I would rather endure all the Tornadoes in Dixie than this cold weather.

[bamademo]

At least they're over with quickly. 0 degrees in Huntsville, AL tomorrow evening. Noooo!!!!

I just want to hibernate until the end of Feb when it warms up.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Cold weather doesn't flatten your house like a tornado;

it's just a temporary annoyance if you take reasonable precautions. Speaking as a life-long resident of a very cold state (MN), my advice is that you wear more clothes in layers; wear wool or some of the synthetics (wool socks are the best) rather than cotton (jeans will not keep you warm at all), and keep your head covered. Don't drink alcohol, it will actually make you colder. If there are water pipes going though uninsulated areas of your house, open the taps and let the water trickle a bit so the pipes don't freeze. Hang in there; you're still better off than we are. It will be -25 in Minneapolis tomorrow night.

[bamademo]

2. I'm insured if my house is flattened.

But it doesn't usually get this cold in Alabama. We aren't used to it but I have taken all the cold weather precautions. Pets inside. Fire burning in wood stove and lot's of fleece.

Faucets will commence dripping tomorrow. Plus I have gas stove and hot water. Power outages have taught us to survive here also. But I do appreciate kind advice. We usually just get 3 or 4 days of it and it flattens us.

[magical thyme]

20. insurance won't undo the pain and suffering if you're injured or bring you back to life

You can completely protect yourself from the cold and it is temporary.

It was -19 yesterday morning here on the Maine coast. Much, much warmer this morning and will be 30ish today.

[anasv]

25. -7 in RI

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Now the forecast is saying "ice pellets"

because they have added 60% chance of rain tomorrow night,
and lows of 16 Tuesday night, here in SW Ala.
My weather report for Huntsville says low of 4 degrees, and 100% rain-snow?
Those roads will be sheer ice.

[bamademo]

4. That's what makes Winter here so miserable.

No gentle snow but brutal ice and no one can drive in it. Plus power outages.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Oh, yuk, I'd rather have extreme cold and snow than ice storms.

We don't get a lot of those, fortunately.

One thing we do get that's really nasty is a phenomenon called "black ice." That happens when it's so cold that car exhaust freezes onto the pavement in a smooth and totally invisible sheet. It usually forms on bridges and overpasses and is very dangerous.

The nice thing about living in a cold climate is that you really, really appreciate spring.

[bamademo]

6. Black ice expected here Monday morning. School delays.

Alabama absolutely shuts down. Yahoo's in 4 wheel drives think it's the same as snow. Makes it dangerous for the rest of us. I have firewood, food, booze and critters to keep me warm.

I also have a mink coat that belonged to my Mother. Very warm but won't wear it in public even though it's almost 35 years old.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Wear the mink, tell people it's fake.

Stay warm!

[bamademo]

9. If it get's to 0 degrees, I will if the car will start. Door freeze shut.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I once made the mistake of running my car through a car wash

the day before a subzero night, and the next morning the doors were frozen solidly shut. I was able to crawl in through the back lift gate, but I'll never do that again. Minor lock freezes can usually be remedied with a hair dryer.

[bamademo]

28. I taped garbage bags over drivers side lock and seams and put blanket on car.

Do not want frozen locks.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. I spent a winter in Decatur, up there.

Not realizing how cold it gets.
Moved further down south soon as I could.
One of my life parameters is "no snow".

[bamademo]

10. I love it here except for December and January.

They suck.

[magical thyme]

21. gah! we get lot of ice here on the coast, too.

That is the worst. Right now we have a couple feet of snow down. For the 2nd time in as many weeks, we're going to have a thaw with rain then back to deep freeze overnight. I will be shoveling like crazy in another hour or two to make sure I don't end up with everything frozen shut.

[elleng]

12. Probably not.

[RebelOne]

13. I'll take the cold weather, rather than tornadoes.

We have had lots of them here in Georgia with many close calls where I live, but fortunately no direct hits, though one came close enough to knock out power for 3 days. And I would rather have the extreme cold than the extreme heat in summer,

[ananda]

14. No you don't!

Believe me, tornado weather aint nuthin nice!
It's fukkin scary, and those things are totally
unpredictable, bizarre killers.

With temporary cold weather, you have plenty
of warning and time to prepare.

[pipi_k]

15. No, no, no

I lived in TN for a few months during the 1974 outbreak of tornadoes in that area. Didn't go through one, but I did see one out my living room window that (fortunately) went the opposite direction. I thought the kids and I were going to die...seriously. Went out the next day and saw the damage.

Returned to New England, where I've been through blizzards, cold, ice storms, etc.


All these years later, I still have nightmares about that tornado I saw in the sky, and the damage it caused.

I honestly don't know how people can deal with living in tornado-prone areas.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. I'm guessing you wouldn't do well in Alaska,

although I have to say we're almost 30 degrees warmer than you will be.

[jakeXT]

23. Reminds me of that CNN opinion article about moving to Alaska

You think you got a lot of snow?

...

For my city, Valdez, Alaska, 18 inches of snow is just another day; schools operate, companies stay open and people go about their daily routines.

The Prince William Sound community, where the Trans Alaska Pipeline and the Richardson Highway end, tops the list as the snowiest city in United States, according to The Weather Channel. It averages 326.3 inches of snow each year and has gotten as much as 556.7 inches in one season. Yet the city manager has said that declaring a snow emergency would be "humiliating."

...

For me, Valdez was a shock. I grew up in Mississippi: If 2 inches of snow hit the ground (stick or melt), there was no school for that day.

I got my first taste of a REAL winter when I ventured off to college in Nebraska. I remember sitting in the dorm and watching TV when the first snowstorm of the school year came. I thought for sure classes would be canceled. Every educational institution in the area canceled classes, except mine. Still in shock from not seeing my college's name scroll across the bottom of the screen, I bundled up and headed to class.

...

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/03/opinion/gorman-snow-capital-usa/

[Blue_In_AK]

24. Yes, Valdez gets a crazy amount of snow

Thompson Pass outside of Valdez got 974 inches of snow one year back in the '50s. 550 inches is the AVERAGE. Yet somehow the state manages to keep that stretch of highway open most of the year. And what's really surprising is you can drive through there in June and most of the snow is gone. It's pretty amazing.

Here in Anchorage we don't get anywhere near that amount of snow. It just hangs around all winter. I think we have a couple feet on the ground now.

[Tom_Foolery]

17. I was in the middle of a tornado...

...that destroyed a large chunk of my town. I'll take the cold.

[bamademo]

18. I've been in 3. But at least they don't stick around for days.

If you live in Alabama you just get used to it.

[frogmarch]

19. I wouldn't!

As much as I hate these frigid temps with wind chills below zero, I'd rather deal with the cold than I would with tornadoes!

[HappyMe]

22. Cold can't pick you and your stuff up

and fling you around like a rag doll.

[Earth_First]

26. I'm not sure you've thought this all the way through... nt

[bamademo]

27. I was being somewhat sarcastic in my OP.

I'm well prepared for the cold. I just hate it.

[susanr516]

29. Hasn't this winter been terrible?

I'm on the TX Gulf Coast and it hasn't hit 70 in over 3 weeks. Low of 35 tonight--again. It's not the cold weather as much as that it hasn't warmed up. We're used to 2 or 3 cold days and then back to highs in the 70s. IMO, cold and humid is worse than hot and humid.