The winter of 2013-14 continues...

I am actually working on a wild game post... trying to figure out how to keep my lenses from freezing up and capture a few of the animals in the winter surroundings.  Probably another week or two on that one.

I debated if this post is worth doing, but I have enough readers who live in other parts of the planet who might find this interesting or even amusing in a "better you than me.... " sort of way :)

Anyhow, this just in from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration... enjoy!

I'll start with this good morning forecast...  and I know our friends to the North have it worse... I do commiserate. The predicted lows are only around -18F with a 20  to 30 mph breeze wafting across Lake Superior... an extremely warm day on Mars... The gist of the warning below is get what you need now 'cuz the next 2-3 days its just gonna be really cold and really snowy.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

EXPECT THE COLDEST ARCTIC AIR MASS IN YEARS TO MOVE INTO THE UPPER
GREAT LAKES SUNDAY INTO TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL BELOW ZERO
OVER WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN SATURDAY NIGHT AND REMAIN BELOW ZERO
THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. DURING THIS TIME...WIND CHILLS MAY FALL AS LOW
AS 40 TO 50 BELOW ZERO OVER THE INTERIOR WEST HALF OF UPPER MICHIGAN
WHEN THE CORE OF THE COLDEST AIR MOVES OVERHEAD ON MONDAY.

THE COMBINATION OF FALLING SNOW AND STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS
GUSTING TO 20 TO 30 MPH WILL LIKELY RESULT IN OFF AND ON WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS FROM LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY NEAR
LAKE SUPERIOR. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER STATEMENT FOR COMPLETE
DETAILS ON THE COLD TEMPERATURES AND STRONG WINDS REDUCING
VISIBILITIES OVER UPPER MICHIGAN.

Then this perky warning...

 
THE COMBINATION OF FALLING AND BLOWING LAKE EFFECT SNOW MAY
   REDUCE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN ONE-QUARTER OF A MILE AT TIMES
   TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY.

 * WITH WIND CHILLS AS LOW AS EXPECTED SUNDAY NIGHT INTO
   TUESDAY...YOU COULD SUFFER FROSTBITE ON EXPOSED SKIN IN AS
   LITTLE AS 15 TO 30 MINUTES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

 * YOU SHOULD PREPARE NOW FOR THE INTENSE COLD EXPECTED EARLY
   NEXT WEEK AND AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE OUTDOORS ONCE THE
   EXTREME COLD ARRIVES. IF YOU DO NEED TO VENTURE OUT...WEAR
   LAYERS OF CLOTHING AND COVER YOUR HEAD AND HANDS TO AVOID
   HEAT LOSS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...TAKE AN EMERGENCY WINTER
   WEATHER KIT IN CASE YOU BECOME STRANDED.

So what does this look like?  Here's this morning's satellite flyover,

 
NO!

-and just for the sake of completeness... as of 8 Jan 173 inches (~440 cm) of fluffy 

white snow so far, we are headed towards glaciation (IMHO). 

 
So the upside is...

If the lake freezes over - the snow will stop... for a while... 

and you could freeze dry your laundry! Then again Mawson didn't too have much fun in this stuff

during the 1912 Antarctic Trek... That is one incredible tale of survival!   

So just for fun tonight... and at a mere -11F, I thought I'd go and flip my John Deere

snowblower over and take a link out of it's drive chain! Yup, I'll let y'all know how that

goes...  I think I'll get some hot cocoa going first! 

Just for fun, the temps we are at would bring A36 well along its transition "fracture toughness"

and hey, RMS Titanic's hull plates... wouldn't do well in my snowblower auger...