From Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival, Volume 55, NOAA and the American Red Cross, HERE.
This
week I was planning on writing a survival article about winter shelters and the
18th century, for my friend Tom, but winter storm Elliott blew in,
and since I live near Buffalo, plans changed.
And while the storm is over now, the cleanup continues, and unfortunately
the body count continues to creep up, so let’s talk about what to do next time
a winter storm blows in!
Winter
storm Elliott raged from December 21st to the 26th, killing
at least 89 people, causing vehicle pileups, road closures and cancelling or
delaying more than 10,000 flights during the busy Christmas travel time. It was a historic extratropical
cyclone which brought blizzard conditions and winter storm to much of the
United States and Canada. Now, most of
us in North America experienced this storm in one way or another, but what
exactly is an extratropical cyclone anyways?
Extratropical
cyclones are sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones, or wave cyclones, and are large
low-pressure areas, which, along with large high-pressure areas, known as anticyclones,
drive much of Earth’s weather. Cyclones
are large, low-pressure weather systems, that spread over at least 620 miles or
1,000 kilometers. These weather systems can
cause anything from general cloudiness and mild showers to severe gales,
thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. In contrast with tropical cyclones,
extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along
broad lines, called weather fronts, about the center of the cyclone.
From Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival, Volume 55.
Winter
storms bring snow, sleet, or freezing rain, and they are all dangerous in their
own way! Snow can simply be scattered flurries
with no accumulation, or a squall or blizzard with high winds and several feet
or more of accumulation. Sleet, which is
frozen rain pellets, is usually more of an inconvenience than anything else,
but if it accumulates it can make for treacherous travel. Freezing rain can lead to treacherous
travelling conditions, and because of the weight of the ice on power lines and
branches, it can cause power outages.
And the high winds usually associated with severe winter storms, can
blow down branches and trees, making travel dangerous and difficult, and making
power outages even more likely.
Walking or
driving...
A wreck due to snowy and slippery road conditions, from Freepik.com, HERE.
During
severe winter storm conditions, i.e., heavy snow, high winds, or freezing rain,
it doesn’t matter if you are walking or driving, travelling is a bad idea. The roads and the walkways are likely to be
slippery and you might fall or have a car accident. So, unless it is life or death, and if you go
out into the storm it might be, stay put and shelter in place!
An excerpt from "Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus", 1555, by Olaus Magnus, from Wikimedia, HERE.
But
the real problem with winter storms is the wind. Wind can cause power outages, downed trees, and
the blowing snow it carries along can reduce visibility and make travelling
difficult, however the biggest problem with wind is windchill!
Windchill
Wind
chill makes already cold temperatures FEEL even colder! That is because the wind steals away your body
heat through convection. When there is
little to no wind, a layer of warm remains around your body to help you stay
warm. When it's windy, or breezy, the moving
air blows away that insulating, warm layer, quickening your heat loss, and making
you feel colder.
From Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival, Volume 55, NOAA, and the American Red Cross.
So,
next time there is a winter storm what should you do?
Be prepared...
First
study these guides, starting with the first one, and then make some plans.
· Winter
Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival,
HERE.
· Winter Survival In Your Car, HERE.
· “Winter
can be Hazardous to your Health”, HERE.
· “13
Essentials for your winter emergency car kit (+Checklist)”, HERE.
Stay tuned in
From Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival, Volume 55, NOAA, and the American Red Cross.
Remember,
a “warning” is more severe than a “watch”. A watch means that the conditions exist for
bad weather, but you still have time to prepare. A warning means you need to seek shelter,
NOW!
Dress in layers
If
you must go out, or even if you are sheltering in place in your home, dress in
several layers of lightweight clothes. Always
wear a hat because you lose most of your heat from your head. And don’t forget your feet, wear waterproof,
insulated boots to keep your feet dry and warm, and to help you keep your
footing the snow and ice.
For
more on layering read “Comfortably Cold, What’s That?©”, HERE.
From Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival, Volume 55, NOAA, and the American Red Cross
Don’t overdo
If
you overdo and get hurt, because of the storm, the EMTs will have a hard time
getting to you and they might be to late.
And as Les Stroud, the Survivorman says, if “You Sweat You Die”! So, if you must be out, remember to always stay
“comfortably cold”!
10 Essentials of winter storm survival
There
are two, possibly three, areas where you will want to keep some winter survival
supplies, in your car, and possibly at your workplace if you use mass transit,
and at your home. In your car, you
should keep your critical survival supplies in the passenger compartment, close
at hand, and the larger and bulkier items in your car’s trunk.
Unfortunately,
the list to the right, is generally a very good list, but it is older, being
first published in 1995, and gasoline antifreeze is no longer so important, as
today, gasoline is made with up to 10% ethanol, and alcohol has a much lower
freezing point than water. Additionally,
gasoline by itself has a low freezing point, so it isn’t necessary. If you do have problems with frozen gas
lines, you have water in your gas tank, and that is an entirely different problem.
This
is a list of items that you should keep in the passenger compartment of your
car. On this list, in my opinion, the
garbage bag is one of the more important items.
In fact, personally I recommend that you include two construction grade
trash bags for every adult in the car and one for each child. This way if you are stuck in your car,
everyone can make a trash bag emergency shelter, to help stay warm. For more on how to do this read, “Using your
poncho or a trash bag as an Emergency Shelter ©”, HERE.
Some people keep GORP, some people
keep pull-top cans of ready to eat foods, like canned peaches, some keep Pop-Tarts®,
but I like Nutrilite™ Body-Key food bars the best. These bars are light, at only 1.8 ounces (50
grams), they are gluten free and have 150 calories, as well as being packed
with protein and vitamins. Even better
they taste great! For more on Nutrilite™
Body-Key food bars, read “A Survival Meal that
Actually Tastes Good! ©”, HERE.
At
home, you should always make sure that you have plenty of easy to eat foods,
that don’t require cooking and just like in your car, at least a gallon of water
per person, per day.
What to do
From Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival, Volume 55, NOAA, and the American Red Cross
The
best thing that you can do is stay PUT and shelter in place! Don’t try to travel during a storm, what with
the low temperatures, windchill, and slippery conditions, it is just asking to
be included on a list of storm casualties.
If
you are outside, or trapped in your car, don’t forget the garbage bags that you
brought with you in your survival pack, they can stop the wind from stealing
your precious heat and help you stay warm.
An illustration by Jim Cobb, from “Winter Storm: Camp Inside to Survive Power Outages During Winter Storms”, HERE.
If
you are at home and there is no power and you have a tent, put it up inside one
of the least drafty rooms, so that you a have smaller space to warm up with
your body heat. If you don’t have a tent
prop up two mattresses (not box springs) like a pup tent and crawl inside the
resulting shelter, the mattress are good insulators.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Pilot Biscuits...the
Real, Deal Recipe ©”, where we will talk about how to make that Alaskan and
wilderness adventure’s favorite hard bread, the Pilot Biscuit.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety; “Winter
Survival In Your Car”, https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/educational-materials/Documents/Winter-Survival-Brochure.pdf, accessed December 29, 2022
NOAA and the American Red
Cross, Winter Storms-- the Deceptive Killers: A Guide to Survival,
Volume 55, https://books.google.com/books?id=lcVZGb_S6WQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=survival+winter&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEiYWhxYj8AhXtgnIEHRJnC0kQ6AF6BAgCEAI#v=onepage&q=survival%20winter&f=false,
accessed December 29, 2022
Pantenberg, Leon; “Winter Storm: Camp Inside to Survive Power Outages During
Winter Storms”, https://survivalcommonsense.com/camp-inside-2/,
accessed December 29, 2022
Perry, Karl; “Winter can be Hazardous to your Health”, The
Mobility Forum: The Journal of the Air Mobility Command, Jan/Feb 1995,
pages 16 to 18, https://books.google.com/books?id=_cM_5pFKkDUC&pg=PA17&dq=survival+winter&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt_PDFkZv8AhWKEFkFHTf5Bf04FBDoAXoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20winter&f=false,
accessed December29, 2022
The Zebra; “13 Essentials for your winter emergency car kit
(+Checklist)”, [© 2022 Insurance Zebra], https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/winter-car-emergency-kit/,
accessed December 29, 2022
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