Good to see you in print, Gene.  Sounds like you are making some good progress.  Looking at your pictures makes me think that smoke going right over the antenna might cloud up your TV picture.   :rolleyes:

Charlie

I am not up on Ralph's weather, but I have to say it has been pretty darned good here in western Iowa.  A couple days last week it was even 50 degrees and it has not really gotten cold since then.  My snow has melted and has made the place muddy.  As a matter of fact it is 40 degrees today.  No doubt it will get darned cold again soon, but this couple week reprieve from the cold temps we were having is much appreciated.  We had a little bit of rain yesterday afternoon which could easily have turned into snow but it did not happen that way.
I have not had a wood fire going now for 3 days, so I cannot get a photo like Gene's.  I have been sort of down since Christmas, so I welcome not hauling in firewood and I am sure the propane company appreciates me burning up their product.

Ron

That antenna has not been for several years. My television comes over the same microwave that my internet and telephone. I wanted to take those pictures when the sky was cold and clear for better contrast.

Been snowing slowly all day long and have maybe 1 1/2 inches so far. That smoke was coming from some hickory I split yesterday. Trees have been down for almost 3 years and I blocked it up about 6 weeks ago. Was still a little green to burn good. Will have to let it season for a while. Looks like next year's wood. The load I brought up this morning was hickory I split last winter, so it burns real good. Leaves a lot of ashes that I have to empty every 2 days, but well worth that. I spread the ashes on the alfalfa field in front of the house. Seems to sweeten the soil.

Gene

Ron, you must have posted while I was typing. We went through the warm weather late last week. Had a high of 47 degrees and a couple more days in the low 40's. it mostly melted the ice we got before the snow covered it then stayed cold for a few days so the ice was frozen pretty solid. Late week with clear skies and sunshine melted most of the ice. Still a few isolated patches.

I go to the following weather site for North America so I can keep track of Ralph's weather. It is oriented to aviation and most weather sites are airport observations. Can click on that weather site and get 24 hour history.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/mwmap3.php?map=usa

Gene

Gene,
I wasn't aware of that link.  Thank you.  Which one do you use for Ralph?

Ron

Ron, Regina Sask. is the closest one. Just above the eastern border of Montana. Ralph was above 32 degrees this afternoon. I like to check locations close to people I know to see how they are faring. Charlie is in the Pann Yann- Dansville area of New York, I am Close to Bellefontaine, Ohio.

We started out this morning at 37 degrees and are down to 19 degrees now at 7:20pm

Gene

Close on me, Gene, but if you used Greater Rochester international it would be some closer distance wise.  We will typically be two to five degrees lower than GRI shows this time of year, depending on wind.  Right now for example, GRI shows 9 and we have 5. Good likely hood we will be near 0 by morning.  In the late spring when Lake Ontario water temp. is colder than out land temp., we might often be that same two to five degrees above the airport reading.  I guess that few degrees of influence from a large body of water is the reason for the fruit belt near the lake.  During hot summer months it can be ten degrees cooler within a couple miles of the Ontario shoreline.  We all know how the wind blowing across the water in winter can manufacture snow. At any rate, you stay pretty close with your airport map.   If I had any brains at all I would go visit my brother in Phoenix Az. or my old friend Charlie Farmer in the Florida panhandle. Last night, however I noticed Charlie was in the mid 30's but at least his day temp. today was near 60.

Charlie

Well this discussion suddenly picked up after a week of inactivity.. Gene, you might check Yorkton Sask. too as it is often closer to my conditions than Regina. It has been well above normal for several days now. Not complaining too much but I am more used to a little colder weather. We had a little wet snow and freezing rain yesterday which I hear made some roads pretty poor driving. I took this photo of Saturday's sunset as we only saw a few minutes of sunlight that day. I hear the Northeast states are in for some serious winter weather.

You guys are too cold over there for me.  I'll take my mud for now.

Ron

Not getting a lot better , Ron.  Minus 5 and sinking now at midnight.  Pretty cold January. No mud in sight.  Loooks like Ralph is soaking up the heat tonight.

Charlie

Yeah, Ralph is probably feeding cattle in his shirt sleeves.  Of course I can't talk as it was near 50 here yesterday and will be near 60 today.  But then the wind is going to blow and the temps will be dropping and winter will be back with a little snow, I guess.  These little respites sure do shorten the winter and help with the heating fuel bill.  My border collie is a complete muddy mess and cannot understand why she can't lay by my chair in the living room during the evening.  She minds though and stays on the porch.

Ron

Yes, I have been enjoying the well above normal temps but it is coming to an end they say. No, I don't give up my parka, toque and mitts even though the temp gets up above freezing. Unless I am out in the woods cutting wood of course. I actually did a little work on the Merc yesterday with bare hands. That is unusual for January.  A little more snow fell today. No mud anywhere and I'm ok with that. Its January.

Ralph, looks like we traded temperatures overnight. See you are close to zero this morning and we were at zero Wednesday morning and now this morning we are at 34 degrees and very light freezing rain. Charlie at 11 this morning, so he is moderating a little.

Did a little work on the motor home yesterday. I am replacing the interior lights with led lights, also the outdoor entrance light. Needed some heat to work in there, and when I tried to start the furnace it would not run. Fut the kerosene heater on it for a few minutes and finally started. Made it nice to work in there. The lights are on order from ebay and probably be here on Monday. Still making plans to attend the Florida Flywheelers show in February.

Gene

Oh Boy! Back to -30 wind chill factors today. We have been spoiled by the past week of above normal temps I guess. Anyway, got the Massey plugged in and heading out to drop a couple of bales in the feeders shortly. At least the sun is shining. No sundogs and that is a good sign.

Saw a pair of sundogs Monday evening. Guess I missed the morning sundogs a few days earlier.

Had zero yesterday morning and cloudy most of the say. Cleared up on Thursday just before sunset to let the heat escape. Sunshine and light south wind all day today and got to 37 degrees this afternoon. Went back to the woods and got a small jag of wood. Had to leave sooner than I wanted because the ground was getting greasy.

Forecast for tonight and Sunday is for early freezing rain then 6 to 10 inches of snow. Got the snow blower and mini loader tractors in the warm shop and going to put the grader on the Case 700 this afternoon. Got the battery charger on the bulldozer, just in case. Also forecast high winds, so will have a few drifts to clear. Ground is frozen deep enough to make moving snow easier.

Celebrating my 73rd birthday today. Will stay at home just like I usually do.

I dug out my old password and logged on to find this is the only thread with activity in years. I'm going to bookmark the forum site and try to participate even though I will have nothing to add to this thread, seeing as I'm down in South Carolina and not actively farming. I do still have two tractors, a '49 AC B torn down and awaiting sleeves, pistons, rings etc and a '53 Jubilee that still runs though not with 100% power all the time. The hydraulics are sketchy too.

This is a better way to interact compared to an email list but for some reason our crowd has not embraced it. (I am 50yo by the way, and my age group has seemingly already moved beyond forums to social media and asfaik very few are messing with list-serves any more like the antique tractor mailing list.

I still subscribe to our tractor list and an MG car list and use a Jaguar car forum to keep my old Jag on the road.