We had utility companies from as far away as New England helping to cut down the downed trees and restore the power lines. Tried to find a gasoline powered generator after power was out, but everyone was sold out. I have a propane powered camping lantern which gave us some light after dark.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by mjslakeridge

The large plastic container of frozen water was a good idea. In my case it wouldn't have lasted for 10 days. Luckily, I am pretty good with a BBQ grill and a smoker, so after some of the grocery stores opened in a few days, we were OK for cooking meals. Had no water for a day or so after the storm due to the grid being down, but had filled the bathtubs with water to flush the toilets. Biggest issue was lack of information, so I ran a wire from my car's battery to a small lcd tv to see what was going on. We had utility companies from as far away as New England helping to cut down the downed trees and restore the power lines. Tried to find a gasoline powered generator after power was out, but everyone was sold out. I have a propane powered camping lantern which gave us some light after dark.

For drinking water we have enough stored that with rationing we can go a week or so. We've tried doing the bathtub thing but the drain stopper doesn't keep a good seal. Power - no genset although I wish we had one. The day after Sandy hit the wife and I took a walk around the neighborhood and you could hear all the different generators going - some for basic power needs but mostly to power pumps to suck the water out of flooded basements. The other noise was chainsaws trying to take care of some of the smaller downed trees - one fell across a neighbor's incoming AC lines and ripped off the meter box on the side of the house. Trenton and the surrounding towns learned and installed cutout switches on certain power poles so the whole city wouldn't be down at one time. Got a bunch of batteries for the radios and even one with a crank that also has a solar cell on it. And all my ham radios run off of 12 VDC so I could power off a car battery if I had to.

[moonmusic]

Currently around midnight, 25F with 40mph gusts....We got about a foot of snow yesterday which is drifting with the wind currently...State snow plow trucks are running in pairs trying to keep the roads open...They are equipped with a snow blade on the front and a blade on the side so it pushes the snow pretty wide in one pass....I didn't go to work yesterday so I could dig out....I have a pretty big 4WD ATV with a snow blade for the wide open areas and a John Deere snow blower for the smaller areas so the only shovel work is about 6 inches in front of the door ways.....Followed 2 of those state trucks home from work today and even with the side plows was having issues getting the snow thrown over top the drifts...In a few places it was about 10 inches deep we had to cross through even after they plowed....I drive an AWD SUV so it wasn't an issue....Just had to watch for the wind gusts picking up snow and blowing across the road...Instant white out!....Right now I'm pretty comfy inside with a pellet stove in the basement and a propane stove upstairs....Really glad the first day of spring is Monday....Ready to put the winter stuff away.... moon

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by moonmusic

Currently around midnight, 25F with 40mph gusts....We got about a foot of snow yesterday which is drifting with the wind currently...State snow plow trucks are running in pairs trying to keep the roads open...They are equipped with a snow blade on the front and a blade on the side so it pushes the snow pretty wide in one pass....I didn't go to work yesterday so I could dig out....I have a pretty big 4WD ATV with a snow blade for the wide open areas and a John Deere snow blower for the smaller areas so the only shovel work is about 6 inches in front of the door ways.....Followed 2 of those state trucks home from work today and even with the side plows was having issues getting the snow thrown over top the drifts...In a few places it was about 10 inches deep we had to cross through even after they plowed....I drive an AWD SUV so it wasn't an issue....Just had to watch for the wind gusts picking up snow and blowing across the road...Instant white out!....Right now I'm pretty comfy inside with a pellet stove in the basement and a propane stove upstairs....Really glad the first day of spring is Monday....Ready to put the winter stuff away.... moon

What state are you in? None of our state plows have a blade on the side like you talk about. They just angle the blade on the front to either side as needed. In Trenton itself they have plows on the front of the garbage trucks and they also put plows on some of the city pickup trucks. Biggest issue with the way they plow is they leave the plow chunks/boogers right at the corners of intersections so you can't make regular 90 degree turns - you have to go way wide and hope you don't hit a car parked legally on the side of the street (and out streets aren't all that wide to begin with).

My biggest worry right now is the snow I wasn't able to clear off the front and back lower roofs. Slate roofs and I use a push broom duct taped to a 10 foot piece of 1.5 inch pvc piping to push the snow off (I open the windows and push from the inside - hell on the shoulders). A few years back we weren't clearing the snow off and the foot or so that had accumulated slid and took out the rain gutters and mailbox. So after that we learned our lesson. Hurting shoulders beats replacing the gutters and mailbox. Most of what's on the front roof I got off except the sleet/freezing rain turned the remainder into a frozen sheet. And the rear roof outside the bathroom window has the 4-5 inches of snow plus the sleet, etc. NOT looking forward to what could happen.

Hopefully winter is really done with us although I've seen spring storms here in NJ that easily dump 2 feet overnight.

[moonmusic]

South Central Pennsylvania....Our guys usually clean the corners on the 2nd day after the roadways are cleared on the first...I think last year was the first year I noticed the second side blade...They work separately so the front blade can be on the ground while the side blade can be lifted higher to catch the snow banks....I hear you about the snow on the roof....I thought about building one of these to see how it worked on my roof....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Po-qpUZ6pE
Haven't damaged any gutters yet but that big snow storm we had last year cracked the windshield on my bayliner from all the weight on the boat cover....moon

Originally Posted by musicman691

What state are you in? None of our state plows have a blade on the side like you talk about. They just angle the blade on the front to either side as needed. In Trenton itself they have plows on the front of the garbage trucks and they also put plows on some of the city pickup trucks. Biggest issue with the way they plow is they leave the plow chunks/boogers right at the corners of intersections so you can't make regular 90 degree turns - you have to go way wide and hope you don't hit a car parked legally on the side of the street (and out streets aren't all that wide to begin with).

My biggest worry right now is the snow I wasn't able to clear off the front and back lower roofs. Slate roofs and I use a push broom duct taped to a 10 foot piece of 1.5 inch pvc piping to push the snow off (I open the windows and push from the inside - hell on the shoulders). A few years back we weren't clearing the snow off and the foot or so that had accumulated slid and took out the rain gutters and mailbox. So after that we learned our lesson. Hurting shoulders beats replacing the gutters and mailbox. Most of what's on the front roof I got off except the sleet/freezing rain turned the remainder into a frozen sheet. And the rear roof outside the bathroom window has the 4-5 inches of snow plus the sleet, etc. NOT looking forward to what could happen.

Hopefully winter is really done with us although I've seen spring storms here in NJ that easily dump 2 feet overnight.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by moonmusic

South Central Pennsylvania....Our guys usually clean the corners on the 2nd day after the roadways are cleared on the first...I think last year was the first year I noticed the second side blade...They work separately so the front blade can be on the ground while the side blade can be lifted higher to catch the snow banks....I hear you about the snow on the roof....I thought about building one of these to see how it worked on my roof....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Po-qpUZ6pE
Haven't damaged any gutters yet but that big snow storm we had last year cracked the windshield on my bayliner from all the weight on the boat cover....moon

Good news - when the stuff on the roofs slid the rain gutters and mailbox which is on a post just in front of the gutter all made it through but the noise inside from when it slid was scary. I've seen that gadget demonstrated and Home Depot and Lowe's have something similar. One of the things a commenter made was what about those of us with shingled roofs? You'll start tearing them up and slate shingles like we have ain't cheap - $100 per shingle whether real slate or artificial. Also if you notice the snow wasn't all that heavy and the device could cut into it. When you get beyond light & fluffy dry snow it gets harder than doing calculus on an abacus

Light and fluffy I'll use either the ShopVac or the broom/pvc pipe gizmo and for heavier it's the broom/pipe combo.

Cracked the windshield on your boat - I do have a funny story related to that. A few years back I was going through Hightstown and while stuck in traffic I watched as a fellow was clearing snow on his property as well as icicles hanging off the eaves of his house. He was standing on his boat towards the stern so he could get up higher (boat on trailer with bow up in the air a bit). He hits a couple of the icicles and a whole section comes down - that ain't even the funny part yet. Seems a whole long section came down and some hit the bow and just like on a teeter/totter it lifted the stern up hard enough/fast enough and it was just like in a cartoon where you see somebody catapulted off the end. Don't know what kind of damage it did to the boat but the guy himself seemed okay. Embarassed but okay. This is the same guy I saw earlier that winter using a flamethrower to clear the ice and snow out of his driveway.