I hope no one has been frozen or blown/washed away!

[alforddm]

We are getting the tail end of Goliath now. We got over 10" of rain yesterday and last night and high winds. Some of the storm gusts were supposed to be around 60mph. The temperature has dropped 30 degrees and with the wind it feels friggid. I was scared to go out to the rabbits this morning for fear someone had gotten their cover blown off and all my kits were wet and dead. Thankfully, it looks like all i lost was a couple of bales of hay and possibly one 3 week old kit. It was the runt and I think it got separated from it's littermates and chilled. I have it in the house now and have got it warm and am trying to feed it a bit. It's also possible it got trampled by it's dam if she got scared while the wind was gusting.

My sister and her husband manage a large ranch in NM. They have been hammered by blizzard conditions for a couple of days.

 

[Zinnia]

Glad you are safe. Today we have a snow storm with high winds and tomorrow, freezing rain. Bunnies are all fine so far.

 

[akane]

Someone on my facebook list also in my town says it's raining ice. I'm just not going to look outside.

 

[Zass]

It already starting to rain ice here. I think I'll just stay home today.. :cats-bed:

 

[HansenHomestead]

It's bad here... We have a full furnished basement that is now under water. I am home by myself trying to fight it with a shop vac, and nothing I do is keeping up with it. I am so tired, and sore, and honestly a little depressed. Stay safe everyone!

 

[MaggieJ]

Snow, freezing rain and rain mix is supposed to move into this part of Ontario this evening. I hate freezing rain, but we really can't complain too much; this will be the first real winter storm we've had this season. It won't be fun, but we're not expecting it to be more than a nuisance.

Sorry to hear of so many of you getting hit with really awful storm conditions.

 

[Stephanie]

Christmas Eve we had 82°. Yesterday was 76°. Today it's mid 50's and windy. Tomorrow's forecast is for 78°. After tomorrow, a cooling trend down to normal temps, upper 40's. Can't remember a warmer December.

 

[wamplercathy]

We've had clear skies, rain, freezing rain, ice, and now snow. And that's just since 8 this morning. Warming some soup, and baking some bread for dinner. Hope all of yall and yours are staying warm and dry.

 

[akane]

Had to break out the space heaters in this old house because the wind is so cold and ice is hitting the windows that it's causing portions of the house to drop down to 65F and below. That included the bathroom. I don't suggest using the couch at the end of the livingroom. It kind of sticks out from the rest of the house with no protection and there are no air vents at that end of the lower level. Good thing the chinchillas don't mind cold.

 

[Miss M]

We spent a portion of the wee hours last night in the closet, due to three tornado warnings.

Thankfully, no damage for us, and everyone is safe.

We've had 80* Christmases here many times, but it never gets any more fun. I want to cuddle up with a warm blanket and a mug of cocoa on Christmas, not wear short sleeves and have the AC on like this year.

After two weeks of rain, though, I started to think it would never stop. Our dryer went on the blink, so with it raining all the time, we were having to hang or spread laundry inside. It gets fun figuring out where to put things.

 

[akane]

Our dryer died to dog fur at the end of the late spring/early summer shed. We wash stuff and take it to the laundromat to dry if we need dog fur free or we have a really good dehumidifier in the basement.

 

[Miss M]

Our dryer died to dog fur at the end of the late spring/early summer shed. We wash stuff and take it to the laundromat to dry if we need dog fur free or we have a really good dehumidifier in the basement.

I think ours just needs a new timer/switch. You can hear the timer counting off, but it won't turn on. I hope to fix it soon, but we line dry when possible anyway.

I plan to run two unobtrusive clotheslines inside the house, to better handle situations like this... or days when a shower pops up suddenly and we have to rescue the clothes on the line outside.

 

[akane]

The dryer goes round and round and heats things up. The air flow goes nowhere. We assume a clog but we cannot find it in any areas we can get to and have given up. Free dryers have been offered but not delivered and I can't help move stuff like that anymore. We have a huge working dryer but it's electric and the house is still setup for gas so we need an electrician. Even if we have the money to pay someone to set it up we still have no way to move heavy appliances.

 

[skysthelimit]

Oddly here we have escaped the worst of it, I think. Lake Erie is behaving itself. The wind was wicked and I could hear bits of frozen rain hitting the window, but it's now around 46F

 

[coyotejoe]

Just a normal December here in Northwest Montana, a little snow, a little wind but not much of either and 20 degrees is the coldest so far.

 

[akane]

It's white and you don't sink in it when you walk on it. Niji was confused by this ice/snow stuff you don't sink in and wouldn't poop on it. She used the floor I just cleaned instead.

 

[the reluctant farmer]

We've had rain, more rain, some sprinkles, a few downpours, and then rain. My animals were starting to pair up two by two and were trying to squeeze into the canoe. For a change of pace it was clear and beautiful this afternoon (unseasonably beautiful.) But nature will make sure we don't get big heads over the nice day by sending rain tomorrow. I've given up on trying to keep my white dog's feet clean. They are a light pink from Georgia clay stains and will stay that way until this weekend, unfortunately.

 

[Easy Ears]

Here we go again with that cooooold weather!
Most of us know the winter weather protocol: Keeping your bunny dry = keeping your bunny warm, so in many places tarps are necessary to cover those hutches! Apart from those lucky bunnies indoors, and in barns, the questions on quite a few minds is "How to keep your bunny warm." Here are a few suggestions:

1. Heat lamps
2. Boxes full of straw or hay
3. Tarps to cover the hutches
4. Or bring your rabbit indoors/garage/shed. (Not an option for many)

Any additions to this list are welcome! Another question a few (including myself) may have is "How cold is too cold for a rabbit?"
I'm on my second winter with rabbits, and the forecast for our town here in Washington calls for it to be in the teens these next few nights. One forecast even predicts it to be 12 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday! Our weather station is always a little colder than our location, so my guess is it won't actually get below 14 or 15 F. But still...that is VERY chilly! :x Is it too cold for my rabbits to be outside in? I have tarps covering all sides but a few ventilation holes at the bottom, and they all have boxes stuffed with hay they can snuggle into as well. Is that enough? They've been used to mid 20 degree F weather, dropping down to a little above 20 at night. Will they be alright or should I haul them into the garage? I don't recall it being this cold last year. :shock:

 

[FourRingCircus]

I got to witness flash flooding today!! :x It was crazy! I knew it was wet outside, but we don't watch TV much so I was completely unaware of the potential for flooding. I really didn't want to go out, but after a few days indoors we were all a bit antsy, plus the rabbits were out of food (I kept waiting thinking eventually the rain would stop... days later... nope). I was told I was brave for being out in the weather, but didn't think much of it (I had all 4 kids with me and it was raining raining raining). Then I got the flash flood warning on my phone as we were leaving - but I mean really, how often does that actually happen?? Especially in our area! I really didn't think a huge amount of it. On my way to the feed store the road disappeared. Not really deep (thankfully!), but definitely eerie feeling. I had nowhere to go so I just kept driving since I was at the bottom of the hill and stopping would do me no good. By the time I made it to DH's work to pick him up for lunch I could see traffic backing up and a bunch of people out in the parking lot looking at something. I could see the water had filled one area between the parking lot and the road, so I figured they were checking to see if it was still safe for trucks to go in and out... NOPE! A little while earlier a guy got caught in a flash flood and hydroplaned into the ditch/valley area. When he first hit the water was up to the wheel wells, by the time they got out it was up to the roof!! The road was completely covered at that time as well. When I got there it had receeded enough to be passable, and an hour later when I brought him back you could see the small creeks starting to form again (we got to watch them pull the car out! A newer Cadillac :x ). He said when he left this evening it was like nothing had ever happened.

Here are some of the pics from the news - currently the third pic in is right in front of DH's office. The water had been a foot or more higher than that! The road to the right was completely covered. At least the water was there - probably saved the guy from hitting a tree!

http://myfox8.com/2015/12/30/flash-floo ... t-triad-2/

 

[akane]

Dry and out of the wind I've had rabbits acting normal in -30F. They just lay their ears flat more to keep them warm. Outside of a building they might appreciate more help but I've also seen setups here with just a box the rabbit can go in and tarps thrown over the top and on the side of the cages the wind was coming from.

We don't really get flash flooding. Everything is so flat that it takes a lot of water to fill in an entire area that quickly. You've usually got to go hundreds of feet to thousands of feet wide to fill in a given area before the water starts to run past. The year of lake Iowa is the only time I've seen flash floods and there was so much water it went all over the place. Maps show expanses of water miles wide in multiple direction across fields and some towns which is why we called it lake Iowa. It carved out chunks of road that never see a trickle. The main highway going through the middle of a major town was it's own river and nearly every single bridge was damaged. If not by the water itself then some train cars were picked up and hauled down into a couple bridges. They were chaining bridge parts to poles so that the entire thing wasn't lost and could be repaired instead of replaced.