Fair warning: Here is another journal post that is mostly about the weather. If you are reading just to find out what happened with my new computer as mentioned in yesterday’s post, you can rest. I’m writing this on the new computer. Things always seem to look better in the morning and after a bit of time to reflect, I had the new computer up and working in time to take it to use when I worked in the church library yesterday morning. The thing I’ve noticed about it so far is that it has significant battery life. It will work all day without needing to be plugged in, which is a significant improvement over the old one.

Ah, yes, the weather. It is a significant topic around here. I had a meeting yesterday where it was the primary topic of conversation prior to and after the actual meeting. Then again, the participant from the Washington Department of Labor and the participant representing the City of Bellingham both have extensive backgrounds in disaster management. Furthermore the meeting was being held to discuss the possibility of our church becoming a shelter area in the event of major disaster situations. We are in the process of considering the addition of additional solar panels and a large battery storage device that would make the building independent of the electricity grid so that it could be operated as a shelter for those who are unhoused and those in the neighborhood who need special services in the event of a major disruption of power.

So it was natural to talk about the weather at the event. I arrived at the church a couple of hours early to do some volunteer work in the church library and by the time I left, a bit before 1 pm the temperature had dropped over ten degrees. It continued to drop the rest of the day. It was above freezing when I headed into town. As I write the temperature outside is 8 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind is blowing. It is bitter cold out there, as I said to my family yesterday, “It is South Dakota cold out there.” Temperatures are expected to remain well below freezing until about Sunday.

We are well situated to deal with the cold. We walked down to the beach yesterday and donned our winter parkas and heavy gloves for the walk. Years in the midwest left us well situated with winter clothing. We are lucky to have a warm house with a reliable gas furnace to supplement an electric heat pump when the weather turns cold. Over at the farm they also have two heat sources and there is plenty of firewood in the shed to keep their stove going throughout the winter. They do not have cows on the place right now. The markets kept prices high this year so they have sold cattle and are waiting until more favorable prices to purchase additional animals. That means that they don’t need to have water out for the cows - a challenge in very cold weather with the water source in the barn subject to freezing. Since there are no cows to water, we turned off the water in the area that freezes in cold weather and we have heat going in the area where the water valves are located so all will be well there. My major winter worry at this point are the bees. Bees are hearty insects and the hives are all insulated, so they should be fine, but there is really nothing additional that I can do. They haven’t had any opportunity to acclimatize as we haven’t had any prolonged periods of below freezing temperatures this year, so they may be at slight risk. The colonies are healthy, however, and I am pretty sure that all will be well when it warms enough for me to check them. I’ll be sure to give them a bit of supplemental food at that time. I should be able to take a peek early next week.

We are aware, however, that we are fortunate. The city and county have opened emergency shelters for those who do not have homes. The severe weather shelters will remain open through the day today and tomorrow, but it is expected that they will reach capacity and that there could be some people who have to be turned away from the shelters. If someone leaves one of the shelters it is likely their place will be taken by someone else and they might not be able to get back in. Being stuck outside for any amount of time in this weather is life threatening. Officials will be on the lookout throughout the weather event for those who become stranded with additional assistance in getting to a place with room in a shelter.

We know from our experience in Rapid City that there is real danger of death by exposure for those who are without adequate shelter.

Just north of us, in Vancouver, BC, they are contending with a lot of snow. The snow that blanketed the city and surrounding mountains spared us, but created all kinds of traffic problems for commuters beginning on Thursday. Avalanche danger has closed mountain roads and severe weather has closed the major ski resorts. Vancouver is a large city, the fourth largest in Canada. It is home to the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest port in the Americas. It is a major urban area and the weather is generally quite mild so when it turns very cold as it did yesterday, there are significant challenges for city officials and those seeking to provide services to people who don’t have houses and access to adequate shelter.

How cold is it? It is so cold that a headline in a local newspaper declares that temperatures are “unseasonably cold.” Maybe it is just all of the winters I lived in the Dakotas, but I wonder if winter isn’t the right season for such cold, what season might be. It is, after all, January and January is when we expect cold weather. If I were the editor, I might have chosen different words to express the unusually cold temperatures. Then again, I’m sure a good editor would find lots of things to correct in y journal.