So, maybe I’m a little off my rocker, but I feel like I’m missing out because I’ve never been through an epic snow storm or a blizzard. All we have up here in Seattle is rain and gloom.
Mark my words, one day, I will live on the east coast full time. I’ll have a red wood stove, a huge supply of wool socks, and a pantry stocked to the brim. I’ll ride it out a blizzard in style, I tell ya. For now, though, I’ll just have to settle for prepping mentally.
If you are facing the reality of a potential snow storm or blizzard now, though, here are some tips to keep you toasty warm and safe during a major snow storm or blizzard:
- Create a survival kit for your house and office…in case you stuck at either place. It should include flashlight {with batteries}, candles, matches, battery powered radio, extra food, water {and medication, diapers, formula, etc. if applicable}, first aid kit, an emergency heat source {mine will be the lovely big red wood burning stove}.
- If you have animals, make sure to bring them in or shut them into their shelter. Bring their food closer to the house, so that you can still access it. Think about stocking extra water for them too.
- During the winter, never let your car fuel level get below 1/2-3/4 tank. That way, if you are stuck in the car, you will hopefully have enough fuel to provide heat. In the event that you do get stuck in the car, run the heater for 10 minutes every hour to conserve gas. Before running the car engine for heat, make sure that the car’s exhaust pipe is not blocked with snow or something else. Carbon monoxide is not healthy.
- Create an emergency winter bag for the car. Have extra food and water. A metal coffee can, matches, sticks and newspaper is always a good idea so that you can build a mini fire. Keep you cell phone charger handy, so that you can charge your phone if necessary–that way calling for help is totally an option. Keep a stash of blankets in the car during the winter months.
- If you have to travel during a snow storm or blizzard, make sure to let someone else know when you are leaving, where you are going, and when you plan to arrive. That way, if something goes wrong, people know where to start looking for you.
- Place snow shovels near the front door so that you can access them and dig your way out if necessary.
- Have an alternative cooking method, in case the power goes out. Think a little propane powered grill, or the like. Just make sure you use your “alternate cooking source” in a properly ventilated area.
- Have you kids keep snacks in their backpacks, just in case the storm hits while they are at school.
- Don’t leave the house unless you are dressed for the weather. Resist the urge to pop out for some milk in your shorts and t-shirt. You never know when the weather can turn, and it’s best to be dress accordingly should you get stuck in your car or any other building beside home.
- Have a family plan. Talk to kids about what to do if they get stuck at school, or on the bus. Know how you will contact each other to check in.
Okay, so after that list, I have to admit, if you were to get stuck somewhere besides home in a blizzard/snow storm, it would not be fun. BUT, if you have plenty of food, water and heat in the comfort of your own home, it might be kind of fun to have a “forced shutdown” of life’s activities. Maybe I’ll sing a different tune after I’ve actually experienced a blizzard?
Stay safe,
Mavis
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Jessica says
Just make sure you use your “alternate cooking source” in a properly ventilated area. The number of people who die from carbon monoxide poisoning because they tried to cook/heat indoors using “non-indoor methods” (BBQs and the like) is often higher than the people who die of exposure.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Jessica, I added your suggestion to the post. 🙂
Eliabeth in Upstate NY says
Mavis, better mention that the coffee can should be METAL. With coffee now being sold in plastic containers, burning something in those could be a real disaster! And what to burn in a metal can? A short stubby candle of course. Short because the flame will warm the air in the can, and the warm can will warm hands etc besides providing heat to warm food/water.
Before running the car engine for heat, make sure that the car’s exhaust pipe is not blocked with snow or something else. Carbon monoxide is not healthy.
Used to live in Bangor Maine. One winter had over 128″ of snow. But then, you knew it was coming, and prepared early for cold and winter.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Elizabeth, I added your comment to the post. 🙂 Did you like living in Maine? What was the best/worst part?
Eliabeth in Upstate NY says
Loved, loved, loved, living in Maine. Given the opportunity, would move back! Dislike: Maine is the end destination [shipping] for food. NEVER bought peaches there as they had to be picked under ripe to survive the shipping – no flavor and rock hard. Beef was very expensive. Maine law required that milk be sold at full price. Was paying $2.79 gallon way back then.
But lobster, now that was a basic food group. When we moved out of state, took our kids to Red Lobster monthly to wean them from it!! And Bar Harbor Bars, mouth is watering just thinking of them, yum-yum. Am told that the company that made them no longer exists.
Mavis Butterfield says
Ever since I read A Small farm in Maine 22 years ago I have been in love with the state. The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island was pretty good too. 🙂
Perky Prepping Gramma says
Having been in a few blizzards & lost electricity it is great to have all these things mentioned on hand. It really does make a difference. It’s good to try to have at the very least three days worth of supplies prepared, including water.
Erin Wilson says
Changing the batteries in your emergency kits from time to time helps too. Like maybe once a year when you change them in your smoke detectors. No bigger bummer than pulling out the kit and finding the batteries dead.
sandi says
Snow days are great days to make soup and bread. No one else has plans for your time. We also took out all of the kitchen drawers, washed and organized them. It felt great and would never get done on a regular day!
Jenny says
I know they are dangerous, but I like blizzards. I think they are awesome to watch and the sound is different, almost like listening to the ocean. Even when you can’t see the sun, there is tons of light because of all the reflection off the snow. It’s like being in a snow globe. There are no cars or people out. When everyone is home, and the power stays on, it’s one of my favorite days.
Lana says
As the Mom of a son who lives outside of Boston I will be glad when this over. So far they still have power but we are all Southerners and we like sun and warmth!
Emily says
Hey Mavis,
Im from northern Minnesota here! We have survived many a blizzard. A few things that are super helpful are never EVER drive on a road that is closed. They are closed for a reason! Another awesome tip is keep kitty litter in your car. If you get stuck on some ice you can put the kitty litter under the tires it can give you some serious traction and get you out of there!
Mavis Butterfield says
Ohhh I like the kitty litter idea!
Becka says
Years ago we lived in Michigan and the school where my husband taught had some students who commuted from quite a distance. Those who did not live in the immediate area had to have a local “host” family who would take them in in the event of a sudden blizzard. We now live in South Carolina where we sometimes face several days of ice which makes our hilly roads impossible to drive on. It’s actually nice to be “iced in”–when there is still electricity. 🙂
Dena H says
Hi Becka,
Did you live in the U.P. by chance? That sounds like something that the friendly “Yoopers” would do! 🙂 I’ve lived in Michigan all my life and grew up in the “Thumb” which is very rural and flat. The wind would kick up and we would be snowed in, even without it snowing! I hope you enjoyed your time in The Mitten!
Dena
Catherine Foster says
A fun fire-starter: take some dryer lint (something we all throw out) and stuff it inside cardboard toilet paper rolls (ditto). Voila!
Aliea says
Generator safety! I know another commenter mentioned the dangers of improperly vented cooking/heating sources (so common), but where I lived many people also got very sick or died from generator fuel fumes in their garage or too near the home.
Another CRITICAL thing to know about generator safety (my brother was an electrical lineman and this was SO dangerous to those men and women that are out there following those storms to repair lines and restore power) – please NEVER hook up a generator to your home’s electrical service. My brother said this kills or injures too many utility workers during an outage. “Home use (non-industrial) generators do not supply enough amperage to supply sufficient power for today’s homes (that is, to run a furnace, lighting, appliances, and other electronic equipment). Unless your home’s power supply was installed with a disconnect to the main power feeding lines, power you put into your home from a generator could “backfeed” into the main line and cause serious problems for the electrical utility [workers], your neighbors, or yourself. “Backfeeding” is supplying electrical power from a generator at the residence into the incoming utility lines. This occurs when the necessary equipment used to isolate the generator from the incoming power lines is not installed.”
Aliea says
Actually I just saw the CDC recommends a generator be a minimum of 20 feet from the home and located so fumes move away from the residence.
Nikki says
Your “survival kit” should include a roll of small TP and hand sanitizer. They serve a dual purpose the first being their original intended use but they also make excellent fire starter/source and store very well in the metal coffee can.
Jenn in Indiana says
Mavis, after you are in one major snowstorm or blizzard they lose their appeal real fast. Last year, we had a major storm and was snowed in for 4 days. We live in the country and with a tremendous amount of snow mixed with below freezing temps and high winds, you can forget about plowing till it all dies down. Last year, my husband was working 3rd shift and locked his keys in his truck at work during one of these storms. I figured I have 4 wheel drive, I can make it. Nope, SUV wouldn’t even move. So I had to call my BIL who drives a Tahoe. He thought he could drive down our rode a 1/2 mile to get me. Nope, had to sit out on a major highway and wait on me while I walked a 1/2 mile in wind driven snow past my knees and 30 below temps. It took us an hour to drive 5 miles, state plows were off in ditches all over the place. The worst part was that my ankle got so frostbit that my Dr. almost put me in the hospital. So I am so thankful that we have only had about 10 inches of snow all winter. Which also scares me because it makes me think out time is coming.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yikes! Leaving home in a snowstorm would not be fun. I’m glad you are alright.
Melissa says
I live in Southeastern WA St–aka the desert. About 5 yrs ago we got a snow storm that shut down the town for 3 whole days. It was awesome. We sledded, ate lots of yummy homemade things, read and watched movies. A forced shut down. So nice. I keep telling my husband I need a few snow days.
Kathy says
Being teachers, my husband and I used to welcome snow. That changed as soon as our kids started driving! Which leads me to my tip:
If you have a teenager/new driver, make sure you take them driving in the snow (obviously, use caution – wait until snow stops falling, streets have been plowed at least once, etc.). Convincing my son – who had his driver’s license for 6 months but had never driven in snow – that I was taking him out to practice on a no-school snow day – wasn’t easy but in the end, he agreed that iit was a good idea.
Sharon says
Mavis, there’s a whole lot of posturing that goes on before a blizzard … first, the local TV weather people start competing with each other to see who can predict the most dire, end of the world scenarios (all to keep up viewership); then the frenzied shopping at grocery stores and home improvement stores, where people buy up enough ice melt to dissolve a glacier; and then finally the nonsensical “we never close the office” position that requires people to either use vacation time (and thus be accused of not taking your job seriously) or wait until they close the office when the storm is underway, thus creating a situation where it takes 4-5 hours to drive 10 miles. No thanks!!