[T3] Southern dis-comfort

[Dennis Stiefel]

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 3:47 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Southern dis-comfort

When I started this thread, I just thought of it as a way to share a bit of
winter distraction since few of us seemed to be thinking about our Type 3s
this time of year. I figured that a little snow down south might make life
interesting for some of you, but I had no idea that this was going to get as
bad as it has.

A little bit of snow is one thing, but ice storms are a whole different
matter. That's serious business.

And flooding, in England. I had no idea. Then Dave sent his post, and later
that night I surfed across the BBC news and found film of the Thames valley
with miles and miles of flooded farms and homes.

A bit of snow can be inconvenient, but seldom that big a deal.

Ice storms pulling down trees and power lines are serious. I hope Marion's
gas log fireplace serves him well, but never becomes truly necessary.

But flooding is tragic. They showed southern England in our national news
last night. Are you well away from that, Dave?

I think it was the winter of '76-77 that we had a big ice storm here in
southern Wisconsin. Our neighborhood was without power for 3 days, which
meant that it was also pretty much without heat. We could run the gas stove
for short periods, and I could manually run that old gas furnace and get
some heat by convection, also for short periods. 
But it really wasn't too bad. The weather wasn't really all that cold, so
the temp inside the house never got much below 50 F.

It weeks before everyone in this region got their power back, so we were
lucky.

We took walks around the neighborhood at night, which was different, because
everything was dark. I came across one downed power line which was sizzling
on the wet ice, melting its way down to the ground. Don't know the voltage,
but I kept clear of it by 3-4 feet. 
An amazing sight.

The real attraction that night was the lightshow on the horizon. We could
see bright flashes as power lines parted in the distance, and could hear
occasional booms as something, possibly transformers, exploded.

--
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Yes ice be serious business.  For me we had some freezing drizzle all day
with about a 1/4" of ice on all the trees and power lines until about 4 then
it has changed over to snow. Now we have about 5 more inches on top of that.
We have had some power loss but nothing wide spread yet. The biggest concern
I have is all the snow sticking to the ice in the trees and power lines. We
could have another two or three more inches before it's over with tomorrow
morning. I'm concerned with Myron and the other guys in the Atlanta area as
well. They are getting more ice than us so more chance for power loss.  (I'm
about 2 1/2 hr drive from there).

Dennis Stiefel
72 Fastback FI MT
71 STD. Beetle
67 Ford F-100 (hart of Crown Vic)
Rainsville, AL