Even just a few years ago (around Christmas 2017) it was subzero for most of a week, with lows around -20. Totally normal thing, happened every year when I was a kid. I only remember 2017 because my in-laws had just moved up here from PA and were like “WTF have we done?!!!”

This is the new normal. Extreme and unpredictable weather fluctuations. A destabilized polar vortex. It will kill crops and wreck the supply chain. Accept it and figure out how to prepare given this new reality.

Took my kids to school this morning and it was 30 degrees at 7am. That's 45 degrees warmer than it was on Friday when I drove to work at the same time (not even counting the wind chill). Kids had no school this past Friday due to wind chills of -40 degrees.

I will definitely pass on this info. Thank you!

Not sure why the downvotes. Not a native Vermonter here, but been here long enough to know and remember that long stretches of subzero or single digits were always expected and normal. In fact, if you mentioned how cold it was, Vermonters were quick to tell you that it was normal and to buck up. Although the added wind may not be a regular thing, I have to agree with your conclusion that folks seem to have a short memory and people seem to be going soft. They never used to cancel school for several inches of snow, either....

It was just a dream !

I second this notion. Great community. I have learned a lot hanging out with those folks.

Not a meteorologist, but in simple terms.....when the arctic warms, the polar vortex gets pushed south, which leads to these 2-3 days of intense cold. Since the arctic is warming at a rate faster than the rest of the planet, we can expect it to happen more frequently.

Welcome to climate change.

Sorry to prod just, my wife and are house shopping and trying to gage expectations for bills, renovations and upgrades and what to incorporate into our budget.

The cold snap wasn’t even really that unusual though (or if it was, it was only for the high winds). We have several days with temps like that in a normal winter, we’ve just all gone soft.

Perhaps a meteorologist could explain what's happening but these extreme fluctuations are becoming the norm. And Vermont is sitting right on the line where it happens. It may be related to shifing of the jet stream, or the movement of the magnetic pole eastward.

A very large, very poorly insulated house with an inefficient burner over 30 years old

I don’t know about nek, but any AA meeting should treat you right, just let me know you are new and you are likely to be the favorite there.

Oh absolutely my religious upbringing came into play. The more I learned about religion and Christianity the less I wanted my mental health care to be linked to it and the more I wanted evidence based solutions for everything in my life. Learning about science, especially the cosmos, has replaced Sunday services for me. I now read science papers like I used to read biblical scholars.

I frequent an online group who use exercise to abstain, which is ideal for me and my schedule. Having a group that reduces or abstains for similar reasons and with similar beliefs is the key to long term success in my opinion. Naltrexone was just the start, I don’t need that anymore, but it was far easier than going cold turkey as Dr. Bob advocated.

That big polar vortex was being pushed around by warm air. So once it passed, there's just warm air behind it.

This unfortunately will be how it goes. Winter weather will be both unseasonably warm and frigid, as opposed to just cold. The time of consistent winter weather has passed.

You are comparing two completely different things. You are comparing a total abstinence program to a MAT (medical assisted therapy) program.

A better comparison would be the 60% success bupropion sees in opiate addicts.

I do agree AA is not the only method though. Whatever way you use to stay clean and sober is the right way to stay clean and sober.

Do you think your childhood association with directly associating god and religion has some bearing on your attitudes towards spiritual based recovery programs? I was lucky, I was not raised with any preconceived notions of god so when people say the word I don’t get defensive and associate it with Christianity.

Right, but treating addiction is about meeting people where they are. AA is the Christian method of addiction therapy with a 14% long-term success rate, the therapy I went with was science backed with a 78% long-term success rate.

As the child of a seminary graduate who moved the family to Vermont in order to get away from the sins of the city, I only considered methods that were backed by science, but everyone is different. Hence my recommendation to shop around for the best fit and not to blindly go with the Christian method of addiction recovery that courts and therapists often recommend by default, especially if OP is not Christian or even religious. The important part of my point was AA is not the only option.

$1000 in propane??? What factors led to this?

[deleted]

I’m went from an atheist to agnostic but that had more to do with age than anything else. I decided the denial of something with absolute certainty as as arrogant as the insistence of it. I will say, I have come to realize the universe is stranger and more amazing than I can ever imagine or comprehend.

I don’t think any religion has is right but who knows.

Live your best life, do your best to not add pain and suffering into the world, help others less fortunate than you and treat people how they want to be treated and it doesn’t really matter what you believe.

Huh? Is this current temp or forecast?

Weather Underground has Barre at 32 at the time of this writing.

Congratulations on the 449 days sober. One day at a time

I went outside for a cigarette at 5am today and it was 42 degrees. Felt like summer compared to the weekend.

The absolute value of the temperature is the same. |-44| = 44.