Let's visit on the Porch II (rain, drive)

[Reziac]

Siberian Express:

https://classic.nullschool.net/#2024...61.634,-82.813

[MTSilvertip]

-38 with a 10 mph wind means it was flipping COLD out there this morning.

Pipe froze and busted at this little cafe I help out, they're closed for repairs, so I'm going to hibernate for a few days.

Stay warm out there!!!

[Reziac]

For anyone who hasn't see it... Montana owns all the craziest temperature records!

https://montanakids.com/facts_and_fi...e_Extremes.htm

[Shuffler]

Little to no snow for the Flathead, mostly a wind and cold event. What snow we had was redistributed into 3-4' slab on our road.

My machine kept throwing a CEL and trying to go into re-gen/limp mode, so I couldn't get our drive opened up to the main road. Brutal without a cab going backwards into 20-30mph wind to blow snow. Diesel 911 got things resolved but not before the contracted HOA crew got their big plow unit stuck where the road meets our drive ... he got unstuck only to get his ass end off the road a hundred feet later, so they had to bring in bigger equipment to get him out.

Wifey had to hoof it out to the mailbox tree where a coworker's husband plowed his way in to pick her up ... she had a patient in town who'd driven up from Casper WY.

The good news is after these shenanigans, she's on board with a tractor upgrade ... the search is on for a larger pre-emissions cab tractor and a front blower

[Reziac]

My sister's place is just below Bozeman Pass... her HOA hires a guy with a snowplow truck. Once or twice a year he gets stuck and has to go rent a grader instead. One can do amazing things with a grader....

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by Reziac

My sister's place is just below Bozeman Pass... her HOA hires a guy with a snowplow truck. Once or twice a year he gets stuck and has to go rent a grader instead. One can do amazing things with a grader....

Our mail/parcel carriers have said we're on one of the worst roads for drifting in the Valley.

They've had a motor grader here more than a few times to blow the drifts out ... if we'd gotten any decent snow out of this past system, we'd be snowed in for days.

Supposed to get about 6" on Weds ... here's hoping there's no wind.

[Reziac]

We're only supposed to get about two inches. That will be plenty, since I'll have to shovel it before it warms up and turns to ice. The hazards of an east-facing driveway....

[Shuffler]

To our surprise, our bees are still alive - I guess my extra wind protection & insulation measures have helped. Hope they make it to Spring ... it'd be a shame to lose 'em after they just weathered about the most intense stuff nature could throw at them.

A high of zero today felt downright balmy. Got the tractor out and topped off & treated the fuel, let it run a DPF regen cycle, and did a little cleanup of the dusting we got yesterday.

We'll see what tomorrow night into Thurs morning brings ... now it's a warning saying that 8-14" and wind are expected ... oh boy.

[Reziac]

There are plenty of wild** bees around that survive Montana winters just fine -- mostly in hollow trees, not that different from a wooden hive. The main thing is seeing to it they have enough to eat, since they don't hibernate or die off. Tho less cold means they need less to eat, so insulation can't hurt.

** technically feral, since honeybees are not native to North America. But they are native to northern Europe.

[rkcarguy]

I follow some MT social media, someone posted it was -44* wherever they were and they had created an interesting piece of art. Unrolling a roll of toilet paper from the ground up while spraying it with a fine mist of water until it was frozen and holding the roll up in mid-air lol.