It was a dark and very rattling windy night

I have never slept well, and after two decades sleeping - or trying to sleep on assorted aircraft carriers, minesweepers and the such, I still can't get a good night's sleep. The slightest sounds wakes me and I am up and roaming to investigate....  am I the only one who can't sleep well?
So I am usually up a few times nightly, as I still don't sleep too well these days.  It was no different last night during a wind storm that ripped through western new York. 
The lights were off a few times during the wee hours, and even the extreme darkness with no lights, that woke me. This is really unusual for us as we rarely get anything like that of high windy conditions for our area. It does however affect other western NY areas. That was followed soon after by a power outage lasting almost two hours, not to mention the high whistling howling winds, sounding more like an off-key old opera singer, or a deadbeat train.... and tomorrow's forecast is expected to be more of the same.

 

A warning to my friends in Europe, to prepare now by tidying up your yards and around the house, or your neighbors will looking at your things blown into their yards! 
Above all, stay safe everyone! 
This all blew - and still howling through as I type - through during the night. The good thing is that now almost all the snow is gone due to days of all-day rains again....
Now to the chore of resetting the electric clocks. I've just forgotten how to set the analog clocks....

On the drone note, I now have three functional drones: my mini 4 pro, an Air 2 from my brother, and a Mavic 3 pro. I also have a mini 5 pro, though it's on crutches. With Winter cold all around and constant high winds starting up, so far in this early Winter I've only had one chance to test fly them, but all's good but quiet on the drone front. Now till Spring, or a rare above 50-degree day with low winds, would be very nice indeed.

 

The seeStar was out months ago, getting some more snaps, till the cold front returned. We tried getting even one of three comets in our night sky! Unfortunately, not too successful thanks to the clouds rolling in....  as usual. 

 The sunsets on the upper Niagara river are still marvelous!

 

Winter Scenes 2024-2025

Well, at least we didn't get a blizzard this time around! Still a good amount of snow to stomp around in, and of course, WE were out in the cold and snow/ice. We have electric gloves and socks, but the socks get too hot being inside a shoe, and the gloves are warm, but the glove fingers are too thick, plus the finger areas are NOT warmed, and that's where it needs to have the wires. 

During the two arctic blasts, of course we ventured out for that too! Swans were plentiful this year, as they are each year, but often need to drive to see them - we don't fly - BUT this time we lucked out, and they were quite close - so close WE could walk to see, which is always a pleasure!                                          

It's cloudy out there

Snowy Niagara Falls State Park

A Winter sunset

White Snow Again in western New York

Well, after a few days of "nice weather" in western New York (WNY), we have snow on the ground again. It's not much...  probably less than an inch, but it's yet another white scene as we are looking out the window. The temperatures however, have been at freezing during the day and colder at night for many weeks!

As discussed after the Buffalo 2022 Winter Blizzard that claimed many lives as power was lost in many areas, if you find yourself without power and don't have a gas heater, you can use a camping tent to stay warm. Use blankets to cover the tent to better insulate the tent for a more efficient warm tent! 

Don't have a tent? 

Use your available furniture to provide support for your blankets to form a makeshift tent! You've seen kids do it to create a fortress, now YOU can do the same to stay warm during power outages in Winter! Even a kitchen or dining room table would provide a thick roof, then hang blankets off the sides then crawl inside and stay warm! It won't be the most comfortable bed but it could see you surviving a winter storm of a few days or till the power grid to your area is restored! 

If your gas heater is still operating well, no matter how cold it is, remember you need ventilation to move the air around to prevent the chances of carbon monoxide building up within the living areas where your gas heater is located. This can be the situation for any type of gas heater!

Just stay safe and always be aware of the cold in your home and while out on the roads! 

Stay safe wherever you are! 

Take a few minutes to make an emergency kit to leave in the car during the Winters. This kit could consist of a thick blanket, a few thick coats, sweaters, thick pants, etc, and a few snack bars, water, a fully charged phone and possibly a power bank with usb cables for your phone, flashlights or what I like better: a headlamp so your hands will be kept available to do other things, a safety marker, flares or safety lights, etc. 

We purchased solar batteries last year which charge using foldable portable solar panels to charge these solar batteries, and we are shocked but pleased to know that even with snowy overcast days, we will get a trickle charge input to our batteries and though it's a tiny amount, it still charges our batteries! Recently we also purchased a small unit that will jumpstart our car battery, and also has an air pump, a bright light, and also usb connections. This is great for using in the car and now anytime we are roadtripping, we ensure this is in the car also.

If you have other tips/advice for others, feel free to comment and describe your best tools, ideas, and things you'd have to keep safe and warm during any emergency situation! Hope this helps and you'll never need to use these tips or items, BUT if you ever do, you're prepared!

Above all, stay safe at home or while out on the road!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that (again)

Though this winter started late in western New York (WNY), I am thinking Mother Nature has fooled a lot of people who thought we'd get a little bit of snow this winter, and not anything like that big mess that fell back in 2014/15 or even the six months of winter snow back in 2017/18 when winter stuck it out till Spring! Even worst was the Buffalo snowstorm of 1977, when this whole area was paralyzed and cars were buried under the snow! Here's an article about that 1977 blizzard 
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/blizzard-of-1977-meteorological-analysis-canada-niagara/78699

Glass of a frozen front screen door!
I love the trees in the frozen "tundra"

Since I last posted, it's snowed three times more, but the in-between times were the warmest yet to date, getting up to the mid- and higher 40s. Those higher temps and a little rain melted all but the biggest piles of plowed snow in parking lots and roadside. 

As I write, it's snowed a few hours and everything is again white, but now it appears to be freezing rain. How fun!! As I have reported previously, WE aren't scared of weather extremes, and this winter we've been out in -17 temps and with gusting howling winds!

This tiny waterfall is cute in summer
BUT in winter, it is truly gorgeous!!!
This is the first time I've ever seen it completely frozen!

The last time we had to clear off the vehicle, it took over an hour after an evening and all-night session of freezing rain. It left about an quarter of an inch to - in some spots - a half-inch of frozen hard clear ice on the windshield and most parts of the vehicle! I haven't had to deal with ice like this since the mid-90s when I lived in Norfolk, Virginia! 

I know...  YOU can't even find your car.
Our car was luckily sheltered from the snow/wind

Just an example to show the depth.
This is probably about four inches or sooo

Not cracked windshield but cracked frozen ice, as I attempt
removing the ice and not crack the windshield in the process!!

Icicles hanging off the backside of our camping minivan 

Icicles everywhere, including from the front end!!

Thank goodness the windshield didn't crack!!

Frozen ice on passenger side of the car. Some of the
ice covering the rear view mirror was removed already

On the other hand, the amazingly gorgeous ice sculptures and abstract snowy drifts that look like someone's hairdo, always takes my breath away! 

Snapped through the window, these icicles were fabulous!

Even the trash can lid sprouted icicles!!

If you live in a icy cold area, have you been outside to admire what Nature has given us? Share your experiences, BUT be careful driving or walking around in the white stuff!!!

Are you seeing and hearing the strong winds too? It started yesterday and will continue all day till tonight Wednesday, but we have been experiencing strong winds about once a week for some time. Last night the winds were howling all night, and was louder than a steam train! Several times its direction shifted, but it still howled, just from a different direction!

Remember you can click on any image to see it bigger. Most of these pictures were snapped with my Samsung S5, which now needs to have its cache cleared about four times daily. The apps don't function correctly and often freeze or just close unexpectedly. Same with the bluetooth, and it's just being a pain. If you buy a samsung phone, be sure its update will continue or else you too will end up with a very annoying and non-functioning dumb phone, like I have right now!

Down on the river named Niagara, there's LESS ice than last year
at this same period of February. BUT, that's a lot of ice cubes!!!

Looking north to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada 

UPDATE 4:35pm Wednesday: Almost whiteout conditions with over 25mph winds blowing snow 

If you can't see and you need to use your wipers, your lights
 should be ON to improve visibility. Be careful while outside!

Not to forget all those little piggies enjoying a
birthday during this year's Chinese New Year,
Happy Chinese New Year!