Storm Juno

[CharlesHarris]

We dodged the bullet and only got a little snow here in the West Virginia mountains, but it is cold and windy.

Well equipped for winter with woodstoves for hear, gas cookstove and water heater, gas firelace, backup genset and 500 gallon dedicated LPG supply for the genny, separate from the kitchen and utility room 100 gallon tank.

Good description of Juno storm effects, which are severe, but not quite of the historic blizzard proportions predicted.

http://www.weather.com/storms/winter/new...ew-england

[Devonian]

(27 January 2015, 05:56)Mortblanc Wrote: What if you had a land area the size of all Great Britain, and containing a population of over 50 million people, covered with a layer of snow two feet deep, 70 MPH winds and temperatures not expected to go above freezing for 10 days. (say hello to global warming)

Right now Storm Juno is settling over the entire northeastern US.

All public transport has been shut down, no trains, no busses, no taxis, no planes until further notice. Streets are closed and no one is allowed on the roads in their vehicles either to go home or to work in an area almost the size of all GB.

Widespread power outages are predicted with large areas off the power grid due to ice and wind taking down lines.

A real life scenario, happening as we speak.

Could you ride out a week with no heat, no utilities, and only the supplies on hand?

Could I survive a week with no utilities and just my preps, yes not a problem.

Would the country cope? If we are talking about a week then Yes, I think things would largely be OK and I can't really see it being a major problem, but there would of course be problems, people would be complaining and there would also an undoubtedly be an increase in deaths of the elderly/venerable - as there is every time we have a cold spell.

However as a country we are not geared up or equipped to cope with major snow events so it's more likely to simply be a case of most of the country staying at home and going into hibernation until the roads have been cleared and power reinstated etc. A lot of people have camping equipment and barbeques etc and those that don't will simply have to make do, but I expect neighbours and family will in many areas pull together, but the worst affected (prepared) are likely to be the inner city areas and how these would cope I'm less sure, BUT, I would suspect that these areas would most likely be better served by TPTB opening up shelters etc in schools and community centres.

These types of events are not unheard of in the UK, though other than the UK wide snow (ice) in December 2010 we have been (very) lucky in recent years and the last significant event of the type you describe was probably the event in 1968 or the bigger event in 1963 - so BP is probably the only one that will remember that

However I do think we are long overdue a significant freeze of this type in the UK..............

[Mortblanc]

I have been intending to ask;

What has been the result of the threats of brown outs and rolling blackouts that were made back in the summer?

Are they occurring or have things been "normal"?

I can imagine the problem that would occur if heavily populated areas were deprived of power for long periods during one of these events not by the natural problem, but by TPTB.

[Devonian]

(27 January 2015, 21:45)Mortblanc Wrote: I have been intending to ask;

What has been the result of the threats of brown outs and rolling blackouts that were made back in the summer?

Are they occurring or have things been "normal"?

All as normal, no indication at all of it becoming a reality.

We have however had another mild winter (so far) and so there has been little pressure on the systems, a prolonged cold spell 'could' however (but I suspect not) change things....

[Steve]

(27 January 2015, 05:56)Mortblanc Wrote: Could you ride out a week with no heat, no utilities, and only the supplies on hand?

I have a generator and plenty of fuel - that would run for an hour a day to keep the ( 4 ) freezers working properly, I have two tons of coal and another ton of fire wood, 6700 litres of stored water plus a spring and a pond, a lot of food for humans, plus a large stock for the animals. In case of emergency I have a flat field and a tractor with loader that could clear a heli pad, if the air ambulance wasn't running I would take the tractor into town, 2 feet of snow wouldn't stop it. If the tractor broke down I would use the other one. Actually this reminds me to give my wife a refresher course on the tractors - she hasn't driven them for a while.

[Megatron]

I think I'd quite injoy it but I'm not sure that my little one would with no internet haha.
The perks of living in the country with a wood burner and an abundance of fuel.
Also as a "prepper" I have very good stock of food and the ability to filter water.

I think honestly that as long as you have decent shelter i.e a house or flat that anyone could survive comfortably for a week even without heating. As long as you make sure you have warm gear and blankets etc you'd be fine.
Even on a tight budget all the things you'd need would be cheap enough. Tinned food can be bought for next to nothing. Just on keeping warm a hi tog duvet can be bought for less than a tenner.
Also buying a pocket size water filter is also a great investment and pretty damn cheap. The last one I bought was around £25 and will filter around 3000 ltrs I think off the top of my head.
Ok heating is a massive issue but you can do with out it.

[bigpaul]

(27 January 2015, 21:28)Devonian Wrote: the last significant event of the type you describe was probably the event in 1968 or the bigger event in 1963 - so BP is probably the only one that will remember that

yes I do remember the winter of 63, I had just left school and started work, it was particularly bad and I can remember the troops dropping fodder to the ponies on Dartmoor from Helicopters.

[Mortblanc]

There is snow all the way from my house to the north pole!!!

No kidding, I looked at the map. Everything is frozen from here to there.

Temps have hovered around -15 all day and it will be colder tomorrow.

-30 tonight

We are breaking cold records that have stood for 100 years.

This global warming really sucks!

[T-oddity]

The effects of climate change is going to be far more unpredictable weather and far greater extremes, we are already seeing it in the UK our winters can switch from warm and wet to artic freeze in a mater of days depending on where the jet stream sits over the country.

[Mortblanc]

Oh, so it's not global warming, but "Climate change".

Well that is OK then, because the climate has been consistently changing for 5 billion years.

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-17 when I woke this morning.

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Excuse me, that was -17f.

-26c