Prepare for the cold weather, specially Friday night (Anchorage, Fairbanks: how much, home)

[riceme]

Everything was fine until I got to the freezing rain and gusty winds. Make your preparations, friends! Heavy snow -> freezing rain -> wind => no power and a lot of people driving in conditions way above their skillsets while they're rushing to do last minute Christmas errands.

Let's hope the wx guessers are wrong this time.

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
1127 AM AKST Fri Dec 17 2021

AKZ219>226-181500-
Upper Koyukuk Valley-Yukon Flats and Surrounding Uplands-
Central Interior-Middle Tanana Valley-Deltana and Tanana Flats-
Upper Tanana Valley and the Fortymile Country-Denali-
Eastern Alaska Range-
Including Allakaket, Hughes, Bettles, Caribou Mountain,
Gobblers Knob, Fort Yukon, Venetie, Central, Circle,
Stevens Village, Beaver, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek,
Circle Hot Springs, Eagle Summit, Twelvemile Summit, Nenana,
Anderson, Tanana, Minto, Manley Hot Springs, Rampart,
Lake Minchumina, Livengood, Fairbanks, Fort Wainwright,
Eielson AFB, Ester, North Pole, Moose Creek, Two Rivers, Fox,
Chatanika, Chena Hot Springs, Sourdough Camp, Salcha,
Delta Junction, Fort Greely, Harding/Birch Lake, Dry Creek,
Dot Lake, Healy Lake, Tok, Tanacross, Eagle, Tetlin, Northway,
Alcan, Chicken, Boundary, Healy, Denali National Park,
Carlo Creek, Kantishna, Mentasta Lake, Black Rapids,
Donnelly Dome, Trims DOT Camp, Eagle Trail, and Mineral Lake
1127 AM AKST Fri Dec 17 2021

...Significant Snowfall Possible Sunday night to Tuesday...

Heavy snowfall is possible Sunday night into Tuesday across the
Central and Eastern Interior, including Fairbanks. Snowfall
amounts of 6 to 12 inches will be possible over the two days.

This weather system will also bring some warmer air into the area
and the potential for some freezing rain, especially southwest of
Fairbanks. Strong gusty winds are also possible, especially near
the Alaska Range and over summits north of Fairbanks.

There continues to be a lot of uncertainty with the exact details
of this system, so we will be closely watching as this system
develops.

This system may impact travel across the area to start the week.

https://forecast.weather.gov/showsig...8#.Yb0GzdDMJPY

[riceme]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Nice (I like it), but the roads will be slippery.

The roads haven't been too bad since it warmed up! But how about that knucklehead that hit the Rich/Cushman bridge with the excavator?! I would really like to hear the rest of that story

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by riceme

The roads haven't been too bad since it warmed up! But how about that knucklehead that hit the Rich/Cushman bridge with the excavator?! I would really like to hear the rest of that story

I noticed Friday that the roads were OK. I was expecting a layer of ice at the intersections, and on the Richardson, but all was fine.

About the accident: I have no idea of what really happened, but by looking at the published photos it seems that the boom was not lowered properly. This "boom" or articulating arm has to be stretched as far as possible toward the end of the trailer. Sometimes the bucket has to be placed past the end of the trailer at a lower level than the floorboards or deck. Otherwise the middle portion of the articulating arm (much like the "elbow") sticks up hight in the air. Maybe this "elbow" hit the bridge?

[riceme]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

I noticed Friday that the roads were OK. I was expecting a layer of ice at the intersections, and on the Richardson, but all was fine.

About the accident: I have no idea of what really happened, but by looking at the published photos it seems that the boom was not lowered properly. This "boom" or articulating arm has to be stretched as far as possible toward the end of the trailer. Sometimes the bucket has to be placed past the end of the trailer at a lower level than the floorboards or deck. Otherwise the middle portion of the articulating arm (much like the "elbow") sticks up hight in the air. Maybe this "elbow" hit the bridge?

Yeah the roads really weren't bad on Friday, although I did almost get mowed-down in the University Safeway parking lot lol.

Well, I had similar observations - it was not loaded properly and it probably would have helped if it was on a double drop instead of a step deck. Just like you said, the boom was not fully lowered so the arm and bucket could tuck under the boom between the tracks. However, I could never get clarity if what I was looking at was a picture of the actual load that hit the bridge or if some news person had just chosen a photo that seemed to be a suitable example for illustration.

At any rate, if it was loaded incorrectly and hit the bridge, that's one level of oops. If it was a different piece of equipment that was loaded properly, that means that the driver either didn't permit the load or didn't follow his permit route, which is a whole 'nother level of oops.

I am really not sure which one is worse. They both rank up there pretty high. Either way, the driver did not have situational awareness of the load and the roadway, which is pretty scary.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by riceme

Yeah the roads really weren't bad on Friday, although I did almost get mowed-down in the University Safeway parking lot lol.

Well, I had similar observations - it was not loaded properly and it probably would have helped if it was on a double drop instead of a step deck. Just like you said, the boom was not fully lowered so the arm and bucket could tuck under the boom between the tracks. However, I could never get clarity if what I was looking at was a picture of the actual load that hit the bridge or if some news person had just chosen a photo that seemed to be a suitable example for illustration.

At any rate, if it was loaded incorrectly and hit the bridge, that's one level of oops. If it was a different piece of equipment that was loaded properly, that means that the driver either didn't permit the load or didn't follow his permit route, which is a whole 'nother level of oops.

I am really not sure which one is worse. They both rank up there pretty high. Either way, the driver did not have situational awareness of the load and the roadway, which is pretty scary.

Yes, and the cost for the repairs will be quite high. I can only imagine some DOT engineers and workers getting involved, plus contractors and insurance companies.

[Arktikos]

SE has been snowy and cold for all of December. The forecast calls for this weather to continue into the New Year.
I'm happy for the winter lovers in the region, getting a "real" winter this year. Also happy to be missing it.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by Arktikos

SE has been snowy and cold for all of December. The forecast calls for this weather to continue into the New Year.
I'm happy for the winter lovers in the region, getting a "real" winter this year. Also happy to be missing it.

Did you move away?

I just got back from Home Depot and the Johansen and Geist Rd are like demolition derby snow tracks. This promises to be a fun week!

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by riceme

Did you move away?

I just got back from Home Depot and the Johansen and Geist Rd are like demolition derby snow tracks. This promises to be a fun week!

Did you see any road accidents around there?

By the way, according to the NOAA weather forecast, the snow may be heavy (something like snow showers possible). Heavy snow and the lack of winds can interrupt electric power supply, but all we can do is to hope for the best, and prepare...just in case. My generator is ready to go, and the boiler has plenty of fuel in the tank, but I still don't want to see people losing electric power. I already know that I will be busy clearing two driveways of snow with a snowblower, and wet snow is a pain because it tends to clog the augers and chute.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Did you see any road accidents around there?

By the way, according to the NOAA weather forecast, the snow may be heavy (something like snow showers possible). Heavy snow and the lack of winds can interrupt electric power supply, but all we can do is to hope for the best, and prepare...just in case. My generator is ready to go, and the boiler has plenty of fuel in the tank, but I still don't want to see people losing electric power. I already know that I will be busy clearing two driveways of snow with a snowblower, and wet snow is a pain because it tends to clog the augers and chute.

No, I didn't see any wrecks, but vehicles seemed to be everywhere, visibility was terrible, and there was no telling where any lanes were. You know how it is.

I haven't lost power, but the power went out when I was in Home Depot this afternoon, and when I checked outages just now it looks like a bunch of people's power went out at about 0305 this morning. Fortunately, it's not cold, so hopefully it stays that way til they get it back on.

I have lived a lot of places and could probably choose to take shots at GVEA for prices or some other issues, but honestly, they have far better customer service than any other power service I've ever had. That said, I reserve the right to ***** about the price of energy next time the subject comes up. Because I probably will. lol

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by riceme

No, I didn't see any wrecks, but vehicles seemed to be everywhere, visibility was terrible, and there was no telling where any lanes were. You know how it is.

I haven't lost power, but the power went out when I was in Home Depot this afternoon, and when I checked outages just now it looks like a bunch of people's power went out at about 0305 this morning. Fortunately, it's not cold, so hopefully it stays that way til they get it back on.

I have lived a lot of places and could probably choose to take shots at GVEA for prices or some other issues, but honestly, they have far better customer service than any other power service I've ever had. That said, I reserve the right to ***** about the price of energy next time the subject comes up. Because I probably will. lol

I agree about GVEA's customer service, but the price for GVEA's electricity is extremely high. In fact, it's about the same "average" price paid for electricity in California.

By the way, I believe that there is a colder than average weather front coming our way, but that is according to the News Miner. I looked at the long term forecast for this week, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. We will have to see what happens in January.

But at least it should be quite nice around March (March though early April), which are two of the months I spend outdoors taking photos of the Auroras, and dog sled races. The other months are from mid September though November or so.