respublica

Snow or no Snow

This has been an odd winter we've had almost no snow, just a dusting on a day or two. Now we're in March and although past March's have seen snow which hardly lasted, we probably won't have much at all. These pictures I took on this date back in 2015 show we did indeed have quite a bit of snow on this date. Dale and I took Ferdie on a snowy walk through the Holy Cross cemetery and although I do not want this kind of a deep snow, it was beautiful.

We're having a real winter

So many years this area doesn't get much in the way of winter weather. We get a few small snows and a few bitter cold days, but not many. In most of my adult years I really wanted snow and was too often disappointed in the little we got each winter. When we did get a major snow it seemed almost too much. In any event, last year on this date we had ourselves a deep snow which was cleared and then piled up again. Here is a picture I took of Dale using the leaf blower last year on snow which fell over the previous day's snow.

This year's two or three snows weren't especially deep but did cover up our cars. As I was in the garage for something else I noticed a tool hanging from a shelf and I realized I'd forgotten all about this. I bought it some years ago to clear snow off car windows and it is actually perfect for that job. It's scraper part is rubber and moves a lot of snow without scratching. I've used it 3 times already this past month. I'm pretty sure I bought this at Rural King and happy to have it. So much better than those plastic scrapers for snow.

A foggy day in Collinsville town

What a surprise to wake up this morning and see fog all the way to the ground. If it hadn't been for street lights, nothing much would have been seen. Kind of cool actually. We put up our Christmas Tiny Town yesterday and the fog just covered it.

Now this is some prediction

The local news is predicting up to 50 mph wind gusts today. I hope they are wrong, I'm very nervous around big winds having seen trees come down in past years. We are driving to the Huzzah today and battling that kind of wind is not for me.

 

Storm Drain

Last week this area had a ton of rain, inches and inches of rain. All over the St. Louis area roads were flooded and homes and businesses took on water. It was a huge mess. The local news was all about the water issues in many parts of the area, but one place we didn't hear much about roads flooding was here in Collinsville. I got to wondering just why this was, very little flooding. And then as I looked out the front door I remembered the city spending a lot of time putting in new and larger storm drains beginning in around 2014. Before that big storms would cover streets in certain areas and the city decided to get to work on drain plans.

I remember over the years that our neighbors who lived in the first couple of houses on the street would get basement water with almost every rain. I spent a lot of time helping shop vac up much of it. The small storm drains back then could not hold the water which spilled out and ponded a large area. As I watched the huge rain last week I noticed the street was not ponding, the water was going down the drains perfectly and I'd guess this was the same over most of the city.

I gave kudos to the city for deciding to do this back in those years. Here are two photos I took back in 2014 when this work began. Dale and I took our dog for an after dinner walk and looked over all the new concrete drain work waiting to be put in on Vandalia.

Our street got a new, larger drain and the street department guys are very diligent about keeping it clear of leaves and debris.

Here is a look back at 2014, the beginning.

When you really need a burger

Yesterday afternoon the St. Louis area was again drenched in a downpour of rain which again flooded many areas. Twice in one week is just awful. But, yesterday FOX 2 reporter, Matt Beitscher, happened to be in his apartment in the Central West End at Lindell and Vandeventer during the height of the downpour. He took this photo showing how the streets had flooded, but there is one part of the picture that stands out. It's kind of small because it's at the middle back of the image. Don't tell me you can't find this one part awful and one part funny.

There was a guy who decided to go through the McDonald's drive thru and probably regretted it immediately. He was stuck in flood water with no way out.

Click to enlarge the photo and look toward the left back of McDonald's .

The rain of a generation

Last night rain began and came down and down and down and is still coming down and will continue. The local news has said that this is the biggest measurable rain this area has had ever. Cars are stalled in high water and some areas are having to call in divers to help drivers get out. Most of our neighbors have been checking their basements to see if they've taken on water. I'm thankful we decided to come back from our Huzzah cottage yesterday and not today.

This is pretty scary stuff. Back in 2014 I wrote a blog post titled, "Is the River Des Peres really a river." I had forgotten about this but when I saw my blog stats showing a whole slew of hits on this post I went back to read it. This river has been a big part of today's weather news.

On a personal level, we have not had any basement water, but our part of the block sits up high and, a couple of years ago we had a basement water system put in and that has been a real blessing. Stay home and stay safe local people.

I have to give kudos to the Collinsville trash pick-up guys. Our trash was taken early by our regular guy who is amazing with that big truck. Now we are curious as to whether our recycling cart will be emptied and replaced since this is the day our new one was promised. Last time it was dropped so hard after being emptied a wheel broke off and the powers that be at Republic said a new one would come today. I would not hold it against them if they decided to wait.

Now comes all the cooling advice

We've been under a heat alert this week with temperatures hitting 100. This mean many news outlets are telling us the best way to keep our homes cool. It has gotten so hot the past couple of days by late afternoon the air conditioning is really not up to the best cooling task. It's ok, but not refreshing like more moderate days.

This article gives a lot of advice on this score, some good, some perplexing. I'll just itemize them here and the entire explanation is at the link.

• Ceiling Fans
• Window Fans
• Evaporative Coolers (Swamp Coolers)
• Air Conditioners
• Closing up the House to Keep the Cool Air in
• Radiant Barriers
• Shade Trees and Awnings

Okay, I can go along with most of these but I have no idea what an evaporative cooler is and don't plan on getting one. We realized rather quickly this week how much having ceiling fans help. By turning them on in reverse (having low air pulled up) we found almost immediate difference in the comfort level. We have a ceiling fan in the family room and one in our bedroom. Last night the reverse fan in the bedroom made such a difference and by the time I woke up this morning I was actually chilly. I don't know how much good this does without air conditioning, but better than nothing. 

We are thankful we had whole house shades installed when we moved back to Collinsville. Pulling them down over sunny windows helps as well.

It's summer after all better than 5 above 0.

The good news is tomato plants and peppers love this  hot weather and are really going to town.

The weather outside isn't ideal

It seems to me that this year's April has been slow in warming up. Yes, the grass is greening and the leaves are out, but we go from one nice day to many cold, wet days. It's hard to find a day to get some planting done. Yesterday I put in some brussels sprouts and broccoli, I just didn't think it was worth waiting anymore and these are cooler weather plants. But no way can tomatoes or peppers go in.

However, I feel better about current weather when I came across a photo taken one year ago today. It got so cold with a chance of snow that I raced over to Creekside Gardens and bought some white heating fabric to cover what I'd already planted.

Other years it warmed up and became perfect on this day.

April, you just never know.

Wipers up or wipers down?

With another wintry blast of ice and maybe snow, we have to decide on windshield wiper placement. We went through this a week or two ago when this area had a lot of snow. The night before the question was, "should we raise our wipers to keep them from freezing in place." We did.

The same question will come up today as the afternoon forecast is for rain, freezing rain, ice and snow. If you raise the wipers before the storm they won't freeze onto the windshield with less chance of the rubber being torn. And, if snow and ice needs scraping off the window, up wipers are out of the way.

Leaving them down is ok, if you plan to let the motor run and warm the car before leaving. You'd hope the defroster would melt the ice and snow on the window.

The choice is kind of a personal one and much will depend on the amount of snow/ice is predicted. After our big snow two weeks ago I found getting the snow and ice off the windshield was an enormous, frustrating piece of work. The snow was heavy with ice underneath. When I got as much as I could off, then running the motor for heat, I still could not lower the raised wipers. They were so frozen in the up position I about gave up after trying one thing or another to unfreeze them.

So today I may leave them down or maybe not. Winter. What can you do?