Everyone wants to talk weather part 2

[Cleander]

Our weather the past two weeks has been insane. Last week it got down in the 20s and 30s , with a minor snow flurry. Now it's been getting into the 70s!! The high today is actually 77! The forecasts are showing 50 and 30 degree temperatures next week. It's almost like the weather has a fever...
That's life down south, I guess.

[stargazer]

Jo, I suspect your ice storm is the one we had a few days ago. I was driving home Sunday evening in light drizzle. The freeways were fine because they'd been treated, but the side streets were skating rinks.

By Monday morning, everything was ice as temperatures dropped. Then we got about 4 inches/100mm of snow Tuesday, on top of the ice. It is snowing now (and quite pretty if you don't have to drive in it), with 4-8 inches more expected, then the temperatures drop again as cold air moves in (lows around -15F/-25C and highs around 0F/-17C). Winter was late this year but it's making up for lost time.

Maybe some of this snow will come your way, Jo.

Cleander, those kind of temperature swings are reminiscent of the ones we can get, once spring decides to make an appearance, which may be a few months.

[Puddleglum]

The freezing fog that was mentioned by our good hobbit was also seen, and felt here. It was with careful steps that I wandered back, and forth across the drive, and sidewalk to apply salt.
One of the local channels showed a video clip from a Wisconsin station where a youngster was skating on a country road.
The snow has finished falling here stargazer. I would guess we have five to six inches to add to the four, or so from last night. Thankfully it was of the light fluffy variety.
The temps are to fall through the night with a "high" of -2, or less tomorrow. Add the wind, and it will be an interesting commute in the morning.
We expect to hear of more pipes freezing. Word of advice for anyone wanting to build a home in a hemisphere where temperatures frequently fall below freezing. NEVER install plumbing in an outer wall, especially on the north side of the home! Whoever trains said architects to do so must have been raised in the deep south.
If you should have such a situation I advise buying some bails of hay to place on the outer wall next to the pipes. Also leave open the cabinet doors under the sink if you have them while the temps are low outside. If you do not mind a little higher water bill, leave a trickle running over night. Just get ear plugs if you have a weak bladder while you sleep.

[Kalta79]

We *always* leave the taps dripping at night now...going through 5 days without water due to busted frozen pipes being replaced just once was enough...and it was 1.4 degrees Farenheit this morning. Well that's the coldest I noticed it got, it was actually 3 degrees when I woke up, but around sunrise it always drops a little more before rising again with the sun.

[coracle]

Ooh, you are all heroes to me, coping with these!
All I have in west London (UK) is grey skies and light rain. Even the temperatures have been mild since I arrived a few days ago. Where I stayed with a friend in south west England there was a decent fall of snow, which lasted for a few days in cold temperatures - but was unusual.
Last year I was in the north of England, and we got a few moderate snowfalls. None of the icy issues.
Wishing you all cosy homes, warm clothes, and good health!

[waggawerewolf27]

Something really terrible happened in North Queensland. There has been a 7 year drought on the other side of the Great Dividing Range which the farmers were only just recovering from. We've sent aid, the cattle were fattening up nicely & lovely calves & lambs had been the result. Now it is all swept away because of an extreme monsoonal event, the sort where a year's rain falls in a day. Hundreds & thousands of cattle swept away, newborns and all, well beyond control. Townsville was flooded and the homes that were ruined are in the thousands. The broken-hearted farming folk crying their hearts out over the radio. Wildlife killed as well, kangaroos & even birds not only the livestock.

None of this monsoonal rain came down this way. Even a storm which caused much disruption in Sydney, itself, bypassed us entirely.

[Kalta79]

Sorry to hear that wagga

Nature is a fickle mistress....

[waggawerewolf27]

Thank you for your good wishes, Kalta. The flooding is such a national disaster that it should concentrate the attentions of those in power here onto what really matters in our national life, like nothing else. I do grieve for the farmers though. Years of grindingly hard work wiped out in days, our fourth biggest export trade decimated, & that entire region's economy wrecked. All we can do is the best we can, & may God prosper our efforts.

It is interesting to see the comparison between the relatively mild climate of UK & the harsher climate of USA. Although yesterday was still too hot in the evening, the weather seems to be winding down already. Maybe in a fortnight we will see the last of the February Dragon. Happy Valentine's day.

[stargazer]

Also sorry to hear that wagga.

I think the large western mountain ranges in the US (Cascades and Rockies) tend to create some of our extreme weather. Because they run north to south, the prevailing westerly winds have to go over them to reach the plains, bringing rain to the west side and drier air to the interior. In the winter it is common for cold weather to come straight over the North Pole and be funneled to the central US as well. Add the moisture and warmth from the Gulf of Mexico, and we have quite a potential cauldron of weather ingredients.

Winter started late here but is making up for it; several snowstorms the past week dropped about 6 inches (150mm) each, pushing this month into 4th place for the snowiest ever. There are a few mountains of snow out there and it's quite pretty if one doesn't need to get around town.

Seattle, which according to the news averages about 7 inches (175mm) of snow all winter, has more than doubled that amount just in the past two weeks. My brother has tales of being unable to get around - they don't have the equipment to deal with it that snowier areas do, and there are some good sized hills there, not to mention less-experienced winter drivers (though that can even apply in areas like the one I live in, where snow is a fact of life). Indeed, until this past week, Seattle's February snow total exceeded that of Minneapolis.

[fantasia]

Yesterday was about 61F outside. We had some friends over and all the kids were out jumping on our trampoline in the backyard.

Today we have a nice layer of ice on everything. 1/8" so far and more coming. I think we're supposed to get snow later today too.

wagga, I was pretty horrified by that story about the cattle. I'm very sorry for your country and especially the farmers and ranchers who lost their livestock.

[Kalta79]

We lived around half an hour north of Seattle(in Everett) for a few years before moving to Oregon, and our first winter there a storm dumped 2-3ft of snow in the area, and it wasn't a big deal to me, but the locals were freaking out. I've had my fill of winter, so I've started planning this year's garden

[stargazer]

The seed catalogs have arrived despite the piles of snow outside. Kalta, it's never too early to post over in the gardening thread.

We're about 4 inches/100mm shy of the all-time snowiest February on record (going back to 1873) and with snow in the forecast that looks like a shoo-in. If we're going to have a lot of snow we might as well get a record to go with it.

[Puddleglum]

Only 4 inches? The old saying "If it rains it pours" or in our case SNOWS!
I just watched a weather for cast for central Minnesota predicting another 6 to 8 inches through next Wednesday.
I am literally running out of some places to aim the snowblower when clearing the front side walk, and back drive. Some of the driving is getting very interesting as the lower vehicles cannot see over the piled snow on the corners of some of the intersections, and have to "nose" their way through slowly, hoping no one is coming.
I have been telling folks about how spoiled we have become th last few years with little snow. I should have kept a bit quieter.
So sorry about those folks wagga. I will certainly keep them in my prayers.

[fantasia]

Naturally we here in southern Kansas have nothing on you all in Minnesota (although Kansas City has had a LOT of snow and ice this winter). But this has been one of the wettest winters I ever remember with repeated rounds of ice, rain, and a little snow coming through.

Today we're supposed to get our largest snowfall amount of the winter. Depending on which site you check we could get anywhere from 2-5". And then sometime in the middle of the night it'll turn over to freezing rain and hit 40F tomorrow.

But the most interesting weather tidbit is that our first Kansas Thunderstorm of 2019 has been predicted for this weekend. Woohoo!

[stargazer]

The local weather people talked about KC and other Kansas locations as part of a description of how large and strong this storm is.

With 10 inches (255mm) of new snow, we've shattered the all-time snowiest February record (note that this is normally our least-snowy month of the winter). Even before this, we'd received more snow in the last 20 days than in November, December, and January combined (admittedly those were mild, dry months).

With another big system expected this weekend (the worst of which may pass south of here), this record may stand a while.

[Kalta79]

I thought it was the weather at first messing up my internet at home, but now I think it's something with the phone line. Basically I'm incommunicado at home(on library wifi right now). Today starts the next round of winter storms, and I'm ready for summer!