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Conserve those stocking stuffers. A blizzard warning has been posted and runs from 1 a.m. Thursday – 1 a.m. Friday.

 

After a week of single and flashes of double digit temps with wind chills dipping into subzero status, it appears as though we’re in for a very brief thaw as temperatures are forecasted to climb into the upper 30’s by early Thursday morning. This radical shift is no doubt a big contributing factor as to why snowfall projections are currently in the area of 7” – 14”.

 

Thursday evening finds us at the top of the bipolar polar vortex rollercoaster when temperatures will abruptly retreat to the teens heading into the weekend.

 

In order to ratchet up the hysteria, weather celebrities are promoting not only a Blizzard Warning but also a Storm Warning.

 

A Blizzard Warning is predicated on wind speed while snow is falling and/or on the ground creating the snow globe effect. The criteria consist of sustained or frequent wind gusts exceeding 35 mph and in this case, occasional gusts upwards of 70 mph are expected. Save for snow, these conditions are no different than the sea breeze that passed through on Christmas day.

 

Three before mentioned “creative plumbing” issues have been detected since the deep freeze began and in each case, the issue revolved around unknown and uninsulated piping in knee walls and crawl spaces. In two cases, owners were in place and never lost power. Having run through everyone at least twice, I’m nowhere near ready to load the Xanax in the Pez Dispenser.

 

Oil: As mentioned over the years, automatic delivery, almost exclusively, means that oil providers will make deliveries based on historical usage. Needless to say, a week of sustain temperatures struggling to break the mid-teens, as well as homes occupied over the holidays, will bend the historical curve. With an unprecedented 3-4 day delivery backlog, I have been contacting owners directly when tanks reach ½ rather than the typical ¼ mark.

 

I will plan on circling back tomorrow afternoon as details tighten up.