So we're about to get hit with a major winter storm

and I do mean major, followed by frigid temperatures. I mean, it's just now starting to snow, and it's 13 degrees now, but that's rather balmy compared to what it will be. Here are the alerts in effect for Lexington at the moment:

Weather Alerts- Lexington, Kentucky

Winter Storm Warning Until Mon 7:00 am EST

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Action Recommended:  Make preparations per the instructions\

Issued By Louisville - KY, US, National Weather Service

Affected Area Portions of south central Indiana and east central, north central, northwest, and south central Kentucky

Description ...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ MONDAY...

WHAT...Heavy snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain along and south of the Bluegrass and Western Kentucky Parkways. South of the Parkways, storm total snow and sleet of 4 to 8 inches with total ice amounts up to three quarters of an inch. Localized areas may see total ice over three quarters of an inch. Across southern Indiana and north central Kentucky, mainly snow, heavy at times. Total snow accumulations between 10 and 15 inches. Localized higher amounts of snow and sleet possible.

WHERE...Portions of south central Indiana and east central, north central, northwest, and south central Kentucky.

WHEN...Until 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ Monday.

IMPACTS...Expect power outages and tree damage due to the ice. Travel could be impossible.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. In Indiana, for Indiana Road Conditions please visit http://511in.org In Kentucky, for Kentucky Road Conditions please visit http://goky.ky.gov

 

Cold Weather Advisory From Mon 12:00 am until Tue 11:00 am EST

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Action Recommended Make preparations per the instructions

Issued By Louisville - KY, US, National Weather Service 

Affected Area Portions of south central Indiana and east central, north central, northwest, and south central Kentucky

Description ...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT EST /11 PM CST/ SUNDAY NIGHT TO 11 AM EST /10 AM CST/ TUESDAY...

WHAT...Very cold wind chills as low as 15 below zero expectedW

HERE...Portions of south central Indiana and east central, north central, northwest, and south central Kentucky. 

WHEN...From midnight EST /11 PM CST/ Sunday Night to 11 AM EST /10 AM CST/ Tuesday.

IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 15 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves. Make frequent checks on older family, friends, neighbors, and pets. Ensure portable heaters are used correctly. Do not use generators or grills inside. 

 

Well, it never hurts to be prepared, especially if you have major anxiety issues that can only be helped with obsessive steps. I have charged my large car-battery-sized power bank (the one that can be charged either through AC current, via car adapter, or solar (that one I don't have an adapter for, but cool and that runs my CPAP for several hours a night, and I have the CPAP adapter at the ready. I have also charged every electronic device that takes one in the house. I have made sure that all five flashlights either have batteries or are charged. The crank one is in the car in case it is needed there. It also has a radio. I found the 20 LED tealights and 20 regular tealights to put in our many hoarded jars for light, as well as my five normal scented candles, plus at least two he's borrowed from me. I found a cache of matches and bought two lighting wands in addition to mine, as mine is low on fuel. He also has a few boxes of the wooden matches. The car has half a tank of gas for charging the power bank and keeping any vapour lock from happening, but not a full tank because the power steering is having issues, and I think it'll need to be fixed soon, and I may have to switch to the bus anyway after I can get out on my own. My wipers are up. I have deicer and WD-40 for thawing locks and doors, and they are in the utility room with an extra scraper/brush. I have done everything I can think of to prepare. I managed to get all of our foodstuffs except yellow onions, which I thought were pretty good. I was on the waiting list (#!0) for a service that takes healthcare workers to work in severe weather, but I've been assigned a driver, so I think I've been bumped up. I'm going to check. That'll help on Monday. It occurs to me that I did not request a ride home yet(!). Here's hoping we all get through the storm okay. 

PS I just put in my request for a ride home...it's pending. Hopefully it's not too late.

I can usually deal with snow, but I hate ice storms

Monday we had a major storm which brought us about 6 inches of snow and about half an inch of ice. I couldn't go into work, because I was afraid of falling on the ice. The next day they were using sheriff's deputies to get healthcare workers to and from work, so I used my hiking poles to get down to the street to him (and back, once I was taken home). I used the snow tips and punched throught the ice so I could get to the snow underneath and get traction with my snow boots. I then went back outside and spent one and a half hours clearing the car, as they were ending the programme at midnight, so I'd need to go into work. I was soaked to the skin before I came back, but I had success. I was able to drive in Wednesday morning and used the poles just in case, slipping just once because the shutttle stop was clear but the sidewalk was icy.

Yesterday, waking up to absolutely frigid temperatures in the teens, I went to leave the driveway to drive to work and promptly got stuck in the street, unable to go forward, but only reverse. The slush had completely frozen. I managed to make it to the curb, but had a light pole behind me, so that hampered the effort of getting it out, waited for a tow, and they had to cancel the AAA call because my street was so impassable that the tow driver got to my street and couldn't get down, and he was afraid he'd crash or get stuck, too. A Kentucky Eagle beer truck also got stuck right next to my car and had to have a pickup truck come and help get it out, which took almost an hour. Everything was glazed with about two inches of ice in the area of our house. About noon, hoping the temperatures and sun had at least done something, even though our high was 24 degrees and it hadn't hit that yet, I went back out to try again, nearly fell three times trying to get across the road (I'd brought my cane rather than hiking poles because I was going to try to go to the store, and I'd be needing to put it in the cart), and there was absolutely no snow to walk in, just ice. Someone came down the street right as I was about 10 feet from my car and scared me to death because they couldn't really stop and I was afraid I would fall in front of them. But I finally got to the car, grocery list in hand just in case. It took awhile, and some direction from my roommate, who realised my tyres were just spinning and gave some advice on getting out since he could see from the window, I finally got out, and once I was there, I skidded a little down the 30 or so yards to the ploughed road, went down to the next connector road to the snow route (I hoped it had been ploughed--it's on the bus route), went to the bank, the grocery, another bank to pay my rent the pharmacy, another grocery (the first didn't have half-and-half), and finally home again. The main roads were fine. There was a car stuck on Rosemont Garden, which was clear itself, but they got stuck turning onto a smaller road and blocked across our lane. I am so glad that when I got stuck, I'd at least managed to reverse to the curb. Eventually, I came in and tried to mindlessly scroll on Facebook, but I was so tired I went to bed and slept another two hours.

So my sleep, like my days of the week, is terribly messed up and I'm up a full hour than usual on my day off. I have to wake up my roommate in three hours so he can have coffee and wake up before class. The only thing I might be doing today is taking him to get a haircut, but that may not happen because we're supposed to get another three or more inches of snow today. At least we have food in the house and any medicine we need for the next few days.

With everything that happened, plus the frustration of it all and the concern of getting an occurrence at work, I was just exhausted. Once I got up, I fed the animals, had cereal for dinner, watched an episode of 'Midsomer Murders', and went to bed.

Here's to a better day today.