BLACKOUT! - (2005-11-29, 10:08 p.m.)
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This was the warning... URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 425 AM CST SUN NOV 27 2005 ...WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE EASTERN DAKOTAS AND MUCH OF MINNESOTA SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY EVENING... .AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER KANSAS WILL STRENGTHEN TODAY AND MOVE NORTHEAST TO IOWA BY EARLY MONDAY MORNING. FREEZING RAIN WILL DEVELOP OVER SOUTHEST NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING. SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE ROUGHLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM VALLEY CITY TO FOSSTON. FREEZING RAIN WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST VERY LATE TONIGHT AND INTO MONDAY EVENING. STRONG NORTH WINDS OF 25 TO 45 MPH WILL ALSO OCCUR OVER THE RED RIVER VALLEY CAUSING NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IN AREAS THAT RECEIVE HEAVY SNOW. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS BY MONDAY NIGHT WILL RANGE FROM 4 TO 8 INCHES.
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT CST MONDAY NIGHT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A WINTER FREEZING RAIN WILL DEVELOP OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FREEZING RAIN WILL CHANGE OVER TO SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. THE SNOW WILL END MONDAY NIGHT. STRONG NORTH WINDS OF 25 TO 45 MPH WILL OCCUR MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT CAUSING NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. So yeah, we got a lot of snow. And by a lot, I mean freaking heaps! I should auction it off on e-bay or something we have so much snow! Oh, and no power. That's right friends, no power since Sunday night about midnight! Click, pop and off it went! The Rural Electric Cooperative is hoping to have it back on by Friday. However, we're sneaky. We borrowed my Dad's old 50's generator until this afternoon. It ran our heater and a light. Yep, one lightbulb, which for the most part we sat in the window so that when we weren't home and the snow let up for a few seconds (hah!) Dad could come and check to see that our generator was still running. (He doesn't hear really well and that sucker is LOUD.) Today Dave bought a 7KW generator from a friend of ours in Sabin. We got a great deal on it! So this evening he and my Dad, who wired his own house, spent about 2 hours or more wiring it up to our main circuit breaker and we're good to go! I mean, I'm on the computer and I am going to be able to bathe without heating kettle after kettle on my propane stove. So yeah, I'm a happy woman! The roads are about the worst I've ever seen, too. I would do better with ice skates, and they were still advising no travel this morning when I went into work. We got about 1/2 to 3/4 inches of rain that turned into sheer ice on the roads. Seriously - we had to use ice melt on the deck and Monday morning it took me a good 1/2 hour to chisel the windows of the Explorer. Literally! And that was using some fancy ice melt stuff and letting it run for 1/2 hour! Amazing, and my truck still "crackles" when I hit bumps as there's so much ice on it that I just am not going to be able to get off. Of course, IF we had power in the heated shop I would put it in there, but we don't, so oh well. Hmmm....Dave has heated parking available at his job. Maybe I should ask him to switch vehicles with me tomorrow??? He deiced his truck that way! After this strong reminder, we decided not to sell the Explorer either. We'll sell the Impala instead and make a lump sum payment or just stick it in savings and earn interest. Haven't decided yet. So yes, be thankful for your power. We're not going to have it for a while. The generator makes it hard to sleep too, and I feel like I contstantly stink like exhaust fumes. But we're doing okay - we're warm and I think I may even watch a little tv tonight. We are more blessed than a lot of other people in our area. I look out my windows and it's just black like you wouldn't believe. I mean, the little town 1/2 mile down the road has power (mostly) but out in the country it's pitch dark. So yes, the adventure continues. I still wouldn't live in town! :) Missed These? Hospital Stay for Dad |
