It's very rare they cancel school around here unless they get a big dump of snow overnight, like a foot. They will cancel after an ice storm even though all our school busses are equip with auto chains. Cold clear and windy only to get colder and windier as time progresses. It's not so bad Stan, it's a dry cold. Red fox is visiting again.

 

Well, we survived, so far. Hurricane force winds caused a lot of damage and still can. The winds have died down to 60mph gusts, and the temperature has warmed to 12°. The power came back on around midnight after 40 hours of being in the cold and dark. Temperature in the house dropped to 42° with only our Big Buddy propane camp heater to keep us from freezing. Wife is in the hospital with a concussion and broken arm after being blown off her feet when she went to town for water. The kittens survived as well.

 

Cougar,
Did you guys get another quake too?
No stored water in the house? I would assume you could always melt snow in a pinch.

I have a 5 gallons jug full of drinking water, in case we loose power and the running water goes out. I have a stream within walking distance that I could access water in a pinch for the dogs and cat, or to force flush the toilet. We are near the end of the power service line, so when the power goes out, we can be on the list of last ones to get it restored.

I run the electric circulator pumps off of my truck batteries when we loose power to keep the wood boiler heating the house and shop. I just use a cheap power inverter so it is as easy as plugging the pumps in. I can run the pumps for a day on a charged battery and I have a selection of trucks to get extra out of in a pinch. So far I have never had to recharge the batteries by idling a truck, but that is my back up, to my back up plan.

You can not rely on the power company when living out on the woods.

 

cougar, that is not good news. Sorry to hear that and hope your wife fully recovers very fast.

At my house I have large tank on top of the house which provides water for entire house for many days. That is necessary because the water coming from the city is erratic and is not full time. Also have a large underground cistern that supplies water for the sprinklers, plus if necessary automatically tops of the roof tank. Also have a Wen dual fuel (gasoline or propane) 3,600 watt generator for when the power frequently goes off.

At my off grid cottage have a 300 gallon tank on top of the roof plus a 1,200 gallon water tank semi hidden in the garden. It has an in tank water pump that I can use to fill the tank on the cottage roof. To power that pump I just drive my truck close to the tank and plug it in to the 3,000 watt. 115 volt inverter in my truck. Also have a 3,500 watt 220/115 volt generator. In other words, as long as I have gas, water or power shortages are not a big deal for me at either my house or cottage.

 

-19F last night, but it has warmed up to -16 this morning with the sun out. First day it has not snowed in 3 weeks. It rarely snows when it is this cold.

Looks like a good morning to work inside the shop after filling the stove up.
Looking forward to the days to slowly start getting longer here in a couple of weeks. Under 9 hours of daylight a day is a bit depressing.

 

I keep around 3 days' worth of water in the house, no place to store any more that won't freeze. Normally power outages don't last more than a few hours. So, when the power came back on in town, I sent the wife for water and more propane cylinders just in case. We were hit hard; it took out the main power lines from the plant as well as all the feeder and spur lines from Anchorage to Denali Park. There are areas still without power and it could be a while before they get it back. I have a 6k generator, but it was cold soaked and wouldn't start. Due to a lack of funds my battery backup system was nonfunctional as well. Wife is home and cooking breakfast with a little help from me.

 

Oh yes, Alaska had another earthquake a 7 something, but it was not near me. It was in the southeast near Yakutat, north of Juneau.

 

Have been reading in the news that more and more places are getting shaken up lately and judging from an article in today's news, you can expect to soon experience more and worse shakings;

https://discernreport.com/why-is-the...tly-this-year/

 

Good morning y'all, yawl or whatever. Good, strong, hot, fresh coffee in the pot. Made from fresh ground Mexican coffee beans. Also a large bowl of assorted cut up fruit in the fridge. Range fed eggs available for those who want eggs too.

Unusual for December, but last night we had a nice rain storm. Thunder, lightening and heard lots of loud rain on the roof. Once it gets light will go out and check the rain gauge to see how much we had. According to my local forecast today will be one minute longer than yesterday with 10.56 minutes of daylight.

Hope all of you have a fruitful, productive day.

 

Thanks for the fresh fruit Stan.

It is 19 this morning, which is more enjoyable to be out in than the -19F of yesterday morning. Looks like a good outside work day. Which is nice as I have some outdoor chores to do. One of them is swap the battery out of the plow truck and then throw the old one on the charger. They are calling for 3-7 inches of snow today into tomorrow. That is getting too be enough to want the plow truck ready considering all the existing snow we have on the ground already, which is over a foot. I am impressed that the UPS driver made it down my driveway last night to drop off the parts I need from Rock Auto for my ‘95 2500.

 

Good morning diesel fans. 6° clear and very little wind. Perfect night to star gaze. Cold, wind, and earthquakes are no stranger to us here in Alaska, it is normal. As far as the rest of the world, it is normal. Such articles are made to scare people into doing what they want. Do this, do that, buy this, buy that, support this cause, support that cause, vote for Joe, he will protect us. Praying on the ill-informed with disinformation. Took the wife grocery shopping yesterday, she insisted on going. Shelves were a little better stocked this time. We even found a whole frying chicken, something not seen for quite a while. Looking at a dual fuel generator but hate spending the money on something that will set for years unused like the one I already have.

 

Finding chickens in the store is that tough? Might be time to get 20 meat and / or layer birds for the yard next summer and then throw them in the freezer.

Many of my friends and neighbors do it. I end up with more eggs than I can eat in the summer from people I know with chickens. Charlotte’s grand parents average 2 dozen a DAY in the summer. My closest neighbor had 100 meat birds two summers ago. I hear them shooting things in the night once in a while as the wildlife occasionally gets in the chicken coop.

 

More snow...7 inches yesterday and still coming down. Calling for another 3-7 inches over the next 24 HRs.
I will need to plow before UPS brings my another round of parts that have been on back order for 2 weeks now. Finally shipped today, just in time to be mixed in with all the holiday packages.

Pretty warm for mid Dec. at 20F now.