14 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I think we’re actually colder than A-Jay for once. Our wind chill forecast for tonight and tomorrow is -21 to -23. We are sitting on a real 3 outside and dropping a few more tonight with 20-25mph solid winds. It’s just stupidly cold.

On top of it being stupidly cold, people are being stupid in the cold. Trees are falling all over the place blocking roads. Snow is drifting across roads and making slippy spots (and that’s going to get really bad tonight). People are doing stupid stuff on the road anyway and there are more accidents happening now than when we had 4” of snow on the road. And to top it off, someone broke our mirror in the Costco parking lot and walked off. No note. We have her on video doing it and I have her plate. I left her a note with my number and to get in touch. I’ll be calling the insurance on Monday with her info.

I had to check but looks like you're right.

As for the rest of that mayhem, been there done that and you are certainly welcome to keep that whole mess to yourself.

Stay Safe and watch out for the crazy people.

They seem to be everywhere this time of year.

A-Jay

@gim - we have a tesla. Sentry mode has 5 cameras capturing live imaging when triggered. Four exterior cameras and the one by the rearview mirror. The passenger side camera is on the front quarter panel looking backwards so you can see it all perfectly. This is the moment of impact, but I have the video of it happening and hitting. Also the video of her closing the door again. Then opening it to get out, seeing the damage, making a face, and walking away.

For clarity, the upper right corner is my passenger mirror and the camera is looking straight back along my car on the right side. Her door is now open 90 degrees.

This is right before that by a half second.

well, she called. Surprised the heck out of me, but she did. That's the good news. The bad news is that she doesn't have insurance. She said she'll pay cash for it so I'm going to get a quote and hope she picks up the phone when I call her back.

On a more pertinent note (to this thread) there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. The current arctic blast is going to end today and we're going to start seeing highs around 40 for a couple days. And next week we're going to have highs in the mid 40s with the lows above freezing. That should help a bunch. We just have to get through the forecasted 6" of snow and half inch of freezing rain this coming weekend. 🤦‍♂️

51 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

well, she called. Surprised the heck out of me, but she did. That's the good news. The bad news is that she doesn't have insurance. She said she'll pay cash for it so I'm going to get a quote and hope she picks up the phone when I call her back.

Not to be a hi-jacker of my own thread but Forget the cash thing !!!!!!!!

What are you paying your insurance company for if you're doing all the work ?

I would get a repair estimate and submit the claim to my insurance.

File a POLICE Report

Along with the info you have on the human that actually caused the damage.

You already paid them; let/make them do their job.

They have a very special set of skills to get "Their" money back.

And now the rant is over.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

A-Jay

16 degrees this morning. 64 tomorrow. Hope to get the boat back in the water tomorrow. Some ice on our creek, but should be gone or skim tomorrow. Been a long two and a half weeks since I took it out. I don't think it was out more than three weeks combined all last year.

Last night I stepped out with the dogs around 8 PM and it was still 28 (had warmed all day). I actually commented out loud how not cold it was. 28 with no wind after 5 and 25 mph for what seemed like eternity was a breath of fresh air. A hoodie was enough to stand outside for a couple minutes with the dogs- no need for down parkas.

Imagine my surprise when I check the forecast this morning and the next 10 days has a high almost every day that starts with a 4! If the weekend snow/freezing rain keeps shift the way it has the past 24 hours it won't even affect us. Mid 40's and sunny, 45 with rain showers, a little breeze all the time- that's the stuff that opens lakes up. I suspect we have a lot of ice to go given how cold it was, but a week of this will have me taking a ride to check out the progression.

I'm going to suggest that @A-Jay NOT start a winter 2026-2027 thread. Maybe, just maybe, the next one won't be so bad. lol

1 hour ago, Kev-mo said:

I'm going to suggest that @A-Jay NOT start a winter 2026-2027 thread. Maybe, just maybe, the next one won't be so bad. lol

Classic!

I laughed right out loud.

Wish I had that kind of mojo.

I would only use it for good.

A-Jay

On the up side... The extended ice period will make it that much sweeter to get out once the lid does come off. Plus... as A-Jay previously mentioned, usually late ice makes for a fast warm up once it does come off, and that usually makes for a hot bite, with tons of fish moving shallow at once. 🤞

The melting has commenced!

Overnight lows still in the teens until Friday. By late next week we may string a couple of days together with highs in the fifties and lows in the mid forties.

That should take care of the last of the snow on ground however the Ice on the water maybe another story. With a little luck I may yet get that February fish.

There has been a pretty astonishing divide in the country all winter. The western portion has been under a stubborn ridge of high pressure, allowing temperatures to soar to 20+ degrees above average for nearly 2 months. Its also the driest winter in about 30 years in many areas. Lack of snow pack is a serious problem for many of these areas, as they rely on them not only for winter tourism, but also as it melts and runs off into rivers and reservoirs.

Salt Lake City has recorded less than an inch of snow this entire winter. Their average is about 3 feet by now. The 2034 Winter Olympics are in SLC - if that had been this year it would have been disastrous.

That ridge is slowly now moving eastward which will disrupt the jet stream and bring more moisture out west moving forward. If things do not change soon, fire season is going to be really bad.

I am near Sioux Falls, SD for a couple days this week. It was 45 degrees and blue sky driving westward in the afternoon sun. It felt absolutely glorious.

The melt is starting. It’s 35 outside and has been above freezing for 12 hours now. All the snow is the wet crust and is starting to compress under its own weight. It’s down a third in height. The snow and cold in the forecast are about gone for the 10 day and we have a day forecast of 52. If this keeps up we’ll be snow free in a week. What a miracle that would be.

They are talking record highs here now tomorrow and possibly Sunday. 55 degrees or warmer both days.

Looks like it might be short lived though, a low pressure system out of the Rockies will be arriving next week and will result in rain, snow, or both.

Whenever we see this type of early February forecast up here,

we queue up The Who - "Won't Be Fooled Again".

#falsespring

Also, I remember when that song came out . . . . . . 55 years ago (1971).

Man, I'm feeling very old right now.

A-Jay

17 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

55 years ago (1971).

Man, I'm feeling very old right now.

Here’s a little salt…. I was -12

32 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Here’s a little salt…. I was -12

Haha…that was salty

38 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Here’s a little salt…. I was -12

I hear ya - but it's not like I was wasting time.

Right before you took your very first breath, I had already saved 8 lives.

Just saying.

😉

A-Jay

3 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Haha…that was salty

Wait, why am I laughing, that makes me 17 years older!

And you’re sending me malocchio curses my way!?! When are you going to start respecting your elders?

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Also, I remember when that song came out . . . . . . 55 years ago (1971).

Man, I'm feeling very old right now.

A-Jay

I know exactly how you feel - truly...you only got 3 months on me after all. 👴

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I hear ya - but it's not like I was wasting time.

Right before you took your very first breath, I had already saved 8 lives.

Just saying.

😉

A-Jay

Oh I know. Just busting balls. You know that though. I can’t thank you and everyone else enough!

14 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Oh I know. Just busting balls. You know that though. I can’t thank you and everyone else enough!

I know.

Me too.

🙂

A-Jay

Houghton, MI 225” for the math challenged like me that 18.75’ of snow so far this year. They’re in the far tip of Lake Superior so their winter probably goes another two months.

This is the people of Houghton.”, MI

11 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

Houghton, MI 225” for the math challenged like me that 18.75’ of snow so far this year. They’re in the far tip of Lake Superior so their winter probably goes another two months.

This is the people of Houghton.”, MI

I would drop my mic and head 1000 miles south.

We’re at mid 40’s and sunny today and it is glorious. Snow is melting pretty good here today. We’re getting another inch tomorrow night, but by next weekend I think the snow might be all gone. 50 and sunny on Tuesday followed by 44 and rain on Wednesday might just do it. It won’t be enough to melt the lakes, but it certainly will make me a lot happier.