Time to split some wood

[MarkBNJ]

Bah! They must have just solidified that track, because up to about lunch time they weren't calling for much. Looks like it is going to be sleet first then snow... double-bah!

I tell you, my kids have been home way too much since Christmas. If this storm keeps the little bastards in the house again I can't guarantee their safety.

 

[Boyd]

This is starting to sound like it will suck for the Philadelphia area...

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
827 PM EST TUE JAN 25 2011

...SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND
ESPECIALLY EARLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT...

DEZ001-MDZ008-012-NJZ012-015>019-PAZ067-070-071-261100-
/O.CON.KPHI.WS.A.0003.110126T1500Z-110127T0900Z/
NEW CASTLE-CECIL-KENT MD-MIDDLESEX-MERCER-SALEM-GLOUCESTER-CAMDEN-
NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-CHESTER-DELAWARE-PHILADELPHIA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WILMINGTON...ELKTON...CHESTERTOWN...
NEW BRUNSWICK...TRENTON...PENNSVILLE...GLASSBORO...CAMDEN...
CHERRY HILL...MOORESTOWN...MOUNT HOLLY...WEST CHESTER...MEDIA...
PHILADELPHIA
827 PM EST TUE JAN 25 2011

...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY MORNING
THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT...

* PRECIPITATION TYPE: MIXED SNOW...SLEET...FREEZING RAIN AND
RAIN IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY...TURNING TO A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW
BY WEDNESDAY EVENING BEFORE ENDING BY THE START OF THE
THURSDAY MORNING COMMUTE.

* ACCUMULATIONS: 5 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW...WITH A COATING OF ICE
POSSIBLE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE EVENT.

* TIMING: MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL START WEDNESDAY MORNING
BETWEEN 4 AM AND THE END OF THE MORNING COMMUTE. THE MOST
INTENSE PERIOD OF SNOW AND WIDESPREAD HAZARDS IS EXPECTED
BETWEEN 6 PM AND MIDNIGHT. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER
HOUR ARE POSSIBLE.

* IMPACTS: THERE IS THE CHANCE THAT SOME FREEZING RAIN MIGHT MIX
IN WITH THE SLEET AND SNOW ON WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE WEDNESDAY
EVENING COMMUTE SHOULD BE AFFECTED AS ACCUMULATING SNOW FALLS
WITH GREATER IMPACTS DEEPER INTO THE EVENING COMMUTE TIME. THE
THURSDAY MORNING COMMUTE SHOULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BECAUSE OF
RESIDUAL CLEAN UP OF THE WINTRY MESS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY.

* CONFIDENCE: HIGHEST CONFIDENCE FOR SUBSTANTIAL WINTER WEATHER
PROBLEMS IS NEAR THE INTERSTATE 95 CORRIDOR.

 

[46er]

Yep, and it ain't over yet. The forecasts are all over the place. More bad erosion expected here along the beaches.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Woke up this morning to an inch of snow on the roads and still snowing. It was supposed to have been rain by now in my area, but we all know how that goes.

 

[46er]

Woke up this morning to an inch of snow on the roads and still snowing. It was supposed to have been rain by now in my area, but we all know how that goes.

Same here, now it's forecast for 3-6 by tomorow morning.

 

[Boyd]

It was raining here at 5:00 AM, then pretty heavy snow by 6:00 AM. Now it has pretty much stopped for the moment. Am about to head out on my commute to Philadelphia, hopefully it will be OK as long as I come home early this evening...

 

[PINEY MIKE]

Same here, now it's forecast for 3-6 by tomorow morning.

I heard 6-8 now for the Ocean County area after it turns back to snow this evening. Im always a fan of the snow, so bring it.

 

[46er]

Am about to head out on my commute to Philadelphia, hopefully it will be OK as long as I come home early this evening...

All the forecasts I have seen are calling for the heaviest on a line up 95 beginning late today. This is a pretty good live map that gives some idea what is going on where; it automatically refreshes.

http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=40.21244&lon=-74.70703&zoom=7&type=hyb&units=english&rad=1&rad.num=6&rad.spd=25&rad.opa=70&rad.stm=0&rad.type=N0R&rad.type2=&rad.smo=1&rad.mrg=0&wxsn=0&svr=0&cams=0&sat=0&riv=0&mm=0&hur=0&fire=0&tor=0&ndfd=0&pix=0&dir=0&ads=0&ib=0&tfk=0

 

[PancoastDrifter]

I present to you the lever axe... for chopping wood.

 

[Hewey]

I present to you the lever axe... for chopping wood.

Thats nice! I wounder how much practice it takes to get good with it.

You need a good saw to buck it up to split.

Chris

 

[46er]

There is only one way to split wood

 

[MuckSavage]

I've had one of these for years......kinda goofy
http://chopperaxe.com/

I know use this;

 

[PINEY MIKE]

While I love splitting wood with an axe, the amount of wood we go through would take way too much time to split all of it that way. Im definately with you on the gas log splitter (at least most of the time). Its still nice to hand-split some wood on a autumn Sunday morning, then go warm up by the stove and watch some football. BTY, beer goes good with this agenda!

 

[46er]

I know use this;

I have something similar, but it is electric from Harbor Freight. The silence is a blessing and I haven't been able to jam it up yet.

 

[MuckSavage]

Yep, I have a buddy who used to borrow my gas splitter, then he bought an electric from Lowes or HD. It's a good little machine & he runs it inside his pole barn! He's had some knotted, twisted junk, but he just throws it in a pile & I tow my splitter down to his place.

 

[46er]

I heard 6-8 now for the Ocean County area after it turns back to snow this evening. Im always a fan of the snow, so bring it.

They changed the forecast again.

Message: NOAA-NWS-ALERTS-NJ20110126152100WinterStormWarning20110127090000NJ.PHIWSWPHI.58e7ce8302cf6c49892aab9a0f90dce7 from w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov
Sent: 19:00 EST on 01-25-2011
Effective: 10:21 EST on 01-26-2011
Expires: 04:00 EST on 01-27-2011
Event: Winter Storm Warning
Alert: ...SIGNIFICANT SNOW EXPECTED LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT...

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST
THURSDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST THURSDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE: MIXED SNOW...SLEET AND RAIN ARE EXPECTED
DURING THE DAY TODAY. THE RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW THIS
EVENING AND BECOME HEAVY TIMES.

* ACCUMULATIONS: 8 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW.

* TIMING: SNOW AND RAIN ARE EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
DAYLIGHT HOURS. THE MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO SNOW THIS
EVENING...AND MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO END
BEFORE DAYBREAK THURSDAY.

* IMPACTS: SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE TWO OR THREE INCHES THROUGH THE
MORNING COMMUTE...WHICH MAY RESULT IN SLICK TRAVEL. ACCUMULATING
SNOW WILL BE FALLING BY THE END OF THE EVENING COMMUTE...AND
TRAVEL WILL BECOME MORE DIFFICULT AS THE EVENING WEARS ON.
Instructions: A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.
Target Area: Atlantic
Coastal Ocean
Cumberland
Eastern Monmouth
Ocean
Southeastern Burlington
Western Monmouth


Forecast Office: NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly (New Jersey, Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania

 

[Boyd]

RE: wood splitters, I also use too much to do it with an axe. I got an electric splitter from Lowes a number of years ago and it's pretty good. But all my firewood is maple and oak, and I just have too many large diameter logs and hard-as-a-rock pieces that the electric splitter can't handle.

So this year I got a small vertical gas-powered splitter and it makes a world of difference, has handled everything I've thrown at it so far. And the electric splitters are painfully slow, plus frustrating with short logs because it withdraws all the way back to the limit each time you release the lever.

Man, this morning's trip to Philadelphia was horrible. The main roads were all parking lots so I took one of my circuitous back routes and the secondary roads hadn't really been cleared at all - really slippery. Getting close to the bridge around 10:00 AM, the snow got really heavy all of a sudden with very poor visibility. So much for the change to rain.

Came home early and everything was fine, just wet and rainy. Raining steady here now but I guess the fun will start in a couple hours.

[edit] Wow - just had a big flash of lightning and thunder clap here! The internet connection winked out for about a minute after that, but seems to be back now. Soon it will be time to enjoy a couple cold ones and a good movie while I watch the storm.

 

[Teegate]

Boyd,

Jessica said she saw on the news people were calling about thunder and lighting in the AC area.


Guy

 

[manumuskin]

from the age of 15 to 20 I split 3 cords a year with a 16 lb maul.if possible i liked to let the temp get down around 20 or lower that way all you had to do was barely tap the wood and it split like a dream.Used to have two large chopping blocks.one swamp (red) maple and the other sycamore.I tried for years to plit those blocks and all the maul would do is bounce off of em sorta like they were maybe rubber trees.
Al

 

[MarkBNJ]

Snowing like mad up here right now. Wind, zero-visibility, easily the most intense storm so far this year. A good 5-6" from it so far.