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As a person with an extensive background in climate science…I can tell you that your neighbor is 100% correct…and he/she is only looking out for families safety!
From my understanding… pond, lake, and shallow river ice, is only safe whenever 24 hour mean temperatures go below 18 F (meaning the daily high was roughly 28 F…and the overnight low was roughly 8 F…. for a minimum of 10 days.
This means a night that even hits 0 F, but rises to 40 F the next day, breaks this minimum 10 day safety threshold. NOWHERE in Connecticut will this occur in 99.9% of the winters. In general, any ice that forms in this region is shallow surface ice. One of the reasons ice forms and last all winter in places like say Maine or Minnesota is not only because it’s so much colder…but the cold is sustained. So the ice is frozen down to very safe depths. This is nearly impossible in the up and down winter temperatures on the East Coast. …especially from southern Connecticut south. In places like the Dakota’s, Minnesota, Wisconsin…ect – they even drive cars and trucks right on to ponds and lakes with no fear of collapse because of the great depth of the freeze.
At a mininum…ask your local Fire Department which spots in your town are safe (if any). Most local Fire Departments know where shallow and safe spots are. This cold snap is quite typical of how tradgey occurs – for four or five days there is very cold temperatures, then the snap is over and temps during the day are near 40 F again and it even rains. It only takes one softened spot… to create a family tradgey.
Finally…NEVER SEND YOUR CHILDREN OUT ONTO A VERY DEEP LAKE OR POND IN THIS AREA ….NO MATTER HOW STRONG THE ICE MAY SEEM TO BE.
Totally 100% true.
As someone who lake races my snowmobile and used to ice race with the cars in winter (Yes on the lake) I can tell you...unless somone is core drilling, you really don't know.
I get very sketchy about trusting CT ice for the very reason Wave pointed out. I have and do go out on the resevoirs etc over the years, but I always have a pit in my stomach even if we have cut a sample. You don't know about under currents, spring feeds (Which will warm the water and thin the ice in spots) etc.
Most spots in CT now flood a field for ice racing with the sleds. For us, it's not about falling through while your moving as Snowmobiles are the best Jetskis you'll find once under power. (No kidding. For the curious: YouTube - Snowmobile Water Crossing AWESOME footage) It's about hearing the "snap" and watching the lake open up while your parked. Not a good feeling.
Used to be, the local DPW would test local ponds for ice skating etc and post a sign. Not sure if that's still being done many places. Check with your park and rec department and also as Wave said the FD.
Below is a rough guide for ice depths that was posted on the Maine boards. You really have to know the area you are going on. I grew up in Maine and still go there to snowmobile and ice fish and even with the extreme cold there are areas that do not freeze or do not freeze enough to be safe. I have driven my pickup on areas I know well and have seen areas in Maine that they drive 18 wheelers on. It is always a good idea to have a rope or something around to be able to pull someone out.
2 inches One person on foot
3 inches Group in single file
7-1/2 inches Passenger car (2 tons)
8 inches Light truck (2-1/2 tons)
10 inches Medium truck (3-1/2 tons)
12 inches Heavy truck (7 to 8 tons)
15 inches Heavy truck (10 tons)
20 inches 25 tons
25 inches 45 tons
30 inches 70 tons
36 inches 110 tons
Yikes!! You guys scared the crap out of me about the whole ice skating thing. I drove by the pond I was thinking of trying and saw kids playing hockey on it. I looked for signs about no ice skating but didn't see anything. I will call the fire department as you suggested and see what they say.
Thanks a bunch for the info.
Well, my dream is coming true and we are finally moving to CT next month. We will be renting a house in the Farmington valley.
Let me tell you, people in CT are spoiled! The ones that complain don't know how good they have it. CT is one of the most beautiful states. So beautiful that other places, like VA where I am now, don't look near as nice now that I've had about 5 trips to CT in the past 6 weeks. The Farmington Valley area is breathtaking. You have the perfect combination of rural with woods and mountains, yet every store you could possibly need. Traffic around HArtford is nothing compared to many cities in the south where people are flocking to. Nothing I tell you.
The only other city I can compare to Hartford is Richmond in terms of having plenty to do, but really not that much traffic.
Sure winter can be bad at times but it's never that bad the entire 3 months of winter. Summer in Florida on the other hand is absolutely oppressive from May until October. Of course there are many people that love that type of weather. If you love 90 plus temps and feeling like you are in an outdoor sauna, then Florida is the place for you. Just don't expect to find a good paying job and install some extra locks on your doors.
Seriously though, no state is perfect. No state has beautiful weather year round. Give me snow and cold any day over hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes and mudslides. I'm telling you the northeast is spoiled in terms of weather! The most people can complain about is the cold. Well, unless your house is a box in the alley, I don't see what the problem is.
Try living in some of these so called "paradise" southern states when spring brings about the start of tornado season.
My aunt lives in Tennessee and is moving out. Her house was destroyed a couple of years ago by a tornado and finally I convinced her to come live by me after I move to CT. Snow doesn't rip the roof off of your house! You don't have to run into the basement when it snows and pray that your house is still standing!
Also, hurricanes in FL are nothing to sneeze at. The amount of damage they can do is devastating.
The most I will say for Florida is that it's beautiful in Jan/Feb. High's around 60 or 70 and it's pretty dry. The rest of the year? You can have it.
After doing a lot of research and realizing there is no utopia, we decided that CT is the place for us, winter and all.
I am sooo sick of the snow and ice and being stuck in this house for days on end...I wish I could move to Florida...Id take a hurricane over this crappy weather anyday.
Replace "Connecticut" with "Alaska" and "Florida" with "Texas" and you describe my sentiments exactly. Although I've posted some "negative" things in the Alaska forum to warn people thinking of moving what they're in for, I wouldn't have the guts to actually call my post "I hate living here." I haven't seen a post in the Texas forum titled that. I love it though. Alaskans and Texans seem to have a bit more state pride than some.
Well, my dream is coming true and we are finally moving to CT next month. We will be renting a house in the Farmington valley.
Let me tell you, people in CT are spoiled! The ones that complain don't know how good they have it. CT is one of the most beautiful states. So beautiful that other places, like VA where I am now, don't look near as nice now that I've had about 5 trips to CT in the past 6 weeks. The Farmington Valley area is breathtaking. You have the perfect combination of rural with woods and mountains, yet every store you could possibly need. Traffic around HArtford is nothing compared to many cities in the south where people are flocking to. Nothing I tell you.
The only other city I can compare to Hartford is Richmond in terms of having plenty to do, but really not that much traffic.
Sure winter can be bad at times but it's never that bad the entire 3 months of winter. Summer in Florida on the other hand is absolutely oppressive from May until October. Of course there are many people that love that type of weather. If you love 90 plus temps and feeling like you are in an outdoor sauna, then Florida is the place for you. Just don't expect to find a good paying job and install some extra locks on your doors.
Seriously though, no state is perfect. No state has beautiful weather year round. Give me snow and cold any day over hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes and mudslides. I'm telling you the northeast is spoiled in terms of weather! The most people can complain about is the cold. Well, unless your house is a box in the alley, I don't see what the problem is.
Try living in some of these so called "paradise" southern states when spring brings about the start of tornado season.
My aunt lives in Tennessee and is moving out. Her house was destroyed a couple of years ago by a tornado and finally I convinced her to come live by me after I move to CT. Snow doesn't rip the roof off of your house! You don't have to run into the basement when it snows and pray that your house is still standing!
Also, hurricanes in FL are nothing to sneeze at. The amount of damage they can do is devastating.
The most I will say for Florida is that it's beautiful in Jan/Feb. High's around 60 or 70 and it's pretty dry. The rest of the year? You can have it.
After doing a lot of research and realizing there is no utopia, we decided that CT is the place for us, winter and all.
CT is nice however it should be for what we have to pay to live here.
With a budget of $300,000, which to us is a lot of money and probably would be to many people around the country, as first time home buyers we feel like poor people with what we can get. It's really depressing.
Well, my dream is coming true and we are finally moving to CT next month. We will be renting a house in the Farmington valley.
Let me tell you, people in CT are spoiled! The ones that complain don't know how good they have it. CT is one of the most beautiful states. So beautiful that other places, like VA where I am now, don't look near as nice now that I've had about 5 trips to CT in the past 6 weeks. The Farmington Valley area is breathtaking. You have the perfect combination of rural with woods and mountains, yet every store you could possibly need. Traffic around HArtford is nothing compared to many cities in the south where people are flocking to. Nothing I tell you.
The only other city I can compare to Hartford is Richmond in terms of having plenty to do, but really not that much traffic.
Sure winter can be bad at times but it's never that bad the entire 3 months of winter. Summer in Florida on the other hand is absolutely oppressive from May until October. Of course there are many people that love that type of weather. If you love 90 plus temps and feeling like you are in an outdoor sauna, then Florida is the place for you. Just don't expect to find a good paying job and install some extra locks on your doors.
Seriously though, no state is perfect. No state has beautiful weather year round. Give me snow and cold any day over hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes and mudslides. I'm telling you the northeast is spoiled in terms of weather! The most people can complain about is the cold. Well, unless your house is a box in the alley, I don't see what the problem is.
Try living in some of these so called "paradise" southern states when spring brings about the start of tornado season.
My aunt lives in Tennessee and is moving out. Her house was destroyed a couple of years ago by a tornado and finally I convinced her to come live by me after I move to CT. Snow doesn't rip the roof off of your house! You don't have to run into the basement when it snows and pray that your house is still standing!
Also, hurricanes in FL are nothing to sneeze at. The amount of damage they can do is devastating.
The most I will say for Florida is that it's beautiful in Jan/Feb. High's around 60 or 70 and it's pretty dry. The rest of the year? You can have it.
After doing a lot of research and realizing there is no utopia, we decided that CT is the place for us, winter and all.
Very nicely said. I do not know why people always thinik the grass is greener somewhere else. It really isn't. Everywhere has issues. I think Connecticut balances those issues nicely. People will visit a place on vacation and think it is wonderful. Of course it is when you don't have to go to work and are staying in a resort. Actually living somewhere is a lot different. I know a number of people that have moved out of state only to come back later when they realize what they had. Jay
Well, my dream is coming true and we are finally moving to CT next month. We will be renting a house in the Farmington valley.
Let me tell you, people in CT are spoiled! The ones that complain don't know how good they have it. CT is one of the most beautiful states. So beautiful that other places, like VA where I am now, don't look near as nice now that I've had about 5 trips to CT in the past 6 weeks. The Farmington Valley area is breathtaking. You have the perfect combination of rural with woods and mountains, yet every store you could possibly need. Traffic around HArtford is nothing compared to many cities in the south where people are flocking to. Nothing I tell you.
The only other city I can compare to Hartford is Richmond in terms of having plenty to do, but really not that much traffic.
Sure winter can be bad at times but it's never that bad the entire 3 months of winter. Summer in Florida on the other hand is absolutely oppressive from May until October. Of course there are many people that love that type of weather. If you love 90 plus temps and feeling like you are in an outdoor sauna, then Florida is the place for you. Just don't expect to find a good paying job and install some extra locks on your doors.
Seriously though, no state is perfect. No state has beautiful weather year round. Give me snow and cold any day over hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes and mudslides. I'm telling you the northeast is spoiled in terms of weather! The most people can complain about is the cold. Well, unless your house is a box in the alley, I don't see what the problem is.
Try living in some of these so called "paradise" southern states when spring brings about the start of tornado season.
My aunt lives in Tennessee and is moving out. Her house was destroyed a couple of years ago by a tornado and finally I convinced her to come live by me after I move to CT. Snow doesn't rip the roof off of your house! You don't have to run into the basement when it snows and pray that your house is still standing!
Also, hurricanes in FL are nothing to sneeze at. The amount of damage they can do is devastating.
The most I will say for Florida is that it's beautiful in Jan/Feb. High's around 60 or 70 and it's pretty dry. The rest of the year? You can have it.
After doing a lot of research and realizing there is no utopia, we decided that CT is the place for us, winter and all.
Wow...well said. You just described my journey around the country for the last 15 years or so. LOL
After living in Orlando, Charlotte and traveling around on business and pleasure since my early 20's even so far as getting a wild eye and driving from Orlando to Toronto for a week because I just wanted to see the city. Ahh, youth. LOL
In the end, I have resolved I'm not going to find what I love about this place elsewhere. (Granted, this is really a statement more about New England then CT alone) So, I accept the things I don't like about it here but can't change, and change the things I can. Mainly my attitude.
My only acception is the comparison of Hartford to Richmond. I can see what you mean about size and traffic and such - but I find Richmond to be a dirty and awful place. I've been there many times, and didn't like it any of them and if anything the more I'm there the more I don't want to be.
To me, it's like brackish water - neither salt or fresh water and all but useless. You get the tackyness of the South and the grit of the Northeast without the good of either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by njohnson
CT is nice however it should be for what we have to pay to live here.
With a budget of $300,000, which to us is a lot of money and probably would be to many people around the country, as first time home buyers we feel like poor people with what we can get. It's really depressing.
Honestly, I feel your pain. My last recent trip to SC was because of the lure of cheap housing. But in the end, looking at what you get as a whole I didn't find more value as a package.
What I like about here, is if you are smart and patient, you have options.
There ARE properties in "rich" towns for under 300K. In subdivision land elsewhere in the nation, people are segregated by enconomic status. "This subdivision only has homes from 400K - 600K and this subdivision is 150-250K" type thing.
So people start flashing their "subdivisions". "Well, we live in Winegate Estates" and guess what? Unless you have 500K you are not living in Winegate estates, you WILL live in Crunchy Meadows instead - period.
At least here you CAN buy a home in Avon or Glastonbury, live in the same town, go to the same schools and not be forced to pay $750K for a home.
If you look around, you WILL find that gem and/or deal.
If it helps, let me share my experience. After looking for about 8 months, I found a 50 year old custom built home on a private road (Sort of public now - the town kind of took it over just not on paper), on over 2 acres, up on the Case Mountain Ridge in Manchester overlooking the CT River Valley. It was on the market for about 6 months and even I passed by it many times and decided to "have a closer look".
Well, when you pulled up it wasn't pretty. The original owner passed and it was sitting for a while. The landscape was overgrown, the backyard looked horribly overgrown and small etc etc. BUT, I decided to get out and not do the typical "drive by". Walked into the backyard which had a WALL of vines and overgrowth so thick you couldn't put your hand through it.
I punched a hole through, walked past and the lot opened up to this beautiful once meadow now filled with small saplings with old stone walls and a commanding view of the Valley.
Now I was getting excited. So I went back and looked in the windows. Yea, it needed updating here and there, but over all it was a nice 4 bedroom ranch style home with the back of the house actually two story due to the sloping landscape (Which levels out after the rear of the house) with a wallk out basement that has another 1300sf of "ready to go" space.
Nice original oak floors, steel beam in the basement, drywall with plaster skim coat on the walls (People pay big $$ for that these days) etc etc.
I purchased the home for $180K in 2002. Instead of doing the "Extreme Makeover" remodel and gut the place all at once and dump $100K into it...over the years I've been working on the house slowly and using the "paygo" method.
First step was to go through and repaint, basic repairs etc.
Then came the land clearing. A Chainsaw and two months of weekends, some landscaping over time and it's now a beautiful lot. Most people come over and are shocked at what was hiding underneath...then they walk out on the back deck and the jaw drops from the view.
Then came turning the 4th bed into a dining room, bathroom remodel, kitchen etc. Next will be turning the downstairs into a HUGE family room and game room as it's literally the "first floor" of the house on the backside with windows and doors.
Yea, it's been 6 years but the home is now worth about $300K in today's market and we took our time and did most of the work ourselves.
So you can certainly find a home in CT for "not a lot of money"...you just have to be real "Yankee" - creative and smart and willing to roll up your sleeves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayCT
I know a number of people that have moved out of state only to come back later when they realize what they had. Jay
CT is nice however it should be for what we have to pay to live here.
I agree that it is pricey, however, in my extensive research on areas to live, I found that CT did give you the most for your money and I found that other places were not as cheap as cracked up to be. Not to mention the fact that in most southern cities, the salaries suck! So CT still came out ahead for us. Of course it really would depend on your line of work but for my husband and me, we were actually "poorer" when we lived in Florida than we will be in CT.
Quote:
My only acception is the comparison of Hartford to Richmond. I can see what you mean about size and traffic and such - but I find Richmond to be a dirty and awful place. I've been there many times, and didn't like it any of them and if anything the more I'm there the more I don't want to be.
Richmond is one of those cities that is really split down the middle. If you are east of 95, it gets really bad really fast. I was very bummed out when we went to visit the church that Patrick Henry gave his "give me liberty or give me death" speach because I did not feel safe.
However there are beautiful areas with historic colonial homes and that is what reminds me of NE in a lot of ways. The areas of Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, Carytown, the Fan are all really beautiful. I also noticed that the area that is considered Richmond is much more vast than Hartford. With HArtford, the area is really just the city. If you were comparing Richmond to Hartford, the towns of Glastonbury, Windsor Locks, West Hartford, pretty much the farmington valley towns and the rest of the towns on the east side would all be considered richmond. So a person can say they live in Richmond and really be nowhere near the actual downtown. But anyway, I agree that Hartford is much nicer city with a lot more to offer. I see little comparisons though in that they are both capital cities that get a worse rap than they deserve, Hartford deserving less of a bad rap. Again, people in CT are really spoiled and don't realize how good they have it . I laugh sometimes at what is considered a "bad" part of town in CT.
If anyone thinks that schools in CT or anywhere in the northeast are bad, they are in for a huge wake up call if they move down south. SAve for a few really bad schools, the average public school in New England is better than the average private school down south and that is no joke! Also, while your property taxes may be cheaper in some places down south, if you have to send your kids to private school, it kind of negates the whole "cheaper" thing.
Quote:
Alaskans and Texans seem to have a bit more state pride than some.
I agree and this is a topic I think I could write a thesis on. This was one of the main issues that I hated about living down south. As someone who has spent literally half their live up north and the other half down south, I think I can speak objectively. People in the northeast are a whiny bunch, let's face it. They want to complain about something be it traffic, snow, taxes...etc. There is not enough pride in the northeast, IMO. When I lived in NJ, I felt like it was "uncool" to say you liked living in NJ. When I was looking at colleges, it was uncool to want to go to a college within the state. You HAD to look outside the state or you were a huge loser. That was the sentiment in my school. The upside on this lack of state pride is that you have people who are willing to make changes and see flaws for what they are and that is why, imo, the northeast has some of the best schools and is just overall more advanced than other places in the US. To explain the term "advanced" would take all day. Most people who have traveled around get what I'm saying.
Places like the south, esp Florida and Texas have too much pride IMO. God forbid you want to make a change for anything! "Our state is perfect! It's paradise! There's nothing wrong with the way we've been doing it because it's been done that way for the past 100 years!"
That is the mentality I HAD to get away from. The stuck in the mud, no change, mentality.
So I think that each place could stand to change a bit. I think people in the northeast need to realize that it's not so bad and have some more pride and people down south need to realize that they aren't in a utopia.
I realize that many people in NE like the people on this board have a LOT of pride so I don't mean you. I just had 15 years of living in Florida listening to every person who moved there from the northeast do nothing but bash the northeast and they were so glad to be gone. It mad me sad to hear it all the time.
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