Thursday, January 07, 2010

We'll Be Burning a Lot of Wood Tonight ...

I've been spending quite a bit of time processing our state's home school convention booklets, and this afternoon Jim and I drove to town to get them to the post office. We saw the most beautiful sundogs I've ever seen, since they almost made a complete circle around the sun. Too bad I didn't have my camera. The only problem is that sundogs indicate very cold temperatures.
This photo was taken by Andrew back in January 2009.

Once again, from the Weather Service:


DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING AREA WIDE.


FRIGID ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS, RESULTING IN BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS AS LOW AS 55 BELOW TONIGHT & FRIDAY MORNING.


TRAVELERS & THOSE DOING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THESE WIND CHILLS. EXPOSED SKIN COULD FREEZE IN AS LITTLE AS 10 MINUTES WITH WIND CHILLS OF THIS MAGNITUDE. CARRY A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT. STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE IF STRANDED, & ALERT OTHERS OF YOUR TRAVEL PLANS.
I am very thankful for a barn to keep the animals out of the wind. Hopefully they will do okay.

6 comments:

Kelle at The Never Done Farm said...

Lynn,
we're not as cold as you guys, but last night the temps were-25 and then the wind was blowing from the North! Mike and I took turns stoking the stove and even still our indoor temps fell below 58F, so our furnace ran a couple of times*sigh*

I worry about frozen pipes,last year we had a drain line freeze, it was two nights of Mike crawling under the house working to thaw it out. When it gets this frigid and windchills added I worry.

Oraying you stay warm and that your animals fair it well.
Blessings,
Kelle

Lori said...

Lynn, Thanks for doing those booklets! You are trooper! Also, your homemade pizza looked great on your son's blog.

We saw sun dogs today, too, but I heard once on the weather report that they are not just for cold weather, although that's when we most see them here. They do make a beautiful picture.
From Wikipedia:
Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° (or more) distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season. In Europe and North America, they might be seen as often as twice a week but they are not always obvious or bright. They are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.

Lynn Bartlett said...

Hi Kelle,
I feel badly for anyone struggling with frozen pipes. I assume you don't have a basement, then? A friend of ours had the pipe to her washing machine freeze, and she had to take a hair dryer to it to thaw it out. So far so good with us. Since we live in our basement for the time being, we haven't had any trouble. We have to be very careful with our woodstove since Jim temporarily used piping from elsewhere to get us going again. Since it currently doesn't extend to above the roofline we will have to shut her down when the barimetric pressure goes down -- otherwise the stove exhaust will be backing up into the house. We know that from lots of previous experience!

Lori,
Interesting you should mention the Wikipedia entry. Last year when the above photo was taken by Andrew 1/09 I did a blog entry about Wikipedia's explanation. Up here the only time we see sundogs is when it's bitterly cold. The ones we saw today we only saw when coming out of the Turtle Mountains halfway to town; we must have been at just the right angle and elevation.

Can't wait until we move upstairs some day, as maybe then we'll catch the Northern Lights!

Kimberly said...

Beautiful picture! There is even beauty in this coldness. We are burning more wood, too. I didn't know that about barometric pressure and back draft. We have had that happen a few times but didn't know why. I do feel so sorry for the animals when it gets like this. Stay warm! And thanks for all you do for NDHSA!!

Emily said...

Hi Lynn,
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I must say you're a faithful reader! I've not been doing agrarian-focused posts since the Lord has other plans for me right now. That's where my heart lies, but my back is not much better than it was and my dreams have to wait....maybe I'll have a farm in heaven. :) Have a blessed day!

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