As I type this post, my furnace is blowing hot air into my very warm home, and I do not take that for granted.
In Westmoreland County, the present temp is a scorching 14 degrees, the snow cover has remained a stable 12-16 inches, and the wind chill factor is somewhere between, bone chilling and skin freezing.
I constantly thank my God, for where I was born, the fact that I had two married, Catholic parents, was raised with strict {the paddle} discipline, and a wife of 60 plus years...in addition to my Trane Furnace. This is not a commercial for Trane, just a post of gratitude, it's nice to be comfortable in your home, in this freezing weather.
This writer suggests -5 in western Pennsylvania is as low as it’s gotten this winter. I drove through Kittanning this morning. It was -15 F. That was the actual temperature, not the wind chill according to the outside temperature gauge on my car. He’s correct that the snow isn’t melting. Maybe some will this week when the forecasts are for temperatures barely above freezing for a couple of days.
These temperatures coupled with nights and days with wind gusts over 30 mph. I’ve been watching one of the power plants in this area that I drive by every morning. It’s still powered by coal. It appears to be operating at full capacity—its four towers are spewing enormous clouds of water vapor every day for the last two months. That’s what’s keeping your furnace filling your home with warm air—that trusty old plant and the coal trucks I pass that are loaded with good Pennsylvania coal that is heading to the plant to keep the lights on and people from freezing to
death.
No windmills or solar panels can manage that.