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Winter Storm Fern - Stay Warm, US GAF

If you're in Fern's frigid freeze zone, how are you holding up? Things are getting crazy around my parts, with the worst expected over the weekend.

AI for context since I'm lazy:
Winter Storm Fern is a major winter storm impacting the central and eastern United States, with effects expected from January 22 through January 26, 2026. The storm, named by The Weather Channel, is bringing a dangerous mix of heavy snow, ice, freezing rain, and extreme cold, affecting over 230 million people across 33 states.
 
Been following the forecast and this is where we are at currently.
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I wish, it's going to be 61 here in California. We got jipped of winter, barely any snow in the mountains. Just 3 years ago there was up to 20 feet of snow, towering over roads that were plowed.
 
I'm near DC, and if we actually get anywhere close to 20" (or even like 6-8") people are gonna freak out.

I'm personally hoping we get as much as possible. I love the snow.
 
I'm near DC, and if we actually get anywhere close to 20" (or even like 6-8") people are gonna freak out.

I'm personally hoping we get as much as possible. I love the snow.
I'm on the border where 18+ is expected. Curious to see how much we actually get. My Giant and Costco were packed today. Packed!

 
Me in Canada:

NrzHhSM3Xo3yaUpL.jpeg


Maybe you guys can have the military give your snow freedom? Drop a nuke? Send out the golden dome?

In all seriousness- hope you guys are prepared. What you are getting is dangerous for places that are unprepared for it.

And no- 4x4 won't save you without the proper tires.
 
I'm on the border where 18+ is expected. Curious to see how much we actually get. My Giant and Costco were packed today. Packed!


Same. People have been freaking out around here since Tuesday.

I hope we actually get a lot. But it doesn't matter that much to me, cause I refuse to drive around MD/DC when there's even a little snow. Not because I mind driving - I grew up in PA, so I'm used to the slush. It's because no one here knows how to fucking drive in the snow, and I don't trust the people around me to not cause an accident lol.
 
Same. People have been freaking out around here since Tuesday.

I hope we actually get a lot. But it doesn't matter that much to me, cause I refuse to drive around MD/DC when there's even a little snow. Not because I mind driving - I grew up in PA, so I'm used to the slush. It's because no one here knows how to fucking drive in the snow, and I don't trust the people around me to not cause an accident lol.
Still need to grab some beer and wine. Gonna go ham when it starts snowing and watch the UFC event.

tyrone biggums GIF
 
Still need to grab some beer and wine. Gonna go ham when it starts snowing and watch the UFC event.

tyrone biggums GIF
Oh shit good call! I'm almost out of beer, myself. Definitely need to make a run tonight or tomorrow 🍻
 
Gonna get to us over the weekend. We're unfortunately going to (most likely) be getting mostly ice which is decidedly less fun than snow and is almost guaranteed to knock out power for several days. On the plus side my OLED Deck came in today and my job allows me to just camp out at work all weekend which is on a strong grid and has substantial generator backups so I'll at least have electricity and hot water.
 
In southern Illinois, not looking forward to the snow at all. I have elderly neighbors, so it looks to be a long Sunday trying to help dig them and myself out of the upcoming mess.
 
I'm in central Ohio and our forecast has ranged from 3 inches to 10. So we'll probably get nothing. Normally I don't care about storms like this and honestly kind of enjoy them since I hate leaving the house, but we just put our house on the market and are supposed to have an open house Sunday so the timing of this sucks.
 
Stocked up on groceries and ready to hibernate for the weekend. So long as we don't lose power (knocking on wood), I'm game for a snowcation.
 
Stocked up on groceries and ready to hibernate for the weekend. So long as we don't lose power (knocking on wood), I'm game for a snowcation.
Should have happened on a weekday instead of a weekend so I actually get a vacation.

You get charged more for power during storms?
No idea, really. I wasn't in an affected area of Texas when that happened but now I will be and I haven't really checked if that's still a thing. I know a lot of people complained about it but there's really nothing I can do if it's still something that can happen.
 
Me in Canada:

NrzHhSM3Xo3yaUpL.jpeg


Maybe you guys can have the military give your snow freedom? Drop a nuke? Send out the golden dome?

In all seriousness- hope you guys are prepared. What you are getting is dangerous for places that are unprepared for it.

And no- 4x4 won't save you without the proper tires.
We aren't prepard. Or at least I'm not. No food in the house at all. No winter tires. No candles or generators. And I'm still scheduled to work all weekend.

And no beer. Fuck đź’€
 
Me in Canada:

NrzHhSM3Xo3yaUpL.jpeg


Maybe you guys can have the military give your snow freedom? Drop a nuke? Send out the golden dome?

In all seriousness- hope you guys are prepared. What you are getting is dangerous for places that are unprepared for it.

And no- 4x4 won't save you without the proper tires.
For me it's this. And it hasnt even snowed hard for days (just some light flurries lately). These are piles from earlier in the week. lol.

Sunday is supposed to be the big day of 16 cm snow.

zctJrJl4ksgH5hCE.jpg
 
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Oh, dont forget to buy bags of driveway salt too! I usually go through 1-2 bags each winter. But I always carry spares as my neighbour sometimes asks me if I got some. No worries, sometimes he snowblows my driveway! Or he says if I want to borrow it, go ahead.
 
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Me in Canada:

NrzHhSM3Xo3yaUpL.jpeg


Maybe you guys can have the military give your snow freedom? Drop a nuke? Send out the golden dome?

In all seriousness- hope you guys are prepared. What you are getting is dangerous for places that are unprepared for it.

And no- 4x4 won't save you without the proper tires.
Don't worry, in Canada, if you get too much snow peacefully protesting you can always FREEZE their bank accounts and get it to leave.
 
I work in 911. No matter how much warning people always travel. Ready to get swamped with people freezing on the side of the road all while being snowed in at work. Hopefully the 12" forecast is BS lol
 
You get charged more for power during storms?
there is some wierd bullshit clause in texas nat gas that floats the price based on supply/demand. So during the ice storm on 2021, the ability to pump gas or deliver it vanished because the pumps froze and trucks couldn't drive, so the "supply" of gas went to almost zero. So the price of a gallon (or square foot, or however it's measured) shot up to like $1000 a gallon. Demand didn't really go up because folks had no power, so they couldn't run their gas furnaces, or they had no water, so a gas water heater was sitting unusable. But the gas you could use went from $1.50 a SF to $1000 because of this supply chokepoint, though no one knew it.

It was total bullshit but politicians and power execs gonna do what they do they pretended like 2 billion dollars of gas was actually bought and used, so they are spreading out the payments over the next 20 years on ever bill. Total bullshit.
 
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Power grid here is still shaky after Helene. There are still a lot of leaning trees that weren't removed. A coat of ice is gonna play havoc.
 
Wow that's a lot of snow for so far south. Business as usual up here in Canada, but we have the infrastructure to deal with it, and they might not :lollipop_worried: . Stay safe
 
Me in Canada:

NrzHhSM3Xo3yaUpL.jpeg


Maybe you guys can have the military give your snow freedom? Drop a nuke? Send out the golden dome?

In all seriousness- hope you guys are prepared. What you are getting is dangerous for places that are unprepared for it.

And no- 4x4 won't save you without the proper tires.


I will trade you our ice for your snow. Part of the deal will be to trade our drivers (good luck) and state resources for winter weather preparedness.

On the plus side, I found out yesterday that I now have the power to close our buildings. We might never work a Friday again. :messenger_winking_tongue:
 
I just hope I don't lose power. Losing power sucks so fucking hard. So much of what we do needs power. I remember 10 years ago my house lost power for 18 hours, which isn't terrible but it was amazing how many times I thought about doing something, or needed to do something, and then quickly remembered I need electricity to do it. You just sit around and do nothing. Play a board game? Dust off the old Guess Who or your Checkers Board. Read a book? Hopefully you have a new book. Unless it's night time, then you're squinting at your bullshit Manga until you say fuck it and decide to go to ped at 7pm.

You're basically living in 18th Century America again. Wake up at sunrise, work all day, have a few ales at a tavern and talk to your neighbors about nothing, go home, fuck your ugly sleeping wife, wake up and do it all over again until you die of an infection at 32.
 
I just hope I don't lose power. Losing power sucks so fucking hard. So much of what we do needs power. I remember 10 years ago my house lost power for 18 hours, which isn't terrible but it was amazing how many times I thought about doing something, or needed to do something, and then quickly remembered I need electricity to do it. You just sit around and do nothing. Play a board game? Dust off the old Guess Who or your Checkers Board. Read a book? Hopefully you have a new book. Unless it's night time, then you're squinting at your bullshit Manga until you say fuck it and decide to go to ped at 7pm.

You're basically living in 18th Century America again. Wake up at sunrise, work all day, have a few ales at a tavern and talk to your neighbors about nothing, go home, fuck your ugly sleeping wife, wake up and do it all over again until you die of an infection at 32.
Ah, come now, there were some perks. Just think of all the hot witches!

9WpKhHaT6mLGb2WD.gif
 
I just hope I don't lose power. Losing power sucks so fucking hard. So much of what we do needs power. I remember 10 years ago my house lost power for 18 hours, which isn't terrible but it was amazing how many times I thought about doing something, or needed to do something, and then quickly remembered I need electricity to do it. You just sit around and do nothing. Play a board game? Dust off the old Guess Who or your Checkers Board. Read a book? Hopefully you have a new book. Unless it's night time, then you're squinting at your bullshit Manga until you say fuck it and decide to go to ped at 7pm.

You're basically living in 18th Century America again. Wake up at sunrise, work all day, have a few ales at a tavern and talk to your neighbors about nothing, go home, fuck your ugly sleeping wife, wake up and do it all over again until you die of an infection at 32.
During the big ice storm years ago, we lost power for two days. During the day iirc we went to the mall, where they were on some sort of backup generator.
 
I just hope I don't lose power. Losing power sucks so fucking hard. So much of what we do needs power. I remember 10 years ago my house lost power for 18 hours, which isn't terrible but it was amazing how many times I thought about doing something, or needed to do something, and then quickly remembered I need electricity to do it. You just sit around and do nothing. Play a board game? Dust off the old Guess Who or your Checkers Board. Read a book? Hopefully you have a new book. Unless it's night time, then you're squinting at your bullshit Manga until you say fuck it and decide to go to ped at 7pm.

You're basically living in 18th Century America again. Wake up at sunrise, work all day, have a few ales at a tavern and talk to your neighbors about nothing, go home, fuck your ugly sleeping wife, wake up and do it all over again until you die of an infection at 32.
Phones and the like have kind of changed that, but losing power still sucks. Especially if you are on a well - no power = no water.
Just the number of times I will walk into a room and flick on the light switch reflexively before my brain reminds me for the millionth time that there is still no power is annoying.
 
I'm near DC, and if we actually get anywhere close to 20" (or even like 6-8") people are gonna freak out.

I'm personally hoping we get as much as possible. I love the snow.
I moved to Washington from Mass and there are 2 things I miss. Dunkin and White Christmases. I told my wife, all you need to do is have one White Christmas, like 8 to 10 inches of snow, and no other Christmas will compare.
Here in Western Wa, we'll get SNOW but super rare. My son is going to college in Eastern Wa and he is freezing his ass off. Washington really should be 2 different states divided by the cascades.
 
I moved to Washington from Mass and there are 2 things I miss. Dunkin and White Christmases. I told my wife, all you need to do is have one White Christmas, like 8 to 10 inches of snow, and no other Christmas will compare.
Here in Western Wa, we'll get SNOW but super rare. My son is going to college in Eastern Wa and he is freezing his ass off. Washington really should be 2 different states divided by the cascades.
It's so true. Nothing compares to a real white Christmas.
 
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