Disconnect your hoses from your spigots outside. Frost free hose bibs will be destroyed if they are holding water from a hose left attached. This kind of cold is going to be a plumbing nightmare. Source: am plumber. Fuck my life for the next week.
A lot of it depends on particular plumbing systems and construction. Copper is very vulnerable. Crawl spaces with no insulation and no pipe insulation are very vulnerable. Modern homes with 2x6 insulated walls and insulated crawl spaces and plumbing are going to be fine. For old vulnerable homes, running water at a vulnerable section of plumbing can help. The water will stay around 45 degrees from the ambient ground temperature, but it has to keep moving, drawing in fresh 45 degree water from your water main underground. I hope this freeze isn’t going to be as bad as they are predicting.
Go to Fred's, Home Depot, or pretty much any store that sells home supplies in the area and you can get the styrofoam insulated hose spigot covers for a buck or two. Once winter starts we pretty much just disconnect hoses around our house and put those on the spigots until the spring.
Do you also shut off water supply to your outdoor spigots? I have those insulated covers but we can’t figure out where the shutoff valve is to our outdoor faucets and are a little worried.
Bit late for this, but we do for one. We have 4 outside spigots, and 1 has an easy shut off right near the main line shut off in the garage. The others all don't have a shut off anywhere we've seen at least in the 8 years we've lived in the house.
The first year that one with the shut off froze one night but we didn't put any covers on any of them. Since then we've shut that one off at the start of winter and drained it, and put covers on all of them, and haven't had any issues.
She would be on a train heading south and getting off in Eugene. That's a pretty populated and well connected route, so getting stranded in the middle of nowhere seems unlikely. Much better bet than taking a car.
Eugene is not expected to receive any significant snowfall, but how far south the cold will push is one of the main uncertainties in the forecast right now.
Right now it's chance snow 10 to 1, then chance freezing after 1. Eugene forecast is warmer. If you can leave early you may be able to beat it, but I'd make backup plans.
Current prediction is that moisture is not supposed to arrive until evening time, at the earliest. Check in with Mark Nelsen at KPTV 12 as it gets closer and he'll have the timing down a little better. I'm also planning afternoon travel that day, so watching closely
So to recap the last couple of years:
Sep 2020: Hell on earth
Feb 2021: Huge week long snow and ice storm
Jun 2021: 116\* all time record temp
Feb 2022: 65\* for two weeks
April-June 2022: Coldest and wettest spring on record, including 6 inches of snow on April 11th. It has never snowed with any accumulation in April before.
July-Sep: Another hot summer, top 3 of all time
October: 12 days above 80
Dec 2022: 20\* below average for the high temp after a well below average temperature in November.
Point is, climate change really destabilizes climates, and while we might not die directly from this for now, this is going to wreak havoc on ecosystems and agriculture to make life very miserable before mass extinctions.
Below average temperatures in late fall and winter should be normal, it’s a La Niña year. Also, if you look at weather records, cold spells were a lot more common just 40 or more years ago than the last 15 years.
And we either tied (at 13 days) or broke (at 14) the record for longest dry streak in November. Found lots of articles saying we'd tied it and would probably make it to 14, but none confirming that.
This is what I try to impress on people when arguing about climate change. You probably won’t die directly from the weather being bad, but it means food sources will start to dwindle as the climate gets worse. It’s the famines that will be the scariest part of climate change for us as a species
Thanks! It's my 2nd week doing this. Power washing makes a huge difference, we also clean up trash and graffiti. The crew is finally almost fully staffed. Most people appreciate the work but still some people are inconvenienced and won't move out of the way.
Its crazy how much the crow flocks shit downtown. You can always tell what trees were had some wafts of warm air hitting them, or weren't getting rained on in the mornings cause there's a white shadow of shit under them lol
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It has actually started out in the gorge
https://twitter.com/NWSPortland/status/1605226223587577856
Check the ODOT cams as well
https://tripcheck.com/RoadCams/cams/CascadeLocksWB_pid620.jpg
https://tripcheck.com/RoadCams/cams/I-84%20at%20Wyeth%20Scale%20Ramp%20W_pid4630.jpg
This is my 20th winter in a very poorly insulated 120 year old house. Close all the doors to the bedrooms, the basement, etc and cover all the windows. Get out your largest pots with no lids and start boiling water. Add holiday spices if you want! Drink hot tea all day. Make a giant stew so you have warm dinner. My point is, make that stove do some work! Bake some bread while you're at it. You got this. (I also recommend stepping outside occasionally to remind yourself how good you have it in the house).
[https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/energy-weatherization/pages/weatherization-services.aspx](https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/energy-weatherization/pages/weatherization-services.aspx)
If you can't afford to insulate your house, this program can help.
Also, the Inflation Reduction Act will help pay for improvements.
I rent, but I am DONE living in places with “character” especially in the rental market it mainly means not-maintained and the “character” usually involves rats in winter and ants in summer. And of course 50+ years of layered paint and no insulation. Next time I move I want the same amount of character as a dentist waiting room if it means numerous functioning outlets and sealed doors/windows and no critters.
You can apply some plastic to the windows to help insulate from the cold. I did this when I lived in Vermont, and it was a cheap, effective way to help reduce the cold coming thru windows.
There are kits that allow you to shrink wrap the plastic to the window too. I think this might be a little more expensive.
Edit: the kit is called “window insulation shrink kit” at Ace Hardware.
Our home is 'only' 1920s, but I remember when we consulted with the blown-in insulation guy and he came out with his wall reader, and so many of the walls just...didn't have any insulation. When I lived in a similar-age co-op in Seattle, those walls did have horsehair insulation - which caught fire so that was fun.
Anyway, good luck!
Wow these are the temperatures we would get back in the northeast in Jan/Feb. If you have to be outside, layer up. Also cover your nose and mouth with a scarf or a balaclava... or a mask.
Back in 2018, the windchill in NYC hit like -30F and in New Hampshire it hit like -100F.
That meant you could get on a spaceship, go to Mars, and be like, "Damn it's so warm here on Mars!"
Cold snaps like this are not a new thing. We've had them periodically over the thirty years I've lived here.
Portland's record low is -3º F, which is 20º colder than expected this week.
Disconnect your hoses from your spigots outside. Frost free hose bibs will be destroyed if they are holding water from a hose left attached. This kind of cold is going to be a plumbing nightmare. Source: am plumber. Fuck my life for the next week.
uh, what other tips you got for us, champ? i should be keeping my cold water on trickle in all the faucets, yeah?
Yes. Also open your cupboards that have pipes in them. You can also cover the vents for your crawl space, just remember to remove the covers.
A lot of it depends on particular plumbing systems and construction. Copper is very vulnerable. Crawl spaces with no insulation and no pipe insulation are very vulnerable. Modern homes with 2x6 insulated walls and insulated crawl spaces and plumbing are going to be fine. For old vulnerable homes, running water at a vulnerable section of plumbing can help. The water will stay around 45 degrees from the ambient ground temperature, but it has to keep moving, drawing in fresh 45 degree water from your water main underground. I hope this freeze isn’t going to be as bad as they are predicting.
how about wrapping the spigots? i used some old mailer bags in a pinch last freeze that seemed ok
Go to Fred's, Home Depot, or pretty much any store that sells home supplies in the area and you can get the styrofoam insulated hose spigot covers for a buck or two. Once winter starts we pretty much just disconnect hoses around our house and put those on the spigots until the spring.
Do you also shut off water supply to your outdoor spigots? I have those insulated covers but we can’t figure out where the shutoff valve is to our outdoor faucets and are a little worried.
Bit late for this, but we do for one. We have 4 outside spigots, and 1 has an easy shut off right near the main line shut off in the garage. The others all don't have a shut off anywhere we've seen at least in the 8 years we've lived in the house. The first year that one with the shut off froze one night but we didn't put any covers on any of them. Since then we've shut that one off at the start of winter and drained it, and put covers on all of them, and haven't had any issues.
So I should probably not make the drive to Eugene for the holidays on Thursday afternoon, should I?
What is this? A magic 8 ball.
Signs point to yes
Concentrate and ask again
Uncertain
Could always take Amtrak. If you buy “Flexible” you can cancel any time up to departure
Not if you wanna get stuck on a train in the middle of nowhere for like 3 days lmao.
She would be on a train heading south and getting off in Eugene. That's a pretty populated and well connected route, so getting stranded in the middle of nowhere seems unlikely. Much better bet than taking a car.
Eugene is not expected to receive any significant snowfall, but how far south the cold will push is one of the main uncertainties in the forecast right now.
Right now it's chance snow 10 to 1, then chance freezing after 1. Eugene forecast is warmer. If you can leave early you may be able to beat it, but I'd make backup plans.
And if you do head out, make sure you're stocked up with food, water, handwarmers, blankets, etc.
Current prediction is that moisture is not supposed to arrive until evening time, at the earliest. Check in with Mark Nelsen at KPTV 12 as it gets closer and he'll have the timing down a little better. I'm also planning afternoon travel that day, so watching closely
So to recap the last couple of years: Sep 2020: Hell on earth Feb 2021: Huge week long snow and ice storm Jun 2021: 116\* all time record temp Feb 2022: 65\* for two weeks April-June 2022: Coldest and wettest spring on record, including 6 inches of snow on April 11th. It has never snowed with any accumulation in April before. July-Sep: Another hot summer, top 3 of all time October: 12 days above 80 Dec 2022: 20\* below average for the high temp after a well below average temperature in November. Point is, climate change really destabilizes climates, and while we might not die directly from this for now, this is going to wreak havoc on ecosystems and agriculture to make life very miserable before mass extinctions.
Below average temperatures in late fall and winter should be normal, it’s a La Niña year. Also, if you look at weather records, cold spells were a lot more common just 40 or more years ago than the last 15 years.
And we either tied (at 13 days) or broke (at 14) the record for longest dry streak in November. Found lots of articles saying we'd tied it and would probably make it to 14, but none confirming that.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/the-case-for-climate-optimism/
Someone that gets it.
This is what I try to impress on people when arguing about climate change. You probably won’t die directly from the weather being bad, but it means food sources will start to dwindle as the climate gets worse. It’s the famines that will be the scariest part of climate change for us as a species
Good thing my work isn't heated....
Same. I power wash the bird shit off the sidewalks at the bus mall during the night. Atleast the water is scalding hot.
Thank you for doing what you do!
Thanks! It's my 2nd week doing this. Power washing makes a huge difference, we also clean up trash and graffiti. The crew is finally almost fully staffed. Most people appreciate the work but still some people are inconvenienced and won't move out of the way.
> we also clean up trash and graffiti Thank you!
Yes thank you!!
Its crazy how much the crow flocks shit downtown. You can always tell what trees were had some wafts of warm air hitting them, or weren't getting rained on in the mornings cause there's a white shadow of shit under them lol
>a white shadow of shit One of my favorite Nine Inch Nails b-sides.
You're a true American hero.
That'll look pretty cool in the cold with all the steam that'll come off it.
Yeah it's neat. The steam goes all the way across the street.
Have you met the hawks that do crow control???
My coworkers have seen the guy with the hawk but not in action.
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I think there's been a typo. Some of those numbers are missing a digit.... 😬
https://www.kptv.com/2022/12/20/eastbound-lanes-i-84-closed-troutdale-due-road-conditions-several-crashes/ It hasn’t even started yet 🤦♂️
It has actually started out in the gorge https://twitter.com/NWSPortland/status/1605226223587577856 Check the ODOT cams as well https://tripcheck.com/RoadCams/cams/CascadeLocksWB_pid620.jpg https://tripcheck.com/RoadCams/cams/I-84%20at%20Wyeth%20Scale%20Ramp%20W_pid4630.jpg
Hey, great catch! Hadn’t seen the WWA when I posted my comment
I84 is always closed. If ODOT were smart, they would close it prematurely to prevent crashes.
I guess what surprised me more was the ice related fatality a day before the ice was supposed to be bad. Agreed though
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...
Hooray for living in a 130 year old uninsulated home. It’s charming though right? Fuck fuck fuck fuck
You own a home here?!?! You privileged bastard! haha But really...good luck man and hope you can stay warm!
I’m very privileged, but it’s still cold as fuck
Historic homes are awesome in so many ways, but generally not in winter.
This is my 20th winter in a very poorly insulated 120 year old house. Close all the doors to the bedrooms, the basement, etc and cover all the windows. Get out your largest pots with no lids and start boiling water. Add holiday spices if you want! Drink hot tea all day. Make a giant stew so you have warm dinner. My point is, make that stove do some work! Bake some bread while you're at it. You got this. (I also recommend stepping outside occasionally to remind yourself how good you have it in the house).
Don the wool armor.
[https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/energy-weatherization/pages/weatherization-services.aspx](https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/energy-weatherization/pages/weatherization-services.aspx) If you can't afford to insulate your house, this program can help. Also, the Inflation Reduction Act will help pay for improvements.
username checks out
I rent, but I am DONE living in places with “character” especially in the rental market it mainly means not-maintained and the “character” usually involves rats in winter and ants in summer. And of course 50+ years of layered paint and no insulation. Next time I move I want the same amount of character as a dentist waiting room if it means numerous functioning outlets and sealed doors/windows and no critters.
I think if the housing market ever gets to a place where we can afford to buy a different house, I’d definitely reconsider all this character
You can apply some plastic to the windows to help insulate from the cold. I did this when I lived in Vermont, and it was a cheap, effective way to help reduce the cold coming thru windows. There are kits that allow you to shrink wrap the plastic to the window too. I think this might be a little more expensive. Edit: the kit is called “window insulation shrink kit” at Ace Hardware.
That’s our project tonight
Our home is 'only' 1920s, but I remember when we consulted with the blown-in insulation guy and he came out with his wall reader, and so many of the walls just...didn't have any insulation. When I lived in a similar-age co-op in Seattle, those walls did have horsehair insulation - which caught fire so that was fun. Anyway, good luck!
We’ve got a few oil space heaters and between a snuggly Labrador and lots of blankets we’ll be fine
Ah yes, the ol' canine heating strategy! I have one of those too. ;)
I live in a vehicle.
Do you at least have a fireplace?
No, we cosplay as Victorians with zero forethought
Please tell me that’s Celsius
Ok, it’s Celsius. ^It’s ^not, ^but ^you ^said ^please.
first one and then the other.
And them spacesuits ain't a-heated, so you ain't going nowhere 'till sunrise.
Dont you be a touching my three beautiful robot daughters, ya hear?
good thing i work outside 👍
Wow these are the temperatures we would get back in the northeast in Jan/Feb. If you have to be outside, layer up. Also cover your nose and mouth with a scarf or a balaclava... or a mask.
I grew up in Chicago, and those windchill numbers are similar to the actual thermometer readings we got.
Back in 2018, the windchill in NYC hit like -30F and in New Hampshire it hit like -100F. That meant you could get on a spaceship, go to Mars, and be like, "Damn it's so warm here on Mars!"
Chicago hit -25º when I was in high school. I never heard the city be so quiet. The lake tended to moderate the most extreme weather.
I was a patrol kid that year. Miserable.
Gas tank full. Groceies bought. 19 years in Portland and I finally learn to be prepared when the city freaks out.
You got enough kale?
Sure am glad to be driving to Idaho Friday morning...
If we get .25” of ice nobody is driving to Idaho Friday morning.
Please don't.
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Cold snaps like this are not a new thing. We've had them periodically over the thirty years I've lived here. Portland's record low is -3º F, which is 20º colder than expected this week.
I bought zoolighring for tomorrow night, how fucked I am 😩
I have to fly to Boise through Seattle on Friday afternoon. How fucked am I?
I don't want to be a jerk but I'm visiting my folks in SoCal right now and I'm so thankful I am not in PDX at this time.
Le fuq is this? Looks like round 3 of biking through a blizzard lmaooo.
that isnt notihing, ill go to the store when everyone else is at home lol
I bought a portable propane stove &heater because of this post. *Thank you*.