The first part of the Upper Midwest's Winter Emergency

[MineralMan]

is over. The snow has stopped falling, and everyone's out clearing it away. I just came in from blowing about 5" off all the hard surfaces outdoors. No big deal. It was light, fluffy snow, and is now gone. The city will be out plowing tonight and tomorrow, and open up our roads and streets. Standard Operating Procedure here in the Twin Cities.

What's next, though is far from standard. Temps are going to drop down into the -20s F tonight, and we're not going to see above 0 temperatures until Saturday. Wind chills are possibly going to get down into the -50-60 degree range for the next couple of days. That's far more dangerous than a half foot of snow.

For those in the area, take good care, please, and look out for your neighbors, as well. Check in on them to make sure their heat is on and they're OK, especially if they're old or ill. People will be able to get out over the next three days, but many cars are not going to start due to old batteries that can't handle those low temperatures. Wait until later in the day, when temps go up and are only in the single digits below zero. Your car will start better then.

Just be careful, folks, if you're in the affected area.

[Ohiogal]

1. If I may add one thing to your good advice, MineralMan ...

Bring your animals indoors or make sure they have a warm, dry, shelter of some kind.

[MineralMan]

3. Oh, yes...absolutely.

I can't imagine anyone putting their animals out in such weather. Our dogs still go out the dog flap to do their business, but they come right back in when it's cold. It's their decision, and they decide wisely. We pay attention to when they go outdoors, and check on them if they don't come back in promptly.

The cats? They're not stupid enough to go outdoors at all in cold weather, or any other time, actually. They live inside.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. This is a good old-fashioned Minnesota January.

Until about 20-25 years ago this was totally normal and we were ready for it. Winters during the '70s in particular would freeze the balls off a brass monkey. There was always a cold snap in January where it didn't get above zero for a couple of weeks, then there was a thaw and some snow, then it went below zero again in February, then in March we got a blizzard or two. I'm happy for the snow because very low temperatures without snow is bad for gardens and trees; I'm glad for the cold because it kills garden pests that haven't been getting killed lately. Bring it on.

[MineralMan]

6. I don't mind it all that much, really.

I got out as soon as the snow stopped, and did the snow removal, before the wind picks up. Others had been out even earlier, so I did the city sidewalks up to where someone else had cleared. Four houses total. Once the snowblower is running, there's no reason not to keep going on the city sidewalks. It's no work at all and you might as well do it.

Driveways are another matter. I don't do any neighbors' driveways any more. I'm 73, now, and it's just not worth the risk. I don't shovel snow, either, except for my own walks in the yard.

My next-door neighbor, who shares a driveway with me, called me rude in the Fall for asking her not to blow her leaves on my side of the driveway, which I had just cleared. For almost 8 years, I've cleared her side of the driveway after every snowfall. I've never heard a "thank you" come out of her mouth for that, so her calling me rude has ended my snow removal on her side now. She has a robust 16-year-old son. He can do it. Or not. I don't care. Still, I went about 4' on her side with the snowblower, and cleared the whole driveway apron at the street and her front city sidewalk, so I'm not going to feel guilty.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I have people for that. They are here right now.

I used to do it myself but my creaky old back can't handle it any more. So there are three guys outside clearing my sidewalk, walkways and little driveway abutting the alley. They use shovels unless there's a lot of heavy snow. They're reliable, they do good work, and I don't feel at all guilty about not doing it myself - partly because these guys are immigrants and I'm happy to provide work for them. They're much better than the last outfit I used, which used crews of lazy-ass American teenagers who couldn't be counted on to do the job right; they'd never clear the path next to the house no matter how often I reminded them, and would leave a wide strip of snow in front of the garage door. But they'd charge me anyhow. I finally fired them.

It's probably smart not to take on other people's driveways; it's conceivable you could get sued if you left a slippery spot and someone fell. Some neighbors are like that, unfortunately.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. I might finally have to break down and wear a hat.

[2naSalit]

20. I remember that back the.

I lived in the lakes region then and it sure was colder than anything I had experienced in New England in my youth. Coldest I ever saw there was -15F. Then I moved to the northern Rockies where I saw -20 to -50F and had plenty of snow as usual winter weather fare. Half my wardrobe is winter weather clothes and outdoor wear. I think I have like seven different grade down coats and about four sets of ski bibs and a bucket of hats and mittens/gloves.

We seem to be west of that arctic air mass and it's been dangerously warm with very little snow. If this keeps up into summer, unless it rains a lot every day, Montana will burn down, the parts that didn't burn last year.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Don't forget to bring in the Brass Monkey's.

[Neema]

5. I'm trying to figure out what do to with my dog.

She has to walk three times a day and seems to be pretty oblivious to terrible weather conditions. She's not one of those dogs that does her business quickly and is ready to go back inside. Maybe -25 like they're predicting here on Wednesday will finally convince her to move more quickly. It's going to be a challenging week.

[MineralMan]

7. Our dogs have a through-the-wall flap into the fenced

back yard, so they use that when they have business to do. We take them out for a walk every afternoon, but in really cold weather, they get down to the end of the driveway and turn around to come back in. I did notice that our older beagle/basset, Dude, drinks less water when it's cold. Apparently, he knows where his pee originates.

[Neema]

9. No yard for us. We have to walk her. I generally don't mind because it means I get

a minimum of 3 miles walking every day. But when it's 20-something below...

Ours drinks a bit less water when it's cold, too. BUT she loves, loves, LOVES to eat snow. We have to be very strict on our late walk not to let her eat much or else she has an accident right when we're going to bed.

[MineralMan]

11. Well, I'm not a native Minnesotan. I spent most of my life in California.

Still, adapting to these winters hasn't been that big a challenge, really. I bought appropriate clothing, a snow-blower, really good snow shovels, and I just deal with it.

Both my wife and I have home offices, so work can go on, regardless. Last year, we came back from an April trip to California to find 18" of snow on the driveway. Fortunately, they had already plowed the streets, so we parked on the street and managed to get in the house. The next morning, I got up, had breakfast, and after about an hour and a half, the driveway was clear, the sidewalks were clear, and the issue was gone. With the right tools and the right clothing, Minnesota winters are livable, really.

[shraby]

13. We're in Wisconsin along the lake. It's still snowing here. We're supposed to get a foot

of snow at least.
And the temp -18. I assume that's wind-chill cause 2 temps are listed, the other 4 degrees.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

16. We were typing at the same time.

Hello probably kind of neighbor. Stay safe. And then stay warm.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

14. Still snowing in Wisconsin.

I'm in Eastern WI. We have about a foot right now and it's still coming down. I did a mid-storm snow blowing this morning.

School was cancelled for today and likely for Wed when wind chill is supposed to be -50.

Stay safe, friend.

[mrs_p]

15. West coast transplant to Fargo here.

I’ve lived in some cold places (central NY) but I can’t quite comprehend what -35 is going to be like.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

17. I grew up north of Grand Forks and went HS in Fargo. It's going to suck.

No better way to explain it. Your face hurts in, like, 30 seconds.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. And your nose hairs freeze together.

[roamer65]

18. Still snowing in SE Michigan.

It's gonna get bone chilling cold here as well, but the Lake Michigan tends to warm these fronts just slightly when its not froze over. I'll take the extra 5 to 10 degrees, no problem. Yet another positive of living near the Great Lakes.

[LakeSuperiorView]

19. I got my snowblower running on Saturday. As a result, maybe 2.5" in Fridley.

Cousin in Elk River (to the west) said 6", 5" to the east...

I still used the snowblower to deal with the Plowguy's vengeance, but I'm almost certain that the time I spent on Saturday warded off about 3" of snow.

If one has had trouble with frozen water mains before, leaving a faucet on with just a trickle is cheap insurance. There isn't much snow cover in the Metro area and this cold snap is going to drive frost lower than it gets in recent years.

This is weather where a well digger would be happy to press his backside up to side of the well.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. Thanks for doing that!

We got a pretty manageable +/- 5". No big deal; the streets are mostly plowed already.