Winter Storm Aftermath

 Here in the Cascade Mountain foothills, we generally get one majorly-major winter storm every January. But the one that hit this January 11 was a two-fer. 

As forecasters predicted, a Northeast gale hit our region…but this one was a doozie. They expected lows in the low single-digits, which in my “Are You Prepared?” post, I mentioned is really cold for our area. 

But it actually got to about 6 degrees below zero. With winds about 35 mph, gusts to 45. In our 17 years in the Foothills, we have never experienced that kind of cold…and or wind chill factors down to -20 or worse.

The day our high was about 3 degrees, with those gusty winds, I didn’t go outside. Not for a short walk, or to bring in firewood. Normally, I go out in every  kind of weather, so that was a first.

And what was unusual about this storm was that we got only a dusting of snow before the cold hit. So there were no handy snowdrifts around the house to insulate the crawlspace.

Luckily, though, my husband John and I followed our own good advice. We finished every item in the previous post’s checklist. And it helped enormously, or should I say, ginormously, that we only lost power for about a minute.

Yep, it feels unbelievable, but as the cold winds howled, we had one minute without electricity. 

Still, it was so cold that for three or four nights, John and I kept two faucets dripping. Also, we kept the heat on all night long, very unusual for us. And circling back to no power loss—what a huge blessing to have had power. 

What also helped was something we did back in November—which I neglected to include in my checklist—that we had actually done back in November: Covered the crawlspace vents. 

We learned our lesson two years ago, with that year’s major winter storm. We did not cover the vents, and our pipes froze. Solid, as frozen as frozen can be.

The one challenge of this deep freeze was that our shower drain froze up. Not surprising, since that bathroom is the room furthest away from the woodstove. But the drain thawed on its own within a few days so all was well.

Two-foot poultry fencing to keep the rabbits out was nearly covered!

Anyway, I mentioned a two-fer: The temps had just warmed up to a balmy 17 degrees, when the weather site forecast 4-6 inches of snow. Well, we got about 14!

But again, and sort of unbelievably, the power stayed on.

And thanks to the brisk northeast wind, the snow blew off our satellite dish, so we didn’t lose internet either.

That first day, instead of taking my usual 2 1/2 mile walk, the furthest I could go, wading through that snow, was 1/8 of a mile. And Holy Moly, was I tuckered out.

We’re not on a county road, just a private lane, so the county snowplows pass us by. Happily, we have terrific neighbors with snow removal equipment who plowed us out. 

We did goof up with one chore: we’d used all the extra firewood we’d brought in during the uber cold snap. Because we thought we were getting just a few inches, I didn’t think to bring a couple of boxes of wood indoors.

 We did have plenty of chopped wood, stowed safely in two of our woodsheds. Yet again, because we figured we wouldn’t get much snow, I didn’t cover the woodpiles with a tarp. As usual around here, in  major snowstorms, the snow blows right into our sheds.

So while John shoveled snow, I got the small broom we use for the car and swept the snow off our firewood. Then brought in not 2 but 3 boxes of firewood to atone for not being prepared!

All in all, we were incredibly lucky with this winter storm.  But then, after all the years of winter power outages, frozen pipes, wet firewood, and other misfortunes, maybe this time we were due for some good luck!

Are You Prepared? Winter Weather Checklist

 It’s been a mild winter so far.

In our little corner of the Pacific Northwest, the most dramatic weather so far was a “Pineapple Express” (warmish) windstorm on Christmas night. It knocked the power out all over the county, and around here, gusts might have reached 50 mph.

All I can say I’m glad it wasn’t a Northeaster, because frigid winds at 50 would have broken our area firs like toothpicks. 

However, a major cold front is expected next week—down into the single digits, which is c-c-cold for around here. 

We never get that kind of cold without strong Northeast winds barreling down from the Canadian prairies. And that means a strong likelihood for a power outage. Or several of them. Snow is forecast too.

So with the probability of being snowed in, without electricity for two or three days, tells my husband John and me that preparation needs to happen! 

He’s a fan of “prepper” websites and Pinterest pins, and there’s some really innovative gadgets out there, like a bicycle-powered mini-sawmill. John actually bought us a collapsible wood-burning mini-stove for cooking out in the field. It’s cool, but I’ll stick with indoor camp cooking…with our full-sized woodstove!

Anyway, to get ready for just the usual weather-related power outages, here’s what we do:

Rechargeable lantern, flashlight, and solar recharger

*Have our battery-powered lanterns close at hand, and make sure they’re fully charged.

*Same goes for our rechargeable flashlights—the one in the photo also doubles as a mini-lantern. I use it instead of a headlamp, since headlamps run through batteries like crazy. 

*Put our solar recharger station into our south window to fully charge. 

*Speaking of charging, we make sure our iPads and laptops’ charge is topped up.

*Chop extra firewood, fill both our firewood containers—plus bring two extra loads into the house for backup.

*Start the generator to ensure that it’s in working order, and check the gas supply and oil.

*Gas up the gas cans for the generator. 

*Check our food stores. We normally keep lots of extra food on hand for the winter months—actually, since the pandemic, we keep our fridge and pantry well-stocked generally. But when a storm is on the way, we make a trip to town for staples like extra eggs, milk, and bread. 

*In case we do lose power, two chores I’ve just incorporated into our prep routine is 1) get the laundry done and 2) run the dishwasher—even though it wasn’t 100% full. It’s nice not to face a mountain of dirty laundry and dishes when the power is restored. 

In some respects, we’re better prepared these days. In the past, water was always a problem for power outages—and keeping our water system from freezing up. But now we’ve got a backup solar battery system for our well, we can keep pump house warm with the electric heater, and the water flowing.

In a small way, however, we’re less prepared. We let go of our very expensive landline a couple of years ago, and got on “VoiP”—internet phone service via our satellite. In our landline days, we had an old rotary phone, and we actually could use the phone line, with no electricity needed.

Not any more. Without internet—which of course takes electricity—we’re cut off from the world.

Not that we mind all that much! As inconvenient as losing power is, and being in pioneer mode, it does give us a chance to just be. Read and rest. Though we can’t take a break from chopping firewood…

You’ll find winter wisdom and homesteady garden tips in my January newsletter, “Early Winter Garden & Un-Resolutions”!