Question re North America arctic blast creeping east

fontdor

wexie wrote: »

The snow or the -30 temperatures?

Wouldn't mind some snow but I can do without the extreme temperatures here.

Oh god no way not the temperature just the snow but like nothing less than -1 or -2.

Elmer Blooker

Boston and New York will be warmer than Ireland this weekend.
Temps of 10-13c expected there.

patneve2

What's most impressive (in my opinion) about the cold spell in the USA is the lake effect snow that is still hammering places like Buffalo. Upper air is so cold that it can create convection even over partially frozen lakes :eek: Almost 2 feet of snow for the luckier spots off the lakes, all in the form of snow showers. Amazing places...

syklops

Herself and meself were talking about it last night.

We'd both feckin love it if it came here.

Which means that it won't

Akrasia

burst pipes, no water, no heating cause your pipes are all frozen, sounds fun

Almost as much fun as paying for all the damage after the pipes thaw out and there are leaks everywhere.

Macy0161

snubbleste wrote: »

Yes please

Saturday looks crap - no thanks.

nacho libre

fontdor wrote: »

What are your theories? Do you think USA'S weather will come over to Ireland.

it's coming, rather a chunk of very cold air is coming across the Atlantic from the north east of the states, but unfortunately it's modified by the time it reaches here.

we can never experience the depth of cold they've had over there, unless you can turn off the gulf stream and cause a mini ice-age to occur

goat2

Akrasia wrote: »

burst pipes, no water, no heating cause your pipes are all frozen, sounds fun

Almost as much fun as paying for all the damage after the pipes thaw out and there are leaks everywhere.

god help us if this came our way, plumbers would be too busy to help all, would be waiting to get things up and running,
also for those who love their gardens, there would be frozen and dead plants to replace,
alot of people dont even have an open fire without back boiler to keep warm, i noticed alot of homes did not bother with chimneys at all, using solar and oil or gas to heat homes,
hope it does not come our way,
our homes are not insulated for that kind of climate.
we got enough of a roughing up with the storms, dont need any more.

wexie

goat2 wrote: »

god help us if this came our way, plumbers would be too busy to help all, would be waiting to get things up and running,

Never mind that a lot of plumbers would be sat at home as they wouldn't be able to get out to their customers.

As already said, that kind of snow is something we'd have a hard time dealing with, but those temperatures would end up killing lots of people in Ireland.

Emergency services wouldn't be able to get out, gards don't have the vehicles (or tires) to get around in that kind of weather. No oil deliveries, no shopping deliveries, ESB crews would be completely inundated with lines being down, etc. etc. etc.

If you think 2010 was bad, the weather they're having in some parts of the states would be a national disaster here.

hegarty147

I am living in toronto and yesterday it was minus 43 with wind chill ....you do not want that in Ireland at all. Its amazing though how the city still runs fairly well even in this weather

wexie

hegarty147 wrote: »

I am living in toronto and yesterday it was minus 43 with wind chill ....you do not want that in Ireland at all. Its amazing though how the city still runs fairly well even in this weather

not that much of a jump from -15/20 to -43 in the amount of preparation needed though is there?

Compared to Ireland getting a prolonged spell of -20

JJJJNR

We had -12 I think in 2010 and we survived, bring it on.

hegarty147

there is a difference though. For example yesterday the street cars would not work as when it goes below minus 30 the cables freeze where today the street cars are working because I think its minus 23.

goat2

hegarty147 wrote: »

I am living in Toronto and yesterday it was minus 43 with wind chill ....you do not want that in Ireland at all. Its amazing though how the city still runs fairly well even in this weather

beleive me nothing would run here, not even the cat or dog if it were to happen,
farm animals would freeze to death, we would find birds everywhere frozen to death, and people living in isolated areas would be worst hit, no body would be able to go to them

it is great to hear from a person living in Toronto, at least you can give us a good first hand account as to how it would change our everyday lives, and what we would need to do if an event were to come our way,
which i hope it does not,
i am happy with what i have a bit of rain and wind, with that terrifying storm we had on new years eve for good measure

wexie

JJJJNR wrote: »

We had -12 I think in 2010 and we survived, bring it on.

-12 is nothing, -40 is when the polar bears start thinking of using woollen condoms. Most diesel cars would probably stop working as we've no winter diesel here.

It'd be a big big deal.

(actually one of the articles mentioned that the polar bear in Chicago zoo (I think) is refusing to go outside, think it was on the BBC website)

hegarty147

wexie wrote: »

-12 is nothing, -40 is when the polar bears start thinking of using woollen condoms. Most diesel cars would probably stop working as we've no winter diesel here.

It'd be a big big deal.

(actually one of the articles mentioned that the polar bear in Chicago zoo (I think) is refusing to go outside, think it was on the BBC website)

the only big thing i noticed yesterday when walking outside is that the wind burns your skin because its so cold also i have cuts on my hands and on my face when they were exposed. It is also a strange feeling when you breathe through your nose and your whole nostril freezes. My friend was walking from mcdonals last night and in a 5 minutes walk his coke was completely frozen. The good thing is that it is now so cold it cant even snow

mike65

Anyone can stand in an industrial freezer unit for a while at around -18, but only because there is NO air movement, try it in a gale and you'd be perished to Betsy in no time at all.

Anyone who would want such weather are either grade A fool or genuinely naive.

wexie

hegarty147 wrote: »

the only big thing i noticed yesterday when walking outside is that the wind burns your skin because its so cold also i have cuts on my hands and on my face when they were exposed. It is also a strange feeling when you breathe through your nose and your whole nostril freezes. My friend was walking from mcdonals last night and in a 5 minutes walk his coke was completely frozen. The good thing is that it is now so cold it cant even snow

I remember that, can't breath through your mouth as it's sore on the throat and breathing through your nose you can feel all the little hairs freezing against the inside and then coming loose again. Strange feeling

I'd say next week is going to be terrible for you guys, stuff thawing during the day and then freezing at night again.

goat2

when we did have a freeze here a couple yrs ago, there were birds down dead frozen, underground water pipes were were frozen burst in attics and ruined homes, also underground waterpipes are not down far enough here,
also they were saying in the news that the antifreeze also freeze, must be when it reach a certain - temp, that would mean all vehicles would be in trouble, burst pipes and so on,
it would be a total disaster for all of us,
reading hagerty,s and wexie,s posts give a good insight into what it means to go outside for a couple minuets, its scary

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i remember having to smoke outside when I lived in Canada, was fine until it hit -30 for a few days.

i never smoked as fast or wore so much in my life. three trousers, four tshirts, 2-3 pairs of socks, 3 jumpers and my only big coat + hat.

I still ended up inhaling the cigarette in two drags and getting th e**** indoors as fast as possible

Sunshine87

hegarty147 wrote: »

I am living in toronto and yesterday it was minus 43 with wind chill ....you do not want that in Ireland at all. Its amazing though how the city still runs fairly well even in this weather

Agreed. I commute north of Toronto from downtown and subways/buses all going on time, nothing was down. My mates even went ice skating in that :-)

Sunshine87

wexie wrote: »

not that much of a jump from -15/20 to -43 in the amount of preparation needed though is there?

Compared to Ireland getting a prolonged spell of -20

Huge difference when theres wind chill. You would notice if you had to walk in it.

RebelButtMunch

already a thread here about it

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057118931

Threads Merged

wexie

Sunshine87 wrote: »

Huge difference when theres wind chill. You would notice if you had to walk in it.

Oh I know that,sorry what I meant was that a country that is used to dealing with -20 as a regular occurrence will likely be okay with -43 for a bit. As opposed to a country that's used to little frost dealing with -20.

RobertKK

They have horrible weather in North America with the cold. We are lucky thank God we don't normally get anything too extreme.
December 2010 was bad enough for people who worked outside, had to travel in it if they could, water problems, army having to be used to help people who were isolated.
It was down to -18C then.
It was fine for people whose job wasn't out in it for long periods and for those unaffected.

Y2KBOS86

Hope to god we don't get that cold again, that week and a half we had last time was hell.Car wouldn't start half time, pipes burst in house, oil was on 8 hours a day and house was still frozen.

I was in the south of Poland for a week in december 2010 and it was much colder, think one day it was -25c.But it was grand, rental car started fine, roads were grand, B&B was toasty, didn't feel that cold when out and about it here.

Cold went through my bones here, my dog loved it though.

Stay away polar vortex!

patneve2

America has seen far worse cold spells than the current one.

Duiske

Must check, but I wouldn't imagine this happens very often. Niagra Falls frozen over today.

nacho libre

Lucreto

Duiske wrote: »

Must check, but I wouldn't imagine this happens very often. Niagra Falls frozen over today.

That photo is from 2011. Still cool to look at.