Curses, Frosty! Keep your cold in Alaska!

[Jim Coke]

Greetings all,

 

First one must be able to find the ditch..

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

[ThomasPowers]

Back when I worked in the oilpatch in OK, my boss once sent me on a rescue mission: seems like some newer hires had driven their new corvette to the rig and when the storm hit they couldn't drive it out.  They had also run out of propane and food.
 
So I loaded up supplies in my 1968 ex-phone company van and headed out.  I slid off the road 3 or 4 times myself but I had 2 comealongs, 25' of log chain and 40' of wire rope with a loop at each end.  I was never farther than that from a good fence post and would pull the van back up on the road and continue.  I was 26? at the time and still had better sense than those 22 yearolds...
 
Sure did get to see a lot of pheasants hanging around where they airdropped hay for the cows stuck in the fields and them's good eating, (pheasants or cows but not the hay---I prefer oats)

[jmccustomknives]

Spanky, the only reason people in Alabama are better drivers in the snow is because they can't go anywhere.  Lol, remember last years 2 inches that shut us down for 2 days. :lol: Took me 45 minutes to drive a stretch that usually takes less than 2 minutes. :wacko: Frosty, what's your address.  I've got cold weather to return. :P

[Frozenforge]

The theory of blowing the cold air wouldnt work from here as it was in the low 30s today and predicted to get warmer! You will have to blame the Canadiens!

[Steve Sells]

It seems Jerry and "Meltingforge" like to rub it in,  2 days ago the wind chill in Indiana got to -40  and they are talking about 30F and getting warmer?

[notownkid]

When my daughter was going to college in OK a lot of her friends had cars and sometimes would offer her a ride somewhere but let it snow a couple inches and they were lined up by her dorm room to get her to Drive them somewhere.  You know they are native Vermonters when they go for their drivers license in Jan.  It's all in what you're use to. 

[SpankySmith]

True that, it's all what you're accustomed to, or not. When we had single digits last week all the schools delayed opening until late morning, just because of the temperature. People north of here were probably losing their breakfasts laughing so hard at us. But we have no infrastructure to deal with cold, many of us don't even own anything more stout than a light jacket. It snowed a couple inches here last year and shut the entire northern part of the state down for the better part of a week. We don't clear roads here because we don't have the equipment. We wait for God to do it.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Well, as storm paterns are driven by heat energy, I think I'd get prepared for more cold and snow, not to mention mor 'naters come spring.

[KevinJohnsen]

I really REALLY miss Alaska. :(

Leaving Alaska was BR FAR the biggest mistake of my life. And now I am stuck down south in Michigan here, HATE IT. But due to family issues I am stuck with no way to return for now.

 

Numbers may be numbers, and wind chill is king, but when it's -45F out every day for the entire month of November and the sun never crests the mountain to your south for over a month, numbers do count somewhat. :)

 

-40's does quite interesting things, like Ice covered roads are no longer slick, even solid thick ice on a road that is -45F has nearly as much traction as dry roads. Although the rubber in your tire is so hard that you will have flat spots on all your tires where they were sitting on the ground all night. For several miles till they work themselves round again.

 

My only "facilities" were an outhouse, and let me tell ya, you do NOT read the newspaper when your on the seat, at -40F it develops a great urgency to finish quick. :)

[Frosty]

Kevin: sounds like you enjoyed the interior. I wintered just north of Talkeetna . . .ONCE in the 70's and it pretty well fit your description. My grandmother used to tell us stories about growing up in Ohio in the 1890's. Her outhouse strategy is a gem. Everyone in the family had their own toilet seat with a sewn cloth cover and kept them behind the stove. You tuck yours under your coat, run to the outhouse and have a warm seat and bring it back with you.

 

Later someone suggested a styrofoam seat and that beats anything up to a heated bathroom. A styrofoam seat and a decent trenchcoat will allow you to do a little reading in outhouse. Ours had a terrific view of Mt. McKinley and you had to travel the 9 miles to town for a newspaper so I usually just enjoyed the view when clear.

 

If you move your vehicle a foot or two when you start it the flat spots round out while it warms up and radials aren't nearly as bad as the old nylon bias ply tires. Those really rattle your teeth for a couple miles, making a turn just to get the flat spots out of sync was a must. Modern radials are sooooo much better, most folk now just look at you funny when you talk about square tires. Maybe not in the interior though, it's a lot colder there.

 

I am soooo glad we live less than 5 miles from Cook Inlet, it rarely gets colder than the -20s. That much water moving that much really moderates the temps. The downside to that is slicker ice, it doesn't usually get cold enough for near normal traction. Good thing the road is sanded right past our driveway eh?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[DSW]

I spent the last week in Washington DC area working at my parents house. I couldn't believe they were closing schools due to the "cold". I've seen them close individual schools up near me because the heat failed, but not the whole district simply because temps dropped into the teens at night.

 

 

As far as driving in snow and ice, most people today don't realize there are more gear positions than "drive" or reverse. I know people who look at me with a blank stare when I suggest they put the vehicle in 1st or 2nd or use the engine vs the brakes to slow down.

[seldom (dick renker)]

Spent 10 years in Wisconsin and a block heater for the engine was a must in the winter. Was on an airport crash recue crew working 24 hour shifts and an airport is one of the coldest places to work besides a rail yard and ship yard. Been there done that on all three. I had a standard shift pickup and in the mornings after it got started you had to sit in it and hold the clutch in so it  wouldn't stall till it warmed everything up. And I well remember that flat tires going down the road, shook everything.

[Glenn]

Flat sided tires are a real experience. We knew just about where they would round out on the way into town. Maybe a bit further down the road if the temperature was colder than we expected. (grin)

 

There were a couple of days when the rubber was frozen to the ground. Vehicle would not or could not break loose at times. We learned not to park there during really cold days.

[Frosty]

I've never had tires freeze to the ground so as I couldn't move the rig but they used to pop loose. It's really tempting to just add some air so they stay round but don't do THAT! They'll end up WAY over pressure once they warm up and the rubber still being cold and brittle the tire can break. I mean like a dropped coffee mug break, it's a sight to be seen to be believed. About as nasty a blowout as a person can get.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Old ford automatics , when shifted in to range 2 stayed in 2nd gear, this was intended for starting on ice, as it was les likely to spin the tires. This went the way of "F" type fluid :-D but for those of us lucky enugh to still drive a standard, we can still start off in second to reduce wheel slipage.
For the uninisiated the old military 1/4 tons were "fun" on ice and snow, the little fords that replaced the jeeps had full time 4 wheel drive and a very short wheel base made for an "experiance"

[KevinJohnsen]

Kevin: sounds like you enjoyed the interior.

 

I desperately miss it. Not so much these days, but a few years ago I was to the point of thinking of packing a backpack early one spring, and saying screw everything in my life and just walking away from everything and everyone and walking north. No car to track and trace me with, going mostly cross country till I was into Canada then walking back home to Alaska. Figured it would take me 3-4 months to make it.

 

Not quite as angry and desperate now, mostly because I am no longer bankrupt with zero cash. Probably would drive now. :)

[Charles R. Stevens]

Kevine, been more than once i wanted to take the horses and pack my self back to the desert, i can relate

[SpankySmith]

They're dismissing schools early here as I write this, because.....   it's sleeting.  OMG!!!    WIDESPREAD PANIC!  Aaaaggghh!

 

Gotta love living in the south, anything falling from the sky that's even in the same family as a snowflake is a disaster. 

[ThomasPowers]

Dense fog out here; it was kind of neat as when I was climbing out of the valley it started freezing to the tumbleweeds, creosote bush and rabbit bush making a spooky white fuzzy environment.

[Frosty]

I understand Kevin, been close myself. Fortunately I didn't owe enough to prevent me from just grunt working my way back into an apartment and had friends willing to keep my stuff from disappearing. Not so willing to take in a boarder but storage really helped. I learned from those mistakes and haven't repeated since.

 

Awe, not trying to make it about me, just bona fides showing I've been in straits. I have to say I've never been so deep I'd walk across the country to be shut of them though.

 

Man lets get back to something more cheerful like dangerously BAD weather.

 

Spanky: Parts of the country that don't experience ice on roads are being responsible keeping people home if possible, children especially. How many ice/snow caused pile ups occured in Alabama? How many in heavy snow country like Michigan, Minnesota, Ill, etc.? I think yesterday or the day before there were what 200+ involved including exploding semis in Michigan. I think?

 

Low dense fog can be really cool, AT the Vine Rd. KGB intersection a bit more than 1.5mi. S. of us on the way to town there's an excellent view across the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet. On cold days it's socked in solid all the way across to the Anchorage side and looks like a frozen lake. If we're lucky we get there as the sun is just hitting it and little whispies show up brightly. Another effect I'm tempted to stop and wait for on fog covered days is an incoming tidal bore. There's always a tidal bore in Cook Inlet, tides second only to the Bay of Fundy but if it's covered in low dense fog the bore is reflected in the fog.

 

Sunshine, mountains, clouds and snow make for good viewing.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[KevinJohnsen]

Yea, that pileup and fireworks semi pileup in Michigan. Is an hour up the road from me. Good fun. We have a pileup in the area nearly every year. Lake effect snow bands are a beast. Can be clear sky sunny and within a half mile it can be total white out heavy snow.

But from my time in Alaska. Even folks up there are not immune to bad driving. :)
Many a year on the first snow of the year and the freeway heading south into Anchorage is a mass graveyard of pickups and SUV's on their roofs. I swear that one year there was an upside down 4x4 every quarter mile for 50 miles.