Cold perspective: If this is the worst we get, it’s really not all that bad
Photo
The Janesville Water Dept. had a crew out Friday morning to fix a broken water main on Edison Avenue just west of Hermitage Lane. Water lines breaking in extreme cold is a fairly routine occurrence for the organization.
Water main break?
If you see water seeping through a crack in the street, or if there’s a spot in your yard where the snow disappears, a city water pipe might be broken underground.
To report a possible break, call the Janesville Water Utility during business hours at (608) 755-3115. The emergency number for off hours is (608) 755-6375.
Another way to be a good citizen: If you’re one of the majority of Janesville houses where city workers still have to walk up to your water meter to read it, make sure snow is not covering that little blue box on the side of your house.
JANESVILLE — Sure, it was cold Friday morning.
Sure, the mercury dipped to 11 below zero.
Sure, you had to scrape the inside of your windshield. Or maybe that battery finally died, and you spent the day trying to get your car working.
But if that was the coldest day of the winter, we’ve gotten off easy.
Consider:
-- Janesville has recorded only four below-zero days so far this winter. On average, Janesville gets nine below-zero days by Jan. 21, according to Gazette weather data going back to 1948.
-- The most days with below-zero temperatures before Jan. 21 occurred in the winter of 1977-1978, when the mercury dipped that low 31 times.
-- The record coldest temperature in Janesville since 1948 was minus 31 on Feb. 2, 1996.
Maybe it felt so frigid because we never got this cold last winter.
The last time it got this cold was a three-day stretch in mid-January 2009, when the low temperatures in Janesville plunged to minus 17, minus 24 and another minus 24.
On the other hand, Friday’s cold was enough to cause a water main break on Janesville’s south side.
The pipe didn’t freeze, city Water Superintendent Katie Karow said.
What happens is that as the frost is driven deeper into the ground, the ground moves, which can cause a break in a weak spot, Karow said.
Homes within a block or two around the break on Edison Avenue were expected to be without water for a couple hours, until the break was repaired.
Workers had to pound through the rock-hard soil to get to the break, Karow said.
Water main breaks are most common in the cold months. Karow asked that motorists be careful around sites where workers are fixing breaks. Workers will salt the freezing water, but there still might be slippery patches.
Water pipes can freeze in your home, Karow said. She recommended making sure that pipes near walls are insulated. And if you leave town, make sure your basement is getting heat.
It was also cold enough to close St. Patrick’s School in Janesville and the Albany public schools on Friday.
Rural districts, including Parkview, Brodhead and Beloit Turner, delayed the start of school by two hours on Friday.
At least two other local school districts, Janesville and Delavan-Darien, might be congratulating themselves for scheduling no school on Friday. Teachers in those districts, however, did have to report to work.
It’s slightly warmer today, of course, but bone-chilling temps will fade slowly. The forecast calls for negative numbers again tonight with a slow recovery into early next week, when temperatures are expected to climb back into the 20s.
Sounds balmy, doesn’t it?
Jan 22, 2011 at 4:45 p.m.
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Not to mention autumn was very warm as well. Up until mid-November was phenomenal!
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