Posted on 12/08/2008 1:13:10 PM PST by JohnJeykis
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - December 8, 2008 (OWSweather.com) Rare 50 year Arctic Blast Sets Sights On Southern California.
With a week away, and a sure sign of things to come, OWSweather.com is making preparations on the server to handle the traffic from this next event. UJEAS is in line with the majority if not all the other models in keeping a near historical arctic air mass into the Southern California region.
With a warm November, Southern California is finally ready for cold storms to make their way in. Resort level snow will be likely next week, and in pretty hefty amounts if things stay on track. OWSweather.com Meteorologist Kevin Martin predicts a 50 year event. While Martin is usually conservative on these events, the pattern highly favors it.
"We are in a pre-1950 type pattern, "said Martin. "We know we are due for a winter storm sometime this year. The type we may be dealing with will be ranked up there with the known years before 1950, which set record low daytime temperatures into the forecast region. With this, may come low elevation snow."
(Excerpt) Read more at owsweather.com ...
No kidding! It got down to less than 10 degrees here in 1990!!! Everybody had busted pipes all over the place!!!
Just got a reply back from Martin. Said it looks “colder” than 1990.
It’s so much easier to drain the sprinklers and wrap and old coat around the outside faucets than it is to dig up a cracked pipe.
I’ll bet there is a lot of weather stripping sold in the next couple of weeks. LOL
If your heating ducts are in the crawl space that has a lot to do with keeping the pipes from freezing. Another one is if your crawlspace vents are blocked with bushes, that will raise the temperature under the home.
Wrapping a towel or old jacket around the outside faucets and put cardboard or plastic over the vents will keep the heat under a home during freezes and protect your water pipes.
For those of you scoring at home (from left to right)....
Erasmus, Thomas More, Henry Guildford, Robert Cheseman and Thomas Howard.
It happens there a lot more than in LA, it’s about 1,000’ higher in elevetion.
Years ago Glendale annexed La Crescenta so that the developers could void the 1,500’ elevation restriction that was law in Glendale.
Since 49 we have had snow fluries at my home in the hills in Glendale but nothing that collected in any amount since then.
One thing that really helped us when we had a lifetime (50 year) low of -24 or so was that three feet of snow was around the house (mobile home). Faucets were covered with the styrofoam cups but they were way under there and had plenty of snow insulation.
Go buy a roll of R rated inside the wall insulation. Wrap that around the spigot (and any exposed piping) . Then take a plastic garbage bag (I use the 33 gallon size) and put it over the insulation. Tape it up with 200 mph (duct) tape... you're good to go when it's 20 below.
Variations of this theme work on all pipe situations as well, tried and tested!
brrrrrrrrrrrr!
I wonder if I need to buy a coat.
Instead of “tan lines” she’s gonna’ get “freezer-burn lines”!
Shhhh...crops freeze, and prices to UP!
It snowed in Bakersfield in 1998...and in 1961.
What is your point?
Good call! I got all but Cheseman.
‘49 sounds about right. I was at St. Pauls Catholic grade school on Crenshaw and .....Pico I think. Maybe on block off of Crenshaw. Ghetto now.....too bad.
I like that one. With our horses we tell people to keep the shiny side down. Meanin their horse shoes if some don’t get it.
I seem to remember it being the last week of '89. It was 17'F Saturday morning when it hit. Friday's high the day before was 38'F. Not good for the Central Valley.
Waterlines broke, big-block boat motors cracked, pool heaters split, pool pumps had their lids 'lifted' an inch above where they'd been screwed down. Every pool that hadn't run a pump overnight had two inches of ice, the pump frozen, and other problems that could only be detected later (when you could thaw things out and get things primed again).
This was considered an 80 (eighty) year event. Here's what you do if it gets anywhere near the low twenties: run your pool or spa pump from 9pm to 9am. The electricity won't cost anywhere near replacement costs.
If you have solar on a pool, drain it. Most have a valve that closes during operation (to keep the water in) and will open to drain (allow air into the system) when the solar is off. If in doubt, drill a hole in both lines headed to the roof and plug/plumb them later. Some thoughtful installers put drain valves in, if so, open them first.
Wrap hose bibs and exposed waterlines outside with split-foam pipe insulation(at Home Depot or Lowes- 1/2" or 3/4") and finish with black tape (also available there).[Cutting the foam with a razor knife is an art, don't fret- just imagine you're building a picture frame when you get to any 90's] *Some homes were built with a waterline entering near the garage and going over it through to the water heater, etc. Insulate this line too, if this is your case (not too common but some folks came home to a flooded house when this pipe froze).
For folks in the foothills who happen to have leaks (like Sierra Wasp) it's still a good thing [and I commend him for his sacrifice]. Our lakes need the water. Our fish need the water. And, you'll be doing the 'green' thing. Matter of fact, I'll be entering the next bass tournement running a sailboat. How green is that?
You and I are both up way too late contemplating this speculative subject. Your sense of history on this is very good and better than mine, by far!!!
Well done!
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