Nasty wet weather

It's been raining since last night, although right now it's not terribly cold. In fact, it was almost uncomfortably warm overnight. However, there's a cold front coming this way which may cover the northwestern corner of our state with snow and ice. It's not supposed to get down this far, but I've seen it happen before when they predicted it that way.

In 1994, we got a terrible ice storm from a cold front that wasn't supposed to give us much more than a few flurries. There was damage across Arkansas and Mississippi like you wouldn't believe. It looked like a war zone. Trees broken down. Powerlines down. Frozen pipes. That ice was thick and heavy and stayed around nearly 2 weeks. Some people didn't have power until well after that.

That was the year my first grandson was born. It was also the year I decided I wouldn't depend solely on electricity anymore since those who did really suffered. It's why I have a gas stove and gas heater in my house. And it's why I keep lanterns on hand.

See, besides ice storm damage there's always a risk of tornadoes which will knock out power. It's good to be prepared for such things with a few days worth of food, water, and fuel. Where we live, if the road goes icy there's no leaving the house. We live on a rather high hill and we wouldn't be able to drive out without having a wreck.

I just hope the weather service is correct about no ice here. And I hope they're way off about ice in the corner of the state. I don't want those folks suffering a winter storm, either.