Wishing all here a very

[Michigantraveler]

Good for you!

[Eagle]

And now for a Happy New Year to all.

The temperature warmed up a bit from yesterday AM as this AM it's only 8 degrees below zero. The new year is starting out rather chilly with daytime temps hovering near zero degrees and night time temps dipping to near 20 degrees below zero.

Makes for a nice, crisp morning air that clears the sinuses and no skeeters either!

[Michigantraveler]

Still 9 degrees here. Some of my ancestors settled in South Dakota. Now I really respect their hardships reading your weather reports. Yuck! I guess the Great (fishy) Lakes moderate our temperatures. By the way, they are catching 12" perch here now in the local lakes. Lol!!

[Eagle]

Perhaps warmer here than in NORTH Dakota!

LOL LOL

[Michigantraveler]

I'm sure it probably is!!

[APD]

Sleet is pretty steady here now @ 18:35. Temps below freezing so the snow moving in will lay on top of the 1/4" to 1/2" of ice! Temps overnight will be in the low twenties and even colder tomorrow night.

Hey! Will somebody up there shut the door!!

[Michigantraveler]

Originally Posted by APD

Sleet is pretty steady here now @ 18:35. Temps below freezing so the snow moving in will lay on top of the 1/4" to 1/2" of ice! Temps overnight will be in the low twenties and even colder tomorrow night.

Hey! Will somebody up there shut the door!!

Whoa! That will throw your state into s real tizzy! Stay off the roads. People will be nuts! It got up to a whopping 9 degrees here, snowed some all day.

[Eagle]

Here we have partly cloudy to clear skies, sunshine and ten degrees below zero right now. It was cooler last night .... 19 degrees below zero.

[Michigantraveler]

Originally Posted by Eagle

Here we have partly cloudy to clear skies, sunshine and ten degrees below zero right now. It was cooler last night .... 19 degrees below zero.

Do you ever ask yourself why you live in such a cold place? What part of the state are you in? Have you truer throwing a pan of boiling water in the air when it's that cold? It's a neat think to see but make sure you are upwind! Or try bubble blowing. Simple fun. Lol!

[APD]

Snow! Well, a little sleet then a little snow then a little more sleet. Less than an inch but it's SLICK! Not melting right away like usual! It's very cold here...like 20 degrees!
A phone picture of the "boys":

And the T139 tucked in next to the barn:

[APD]

Forecast for next Friday and Saturday is 67 degrees!
We have four seasons here...sometimes in the same week!!

[Eagle]

Originally Posted by Michigantraveler

Do you ever ask yourself why you live in such a cold place? What part of the state are you in? Have you truer throwing a pan of boiling water in the air when it's that cold? It's a neat think to see but make sure you are upwind! Or try bubble blowing. Simple fun. Lol!

It's nothing new to me as born/raised here.

However, I've lived/worked in Michigan, Iowa, North Dakota, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Washington, and traveled all but a few states in the US.

I like the changing seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter. I do not like hot like in the southern states.

Also, in South Dakota one has more freedom than in many states .... and fewer regulations/restrictions on constitutional rights IMO.

[Michigantraveler]

Pretty. So are all of the schools shut down? Lol!
I heard the mayor closed Atlanta.

[APD]

Atlanta (and much of the area) closed early Friday.
They'll decide about Monday sometime tomorrow. It's actually melted some today but will refreeze tonight.

Eagle, y'all can have all the cold y'all want, I'll take the warm. I was born and raised here in North Georgia and we really do have beautiful springs, gentle warm summers, very colorful autumns and generally mild but chilly winters.

The state DOT and some of the larger counties in the Atlanta area have started putting salt on the roads these last few years. In my youth they only used a little sand on the bridges and people would, for the most part, stay home as it would be gone in a couple of days. I really hate salt. I still stay home but now it's to wait for the salt to get washed away.

[Eagle]

APD I also dislike the use of salt on the roads, something that has become more and more prevalent in the last decade or so. It used to be some sand on intersections but they seem to have taken cue from Michigan where I worked in the 80's. They salted the roads when snow was in the forecast and people expected the roads to be clear like in mid summer. Not uncommon to see vehicle a few years old as total rust buckets and corvettes with the frames rusted thru.
I'm surprised the EPA hasn't outlawed such a practice.

[Michigantraveler]

It's a double edged sword. Michigan has a lot of sand mines and salt mines. Salt is more effective on melting ice and sand clogs sewers. Yes, salt rusts metal but skidding vehicles hitting each other have more major economic and safety impacts. The largest producers of salt are Michigan (under Detroit and up here in Manistee) Ohio and Ontario. So there is an abundance of salt that doesn't have to be imported. Up here they will sometimes sand the center third of a two lane and that works well, though most people have all wheel or four wheel drive vehicles up here. The use of salt on those seldom iced southern roads shouldn't cause too many problems with rust. More on the salt industry...
The greatest rock salt production in the U. S. is obtained from the Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario. In 1958 the salt production from these areas amounted to 8.7 million tons or 35% of the combined total produced in the U. S. and Canada. The image below, from a salt mine, shows a vertical "wall of salt" about a little over a meter in height.
saltbeds.jpeg (77280 bytes)

Source: Photograph by Randy Schaetzl, Professor of Geography - Michigan State University


Three important factors lie behind the location and development of the Detroit salt mining area:
1) A healthy market requiring salt for the meat processing industry, chemical industry, water softening snow and ice removal from roads and highways.
2) Abundant salt at a reasonable depth and of sufficiently high quality to permit economical mining,
3) The availability of low cost water transportation on the Great Lakes which facilitates the movement of salt in Canada from eastern Saskatchewan Province to western Quebec Province, and in the U. S. from the "Dakotas" to western New York State.

[John_C]

I lived in Up-State NY (Saratoga Springs) for about 5 years in the 80's and there were a number of areas that disallowed the use of salt and only used cinder sand... It didn't melt the ice at all of course, and really did a number on the paint on the lower panels... like getting sand blasted...

When we moved here, I went the rust inhibitor and undercoat on both the car and truck by a company called Zebart right after first moving up here. The car was from AZ and had zero rust; we bought the truck in early 2015 and had it rustproofed and undercoated right away... We'll see how that holds up...

I also insulated and installed a heater in the garage; it is set at about 45 or so during the winter... unless I am working in the garage, then I crank it up high enough to take my jacket of... Not too spendy, I got a permit for the heater install, then plumbed the heater, hung it from the ceiling, vented the exhaust out, and got that bought off by the inspector... Then, insulated the walls, overhead doors, rocked the ceiling and insulated that, and then installed 7/16" chip-board all around the walls. The step-son in-law was out of work and gave me a hand hanging the overhead rock.. I think the heated garage lets the vehicles dry out and should help reduce rusting... I don't know for sure and just guessing. mind you...

[Michigantraveler]

It used to be when you bought a car they would ask you if you wanted rustproofing. I always wondered if they really did s good job of it for your money though, but I would get it. I don't think the asked if we wanted it for our last few cars bought new. Now we buy used.

[Eagle]

It was called "undercoating" by the dealers here. IT was a black tar like substance sprayed on the underside of the vehicle and turned hard. If the underside wasn't properly prepared, after several years chunks would peel/fall off in some areas.

Not sure they even offer it anymore as haven't had a car salesperson mention it in years.

[John_C]

Well, the Chevy dealer referred me to Zebart... So, I went to Zebart and had them do Rust Preventative & Undercoat... They drill holes, if not already there, in all panels, hood, trunk, etc., fill them with a waxy-oily rust inhibitor, and then plug all the holes... Then they spray the entire under carriage with an undercoating, but it is not the tar-like stuff they bused to use... better/worse... I don't know...