How did you folks in the midwest do last night? I was supposed to get 8-12 inches of snow. I got only 2, but the top 3/4 inch or so is ice. I had my dog out back twice this morning and as he ran it sounded like horses because he was breaking through that icy layer with every 55 pound step. Right now at just about noon it is snowing and 25 degrees, but the sun is out, Strange days. Just wait until the next time I see that groundhog!!
"Up here" in Victoria, we had roughly a foot of snow fall this weekend! It's melting quickly, as the rain we are used to seeing arrived Sunday night to wash it all away.
You have some kind of weather thing where you have warmer waters off your shore that keep your climate temperate, right? We are in the middle of a polar inversion where the places that don't usually get severe winter weather are getting it. 4 degrees in Texas last night. 2.5 million people with no electricity. A Twitter friend sent me a picture from San Antonio Texas, the very south border of the USA, and they had 5 inches of snow. Really nasty weather. Texas has a 135 car pileup this week! Cars just couldn't stop on the ice. In those areas that rarely to never see snow, they just don't know what to do and they have no equipment to care for roads.
If you Canadians would quit sending your cold air this way...!!! Where I live I have 200 miles of Lake Erie that the cold air blows across and when it hits shore it dumps on us.
We got a good foot of snow last night. That was the first big snowfall thus far. It has been a very mild winter so far.
One thing some may not know is that tires in the southern warm states are not the same as tires in colder climates. Southern tires are useless in any kind of snow, but of course no tire is good on ice unless it has chains on it or studs in it.
I chatted with a guy last night who is near Atlanta, but a New England transplant, and he laughed at how the people down there lose their mind when the first flake hits the pavement.
It's 8:40 and the temperature is currently UP to 9 degrees!! The dog went out 3 times so far and only once left the porch. I only have a few inches of snow put the top is glazed over with ice. I MAY take him for one walk today but it's too cold for me. He doesn't know about the cold because he is bulked up for winter and has a fur coat. I stay bulked up all year and don't have more than a hoodie! I don't want him out too long in this weather so he paws don't get frostbite. High today is forecast at 22.
We only got down to about -8C (that is about 47F for my American friends). That is pretty dang cold, but being Canadian and all I'm used to it, and at least we were prepared. Luckily on the west coast our winters are brief so that is about the worst we'll get. We have basically the same climate that Seattle does. My friends who live in Alberta regularly deal with much, much worse.
I do feel for everyone going through harsh weather down in Texas, though. It's understandable a place like that wouldn't adapt well to a freak cold snap.
Mine was out long enough to pee and poop and his front left started to feel the effects already. Less than 5 minutes. That's why there will be no walks. I don't have boots for him and I have never, in 9 dogs, had a dog willing to wear them.
My two HATED the fresh snow, and our male (Alfie) even growled at it!
But, once the rain came and started to melt the snow, the dogs actually preferred it... they didn't get the zoomies or anything, but they definitely inspected the entire soggy snow covered yard!
We had nearly a foot of snow and a lot of frozen water lines. It's 10F here right now.
Our main problem is the lack of snow removal equipment because snow is very rare here.
As a lad growing up in Minnesota it was quite common to see -50F weather many times. However, I don't recall our schools closing even once. We did have a "mud vacation" in the Spring each year.
It got to -9F yesterday. We had a power outage for several hours.
My vet suggested covering paw pads with petroleum jelly. It protects the bottom of the paws from snow, ice and salt and it's easy to clean off once you return inside.
Atlanta gets more ice storms than many places. Ice is dangerous driving no matter how experienced a driver you are. Having said that, driving around Atlanta is dangerous no matter the weather!
Northern drivers have nothing to brag about Eddie. I well remember getting into a rental car at O'Hara airport and hearing about an eleven car pile-up just outside O'Hara on the expressway.
When we get a lot of snow I have to take the snowblower out in our back yard and make a couple of trails for our little Shih-Tzus. Right now the snow is about 4" (102mm) over our largest dog's head. Note large is 17 lbs (17.7 kg)!
Mario I shovel a 10x10 square for my dogs. The last one was short and respected that boundary. This one is twice the size and just jumps over the wall. The last time I took him out an hour ago I leashed him so he stayed in his "rink".
Before the storm I lay a tarp over the ground. When it's time to go out I pull a corner of the tarp back so the dog can sniff and see the ground. Once the storm is over I remove the tarp altogether.
Before the storm I lay a tarp over the ground. When it's time to go out I pull a corner of the tarp back so the dog can sniff and see the ground. Once the storm is over I remove the tarp altogether.
Before the storm I lay a tarp over the ground. When it's time to go out I pull a corner of the tarp back so the dog can sniff and see the ground. Once the storm is over I remove the tarp altogether.
I love the idea but 2 things stand out to me. 1 is that I never watch TV or any kind of news so storms are surprise to me when I wake up. 2nd, our storms usually have 20 mph winds.
That being said, I could put a tarp out and leave it there overnight every night in winter, and I could weight it down with bricks on it to hold it. Got to beat what I just did, which was shovel about 1/4 of what I usually do to give him a pee place. That's as far as I dared go without risking a heart attack as heavy as this crap is with the ice layer.
Man. This is not letting up. It gets right up to freezing during the day and then drops to the teens at night. So whatever good the warmer hours did freezes back over again at night. My driveway is like a hockey rink right now. I was able to climb it I think it was Tuesday but I won't try it again unless it reaches 33 degrees or better and we have some sunshine. Back to ordering groceries for delivery if I start to run short. Though I just looked at something online and it should hit the mid 30s tomorrow.
I had a bag of rock salt develop into a huge chunk, Eddie. I was going to toss it out then decided to get it out of the plastic. I place the chunk on the drive the started kicking it every so often.
So far, it is doing a really good job of breaking up the ice.
Not the best way of doing things but it is working.
I like Calcium Chloride up here as opposed to salt as far as safety. Works in below zero weather.
"drops to the teens at night" .. I'm pretty sure we only got to the teens in the daytime with a bright sun for the last week. And wind .. live by one of these lakes for a while .. <grin> I have an attached garage and the beer in the garage is getting chunky (frozen).
I ain't complaining, except that I had to shovel snow enough to get one of the SUVs out to go get a new snow blower; the last one gave up the ghost when this storm hit.
A few handfuls of Calcium Chloride pellets will melt things real good, and keeps them melted. Salt works in December, but by February it gets iffy. Don't get the Calcium (or Magnesium or Potassium) Chloride flakes, get the pellets, learned that lesson over the years. The flakes seem to just melt away on top, but the pellets eat through the ice/snow to the bottom. Works much faster than salt too.
What stinks here is that I have to use Safe Pet, which costs a kidney and requires a mortgage. Like $17 for a container the size of a bottle of treats! I try to find it all summer long on sale, but rather than being on sale it is just not sold or sold for full price. Rock salt and calcium chloride are both really rough on a dog's paws. We have now had so many warmer than freezing days in a row my driveway is pretty much done for until next week when we will see 40s for a few days.
If your dog will let you, put some petroleum jelly on the bottom of the paws. Protects from the ice melt and cold while outside and easy to clean off once inside.
What stinks here is that I have to use Safe Pet, which costs a kidney and requires a mortgage. Like $17 for a container the size of a bottle of treats! I try to find it all summer long on sale, but rather than being on sale it is just not sold or sold for full price. Rock salt and calcium chloride are both really rough on a dog's paws.
Yeah, I was talking about the driveway out front, with the ice. The dogs go out back, which I shovel an area for .. they don't want to be out there long in these temps anyway; they just need a 'spot' cleared. What exactly are the ingredients in Safe Pet products? I thought they were basically magnesium chloride based .. The chlorides melt and evaporate pretty quick. Never done a test comparing magnesium and calcium but I can find Calcium Chloride in stock during a blizzard at an affordable price (for its value at the time)
If your dog will let you, put some petroleum jelly on the bottom of the paws. Protects from the ice melt and cold while outside and easy to clean off once inside.
I have heard that from several people, but let me ask this. It's too cold to apply it outside. If I apply it inside, then I have a trail of Vaseline footprints between where I apply it and the door, and it will all be worn off by the time he gets outside. It is currently 14 degrees here.
I remember back in my mailman days when it was cold and windy in winter. I used to use Vaseline on my face to keep my cheeks from getting windburned. That Vaseline would acquire the temperature of the air very quickly. He needs his pads protected from the cold snow more so than whatever ice may form between the pads. His pads crack when they get cold. I have to measure his pads today and buy him boots. I saw some that have straps that cross across the dog's back (so right rear to left front) and that tension keeps them on. I have yet to have a dog that didn't fight me when I put boots on them. The one 2 dogs ago literally sat in the snow and ripped them apart to get them off her feet. That was $37 that lasted me about 3 minutes. This guy is like a tank with a tail so I can't imagine THAT wrestling match! We'll see how he endures boots!
Jim, do you get SUSTAINED cold down there? It was either you or Pat who told me once that when you get snow it usually melts away by 10am. What spas me up here is the days that drone on at 11, 14, 15, 9, 12... Cold weather just absolutely drains me. And it's cold here from wakeup to bedtime in winter. That being said, until the last 2 weeks winter has been incredibly mild. Texas got our share this year.
We typically get two to three cold snaps a year. Each one typically lasts from three to five days. I've lived in this area since 1981. In that time we had one cold streak that lasted for three weeks. I'm defining a cold streak as never getting above 32 F or 0 C.
That's pretty good weather! Probably why NC is a popular move-to destination. We had 5 overnight and it's 15 right now, though the sun is out and that makes all the difference. I usually watch my friend in Oklahoma. What she gets, we get 2 days later. She had high 40s yesterday. Forecast for me tomorrow is a high of 47. Of course she has that danger every spring of going to sleep in Oklahoma and waking up in Missouri, so there's that.
