So, yeah, i don't know about you, but i sure have been a bit chilly the last few days. With temperatures hovering in the -double digits, it's been a bit hard to keep the cold from nipping at toes and noses (thankfully i have lovely new winter boots to keep my toes warm!). I'm super thankful for a furnace that works well, for a car that has a heater, for mittens and scarves (i LOVE scarves - maybe you might know this about me already) and for a warm bed at night when the house is cool and the thermostat has already adjusted itself down for the night! All very wonderful things to be sure!
But i marvel at the temperatures in our part of the land - just a week ago, we were going through a huge melt period - and the temperatures were up to a balmy 9 degrees last Saturday evening - my tulips once again believe it's time to wake up and unfortunately for them, they don't environment canada or the weather network to tell that that they had better keep their delicate little heads buried for a bit longer lest they get frozen off! Yep, i thought it was early last year when they started making appearances in March but i have to think that mid January has got to be a first for me anyways - not sure about people who have been around a bit longer than I! I pleaded and begged them to stay in the ground but they're up about 1-2 inches each so hopefully they'll manage to weather the storms. Though that seems a bit doubtful when it's cold enough to freeze the snot in your nose
Or cold enough for my newly showered hair to freeze to a crunchy mess when i ventured out to the mall yesterday morning - i was a little worried when i accidently brushed against it with my hand that it would suddenly all snap off and i would be left looking like a sheep shorn by a drunken shearer! Not sure if there's any truth in that rumor - still haven't gotten to the root of that problem yet on google.
This quite obviously is not me, but you get the idea. Nope, i don't have such lovely sideburns!
Also my dad relayed a story about growing up in Winterpeg and it being so cold that when you started driving your car, for the first little while, there would be a little bump when you hit the slightly flattened part of the tire that had been resting on the ground - i also have no scientific evidence for this one - but i tend to believe that he wouldn't be pulling my leg. And apparently he isn't since i have found a bunch of articles online about this interesting phenomenon.... can't say i've experienced it personally but i'll have to watch for it this morning when i leave!
The following paragraphs are from the Tire Rack website - looks pretty official!
Do you ever feel a ride disturbance or shimmy during the first few miles of driving after your vehicle has been parked for a few days, weeks or months? Then, after you drive a couple of miles, the ride smoothes out and feels OK. This condition is often called flatspotting because it is used to describe the tire flatspots that can occur when a vehicle is parked.
Many heavy duty, high performance, high speed rated and racing tires have a memory because they continue to remember the position in which they were last parked after they begin to be driven on again. Unfortunately, their memory can become a problem when the tires experience big swings in ambient temperature, have been parked overnight in cold temperatures, or parked for an extended period of time...because it's a lack of use that can cause tires to flatspot.
As they roll, tires go from a relaxed state to a loaded state about 800 times every mile. This constant deflection generates heat that makes the tires more flexible. But once they are parked, the spot in contact with the ground (the tire's footprint) flattens as it is pressed against the road's flat surface as the tires cool. This is what generates flatspots. And until the tires "warm up" again, the flatspot on each tire can cause a ride disturbance that will be felt for the first few miles the next time the vehicle is driven.
Flatspotting can be temporary (the tire will round out as driving warms it up) or in the most severe cases, permanent (in which the tire's memory effectively destroys its ride quality). A flatspot's severity is often a function of the tire size, internal structure, load, ambient temperature and time.
Heavy loads and too little air pressure in the tires (underinflation) will allow them to deflect more where they come into contact with the ground. This allows even more deflection, increasing the severity of the flatspotting.
Cold ambient temperatures make rubber compounds stiffer, increasing their tendency to flatspot.
The longer tires remain stationary, the better they remember the position in which they were last parked. Tires on vehicles stored on the ground for many months can be permanently flatspotted.
And only in good old southern Ontario, where weather is such a lovely topic of discussion, can our weekly forecast look like this... heading from a bleak and frigid - 18 with windchills of -27 to a high of 5 degrees six days later... keeps us and my tulips guessing i suppose - we certainly can't get bored can we???
Do you ever feel a ride disturbance or shimmy during the first few miles of driving after your vehicle has been parked for a few days, weeks or months? Then, after you drive a couple of miles, the ride smoothes out and feels OK. This condition is often called flatspotting because it is used to describe the tire flatspots that can occur when a vehicle is parked.
Many heavy duty, high performance, high speed rated and racing tires have a memory because they continue to remember the position in which they were last parked after they begin to be driven on again. Unfortunately, their memory can become a problem when the tires experience big swings in ambient temperature, have been parked overnight in cold temperatures, or parked for an extended period of time...because it's a lack of use that can cause tires to flatspot.
As they roll, tires go from a relaxed state to a loaded state about 800 times every mile. This constant deflection generates heat that makes the tires more flexible. But once they are parked, the spot in contact with the ground (the tire's footprint) flattens as it is pressed against the road's flat surface as the tires cool. This is what generates flatspots. And until the tires "warm up" again, the flatspot on each tire can cause a ride disturbance that will be felt for the first few miles the next time the vehicle is driven.
Flatspotting can be temporary (the tire will round out as driving warms it up) or in the most severe cases, permanent (in which the tire's memory effectively destroys its ride quality). A flatspot's severity is often a function of the tire size, internal structure, load, ambient temperature and time.
Heavy loads and too little air pressure in the tires (underinflation) will allow them to deflect more where they come into contact with the ground. This allows even more deflection, increasing the severity of the flatspotting.
Cold ambient temperatures make rubber compounds stiffer, increasing their tendency to flatspot.
The longer tires remain stationary, the better they remember the position in which they were last parked. Tires on vehicles stored on the ground for many months can be permanently flatspotted.
And only in good old southern Ontario, where weather is such a lovely topic of discussion, can our weekly forecast look like this... heading from a bleak and frigid - 18 with windchills of -27 to a high of 5 degrees six days later... keeps us and my tulips guessing i suppose - we certainly can't get bored can we???
Long Term Forecast Updated:Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 9: 00EST
| ThursdayJanuary 24 | FridayJanuary 25 | SaturdayJanuary 26 | SundayJanuary 27 | MondayJanuary 28 | TuesdayJanuary 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditions 6am - 6pm |  |  |  | | |  |
| Cloudy periods | Scattered flurries | Variable cloudiness | Cloudy periods | Scattered flurries | Mixed precip. | |
| P.O.P. | 10% | 60% | 20% | 20% | 40% | 60% |
| High | -10°C | -7°C | -6°C | -2°C | 0°C | 5°C |
| Feels Like | -20 | -15 | -14 | -10 | -5 | -1 |
| Low | -17°C | -13°C | -11°C | -10°C | -5°C | 0°C |
| Wind | N 15km/h | S 15km/h | NE 15km/h | SW 10km/h | SW 10km/h | E 20km/h |
| 24-Hr Rain | - | - | - | - | - | 5-10 mm |
| 24-Hr Snow | - | close to 5 cm | - | close to 1 cm | close to 1 cm | close to 1 cm |
