Batten down the hatches tomorrow

[RednekF350]

Power just went out here, damn. Refrigerator is full from my shopping trip, so I guess it's time to fire up the genny. At least I got through lunch and did the dishes.

Couple blips here at work in central Camden County around 10:30, enough to cause computers and routers to restart twice. After that, all good.

 

[Boyd]

What - no UPS on the computers and routers?

Had a brief outage last year and learned that the battery was dead in one of my UPS'es. Glad I replaced them. Starter battery also died on the generator around the same time and wouldn't hold a charge, replaced that too.

 

[46er]

The bay side is getting some heavy gusts.

Personal Weather Station Dashboard | Weather Underground

Weather Underground provides local & long-range weather forecasts, weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide.

www.wunderground.com

 

[Boyd]

800 outages and over 36,000 Atlantic City Electric customers without power now. They say it is "under evaluation" and no crews have been dispatched. But the weird part is that they are estimating power will be restored at 2:00 PM. Oh well, at least it ain't rainin'.

 

[bobpbx]

Kicking up really good in Bamber. A dead pine over so far.

 

[46er]

TORNADO WATCH
ISSUED: 11:33 AM APR. 13, 2020 – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH 119 IN
EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS

IN NEW JERSEY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 16 COUNTIES

IN CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

MERCER MONMOUTH

IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY

HUNTERDON MIDDLESEX MORRIS
SOMERSET SUSSEX WARREN

IN SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY

ATLANTIC BURLINGTON CAMDEN
CAPE MAY CUMBERLAND GLOUCESTER
OCEAN SALEM

 

[Boyd]

Have been sitting here by the window, and the wind has defintely calmed down. Gusts are much less intense. Hope it lasts.

 

[Boyd]

Woo-hoo, power just came back on. Wind isn't too bad now and the sun is even attempting to break through. Not gonna put the generator away yet, just in case....

 

[46er]

There is another strong band approaching Delaware Bay moving NE that might get to you. Then one more weaker front and the temps start to drop.

I modified my generator exhaust so I can keep it running in its small shed regardless of weather and directs the exhaust noise away from the house, much quieter. I have a 3 fuel adapter that I need to install, then no worries; fuel won't go bad and cleaner exhaust.

 

[Boyd]

Yeah, am watching those other fronts. They are moving very fast.

Neighbor got one of those outdoor generators installed with a big propane tank a few years ago. A company monitors it remotely and does maintenance on-site. Think he said it cost $5000 initially, it's at least as noisy as mine though and I'm sure the ongoing maintenance isn't cheap.

Thought about getting something like that, but don't really feel it would be worth it. Bought this one (7000-watt Generac) in 2015 and since then have only used it three times. Had a 9-hour outage two days after I bought it, then a 25-minute outage in 2016 and 2.5 hours today. So I'll just continue like this for the time being.

Hope everyone else is safe!

 

[Boyd]

The heavy part of that first front is passing just North of me right now, only getting light rain here. And the wind has all but stopped, just a light breeze right now with no gusts at all. Evidently those fronts are just rain events?

 

[RednekF350]

Just saw a 15:40 alert calling for 70 mph gusts. My wife is home and sweating bullets.


Severe Thunderstorm Warning
DEC001-NJC001-005-007-009-011-015-029-033-132045-
/O.NEW.KPHI.SV.W.0034.200413T1940Z-200413T2045Z/

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
340 PM EDT Mon Apr 13 2020

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly NJ has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
Northeastern Kent County in central Delaware...
Atlantic County in southern New Jersey...
Cumberland County in southern New Jersey...
Salem County in southern New Jersey...
Ocean County in southern New Jersey...
Camden County in southern New Jersey...
Gloucester County in southern New Jersey...
Northern Cape May County in southern New Jersey...
Burlington County in southern New Jersey...

* Until 445 PM EDT.

* At 340 PM EDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line
extending from Swedesboro to Quinton to near Woodland Beach, moving
east at 60 mph.

HAZARD...70 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect considerable tree damage. Damage is likely to
mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.

* Locations impacted include...
Toms River, Vineland, Atlantic City, Millville, Bridgeton, Ocean
City, Cumberland, Cherry Hill, Evesham, Chester, Deptford,
Voorhees, Medford, West Deptford, Barnegat, Pleasantville,
Glassboro, Lindenwold, Hammonton and Bellmawr.

People attending Covid-19 Drive through testing should seek safe
shelter immediately!

 

[RednekF350]

Oh wow, that turned out to be a Chicken Little report. My wife just called and said the sky is blue and birds are chirping but mysteriously, the power went out.

 

[46er]

Bought this one (7000-watt Generac) in 2015 and since then have only used it three times.

I bought a Predator 8750 and the Generac Homelink manual Xfer switch. The switch cost more than the genset, but is upgradeable to full auto. Did the wiring and had an electrician hook it up. If I need it for the house I just need to connect the cable to the outside xfer box and push a button; don't need automatic. The switch will take care of the whole house and switch circuits as needed by load. I test it twice a year on the whole house. Easy to roll it out back for splitting wood.

Rain and wind is done, lots of small branches down, all over. Supposed to get pretty chilly.

 

[Boyd]

Sun came out here about an hour ago, no wind. Those fronts brought some thunder, dark skies but not much rain. The only "damage" around my place was bottles scattered around the yard when the recycling barrel blew over. Total of about 2" rain for the day. Temperature has not budged from 63 degrees for the past hour and a half, guess the drop will come later.

All things considered... got off easy this time.

 

[46er]

Somers Point marina today.

WATCH: Wind rips entire roof off Jersey Shore marina

High winds tore the roof off of one business and created damage at the marina in Somers Point

www.nj.com

 

[46er]

Temperature has not budged from 63 degrees for the past hour and a half, guess the drop will come later.

Cold front is out in far western PA.

 

[Boyd]

You're right - just looked at the Wundermap.

Temperature has risen to 66 at my place now, looks like it's actually going to get a lot warmer here before it cools down. 73 degrees right now in Bridgeton, 75 in Maryland. Little bit of everything today.

 

[46er]

Really pleasant out now.

 

[Boyd]

Hiking trails are going to be a real mess after all this.

Just returned from an inspection tour of my own trails. For the most part, there was nothing more than a bunch of sticks on the trail. But there's one big problem that I sort of expected. Last month, a storm snapped off a big cedar tree by the creek. Ever since, it has been entangled in a nearby maple, which prevented it from falling. The storm snapped that maple and another one that got hit on the way down.

Usually I just re-route my trails when this kind of thing happens, but the location right next to the creek makes it almost impossible here. Oh well, for the time being I guess it'll just be a dead end.