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Saturday, October 15, 2022

Hope we get snowed in



Weather predictions are a bit of a guessing game. With that in mind there are indications we’ll have a big snow year in northern NH. My ideal winter has a lot of snow and not a lot of sub zero days. That’s below zero Fahrenheit for my International readers. Of course, when it gets to forty below it doesn’t matter what scale you use. Fortunately it’s been a few years since that happened. 


Deep snow cover actually provides insulation for the ground. The frost doesn’t go down nearly as deep and my water lines don’t freeze. The worse is when sewer lines freeze. You do not want to know the details. Lets just say that the next summer I dug up the lines and added four inches of high density foam insulation. 


We had only a mediocre snow year last winter. That’s one reason we were on the edge of drought during the summer. Fortunately we received enough rain to keep the worse problems at bay. As it was farmers had issues and some wells went dry.


A deep snow pack is great for winter sports. If you are going to spend winter in snow country you have to learn to play in it. If you don’t it’s one long winter. 


Actually, what I’m looking forward to is the quiet and isolation. Nothing beats sitting by a warm fire with a coffee and a good book as the snow comes down.


-Sixbears


15 comments:

  1. I'd have to say , that sitting out back in the shade during January , reading a book outdoors does !

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    1. Ok, that's not so bad either. As long as the fire ants don't get you.

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    2. Our yard doesn't have any fire ants, those pesky little tiny Suger ants keep them away. They are a nuisance for sure , but they don't bite !
      Gonna be in the mid seventies this week. Highly unusual for this early...
      Perhaps a harbinger of the coming winter ?

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    3. I'll take sugar ants over fire any day. I had to change a diesel pump in a field full of fire ants. I laid down a tarp and did the fast pump change every and still got bit seven times.

      It's been fairly mild here most days. Cold at night sometimes getting into the 60s during the day.

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  2. I just looked at another long range forecast by a different weather guy and he say's just the opposite. He predicts a cold winter here without much snow. Then again, they don't get the 5 day forecast right so their long range is worse than reading tea leaves.

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  3. Weather Forecasters. Laugh Out Loud how true.

    But we do need snow for the wells and safer forests.

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    1. We were lucky to get enough rain to keep things from going up in smoke here in the North Country. A good snowpack is hard to replace.

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  4. The coffee is the best during a cold winter day.

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  5. my great aunt and uncle lived in southwest va. they went to the store in late october and stocked up. the snow lines on the house just below the second story window told the tale. they didn't expect to get to town until march or april. nowdays, notsomuch.

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    1. When tree stumps are ten feet off the ground because the beavers cut them from on top of the snow, you know it was a snowy winter.

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  6. I'm a newbie to your site, enjoy it and can relate to so much of what you write about. I'm from Northern Maine (way up on the tip top) and couldn't agree more that getting cozy while the snow flies & piles is a highly desirable experience. The sense that the world & all its problems are temporarily muffled brings a sense of peace and contentment, especially in regards to vulnerable water lines. Been there!

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    1. Welcome Rocky D. You are way up in "the county?" That is way up there. You don't appreciate the value of water until the supply line freezes.

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  7. I come from the Northern High Desert. Didn't snow as much, but what it lacks in snow it makes up in Cold. Big Freeze, I still prescribe a good cup of Hot Coffee. I curious to see what the Global warming thing is going to do with us this year.

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    1. Things are changing, that's for sure. It's the nonstop wind in those big empty spaces that gets to me.

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