. Here in the Northeast, we're expecting an imminent Nor'easter overnight with as much as 2 feet of snow expected with 55 mph winds. It's already snowing steadily now. Bombogenesis is occurring off-shore. I had to look that term up.
My storm preparedness routine is kind of limited in scope:
1. Charge up my 2 power stations. One will keep my TV going and some light for several days at least, and that's important if I want to stay on top of news/weather/sheer boredom. The larger one is always dedicated to powering my fridge/freezer should I lose power; becus a fridge will cycle on and off, i can also keep it cold for 4 days if need be as long as i don't open anything.
2. I did also, just coincidentally recharge a bunch of under-cabinet-mounted lights in the kitchen that have motion sensors. I love how they work except that they probably require recharging more often than I have time for but they work beautifully.
3. Outdoors, I position a snow shovel just outside the front door or if it's going to be major snow, I actually bring the shovel inside, which I may do this go-round. Or, I may keep it in the garage and exit the house that way, thereby avoiding slippery front stairs.
4. My driver's side mirror is heated, but the other is not, so I just put a plastic hair wrap thingie on both mirrors. They're cheap, have elastic around the edge so they will stay on and it prevents any ice buildup. I'll also put on my windshield covering. It's sometimes debatable whether or not to use it becus with heavy snow on it can be a pain to remove and then all that snow falls just where you shoveled, or maybe on top of you, but at the same time, it still keeps the wipers and windshield free of ice, so to me it's usually worth it.
5. With my suction cup window bird feeder, it's something new to think about since the weight of heavy snow could, I presume, bring it down. Amazingly, it hasn't faltered once since I put it up a few months ago. But as a precaution, tonight after dark when the birds are done for the night, I'll open the window and remove the screen that nestles inside the frame so the overnight snow doesn't accumulate in it. I'll put it back out first thing in the am although it wil still be snowing so I'll have to keep an eye on it and periodically use my ruler to brush away the snow.
I don't know if the birds can sense that snow is coming, but they are flocking to the feeder.
5. Of course, my phone is charged up, as is my flashlight (another gadget I love).
6. If I do lose power, always a possibility but they're not talking "widespread outages" but "scattered outages," I have the electric company's app on my phone so I can quickly report no power. If my wifi isn't working, I have the toll-free number memorized.
Other than that, I made a big pot of black-eyed pea & lentil soup a few days ago and plenty of other stuff to eat, though I won't be able to access it if we lose power. I did text a local guy who said he'd be going around with his snowblower for "small" driveways. Not sure if mine is all that small but even if he did the lower half, that could be helpful. Because it's going to be wet, heavy snow and a lot of it, I may need reinforements here.
Update: The snow blower guy will come to do just the lower half of the driveway up to midway where my car is strategically parked to reduce shoveling. He said $60 for one pass, another $40 for a 2nd pass. With this kind of storm, I think it's worth it.
I'm sure these storm preparedness posts are awfully boring to most, but i tend to get a little obssessed about doing whatever I can to weather the storm.
February 22nd, 2026 at 05:50 pm 1771782658
After a rather pleasant week where I live, temperature will be falling back down to the freezing point starting tonight. My canned food supply is still there from the last drop, but I will charge my devices before tonight.
February 22nd, 2026 at 09:12 pm 1771794742
It's good you are organized and ready for the worst. Hopefully you won't lose power and can stay warm and safe in your home.
February 23rd, 2026 at 12:25 am 1771806309
All this as a proactive measure to prevent frozen pipes. I know it takes more than a day for pipes to freeze once power is out, but If I waited until I lost power to do this, I might not be able to drain the water. I did this after eating dinner and cleaning up in the kitchen. I figure I don’t need to have the water on overnight while I sleep so why not do it now during the worst of the storm in the overnight hours and then turn it back on in morning when the storm is over, assuming I still have power then. I need to brush my teeth tonight, but I can use water from my standalone water filtration system. If I did end up losing power, I would probably need to drain water from the hot water heater as well, but I think that could wait until an outage actually happens.