I live in the humid south and do not cut my own firewood. They are not native to my property...they're imported by contractors who let the stuff lay around before they cut or deliver. I got into a discussion with one of them, who told me "Those aren't beetles, those are woodworms." I gave him the "lifecycle" talk. I've had as many years with them as without.
It's going to be really, really cold here for the next few days. I got my little oil heater out today and got it ready. I have it lit now just to make sure it's burning properly. The heat pump is the most efficient way to heat until the temps drop down to the mid-twenties or lower, then the heat strips come on. That's when I get my little oil heater out. It keeps the whole house toasty warm. The cost of kerosine has gone through the roof! I may not be saving any money by burning the oil heater. But I still like the toasty warm feeling.
I thought the last big cold winter, they were using solar and wind and ended up selling a lot of the energy to California which caused the break down in the grid, freezing components without enough energy to bring things back on line quickly. ???
I'm not aware of any energy sold to CA, which is not to say that it didn't happen. I remember that there were a lot of mechanical failures that caused the grid to fail (poor maintenance, frozen wind turbines, etc.) I was more curious about your "WEF" reference and getting rid of oil..?
I was being slightly sarcastic with how things are going. But I could try to find the references again if you like. Our state government has been pushing green power although there is no way for solar to work here in Wisconsin (personal experience). Millions of dollars flushed down the toilet--again! I am truly convinced the WEF is behind almost everything worldwide, including the mass migrations, green energy... they actually published their goals on their site although have taken down a lot because we are pushing back. We don't want 'to have nothing and be happy'. We want all the conveniences they have and intend to keep when we are pushed to give ours up. Gas cars and oil, coal, gas stoves, our homes as we bought them.... If they could give us alternative energy that could provide us with what we have, I would say fine. Especially if they did not fly in private jets while we can't. And they can't.
Whoo! The temp rose from -15 F. to +25 in just a couple of hours!! The wind came up and when that happens here, the temperature rises. Of course, the wind chill drops, probably about a corresponding amount, so we don't really gain much, but it is a different kind of cold.
It's 8 degrees right now. Highs/Lows for the next few days are supposed to be Thursday (21/2), Friday (18/1), Saturday (19/11), Sunday (21/8), Monday (29/26), Tuesday (26/-2), Wednesday (23/20). We had semi-heavy snow yesterday, and on Saturday and Monday, we're supposed to have snow. Still, a pretty gentle winter, though.
We got about 3" of snow Monday into Tuesday with temps down to 8°F last night. edit to add: Schools in the surrounding county are opening late tomorrow from the storm that ended yesterday morning.
Today we hit 14 ABOVE! But I could not find my bikini. Actually I am a bit worried about the warm weather coming next week. We have snow plowed up all around the farm buildings. as it starts to melt and rain comes next week, the water has nowhere to go. I will have to find a way to cut rivulet escapes through the snow dams. Not feeling it. The other problem is the roads that were plowed with the negative temps are basically ice covered as salt does not melt what was left. Add some melting water over the ice and it could be bad driving for many.
I can, but we live in a low area, so the cold air settles at the bottom. When the wind blows, it mixes the air layers and the warmer upper air gets mixed down here. If the wind is from the south, it really warms, and that is when we get snow or sometimes rain. According to the weather people, it is not supposed to snow as the high pressure over Alaska and the Yukon is keeping storms at bay. The weather guy said even the Bering Sea is storm-free, which is a rarity.
It is supposed to get up past freezing here today, 39 is projected, and should arrive by noon, and then rain in the afternoon. This should get rid of the ice and snow that are causing all of the road closures (and house fires) around Huntsville. We are still getting notices of both of these several times a day since the beginning of the cold snap started on Monday. Since we only heat the living room in the day and the bedroom at night, the whole house has been freezing cold, and it was about 35 in our bedroom when we went to bed the last few days. At night, we turn on the heater in the bedroom and turn off the one in the living room for the night, so it does get warmer overnight, but I am thankful for the electric blanket , and have been sleeping with my socks on, too. I am way too old for this kind of weather……