Posted on 02/18/2006 7:25:32 PM PST by AmericanMade1776
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - More than a quarter-million homes and businesses still lacked power across the Northeast on Saturday as temperatures plummeted following a storm with hurricane-force wind gusts that was blamed for four deaths.
Wind was still blowing at about 30 mph through the region Saturday. On Friday, wind of more than 60 mph buffeted the Rochester area and a 77-mph gust was recorded at the city's airport, the weather service said.
The storm swept out of the Midwest on Friday, carrying a wave of bitterly cold air. Temperatures in some parts of western New York plunged from 60 degrees to below freezing within a few hours. Hayward, Wis., had a morning low of 26 below zero, and afternoon temperatures in the Upper Midwest were in only the single digits Saturday. Parts of Arkansas had 5.5 inches of snow Saturday and freezing temperatures extended across the state.
Utility officials in upstate New York said crews would work through the weekend to restore power to 160,000 customers, down from at least 328,000 customers who were blacked out Friday.
More than 40,000 homes and businesses had no electricity in New Hampshire, and more than 35,000 in Maine.
Vermont, where the National Weather Service reported a wind gust of 143 mph on Stratton Mountain, had about 7,000 customers still without power, and some 1,800 customers were blacked out in Massachusetts.
Several states opened shelters, providing havens with light and heat for those without power.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
All those people without power for so long, won't their pipes freeze and burst? Maybe you can leave a little water running, but I don't know if that would be sufficient, and you have to have electricity for heat tape.
How much good would a generator do?
Wifey and I tucked away at the cottage way northern MI. About 25" of new snow. It's about 4-5 degrees below zero and the wind is howling. Wood stoves when they get going have a mind of their own. It's so danged hot a couple windows are open in spite of the frigidity.
I like to do my part in global warming scenerios.
FReeping is no fun on dial-up. Beer, page load, beer, page load, beer..
Well, I hate to admit this, but it was 43 above today at 5:30 pm, under clear skies. In Alaska. In February. Go figure.
Gosh I did not know that....it defeats the whole purpose of it....we have a wood burning insert....and we love it
Beautiful stove...
Also, you have to buy pellets. I plan to cut most of my own wood. This year I had to buy a couple of cords because I started late, in November, but next year I hope to be a little more efficient about it.
Ha...Freeping on dial-up.
I remember how hot it use to get from the Wood stove and opening the sliding door to let in some air.
Sounds like fun to me :-)
You can rent a wood splitter too, if you have a whole lot of wood to split.
Don't know how we could have stayed in our home without it!
Ours is black, your's is prettier!!!
Things get very interesting very quickly.
Can't wait until spring.
However, just about all pellet stoves require electricity. They don't use that much power, only a few amps, but it's still power.
I went to Home Depot and looked at generators, in case the power went out. Generators are damned expensive: $500 and up, and it's another appliance I'd need to keep stored and I'd have to use it maybe once a year for a few hours.
Thus, I got an inverter instead. It was $69 or $79. You hook it to your car battery and then you get 120 volt outlets. You can't run the fridge or a window A/C or probably even a big microwave with it, but you can run the pellet stove (I checked the amperage). Power hasn't gone out yet, but if it does, I'll have a solution.
I'll just leave the car idling until the power comes back on. Even if that's 12 hours, it seems more efficient than buying a whole generator that needs period servicing. I figure my car can idle for probably 12 hours on a full tank of gas. Maybe more...
I'll also use the inverter on the sump pump if it's above freezing and raining hard so our crawl space / basement doesn't flood. Since we're sort of halfway down a hill, I only need to run the sump pump for about 10 seconds and then it'll siphon automatically since I can put the end of the hose lower than the basement floor...
Mackinac Island, MI Photo Taken: Saturday February 18, 2006
In freezing weather a fireplace doesn't do much good. A fireplace insert is a lot more efficient. It puts more heat into the house and sends less up the chimney.
You can get a generator, but you need to have an electrician install a throw switch at the main power panel, and you also have to keep running the generator at regular intervals to recharge the battery, and you need to keep the gasoline reasonably fresh, or it's liable not to start when you need it.
Also, you may need to install a switch that cuts out most of the circuits and only runs the basic things the generator can support, such as the furnace, circulators, well pump, septic pump if you have one, and so forth. Otherwise you need a pretty big generator.
Photo Taken: Saturday February 18, 2006 — niellsville, WI [
I grew up in upstate western New York.
Just about every year there, there are about two weeks around the 20th of January that can only be decribed one way.
Ball bustin' brutal!!
I remember call my mom a few years before she passed and her tellin me "It warmed up. It's only 5 below now.".
Then, in late June or August, it gets so humid you stick to your bed at night...
I do miss the seasons, though.
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