The arctic blast finally hit the Chicago area. It's 0 right now. High tomorrow is supposed to be -4.
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Frigid Chicago Bean Shrivels Up From Below-Zero Temperatures https://t.co/1DjODSnO1V

— The Onion (@TheOnion) January 14, 2024

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My garage door was frozen shut this morning - hit the button to the opener and it wouldn't budge. Luckily a couple of kicks to the bottom of the door cracked the ice enough to get it to work. That had never happened before.
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Welcome to hell. It's only -13 here right now.
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That's about what it was when I posted that. It's a balmy -11 right now.

The main thing that keeps me going on days like this is reminding myself that I hate extreme high temperatures even more. As vile as this shit is, I'll take it over 100 and high humidity every time. You can protect yourself against the cold. All you can do when it's hot like that is suffer.
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First morning of the snow, a 100 year old Hackberry tree in my backyard split in half. The half that fell just grazed my roof or I'd have been in real trouble. This half is about 50 feet long and easily two foot across.

Ironically, I'd taken a bid and made an appointment with a tree crew to take the tree down the week before.

Due to an emergency in which the job after mine DID have a tree go through their roof and puncture it, my job got moved back...and now it's still sitting there due to cold affecting several things on their end.

They're supposed to come tomorrow.

I got really luck, though. That would have done some serious damage if it had come down just a little bit over. And I'd have been basically exposed to the elements this whole time.

As it is, the furnace can't really keep up.
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Bitter Cold Polar Air is currently as far south as Texas with Minnesota in the core of the Arctic Air. Air from the Pacific Ocean will push the Arctic Air back north into Canada this upcoming Sunday January 21 & by Monday January 22 temps will climb into the mid 30s. @KSTP pic.twitter.com/9VhjcvuKkF

— Jonathan Yuhas (@JYuhasKSTP) January 15, 2024

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We’re at 16 in Texarkana with about .5 inch of snow. I’m sure 90% of town is closed.
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Minnesota utilities tell residents: Turn down your thermostats amid deep freeze
The state is trudging through subzero temperatures.

Utilities in Minnesota are calling on residents to turn down their thermostats due to a rise in demand for natural gas as extreme cold makes its way across the United States.

Xcel and Centerpoint Energy have each recommended reducing heat through at least Tuesday, noting that spot prices for natural gas are spiking due to supply and demand during the cold weather, and excessive usage could land customers with much higher costs.

Centerpoint recommends lowering thermostats to 65 degrees during the day when home and lowering it an additional five degrees when asleep or away. Xcel asks thermostats to be set from 65 to 70 degrees while home and 58 degrees when away.

The reduction could help limit the impact of higher prices on customers' bills, with turning down the heat in your home by 1 degree resulting in around 3% savings on your gas costs.

Xcel says for its customers, the increase in natural gas prices is "significant smaller" than the massive spike experienced during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.



Do I set my furnace lower and run my gas fireplace more or vice versa?
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-7 here in Iowa. Luckily no wind here so doesn’t seem so bad. The snow and blizzards over the weekend left a mess at my house. Been shoveling and plowing for days.
I heat with wood and we’ve been feeding the beast like no other. Thankful for my wood shed as it keeps everything dry.
Hot house by day/into the evening but when we wake it’s chilly in the house and it’s time to stir the coals and start again.
I thought we would have a surplus of wood this year with how December went. With the way things are going we are gonna burn it all.
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I've been setting the alarm around 2-3 AM to toss more wood in our stove. It beats waking up to 50 degrees in the morning
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Not sure where you're at but here in SUX the wind is blowing almost 20 and gusting higher, so it may pick up. Wind chill warning until noon tomorrow, but wouldn't take much with how cold it is. Good luck.
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Slightly worried about my wifes car. It is at the airport-since thursday.

its tires were inflated well and the battery is not very old. Should be fine.
But if there is an issue, I should be able to get out there after school and help her.

ugh.
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65? Fuck that. 58?? :-) I'm not returning home to am igloo
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