If you look at the current snow maps and storm maps available, Chris and his family, and me and my family all live within the wibbly red area (in New England) labeled “Armageddon Area.” They are measuring likely snow in feet, not inches. We are ready and prepared for the weather, and have plans in place for if power goes out. If you don’t hear from us for a few days, you know the reason why. We’ll post when we can, and give updates. You update us, too!
If you live in an area about to get hit with ice or snow, and you aren’t used to that, please be prepared. That doesn’t mean bread and milk, although those aren’t a bad idea either. It means making sure you have enough food to last through the worst of the emergency (because having to go out to get eggs or whatever is never a good idea). It means having firewood on hand to make a fire, if you have the means to do so. Have a camp stove ready to go, with extra fuel, so that you can cook if your power goes out and you’re dependent upon an electric stove. Know how you’ll keep warm, should you lose power and heat. Have something to use as a port-a-pottie if you can’t use your bathroom due to frozen pipes.
To generate heat, pick a single room and designate it “the warm room.” Everyone stays in that room unless they have to pee, and trust me, they’ll move quickly to get back to the warmth. Get every blanket, towel, woolen thing, tablecloth, and bring it to that room. Seal that room off so that the heat stays inside it. Cover windows, doors, doorways to halls, anything that might have a draft. If you lose power and must stay at home for a while, drag a mattress into that room so you can sleep there as well. If temps go into the single digits, consider setting up a cheap tent in your warm room, and sleeping inside that to conserve heat.
Ways to make safe heat:
- candles and oil lamps
- fireplaces (though they sometimes let out more heat than the give you)
- wood stoves
- indoor safe (RATED) propane heaters like Little Buddy
- hot water bottles
- hot food
- layers of clothes and blankets
Ways to kill yourself:
- use your stove, outdoor rated gas camp stove, popcorn popper, etc to make heat
- bring your generator inside the house
- leave candles and/or any flame unattended
- putting flames where they could get knocked over by a pet
- eating snow (it lowers your body temp very quickly)
You can use tea candles to cook over, if you’re desperate. Having a camp stove makes it much easier. I prefer propane to butane, because in the temps we’re expecting, the butane won’t work. It’ll fail more often than not. So be aware. You also don’t have to have the fancy folding stove like in this video for the sterno stove. I just have an old wire basket that was once used for doing deep frying, and I turn it over top of my candles. I put my pot on top of that. Voila, stove. You can also put a brick on either side of your heat, then use a baking rack. And remember, you can always go outside and cook, even when it’s cold. Snow is an insulator, so if you dig yourself a snow pit and cook in the center of it, it’ll help keep you warm and keep the breeze off your fire.
You forgot to mention water. Have gallons of water handy. While you can melt snow for water, that takes heat, which you are conserving for keeping alive.
Aside from that, everything else is valid. I am not a prepper, but I do camp and backpack. I have the cooking stove(s) and a supply of fuel. I have water filters. I have sleeping bags rated to below freezing for comfort, and down to the teens for survival. I am also able to improvise as needed.
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Fingers crossed, this storm is not going to hit as hard as they are saying, but be prepared for the worst, and hope for the best. I am lucky enough to be on the west coast, so this will not impact me, but I do have family and friends in the path.
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Stay warm, stay safe.
12+ K generator and plenty of propane takes care of all the above.
yall be safe. I might be taking a snow day Monday
Valid point.
However, not all of us are ready, willing, or able to set up a whole house generator. And, most of us do not really have a justification for that expense. If I lose power twice in three years in my area, it is a lot. Then again, we had enough storms over the decades that improvements to the power grid are robust enough to withstand most storms and accidents.
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And, if you have a generator, no matter how large, make sure you have fuel. My little 2KW Honda will keep a few appliances running as needed, but not the whole house. And, I make sure I have plenty of gas.
We have a 6 kW Honda generator, hooked to a transfer switch. All the breakers are marked so I know which ones to turn off when running on the generator. 6 kW is nice, it’s compact but still sufficient to supply all the necessities, including refrigerator, well pump, and cooking.
as far as expenses go, a brand new 12k is 8 thousand up..
I found a guy near Bangor that sells refurbished generators. I bought a 12k Winco, Honda powered runs on propane-$1200. he test ran it for me with 15k watts worth of heaters tied to it and it didn’t even grunt. SOLD.
we lose power here alot(ish) in the last couple years ive had it,7 times. from a few hours to few days.
I did the hook up through a 60 amp switch and a 60 amp breaker in the main panel. I shut off main breaker and go. if you are handy it can be done reasonably. I have less than 2 grand in the whole setup.
I always forget to mention water because of where we are (very water rich area). Also, I don’t mind melting snow for water, if necessary, because we always have the wood stove going anyhow. The amount of ergs it takes to melt the snow while warming me is pretty minor. But it does matter for other people who don’t have a wood stove that runs 24/7!
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Right now, our “weather guy” is telling us his prediction is 19.5″ to 22″, which is not too bad. We got the snow blower home this morning, so it isn’t like we have to hand shovel. I’ll actually be at my boyfriend’s for the weekend, so it might take everyone a day or two extra to retrieve me. And I’m okay with that! 😉
Texas Gov. Abbott issues Disaster Declaration ahead of winter storm
https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/state/2026/01/22/governor-issues-disaster-declaration-for-texas-ahead-of-winter-storm/88305899007/
a disaster declaration covering 134 of 254 counties across the state of Texas
QUICK! Everyone! Run to the store and buy as much milk, bread, and toilet paper before everyone else does the same thing
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/176rHsZXU5/
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2436288236825477
Stay safe – stay warm- time to read a good book or 2 – Irish coffee sounds good too
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This is an “Irish Peter” – Named after the inventer Mr. Peter Denzer, late of Baltimore, MD.
also cuz if you drink more than one, you are fu*ked.
Into a LARGE mug, place 1/2 shot Irish whiskey, 1/2 shot Irish cream, 1/3 shot each of amaretto, cream de coco, and Kahlua – fill with HOT coffee – enjoy while looking out the window of a warm room, watching the snow fall outside.
(Warning, this has a kick like a 2-year-old mule)
I don’t like Abbott, but I’m glad he’s taking this seriously. This is a big deal for us in the NorthEast, and we’re USED to this crap. Getting several inches (never mind *feet*) down south is a bad thing. The infrastructure simply isn’t in place, nor should it be… paying for snow plows that get used twice a decade is stupid and wasteful. That said, it’ll be cheaper for them in the long run for people to just stay home for a couple of days until everyone gets dug out. It’s not like New England where school might be canceled Monday (or might not LOL) but everyone else still has to go to work.
I live not too far from Chris & Allyson so I’m looking at the same 12-18 inches forecast (as of this morning’s news). Out house is a contemporary with high ceilings and hardly any doors, so it isn’t well suited to wood heat. We have some fireplaces that work, sort of, but not well enough.
So my answer is like Curby’s: a generator with ample fuel. That takes care of water, heat, cooking. The snowblower (tractor mounted 5 feet wide) is all set to go, ample fuel for that too. NH roads tend to be no problem; unlike some other nearby states, clearing roads is done efficiently, promptly, and well. We have plenty of supplies for a week or more but I fully expect all the roads to be useable by end of Tuesday, if not sooner.
I didn’t realize you were so close. 🙂 Very cool! Right now, I’m being told we’re getting 19-22″, so we’ll see what happens. Could be more, or less. I’m not overly worried. All the places I live and hang out are fully functional without power. At my boyfriend’s place I cook in the fireplace and we use that for heat. At home, we have the wood stove, lots of wood (and standing timber out back if it’s necessary), and for heaven’s sake I’m a reenactor. If I can’t cook in a snow fire, there’s something wrong with me. 😉 Our stove is gas, so it runs even without power. If I need to bake, I just do it stovetop or I do it with coal outside. All good!
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I’m expecting schools out til Wednesday, but everything will be largely cleaned up by Tuesday mid morning or early afternoon. The inner cities will have it harder (they don’t have natural spots to dump snow).
it is weird how so many up here where we have WINTER are so suprised and pissy when we have winter weather..
I AM ready for spring as I have bunches of outside projects to do…
Well, the local news says that New Boston NH got 13 inches, and that looks about right. I did a half-assed job on the driveway last night and a complete clearing this morning. Not bad at all, not with lots of nice dry powder that the snowblower could send 20+ feet away easily.
Roads are all clear, as usual in NH even for back country dirt roads.
One warning you forgot (probably because it seems like the sort of thing you wouldn’t need to say), NEVER burn charcoal indoors. Like seriously, there’s “ways to kill yourself” and then there’s “wow you have a deathwish don’tya? Also I will admit that feels weird to type a comment like this just minutes after my last one, but I’m not apologizing or walking it back. The only thing I’d change after calming down some more is to tone down how confrontational I phrased everything. My opinion on the Social Contract and NEVER allowing those who gleefully break it to get away for hiding behind it while crying crocodile tears will not ever change.
it shows you how dumb people have become when GROWN ASS adults have read a warning label or be told not to do something that some have known and understood since they were 5 years old.
“common sense “ is only spewed when liberals want more gun laws.
besides, some feel that warning labels should be removed from everything …
One bit of advice from someone living in a high snow area.
Do not wait to clear snow. If it gets above about 8″ time to clear, I do not care how good of a snow blower you have. In the long run, you will be better off spending the time. I made the mistake of waiting until the storm was over before pulling out the blower, and that is a mistake I will never make again.
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Stay warm people. Enjoy the winter wonderland part of it. And if you must go out, drive like a pot of your grandma’s famous gumbo is sitting on the back seat without a lid.
Yes, I’m planning to do at least a cursory pass over the driveway mid-storm. My blower can handle 18 inches, I’m pretty sure, but that will be quite slow going. I think the intake is about that tall.
I once had to clear the driveway with that much snow on it — when we moved in on New Year’s Eve 23 years ago, the house had been empty for 3 months and the guy supposedly contracted to do the plowing never showed up. So I had to find the snowblower, figure out how to attach it to the tractor, and figure out how to operate it. Fun stuff. I didn’t realize until afterwards that I also dodged hypothermia by far less margin than I care to think about.