The storm arrived here yesterday. Within an hour the temperature dropped 37º, which broke the old record of a drop in less than an hour of 30º. It snowed a little. It looked like someone had sprinkled the world with powdered sugar. However, the road closing didn't happen. The biggest problem was that it rained all day before the drop in temperature to 14º, which caused a flash freeze of any wetness on the ground, and the roads were icy. They told scary stories of having flares with you to summon help if you should run off the road and be stranded in the extreme cold. Translation: Stay home.
So far my fears were stirred up by the National Weather Service to a greater than necessary degree, at least around here. Did the pipes freeze? Yes and no. The temperature went down to 0º by 3:00 am. I left the water dripping, but even though there was a drip, when I turned the faucet on in the morning the water wasn't running. But it started running after a moment and I let it run around three minutes. So I would say it was a close call. Did the power go out? Well, momentarily about five times. A power failure was my biggest fear. Oh, right up there with being snowed in, anyway. What's so scary about the power going out? Isn't the living room heated with gas? You'll be OK. I'd be OK but very sad. I don't want to sit in the living room all night. My domain is my room, and its heated with an electric space heater. Usually warm clothing and covers will stand in for the heater, but not at 0º. Why is being snowbound so terrifying? I suppose I would live through that too. But don't forget, Mrs. Billingsley isn't well. If the roads were closed and we needed to call 911, they wouldn't be able to get here. It's not impossible, but it's not probable these days.
So today I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I'm annoyed with the alarms the weather service was putting out about this event. They are looking at the fact that no one is set up for very cold weather in this area. Therefore advisories and warnings have to ring alarm bells. It feels like they were crying wolf.
Was I warm enough? Up until about three in the morning, when I woke up cold. I put on more clothing and covers, but I never could get warm enough to go back to sleep. But OK, not frostbite. Can I just say that three am is the witching hour?
I mentioned to someone whose name I won't mention but whose initials are Ursula, that the next weather event here will be a warm front with a lot of rain. The temperature is about to turn on a dime. I pointed out that the collision of a warm front with a cold front is what brings about tornados. "You're not going to get a tornado." ?? I'm not sure what the rationale was in that idea, but it is true that 99 times out of 100, even if there are tornados all over the place, they are so random you're likely to be missed. So from that perspective I would say that is correct. But have I ever been in a tornado? Yes. How so? There is no such thing as tornados. I can only imagine that that remark was made by someone that just doesn't understand Tornado Alley. In all the world, this paradise is the place tornados most like to go. "U" countered my point that a very warm warm front was about to collide with a very cold cold front. "That only matters if the cold front goes on top of the warm front." ?? Well, where is the cold front going to go if the warm front is on the ground? I would say it would just head for New York. "Nay!" she cried. "That storm isn't coming here!! It's going to Ontario!!" Well, that's where it belongs certainly. Canada is where this whole situation originated, as usual.
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