[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Midwest heatwave (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/17/2011 1:59:02 PM EDT
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It's been miserably hot & humid here in Missouri for the last few days, and the NWS is starting to talk up the severity of the heatwave. My local forecast has heat indices between 100-110 F through next weekend. Was talking to the wife about the potential for brownouts/rolling blackouts... a lot of our preps have been geared towards getting through ice storms, blizzards, mainly cold weather stuff. Heat emergencies present a new set of challenges. Thinking of ways to keep the garden and livestock watered, freezers running (yep have a gennie). Anybody else looking at this from a prep/survive (comfortably) standpoint? Probably no zombies or bands of inner-city looters expected....
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It's been miserably hot & humid here in Missouri for the last few days, and the NWS is starting to talk up the severity of the heatwave. My local forecast has heat indices between 100-110 F through next weekend. Was talking to the wife about the potential for brownouts/rolling blackouts... a lot of our preps have been geared towards getting through ice storms, blizzards, mainly cold weather stuff. Heat emergencies present a new set of challenges. Thinking of ways to keep the garden and livestock watered, freezers running (yep have a gennie). Anybody else looking at this from a prep/survive (comfortably) standpoint? Probably no zombies or bands of inner-city looters expected.... We have been going thru this for over a month now....haven't had any issues with the power and I pump water from the pond for the garden. Only real problem is my pond is about 8" low.. no rain in sight...looks like a long dry, hot summer.... 
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| Yep, we got the same heat wave here in Hell-inoise! I went hiking two Sundays ago with the heat index at 105 and humidity you could cut with a knife. I hiked 5 miles with about 40lbs of gear on. I took a Camelbak full size hydration bladder and three canteens full of water with me. After about three miles I had to take sit down breaks every 1/2 mile. It was miserable and when I was finished I had just about emptied my hydration bladder. Better make sure you have more than enough H2O while out in this heat and keep your body not only hydrated but fueled up with food too. Having plenty of water is certainly a top essential to have on hand and more so in heat wave conditions. Good reminder OP! |
Welcome to Florida, you Yanks! 
Heat index here in Tallahassee has been 105 or higher for the last three weeks... Just like it is every year! Dress in light colors. Stay out of the sun as much as possible. Drink a ton of water. For every three liters of water you drink, drink ~20oz of Gatorade/Powerade. Eat a banana every morning. If your pee isn't clear, you're not getting enough water. A box fan blowing at you, while you're sitting in a web-backed chair, is glorious. Having a spray bottle that can make a mist and spraying yourself with it every minute or two is heaven itself. |
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Welcome to Florida, you Yanks!
Heat index here in Tallahassee has been 105 or higher for the last three weeks... Just like it is every year! ... Actually, I go to FL every other year on vacation, and you're right... gets pretty oppressive there too. I guess the difference is when I'm there it's fun... 
All good tips. We've got a pool backup water supply which helps tremendously (work-soak-work-soak-work...). |
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We had 2 days of soaking rain over the weekend here in northwest Florida. We needed it. My okra plants grew 8 inches over the weekend(so did the grass ). It's 89 and heat index is 100. Really kind of nice with the southeast breeze. I'm close to the Gulf and it always seems more pleasant than 10 or 15 miles inland. There is always a breeze, anyway. Except for the drought, this is just typical summer in Florida.
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Oklahoma... Highest temp this year - 115 Number of Days 100 or higher - 24 Its 103 right now.....  Yup, this years been particularly brutal. Wind always blows at my house, when you step out onto the front porch, it feels like somebody just put a hairdryer in your face.
Garden, except for peppers, isn't growing for crap, even being watered daily. We have about 50 tomato plants and I think maybe a handful actually have tomatoes on them. We are going to add shade cloth to our preps. A friend of my wife is getting some production out of her garden, but has had to use shade cloth to protect the plants. |
| OKC area here. It's been bad. Rode my motorcycle up 81 and it felt like I was in an oven. Only being in a pool or A/C helps. I've lived in Oklahoma almost all my life and this is one of the hottest summers I can remember. However, last 2 winters have been fairly bad too.... |
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Yesterday we taped aluminum foil to the inside of the West-facing windows of the house. Looks like hell, but I don't care... we're out in the country.
It made a noticeable difference. Our AC is a bit undersized and has been having trouble keeping up, but with the foil in the windows, the afternoon/evening temps have been about 5 deg. cooler inside. |
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Yesterday we taped aluminum foil to the inside of the West-facing windows of the house. Looks like hell, but I don't care... we're out in the country. It made a noticeable difference. Our AC is a bit undersized and has been having trouble keeping up, but with the foil in the windows, the afternoon/evening temps have been about 5 deg. cooler inside. I added 20" (and more) insulation to my attic on July 3rd. I still had a record high utility bill. 250.00, my average cost was over 7.00 per day. The A/C never stopped. The bill was sent on July 12th, so it was 'mostly' the pre-insulation usage. I have seen my A/C kick off mid-day after the insulation was installed. How much you got in the attic? TRG |
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Yesterday we taped aluminum foil to the inside of the West-facing windows of the house. Looks like hell, but I don't care... we're out in the country. It made a noticeable difference. Our AC is a bit undersized and has been having trouble keeping up, but with the foil in the windows, the afternoon/evening temps have been about 5 deg. cooler inside. I added 20" (and more) insulation to my attic on July 3rd. I still had a record high utility bill. 250.00, my average cost was over 7.00 per day. The A/C never stopped. The bill was sent on July 12th, so it was 'mostly' the pre-insulation usage. I have seen my A/C kick off mid-day after the insulation was installed. How much you got in the attic? TRG Not enough. Old fixer-upper house that we're basically rebuilding a room at a time. How'd you get 20" of insulation? Blown-in cellulose? Or just layering batts? |
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Yesterday we taped aluminum foil to the inside of the West-facing windows of the house. Looks like hell, but I don't care... we're out in the country. It made a noticeable difference. Our AC is a bit undersized and has been having trouble keeping up, but with the foil in the windows, the afternoon/evening temps have been about 5 deg. cooler inside. I added 20" (and more) insulation to my attic on July 3rd. I still had a record high utility bill. 250.00, my average cost was over 7.00 per day. The A/C never stopped. The bill was sent on July 12th, so it was 'mostly' the pre-insulation usage. I have seen my A/C kick off mid-day after the insulation was installed. How much you got in the attic? TRG Not enough. Old fixer-upper house that we're basically rebuilding a room at a time. How'd you get 20" of insulation? Blown-in cellulose? Or just layering batts? I blew it in myself. Cellulose. Fire retardant and boric acid infused. It was a bitch from the heat in the attic in July, but, I should have gotten off my ass and blew it in five years, or more, ago. 8.00 per bag, I used 70 bags. Used Home Depot so the blower was free. 600.00 out of pocket It has made a difference. I will be replacing my 1980's windows with modern glass in the next few weeks. That is supposed to help alot too. TRG |
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An absolutely balmy 98 today (humidity probably at about 15% which is high here). Usually drink over a gal. of water daily (I do not make the mistake of replacing H2O with ETOH at the end of the day). Heat and low humidity - you get use to it in the desert ....
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Imagine taking a week long shooting course in this weather... no overhead awning...
It's been brutal, but so far a wet towel draped over the head has made it bearable.... The worst part is going prone, not only is a large part of your body exposed to the sun that way, but you're laying on the hot ground... |
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PM your HVAC......clean the coils..........made a huge difference on my unit.......Im helping a buddy swap out his 80 year old aunts unit tomorow that died.......the unit lasted 27 years so id say she got her moneys worth....we got to get it done tomorow before the bad heat hits
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All good tips. We've got a pool which helps tremendously (work-soak-work-soak-work...). The pool at my apartment complex was 90 degrees yesterday!  I'm also in Tallahassee - our apartment pool was ~85 at 7am the other day when I went for a few laps - crazy. Although all of the rain has been nice lately to cool things down. Good to know another SF'r/Arfcommer is in Tallahassee. We just moved here and are loving it so far. |
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Apparently the media has a lot of hype especially up north.
My mom calls today from Ohio all worried. Said she heard the heat index here where I am was 130 degrees and wondered how we were handling it. My comment was, "It was?" It was like 94 with a high humidity, not all that uncommon, enough I didn't see it as abnormally hot. Tj |
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What is your elevation over there tj? I get 1453 ft above sea level for the average where the prison is located. We were mid 90s yesterday and had a heat index of 105 degrees farenheit where I was working yesterday. At work we have a mini weather station and the boys in the air conditioned boxes like to make sure that those of us messing around outside know exactly how hot it is while we are messing around outside. I was just hauling 100ft of 2 inch hose around and hooking it up to do some cleaning so I could get it hooked up and go find shade. Being out in the sun was brutal, I get to wear a nice uniform at work as well so that makes sure I know it is hot outside. Lately I drink some coffee in the morning, some milk throughtout the day and I stopped counting how many bottles of water I drink or how many times I refill a bottle. I mostly live inside at work but I get outside enough that the boys in their air conditioned boxes make sure I know it is a bit warm and moist out there. |
I know its hot at work . A couple of years ago they had to instal AC units on the electronics cabnets for our CNC equipment . The hot air blowing out of them sure is nice to work next to  . We've been using this to stay cool , I buy mine localy . http://coloradofast.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=1602141 . We soak some the gel filled rags in it , something like this , only I don't look as gay wearing it . http://industrialsavings.com/hard-hats/940.html . We also have an industrial slushy machine that we put a gatorade ( squincher ) type mix into . It holds 10 gal and empties fast . The heat just drains you , and when your sweating this much its hard to stay hydrated . I drank 6 liters of water yesterday and still was getting darker pee than I like .
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| Growing up, we didn't have AC until my parents got a window unit when I was a teenager. In college, I worked in a forging plant. Working without AC was much easier the summers I didn't have AC at my appartment than it was the summers when I did have AC. We will replace our broken AC one of these days, but I don't want to depend on it. It is nice to know that we can get by without it. |
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I work out in the sun everyday...it has been 98 to 100 here with an index of 110 to 115...we don't take breaks but we drink a lot of water. It wears me out when I have to go into an AC area just compounds the problem when you return to the heat...we start at 0600 and usually knock off around 1400 to 1500
You guys stay safe out there.... |
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Its 104 here right now and I don't even have the a/c's running. We have ducted swamp coolers with pressure relief pop up vents into the attic, so the swamp coolers work great up to about 108, we can maybe stretch it to 110, but usually we switch to the a/c's around 109. It's 73 in the hottest room of the house right now.
With the pop up vents, the swamp coolers cool the air in the house, then the pressurized air escapes through the attic, cooling it on the way out. Ingenious system, costs about 25% of what running the a/cs do. With a 4,000 sq ft house, hvac costs are a major concern. We are glad to be in the 103-105 degree range this week, normally we would be about 113 this time of year. 115 is not unusual for July, but we've only been over 110 for maybe 8 or 9 days this year! 
The advantage to the San Joaquin valley is we have super low humidity, which makes the high temps bearable. anything over 100 and I water the garden twice a day, and change the chicken water every day. The cow could care less about the temps, goat doesn't care either. Bell peppers don't seem to like anything over 100, haven't managed to harvest a single one this year, they keep burning and falling off... 
ETA The pool is a perfect 87 degrees. Its a white bottom pool, so it takes a little longer to warm up at the start of the year, but never really gets over 90 or so, even when our friends pools are pushing 100... |
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Growing up, we didn't have AC until my parents got a window unit when I was a teenager. In college, I worked in a forging plant. Working without AC was much easier the summers I didn't have AC at my appartment than it was the summers when I did have AC. We will replace our broken AC one of these days, but I don't want to depend on it. It is nice to know that we can get by without it. I think its worthwhile to adapt yourself to just not use the ac. If shtf happens and you have no electricity it would be a hard shock when you can't use the ac or fans. |
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It's been miserably hot & humid here in Missouri for the last few days, and the NWS is starting to talk up the severity of the heatwave. My local forecast has heat indices between 100-110 F through next weekend. Was talking to the wife about the potential for brownouts/rolling blackouts... a lot of our preps have been geared towards getting through ice storms, blizzards, mainly cold weather stuff. Heat emergencies present a new set of challenges. Thinking of ways to keep the garden and livestock watered, freezers running (yep have a gennie). Anybody else looking at this from a prep/survive (comfortably) standpoint? Probably no zombies or bands of inner-city looters expected.... Misters?? They dont use much water but if you dont have any, its a waste of a precious resource. |
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Growing up, we didn't have AC until my parents got a window unit when I was a teenager. In college, I worked in a forging plant. Working without AC was much easier the summers I didn't have AC at my appartment than it was the summers when I did have AC. We will replace our broken AC one of these days, but I don't want to depend on it. It is nice to know that we can get by without it. I think its worthwhile to adapt yourself to just not use the ac. If shtf happens and you have no electricity it would be a hard shock when you can't use the ac or fans. Ill adapt quick enough if need be.....I like my AC |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Growing up, we didn't have AC until my parents got a window unit when I was a teenager. In college, I worked in a forging plant. Working without AC was much easier the summers I didn't have AC at my appartment than it was the summers when I did have AC. We will replace our broken AC one of these days, but I don't want to depend on it. It is nice to know that we can get by without it. I think its worthwhile to adapt yourself to just not use the ac. If shtf happens and you have no electricity it would be a hard shock when you can't use the ac or fans. Ill adapt quick enough if need be.....I like my AC Amen to that. I don't want to drown in my own sweat in 110F weather just because I need to show myself how though I am |