Weather

[sharkweek178]

You guys back east are going through something entirely different than your average bad winter storm . Even being here in cold usually snowy Montana I can’t top this with anything from even my most distant memories .

We had something similar in 2011. Worse even. With that one, there were widespread power outages. I considered myself fortunate that I only lost power for 24 hours. There were people who went a week without.
I didn't have fish then. But I was taking care of my brother's pet turtle. The house got cold but the turtle was fine after. My dog and cats didn't seem too bothered.

 

[sharkweek178]

How does a city like New York even work with snow that deep and all the cars and all the people ? Where do they put it ? What about the sidewalks ? There was one episode of Barney Miller where they had a snowstorm but it wasn’t like what you guys are getting now .

If it gets bad enough, some cities dump the snow in rivers. They try to avoid it though.

 

[Salamandra]

We had something similar in 2011. Worse even. With that one, there were widespread power outages. I considered myself fortunate that I only lost power for 24 hours. There were people who went a week without.
I didn't have fish then. But I was taking care of my brother's pet turtle. The house got cold but the turtle was fine after. My dog and cats didn't seem too bothered.

A few breed turtles here keep them out all year long like albino other color morphs but native North American turtles and yes we have had nights since I have been here in low 50's , turtles did not care less .

 

[Salamandra]

How does a city like New York even work with snow that deep and all the cars and all the people ? Where do they put it ? What about the sidewalks ? There was one episode of Barney Miller where they had a snowstorm but it wasn’t like what you guys are getting now .

I think most in NYC do not have cars , they do have garages for parking but not inexpensive at all .

 

[jaylach]

A few breed turtles here keep them out all year long like albino other color morphs but native North American turtles and yes we have had nights since I have been here in low 50's , turtles did not care less .

Many turtles in cold climates enter a form of hibernation called brumation While not true hibernation it has similarities. During brumation the metabolism is much reduced and some species can spend months under water. How do they breathe under water for months? They actually absorb oxygen from the water through blood vessels in their backside. By 'backside' I don't mean their backs. They don't get enough oxygen to survive when active by this method but it is enough during brumation.

Where Do Turtles Go in the Winter? - TurtleHolic

Do you wonder where turtles go in the winter? Well, you may be suprised to find out that during the winter, turtles usually go underwater and

www.turtleholic.com

 

[Back in the fold]

My youngest daughter in Monroe New York texted me pictures of the snow there . Cars are buried up to the door handles and she had to shovel her way out of the house .

 

[Innesfan]

How does a city like New York even work with snow that deep and all the cars and all the people ? Where do they put it ? What about the sidewalks ? There was one episode of Barney Miller where they had a snowstorm but it wasn’t like what you guys are getting now .

The new mayor passed his first big test, by all accounts, with flying colors. New Yorkers can get cranky about any laxity in this regard and at least two past mayors suffered career-ending political consequences as a result. The streets are already cleared. Salt trucks continue to roam spraying salt to prevent subsequent icing.

As for sidewalks, city law requires the owners of all buildings must have their sidewalks cleared within 4 hours of the end of the storm, if the last flakes fly by 5PM. If the storm ends at any point later in the night, they have until 11AM the next morning to clear the sidewalk. Where do they put it? It gets mounded up at curbside. The mounds can get very high, taller than me--I'm 6'1". They are currently in the 4-5 foot range. Normally, the weather warms and it melts. But these mounds may be here for a while given the predicted long spell of sub-freezing temps we're in for.

As for cars, thanks to our transit system, Manhattanites have the lowest rate of car ownership in the country. So most of the cars are from those coming here to work or play, most of whom left before the storm. Folks in the outer boroughs have greater car ownership but still well under national average. That said, folks who do have cars can either garage them for about $600 per month or park on the street and play the alternate-side parking game. Many of these car owners are currently on the street with shovels digging out their cars from the mounds of snow created by the plows.

And there's another storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico that is expected to travel up the East Coast this weekend. As of this hour there's not one day of above-freezing temps predicted between now and then...

 

[GaryE]

As for cars, thanks to our transit system, Manhattanites have the lowest rate of car ownership in the country. So most of the cars are from those coming here to work or play, most of whom left before the storm. Folks in the outer boroughs have greater car ownership but still well under national average.

I think that's a common thing in large cities. I got my first car at 33, and if I still lived in a large city, would probably not have one now. They're great for carrying groceries and getting out into the country, but in a major city with a subway, they're a pain in the butt to park, and a major expense. For the essentials, like buying fish, hopping a subway is great.

With property speculation and rising costs, a lot of urban city centres are too expensive for the kinds of shops I like, so there has been movement to the fringes. But people have been demanding and getting public transit improvements out to there too.

Here, no car and you can't get groceries. The infrastructure in my current city is weak, as it's not a dynamic place. You have to drive to do anything. And today, you actually can drive. I haven't seen our snow accumulation, but it's been a lot. We're down to straggler snowflakes now, and there's blowing, and probably whiteouts. There's a lot of slick hard ice under the plowed snow, so you have to have your wits about you and not drive like an idiot.

Our driveway was cleared at 5 am. Plows passed on the hour all day and evening. Schools and a lot of businesses closed for the day, which got a lot of people out of the way. My kids all worked from home.

I would love to live smack in the centre of a great city. I'm sometimes jealous of @Innesfan , though I'd orient towards London or Paris. Living in a sleepy post industrial town does give me space and is very cheap on a pension, but I miss that urban buzz.

 

[jaylach]

And here in Sheridan it looks like we will finish January in the 50s and start February in the low 60s.

 

[Salamandra]

Many turtles in cold climates enter a form of hibernation called brumation While not true hibernation it has similarities. During brumation the metabolism is much reduced and some species can spend months under water. How do they breathe under water for months? They actually absorb oxygen from the water through blood vessels in their backside. By 'backside' I don't mean their backs. They don't get enough oxygen to survive when active by this method but it is enough during brumation.

Where Do Turtles Go in the Winter? - TurtleHolic

Do you wonder where turtles go in the winter? Well, you may be suprised to find out that during the winter, turtles usually go underwater and

www.turtleholic.com

There was or still is not sure as have not gone by the area in 2 years a bullfrog farm by airboat tourist areas what locals call 8th street near the Glades which bred turtles and interestingly enough also bearded dragons in color morphs , it was for sale when I went to see it and lots of the turtles were in large plastic like stock tanks where they brumated just as you said .

if I was younger I would have looked into buying it and raised cichlids , turtles and birds as fascinating and a market for it , the owners were selling it as time caught up to them and their kids had no interest in continuing the business .

 

[Back in the fold]

And here in Sheridan it looks like we will finish January in the 50s and start February in the low 60s.

Sheridan and Billings are joined at the hip there Jay . That’s the exact same forecast here .

 

[Innesfan]

This mound greeted me as I turned the corner walking the dog this morning. It's about a 9 footer.

 

[Essjay]

Here in the UK we've had nothing like that, at least not in north east England.



Yesterday it wet and windy here - gusts up to the mid 40s mph and continuous rain. Today there's not a breath of wind and it's foggy. This is why my geography teacher used to say the UK doesn't have climate, it only has weather.

 

[Whitecloudminnowguy09]

Here in Georgia, we have not hit 40 for days. Wind chill a few days back was 4 degrees. We just had that freezing rain storm pass through. Thankfully, here, 1 hour south of Atlanta it was not bad, no power outages around us. BUT Atlanta got hit hard. Also on the same day as the ice storm there was a tornado warning in South GA. Insane, as far as people can trace back, this has never happened before. Ice and a tornado.

 

[Magnum Man]

I'm getting sick of the cold.... everyone else must be as well, Mrs. called to check on the furnace part yesterday, and the gal at the service company yelled at her for calling ( this was not our regular service place, but one with the top reviews, she chose because of that ) my regular service company ( used at work ), could have had the part yesterday. but they are most expensive, so Mrs. didn't use them... our personal "regular guy" retired and is in arizona, could have had the parts next day, and would have been the cheapest, if he was back in Minnesota... when we put the addition on the house 20 years ago, I put electric base board heat in the dining room, but that's on a 30 amp breaker, and it makes my meter spin crazy fast, when it's running, so we turned it off at the breaker, way back then... we turned that on the other day, and running at 100%, it's struggling to keep the addition at 60 degrees, with the rest of the house cold... but at least the rest of the old house hasn't dropped much lower than 50 degrees, until I get the fire place stoked up and roaring in the morning... yesterday, with solar gain from the windows, we got the house to 60 everywhere for a couple hours... but that baseboard heater is costing us $100.00 a day to run on high, for 24 hours... but at least we have gotten the couple water pipes unfrozen, and none of them burst...