Preparing For a Winter Storm
But November 3rd? Crazy!
As the days grow shorter and colder, now is the time to start thinking about prepping for winter. The Farmer’s Almanac claims this will be an especially brutal winter North America. UK Meteorologists hold high confidence that this winter will arrive earlier, and be colder and snowier than the last. It seems the entire Northern hemisphere is expected to be more frigid and wet. Crazy winter weather has a way of causing power outages, tough if not impossible driving situations, and other hardships that would be counterintuitive to running to the food mart for a stick of butter.
Now is the time to evaluate your current preps. And by all means, if you haven’t started prepping, now might be the time to reconsider, as the cold will be upon us faster than we think.
72 Hour Kit
At the very least you should have enough basics stashed away to survive at least three days. A box of untouched food and supplies for each member of your household with nonperishable food, water, medical supplies, and entertainment- face it, when people are bored they can tend to eat, and you don’t want your five year old raiding the Bug Out Bag before dawn and helping himself to all the MRE’s. Three each of breakfasts, lunches and dinners, along with “comfort food” and snacks. Chewing gum, hard candies, and trail mixes are good items for the “munchies.” Instant coffee, chicken bullion, tea’s and Tang are great items to keep, also. Keep in mind to have enough prescription medications stored in case of a prolonged power outage or natural disaster.
Items To Store in each 72-hour kit
- 3 days worth of food
- Wrench to turn off utilities
- Snow shovel to dig out if snowed in
- At least one gallon of water per day per person and pet (more for personal hygiene) Although it is very wise to store as much water as you can, because dehydration will kill you faster than starvation.
- “comfort” snacks and beverages
- First aid and medications
- Diapers, wipes, formula and the likes if you have youngsters
- Personal hygiene: toothpaste and toothbrush, lotion, deodorant (just because you haven’t showered in three days, doesn’t mean you should smell like it)
- Chapstick
- Dish soap, spork, bowl, mug, and cook pot
- Hand sanitizer
- Manual Can opener
- Trash bags
- Flashlight with extra batteries
- Wind up NOAA radio. You can stay abreast of the weather in a power outage, and if you get the kind with USB attachments, you can charge your smartphone and MP3 player.
- Emergency thermal blanket
- Duct tape
- Sturdy pocketknife
- Axe
- Candles
- Waterproof matches and Bic lighter. I like Bic because I have found many of them in my wash after a full cycle, and I just let them dry out for an hour or so and they light every time.
- If you have pets, pack a kit for each of them, including enough food, medications if needed, and water, along with spill proof bowls.
- Changes of warm clothing-stay away from cotton, aka “Death Cloth” Cotton does not dry quickly which could lead to hypothermia in frigid winter weather.
- Poncho
- Warm gloves or mittens
- A few extra wool socks besides the three day supply. If you have to go outside to feed the horses or fetch some wood, your feet may become soaked. You will be thankful for the extras!
- Warm hat
- Pencil and paper
- Books
- Dice and playing cards
- Toilet paper
- Denatured Alcohol cookstove or Steno
Keep in mind this is mainly a bug in, power outage supply list. You will need additional supplies for an emergency bug out situation, such as extra gasoline, map of alternate routes from your home, and extra blankets and wood- just in case.
Prepping for winter is pretty easy if you have a plan and your household is properly instructed.
Always keep aware of storm fronts heading your way, and ALWAYS trust your instincts.
Don't forget your four legged friends when prepping for emergencies!
Images via Pixabay
Sources: FEMA, Weather.gov
I appreciate your support :)
With Love and Light and Good Mojo to my Tribe!
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Excellent preparedness! It's always good to be prepared! @ironshield
Proper planning prevents piercing polar panic.
:)
And planning ahead saves the day @arbitrarykitten
Yes!
Last year I got snowed in for four days. It was awesome but I really love snow. Thankfully the power never went out. We are prepping right now. I bought a ton of bubble wrap to help insulate the windows and we're trying to find a kerosene heater as a backup in case power goes out. We had flakes of snow too which is also something that never happens this time of year. Should be interesting to see what happens...
I really love the snow, too!
The bubble wrap is interesting- I have always just used plastic sheeting. Does it insulate better? I was so unprepared for this snow that my windows have hastily placed cardboard and blankets over them at the moment! lol
I did research and a lot of people said try bubblewrap. I have two sets of sliding glass doors and last year they froze the house. I'm bubblewrapping the suckers this year to see if it works.
Okay. Cool, let me know!
@arbitrarykitten prepping TIPS for all is good thing. At least I NEVER have to contend with any Snow. In 20 years in Scottsdale I have only seen SNOW if I choose to drive to Northern Arizona. I am truly blessed by not having to deal with the snow.
Having an emergency kit is necessary even in the desert :)
WATER
Yessir. I mentioned at least one gallon of water per household member per day, but to consider storing as much as your space allows. Dehydration kills faster than anything except exposure
Thank you kitten, I am so Grateful for you and what you share....
I am thankful I have great things to offer you :)
Can you believe this weather?? I live a few hours north of you in Bellingham, and we got several inches of snow! @raised2b and I spent the weekend up in Whistler, Canada and it never went above 25°F. 😬 Brrrr
Anyway, really great article on prepping! You've got lots of great tips and ideas in here.
I thought I was hallucinating on Friday morning when I saw flakes coming down!
Yea, what's up with this! I know all those who I respect with the weather- hint: it's not the meteorologists, lol!- have been saying it's going to be a hard and cold winter, but I didn't truly believe it until this weekend!
I did not know you were so close! Very cool! We will have to get together soon- the ones I knew near me have left Steemit :(
I would love that!! I don’t know any other local steemians(except @raised2b), and haven’t had too much luck with bringing friends onto the platform yet. I know that @offoodandart also lives in the Seattle area. It would be fun to get together a little Seattle meet up!
Yes! We need to plan something, this spring after the crazy winter cuz I don't want any of us driving I5 in this weather unnecessarily!
Perfect - let’s shoot for spring! I hate driving in the ice/snow and so I’m totally on board with that plan. 😉
Sweet! In the meantime we can keep an eye out for others in the area, too!
Quite a hearty list there! It doesn't hurt to be prepared! So crazy that you already got snow! Brr!! Hopefully this list will help someone remember something they need to grab in case they do encounter a problem. Good job! :)
I know! I literally tossed cardboard and blankets over my windows because I haven't purchased plastic yet- I wasn't ready! LOL
Thank you!
Lol! Sounds so cold!! :)
Very thorough list. It's always smart to be prepared. You mentioned candles, I'd also suggest LED lanterns as a good emergency light source. You'd already have the extra batteries.
Good idea. And led lanters are completely hypoallergenic if you are sensitive to candles.
Oye! I am not looking forward to winter :-( I feel like winter sticks around here a lot longer than summer. Chicago gets so cold. I know there are colder places, but I take public transportation which means being outside all year long for a longer duration than I would prefer! KEEP WARM!
Oh, brrr!
I moved to a northern town one December 18th. Two days later I drove to work in the newly falling snow. I got stuck at work in a blizzard and had to leave my truck as it did not like the cold and died on me.
I took busses, had to get home before it got bad and I was sleeping in my truck!
First bus was ok, but took forever due to accidents from ice.
I was stuck downtown in the outside terminal for my second bus. There were hundreds of us waiting on our respective busses, freezing.
Homeless people came by each of us and gave us plastic grocery bags, showing us how to put them over our socks in our shoes to trap the heat.
This was so amazing of them. I will never forget this. They didn't have to be out there helping, but they were braving the wind and snow. For our survival.
Wow!! That's crazy! It's nice to see good in humanity!
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wow, last week it got into the high 30's at night, which is unusual this time of year... it's back in the 80's now :) stay warm sunshine
Yup, gonna be a cold one!
Thanks hun, you too <3
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