Pay close attention to the weather reports. An online correspondent of mine just had his entire house ceiling fall in. He went to work on a cold day, he lives in the far south, the cold froze pipes in the attic, and for hours and hours, a split pipe delivered water full bore to his ceiling. The whole thing became waterlogged and came down, bringing what insulation there was down with it, that—and a lake of water, as the pipe kept going and going. Got all the house, the furniture, the electronics—it’s destruction like a river flood, but coming from above.
If you are in an area not accustomed to freezing temps, keep your house temperature reasonable, open the cabinet doors under your sinks, and keep a trickle of water running from your various faucets. Outside, if you cannot shut down your faucets, disconnect your hoses and tape styrofoam around your faucets, up against the house. That will hopefully keep them from freezing and splitting the pipe.
What a mess!
Also, if you happen to get an unusually heavy (for your area) snowfall, don’t let the snow accumulate on your roof. If the cold temps continue and the snow keeps falling and piles up, you could find yourself in the same situation as the poor guy with the waterlogged house.
Its not just the south, its been a cold, early winter over here on the Pacific beach area as well. We normally only get a couple days with frost, somewhere between late December and early February, but this year we had frost before Thanksgiving.
Temp in southern RI is 56 at 8:00 AM EST. From what I see on the weather maps it’s colder in the southwest than it is here. I hope we at least get some much needed rain out of this. There is a cold front following, although we won’t really know how cold until it comes. That depends in large part on what happens off shore. The weather maps are predicting twenties and possible snow….we’ll see. In this area it is traditional to stock up on milk, bread, and beer! 😆
Thanks for the update, SmartCat. I haven’t checked the weather yet here for the Boston area but it was indeed warmish (for the season) and threatening rain when i stuck my head out the front steps to pick up the paper. Snow would be very nice! I finished planting my tulips on Sunday (ordered 10: they didn’t have them in stock so sent me 40 of another variety, the number of which had not been in my planting plan!). The mint in my garden is now all frost-blighted and the aster and hawkweed leaves browned, so I can’t really do any easy “bunny farming” outside of greens for my pet rabbits, so I am ready for snow!
I’ve lived in Southern California too long. Temperature of 34 F seems bitterly cold. Checked my oranges and Mister Lincoln Roses for frost damage.
We’ve (so far) only had two nights where it has gone at or below freezing, and not for long enough to warrant concern.
However — The advice to open cabinets, trickle the faucets, wrap outside pipes, and keep a reasonable house temperature are all things my parents stressed all throughout growing up.
In about 1983 or 1984, our neighbors had gone to visit relatives over Christmas, and during that time, we had one of the coldest winters ever. Luckily, my dad noticed there was water coming from the back at roof level. It seems a pipe had burst. He was, remarkably, able to get a plumber over to fix it, and thankfully, the neighbors had left a key with us. Not too much was damaged, because he caught it quickly, but the leak was going both outside and into the house, in the kitchen, I think. The plumber earned his keep, because this was right around the holiday; Christmas Eve or Day or the day after, I think.
I also remember an awful college weekend where my dorm room was getting virtually no heat, but the rest of the floor was getting it all. I only found this out when a floor-mate woke me to turn down the thermostat before they all melted. Me? I was in longjohns in bed, with all the covers piled on, barely sleeping. No, this was not way up north; it was in southern central Texas, but the temp had gone down into the teens or twenties. Brrr. That was the same winter I came to enjoy snow and hate sleet. — However, I was loving my trig or calculus class, and French class.
So — be careful out there!
If you do have water damage, be absolutely sure it gets thoroughly dried out again. My brother’s house suffered a broken radiator pipe over Christmas when both he and his wife were on long-term visits elsewhere. Neighbors, plumber, oil company, and insurance company all pitched in as needed, and it seemed to get taken care of expeditiously. BUT the house structure included a laminated wooden deck structure between the two stories that soaked up water, although the non-carpeted floors appeared to dry quickly. The “drying technicians” supplied by the insurance co. did a totally inadequate lick-and-a-promise job (ONE DAY with some fans going!). After a year or more of repeated respiratory and other health issues, my brother and SIL started checking, and eventually found that the entire house was unliveably contaminated with mold. Settlement pried with huge difficulty from insurers doesn’t come close to adequate; the house remains a gutted shell.