How Cold Was It?
 |
| Barnegat Bay on the Jersey Shore |
This years
first and maybe only deep freeze in New Jersey is finally over. Two weeks of sub-freezing temperatures. The thermometer seldom rose above 20 degrees and
several nights crept below zero.
I know that
sounds balmy for some of you folks up in the 51st state (just kidding Canadians) or those out in Montana and the Dakotas,
but it was damn cold in Jersey where our blood has not had the time to thicken
up and resist frigid weather.
How cold was
it?
It was so
cold, we had a water main break down the road and were without running water
for about an hour. How they found the
leak, dug it up, patched it and got us running water in an hour is beyond me,
and they did it in sub-zero weather. Kudo’s
to the water people, you are amazing!
How cold was
it?
It was so
cold that there were many fires due to faulty heating systems. Sadly, some lives were lost, and many were
left homeless, but those fires were put out in sub-zero temperatures leaving
blocks of ice where buildings once stood.
How those firefighters do it in that cold with all the water and ice is
beyond me. Kudo’s to the firefighters,
you are amazing!
How cold was
it?
It was so
cold that it was difficult to turn the lock on our front door. Apparently, some metal parts shrink in the
cold less than others putting friction on the slidey thing that locks the door. We almost snapped the key several times until
we learned to pull hard on the door while turning the key.
How cold was
it?
It was so
cold that soda cans in our garage refrigerator exploded. Only the diet soda cans blew up (no idea why). Water froze but didn’t explode and the beer
was apparently saved by the alcohol content.
How cold was
it?
It was so cold
that I did not make it to the gym once…that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
How cold was
it?
It was so
cold that Barnegat Bay on the Jersey Shore was frozen over. I wouldn’t suggest ice skating on it, but the
Bay was covered with snow.
We had cold
snaps like this back in the day when I was just a cranky young man. I recall at least one week every year of ice
skating on local ponds. Everyone owned a
pair of skates and we even played hockey from time to time.
I have not
seen anyone ice-skating on local ponds in forever.
I miss the
ice-skating.
I don’t miss
the frozen pipes, fires, stuck locks, and exploding soda cans.
Damn it was
cold!
Yes, definitely cold, too cold, but I remember living in MN in the winter and this should have been a piece of cake. I'm older now and think I should have moved further south.
ReplyDeleteYup....here too.....but we're used to it...us being Eskimos and all lol.
ReplyDeleteWe were having very mild temperatures here in California. Very mild. Looks like you got our bad weather.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and I'm glad the freeze is over for you. ☺
I can't even imagine that cold. I remember as a child, driving up to Tahoe where my folks owned a duplex and the snow was to the roof in many homes.
ReplyDeleteWe are further south, in the swamps of South Louisiana, and we had seven straight nights of temperatures in the 20's. That doesn't happen in the swamps, but it did, and we will get more of the same this weekend.
ReplyDeleteNot here in Los Angeles!!
ReplyDeleteWe were in same cold snap and many at work were complaining about the pop freezing in the fridge. We heat with wood and we went through alot to keep it nice and warm here. It's suppose to be almost 60 on Thursday and just so we don't get too used to that another cold snap is coming and also a foot of snow on Saturday. Of course I'm on call and hopefully won't be running to the hospital in a blizzard! Hope the rest of January is better in Jersey!
ReplyDeleteIt was ruff here in Georgia. Some of the dogs were reluctant to stay outside and do their business. Plenty of time to bark down the imaginary buggers though. We had a week of morning lows around 20 which was about 16 here in the country. But the well kept chugging through without me plugging in a heater to keep it from freezing. We had birds drinking from the back tap we kept dripping. Life is good. We made it through.
ReplyDeleteThey did show the firemen with ice covering their hats and clothes on the news. We too have a few fires from space heaters. With a dust of snow, we have car accidents galore. Just to let you know the deep South has a distant idea of those cold Northern shores.
Wow. That is cold. We've been near 50 for the past couple of days. Really, kudos to those water guys for getting those pipes fixed within an hour. That is very quick and God bless 'em. The firefighters too. I miss seeing the ice shanties all over the lakes. We used to go ice fishing with my dad and it was a lot of fun. We ice skated too and the boys shoveled off a diy hockey rink almost every weekend. The big boys drove their vw bugs onto the frozen lake, which, the rule is, as long as the ice looks black you're good. Hahaha. Wow. We were some risk takers back then. :) Glad you're warming up and yay for saving the beer@
ReplyDeleteI remember working out in the cold weather like that for the water company, the water was freezing to the ground as fast as we were pumping it out, I sure don't miss that.
ReplyDeleteLittle Rhody was a but brisk as well. Not Vermont cold, but "How much is a flight to Florida?" cold.
ReplyDeleteOh, you wooseys. When I was a kid we used to go ice skating when it got to 20 below. 'Course now I live in Arizona where we turn on the fireplace when it dips below 65.
ReplyDeleteI like cold weather....Texas cold weather. Thankfully it's nothing like what you described.
ReplyDeleteWow! Your utility people and first responders ARE amazing!
ReplyDeleteWe had a cold snap with single digit lows, and highs in the teens. It didn't seem all that cold, except for the wind. I guess because I mainly stayed inside, and we didn't have snow to look at.
Today in the UK is sunny and cold, such a change from the recent big freeze, the first we've had for many years. Yes, we had ice skaters on ponds .... I never thought to see that again.
ReplyDeleteThose are powerful words today joeh. I got halfway through reading this and had to go put on a long sleeved shirt, I had shivery goosebumps! and it's 23C here in my living (dining, working, everything) room. That's 73.4 in your numbers.
ReplyDeleteIt's been brutal! I believe it's supposed to be in the 40's here today, so 'warmth' is headed your way!
ReplyDeleteIt was even cold here in Alabama. My nephew the plumber worked 18 hours a day repairing frozen pipes.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we never lost power or water.
It has been brutally cold here too. Not as cold as what you've had, but we're really not used to it here in the south. I hope it warms up soon.
ReplyDeleteMy husband grew up in New York and he remembers his parents using the trunk of the car as extra freezer storage during winters when he was a kid - hahahaha.
ReplyDelete