Pac NW hit hard by freezing rain stowm

[Brewdude]

All

We got hit pretty badly today in the greater Seattle area. Had some freezing rain come in on the tail end of much snow over the past few days. What the snow didn't take out the ice did.

Now 180,000 without power, me included. Estimates are that it'll be Sat before power is restored to my area. And now the temps are in the upper 20s and more snow falling, and I have probably 14-16" snow already!

I've got a woodstove and a small generator, and am able to access the internet since it comes over my phone line which is still intact for now. No TV. I've got the house temps up in the mid 60s finally, and have plenty of wood to burn.

Only running the gen for a few hrs at a time to preserve fuel and run the fridge to prevent spoiling. The roads are a mess. Trees and big limbs down all over the place. Pretty scary stuff.

Fortunately I still have running water so can flush the toilet. I'm on a private water system and that's on a backup generator. And I am Coleman equipped so have a lantern and stove, plus canned food. And beer, don't forget the beer! LOL!

Yup, it sucks. Don't want to make this a whining thread as I've been through worse. Back in '06 we had a major windstorm and was without power for 6 days!

Only going to be on line for a short period so will update when I can. And yes, the brewery is without power as well. Bad juju.



RR over and out....

 

[DrT999]

Best of luck on getting the power back soon! With running water, heat, beer, and tobacco, many situations can be made bearable!

 

[user 2031]

*

 

[Kyle Weiss]

...not to commiserate, but we're stuck in 60 MPH winds again with no precip (been bone dry for two months) and a raging wildfire threatening the town again.

Been a weird winter.

Stay safe!

*cough* Stupid (non-pipe) smoke. It's the only conditions I can't go outside for a pipeful.

 

[Brewdude]

Sitting here in thermal underware, two sweatshirts, and a hat. Can't seem to get the ambient temp above 65 with the woodstove, but still I'm not complaining.

What's gonna suck is later tonite when I head to bed and the woodstove goes out. Prolly going to wake up to the 40s before I can build a new fire.

Damn....

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Sitting here in thermal underware, two sweatshirts, and a hat. Can't seem to get the ambient temp above 65 with the woodstove, but still I'm not complaining.

What's gonna suck is later tonite when I head to bed and the woodstove goes out. Prolly going to wake up to the 40s before I can build a new fire.

Damn....

It's like being in your own cabin! :cheers:

Sooooo I got too much fire, you have too much freezing rain... :study:

 

[DrT999]

What's gonna suck is later tonite when I head to bed and the woodstove goes out. Prolly going to wake up to the 40s before I can build a new fire.

One year as a grad student I lived in a cottage in upstate NY with only a woodstove -- so yes, you probably will! Hopefully you'll still have enough coals to get it warm fairly quicky!

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

That sucks brother - at least you won't have to worry about keeping your beer cold!

 

[Richard Hester]

I am sorry to hear this brother I hope they get your power back up before saturday. Thank God for your wood burning stove and pray for those folks who dont have one. Take care and God Bless.
Best Regards
Richard

 

[plumbernater]

You are in our prayers along with the other folks there. I grew up with burning wood for heat. That was all we had. The old farm house had three heaters in it. So you know what my job was all summer. Put a fan on the heat to circulate it should help the temp spread through the house. Hang in there brother

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

We had an early snow storm up in New York this year that killed power to a lot of folks. We got one of those job site heaters for my mother-in-law. It looks like a metal lamp that you would see in an auto mechanic's shop, but it screws onto a propane canister. It was only about $40. If you can't find one up by you and you think you'll be down for a while I'll be happy to run to Home Depot and overnight one out to you.

ETA: this is the one we got, looks like you can get overnight shipping directly from HD for <$15.

 

[roogles]

Sitting here in thermal underware, two sweatshirts, and a hat. Can't seem to get the ambient temp above 65 with the woodstove, but still I'm not complaining.

What's gonna suck is later tonite when I head to bed and the woodstove goes out. Prolly going to wake up to the 40s before I can build a new fire.

Damn....

Hope you made it through the night OK and got the fire going this morning.

Hang in there!

 

[MartinH]

That's crazy stuff. This is a strange winter. It's been so mild here in the south, we've barely worn winter clothes, but other parts of the country have seen off and on chaos.

Best of luck to you. Stay warm and stay dry. I heard that a good pipe and adult beverages help with this kind of weather. :lol:

 

[Brewdude]

Fri morn and power still out.

Made new fire, house temps fell to 55 overnight. Fired up the gen, made coffee and some eggs on the Coleman stove. Was awakened many times at night to the sound of tree limbs coming down from the weight of the snow, plus the snow sliding off my roof. Fortunately no damage to the house or my car.

Got a call from my brewery asst who said she had power at home and apparently part of town where the brewery is. So that's encouraging.

Now just got light here, so will trek out to the ring road in my subdivision and assess the possibility of driving down there. Supposed to rain for the next few days and stay above freezing so that should help melt some of this.

My neighborhood is always one of the last to get power back on since we're more or less at the end of the transmission line.

Time to go stoke the fire. Thanks for the concern all. I'll be OK.

 

[dshpipes]

Now just got light here, so will trek out to the ring road in my subdivision and assess the possibility of driving down there. Supposed to rain for the next few days and stay above freezing so that should help melt some of this.

My neighborhood is always one of the last to get power back on since we're more or less at the end of the transmission line.

Time to go stoke the fire. Thanks for the concern all. I'll be OK.

Sounds like things are going well, considering. Stay safe and warm. I hope your power snaps back on sooner than you expect!

 

[Brewdude]

Update:

Power still out. Just heard it may be Sun/Mon before our area is restored. Puget Sound Energy is my service provider, and they report 230,000 without power in their service area. The main feed line over the Cascades got hit, so that's major stuff.

Temps have been above freezing all day, some light rain. Had several big tree limbs come down last night but didn't suffer any damage. I'm surrounded with big Doug Firs.

Staying as warm as I can. Still have wood to burn and canned food. Guess I can be thankful for that.

Cheers,

RR

 

[jlong]

I grew up in Tacoma and visit WA State at least once a year as I have relatives in Oly and Fedral Way. It was XMAS 96 I believe that WA got a freak 12" snowstorm. It turned to ice that night bringing trees and branches down all over knocking out power and blocking roads. It also caved in flat roofs that weren't designed for that snow load. I was staying with my parents who lived in a cottage on Hartstene Island at the time and we were stuck on the island with no power for 9 days. They had to bring in power line crews from California, Oregon, and Nevada. Luckily Dad had several litres of Jack Daniels and Mc Naughtons stashed away. Otherwise we would have suffered and died. SeaTac was shut down for a week and my plane back home got delayed for 4 days along with a few thousand other passengers. Talk about an airport crammed like sardines.

In these here parts, 12" snow dumpings and ice storms are the norm. There must be a one city or state snowplow for every 1000 people. They salt the **** out of the roads as well. Around Feb, the snow is all banked up along the roadsides 4 ft high and black from exhaust. Freakin ugly as hell.

 

[DrT999]

Still have wood to burn and canned food. Guess I can be thankful for that.

May your woodpile stay high!

 

[Brewdude]

Survived another night. Not much to update except now they're saying Mon/Tue before power is restored.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Man that sucks. How are you passing the time?