Winter Weather Preparedness
Winter Weather Preparedness
Winter storms create a higher risk of car accidents, hypothermia, frostbite, carbon monoxide poisoning, and heart attacks from overexertion. Winter storms can bring extreme cold, freezing rain, snow, ice and high winds.
The City of Humble Office of Emergency Management reminds residents to follow the four “P’s” of winter weather safety:
PEOPLE
Keep your family warm and check on any elderly family or neighbors that may need extra blankets, winterizing their homes or a warm place to stay.
PETS
Dogs and cats get cold too. Bring them inside at night to keep them healthy and safe.
PLANTS
Either cover plants to keep them warm at night or bring them inside so they can flourish.
PIPES
Cover exposed pipes to prevent freezing and breaks.
Winter Weather Preparation
The American Red Cross
offers 10 steps people can take to stay safe during the cold weather.
1. Layer up!
Wear layers of lightweight clothing to stay warm. Gloves and a hat will help prevent losing your body heat.
2. Don’t forget your furry friends.
Bring pets indoors. If they can’t come inside, make sure they have enough shelter to keep them warm and that they can get to unfrozen water.
3. Remember the three feet rule.
If you are using a space heater, place it on a level, hard surface and keep anything flammable at least three feet away – things such as paper, clothing, bedding, curtains or rugs.
4. Requires supervision.
Turn off space heaters and make sure fireplace embers are out before leaving the room or going to bed.
5. Don’t catch fire!
If you are using a fireplace, use a glass or metal fire screen large enough to catch sparks and rolling logs.
6. Protect your pipes.
Run water, even at a trickle, to help prevent your pipes from freezing. Open the kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals out of the reach of children. Keep the garage doors closed if there are water lines in the garage.
7. Better safe than sorry.
Keep the thermostat at the same temperature day and night. Your heating bill may be a little higher, but you could avoid a more costly repair job if your pipes freeze and burst.
8. The kitchen is for cooking.
Never use a stove or oven to heat your home.
9. Use generators outside.
Never operate a generator inside the home, including in the basement or garage.
10. Knowledge is power.
Don’t hook a generator up to the home’s wiring. The safest thing to do is to connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator.
Winter Weather Definitions
Winter Storm Watch:
A Winter Storm Watch is issued when there is the potential for significant and hazardous winter weather within 48 hours. It does not mean that significant and hazardous winter weather will occur…it only means it is possible.
Significant and hazardous winter weather is defined as a combination of:
- 5 inches or more of snow/sleet within a 12-hour period or 7 inches or more of snow/sleet within a 24-hour period
- Enough ice accumulation to cause damage to trees or powerlines.
- A life threatening or damaging combination of snow and/or ice accumulation with wind.
Winter Storm Warning:
A Winter Storm Warning is issued when a significant combination of hazardous winter weather is occurring or imminent. Significant and hazardous winter weather is defined as a combination of:
- 5 inches or more of snow/sleet within a 12-hour period or 7 inches or more of snow/sleet within a 24-hour period
- Enough ice accumulation to cause damage to trees or powerlines.
- A life threatening or damaging combination of snow and/or ice accumulation with wind.
Winter Weather Advisory:
A Winter Weather Advisory will be issued for any amount of freezing rain, or when 2 to 4 inches of snow (alone or in combination with sleet and freezing rain), is expected to cause a significant inconvenience, but not serious enough to warrant a warning.
Freeze Warning:
Take Action! A Freeze Warning is issued when temperatures are forecasted to go below 32°F for a long period of time. This temperature threshold kills some types of commercial crops and residential plants, while temperatures below 28°F for an extended period of time can kill most types of commercial crops and residential plants.
Freeze Watch:
Be Prepared. A Freeze Watch is issued when there is a potential for significant, widespread freezing temperatures within the next 24-36 hours. A Freeze Watch is issued in the autumn until the end of the growing season and in the spring at the start of the growing season.
Wind chill temperature
is how cold people and animals feel when outside. Wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it FEEL much colder. If the temperature is 0°F and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the wind chill is -19°F. At this wind chill temperature, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes.