Cold weather coming this week, get those hose bibs covered...

And now my stupid dog won't poop in the snow. I even cleared out a huge patch in his normal spot. But no no no, that's just not a special enough spot to bless with his turd.
Years ago a book called the Horse Whisperer made it to the bestseller lists. They turned it into a movie with Scar Jo and Kristen Scott Thomas and Robert Redford. Many women hadn't wept that hard since Bridges of Madison County came out

Boot took note. If that's what the people want, well, that's surely reproducible in another animal, another circumstance, another county.

So...

Given the degree of interest shown by other PNWFF folks in this thread, and the level of detail you have already invested in this Project I do think Josh you may want script an updated version....

The Snow Turd Whisperer of Whatcom County

Chapter one- On Steamers and what kind of temperature, dewpoint and humidity circumstance you need to get one
Chapter two... In which a perfect storm occurs, whereby a turd, launched, is already frozen before landing, rattles its way down an icy frozen hill
Chapter three... Long poetic descriptions of Evan's Wife's Dog bolting out the door for turd time, sliding into the crap zones on an icy backyard

etc etc
 
Last edited:
Left for work from Gold Bar on Wednesday afternoon with 1/4 - 3/8ths of ice on top of the remnants of the 2" of snow from last week, and another 1/2" of snow on top of the ice.
I was hearing branches and trees snaping under the weight of the ice and wondered what I would come home too.
Surprisingly the commute to Everett wasn't bad and by west Sultan roads where bare and wet all the way to work.

Commute home after midnight was fine, but about Sultan the road started to have compacted ice n snow with that annoying vibrations from tire chains.
Coming into Gold Bar I notice a truck on the side of the road and think, that looks like a PUD service truck. Then I notice that theres no lights on anywhere and start seeing limbs and trees down.

Must have been 5 PUD trucks between town and my house and sure enough no power. Had another 2 inches of snow but all the trees had about a 1/2" of ice now. The house was 59° when I got home so power must have gone out fairly recently.

Got a fire going, made a drink, and check the news...


 
We're having a heat wave...a tropical heat wave....here in Spokane the low this morning is 7.

The temperature's rising, which isn't surprising.

Everyone is shoveling out from yesterday's snowstorm...if they can can.
 
Last edited:
I moved to the PNW in 1980 so by now I have lived half of my life here but have never experienced so long a cold spell as the last week. It is still only about 8 degrees at 9:00 am after hitting lows of -11 degrees in the past few days. It isn't the coldest it has ever been or the most snow but the combination of the two at the same time is not in the play book. The usual litany of crashes have occurred snarling traffic and making life basically miserable for commuters.

Many are operating on "All Season" tires with the misconception that they are actually all season. Combine that with the number of people on badly worn or nearly bald tires and you have the equivalent of an amusement park bumper car track.

EV owners are facing the reality of trying to operate their vehicles in near zero weather as just running the heater can reduce the range by over 40%. Add to that the charging stations are not doing well in the cold either, the combination of short range and faulty charging stations can add hours to what would normally be a short trip. EV's just ain't ready for the real world yet.

Despite the cold and snow I am infinitely better off here than back on the Frozen Tundra where it is even colder and with more snow. Morale is good, sister Freestone calls every day, Krusty and East Side Scott are nearby and my beloved granddaughter is only 3 miles away. Large windows provide a lot of light, the heated floor keeps my feet warm and the landowner of the VRBO keeps the driveway cleared right up to my door and handles all the trash pickup. Not a bad winter so far, when it is too nasty to go out I tie flies, listen to music and watch TV. I am going to be spoiled rotten by the time I go home!
 
The snow is back...but it is better than the ice.
😅
 
Many are operating on "All Season" tires with the misconception that they are actually all season. Combine that with the number of people on badly worn or nearly bald tires and you have the equivalent of an amusement park bumper car track.
1705611005374.png
 
Last edited:
Dang, Evan! Are you getting the blast from the Columbia Gorge winds? It is raining and holding steady at 33* here southwest of Clackamas Town Center. Hope your tree makes it.
Yeah it's been nasty and icy out here in Gresham all day. Lost power briefly a few times. Have power for now though. All our friends nearby between here and Troutdale have all lost theirs though 😔
 
Well, it’s been a day. Sump pump in crawl is going off every 2-3 minutes. Usually 15-20 when it’s really wet. Can hear the trickling water into the basin. Into the crawl looking for leaks. Nothing. Shut off the water to the house, pump still running every couple of minutes. I guess the ground is just so saturated, or a rain drain is broken and getting in, but nothing I can do about either. But at least it’s not a plumbing issue, and I’ll just let the pump do its thing.

And then at 8 the power went out again.

1030 pm update: power is back on and little sumpy is happily humming away again.
 
Last edited:
Try to reach the tree and shake the ice off. Poor thing needs to breathe.
 
Try to reach the tree and shake the ice off. Poor thing needs to breathe.
I respectfully disagree. Horticulturists recommend leaving heavily loaded frozen trees alone, since attempts to shake them is likely to cause further damage. I'm inclined to believe them, having lost several large clump white birch by doing so...while the ones I left alone managed to recover despite being severely bent over.
 
Last edited:
Agree...
After things thaw, do your pruning of broken branches, and then assess the straightening of the tree.
I usually try to straighten trees slowly, and just a bit at a time over a period of months in the winter.
Good luck
 
Back
Top