How’s The Weather Where You Are?

For the common sense or the half track?

 

I really don't know that answer, but there is a Senior Center here and some Seniors even get-together at local McDonalds in the morning for coffee. At least that's what we seen after we moved here in August 2019.

Now, if I was go make a bet on it, I'd bet that most-to-all have lived here for years.

 

Another gorgeous day; 70 degrees and sunny. Supposed to dip down to around 35 overnight.

 

Down to 35 tonight...poor girl.

 

32 F now with a low of 35 F tonight with 2 inches of snow predicted. I gassed the snow thrower last month and started it once so it should be ready, although I might just use the shovel because I don't get as much exercise this time of year. Weatherman on TV said winter is half over and days getting longer but not fast enough for me. I want to perspire again.

 

I go to the long term weather. Ours has been nuts. It is January in Wisconsin so it is supposed to be a bit below zero to maybe 18F but it is supposed to be -2 to 8 for next couple days, then high of 18, then in the 30's for four days. Then back down. It's been up and down like this for about a month. We generally get a January thaw but the gyrations in the jet stream are making me sea sick.

 

currently 35 and sunny...tomorrow 5-7 inches with high winds

 

The weather does seem to keep the population down, as does the cost of everything here. It got down to -30 F. here, but when I went out this morning to an appointment, the highway thermometer read -37 C. which would be -34.6 F. My truck still starts as long as it is plugged in and the tractor as well if it is plugged into the heater.

 

Don: I used to read a lot about all-time record temps from around the globe, but not so much lately. As I recall, the record low, excluding Antarctica, was in Siberia at around -90 or 91 F. some decades ago. And I have seen that in places it gets to at least -70 every winter.

I cannot figure out how people live there. How do they heat their homes? What about plumbing? Do they all have outhouses? And with permafrost, what do you guys in Alaska do for well water? Here, if water lines are at least 40" below ground they're safe from frost.

I expect you might be the only one here who has answers.

 

I covered the waterlines. They are "bleed back" systems, where no water is left in the line from the well to the tank. The tank is always in a semi-heated or heated space that won't freeze. The pressure tank is filled, and the water line bleeds back into the well, which is generally at lest 50 feet deep. We have an insulated septic tank, and as long as people are flushing and showering, etc. there is no problem there. For snowbirds who will leave the tanks unused, the tanks are pumped out prior to departure and the water system is completely drained unless the structure remains heated and someone checks on it periodically. On permafrost, wells are drilled to below the permafrost and no waterlines are laid. Water is pumped into heated, insulated water tanks that is delivered by truck and septic is removed by another truck from a separate insulated tank. That system is only used in villages. For those in the boonies, outhouses or "honeybuckets" and water drawn either from a hand well or river and kept inside are used. One homesteader I know used urine buckets into which all the family's urine was collected and the bucket was kept just outside the door of the cabin. When the bucket was full, it was brought in until it began to thaw, then taken out and dumped onto the garden space creating a garden of "peecicles" all over the garden area to thaw in the spring. Solid waste was deposited in an outhouse (which had no door).

Does that provide the answers to your questions?

 

Don, yes, it answers a lot of questions -- thanks!

So what is it like to have diarrhea at 3 in the morning when it's -50 outside?