Cold front causes extreme, low temps during mid-month freeze
Beau Biggs photo
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LAKE COUNTY — Extreme cold blasted the area mid-January after a thus far mild winter with snowstorms and temperatures dipping around negative 20.
The extreme cold impacted many with frozen equipment and home water pipes, poor road conditions, and for those working in agriculture, livestock increased the struggle.
Pablo Maldonado, the owner of Sierra Farms in Polson, shared some of the challenges that come with the cold. “The biggest challenge for the animals is to make sure they stay warm and make sure they have high energy feed to give them the ability to stay warm,” he said.
Community member and tractor mechanic David Decker said, “Well, it gets cold every year and you need to prepare for it by adding fuel additives and plugging in your equipment and making sure you are in good shape before it hits. Every year, when it gets real cold, as it did, I am always getting called out to come work on equipment that froze up. It’s normally just the fuel filter that has gelled up and froze making it so they can’t get up and running.”
Gene Posivio, a long-time bus driver in St. Ignatius, worked through many challenges to keep school transportation going.
He reminds parents, “When it’s cold out make sure your kids are dressed for it since they have to be out in the cold. The buses aren’t always the warmest.”
Posivio sees at least one positive benefit of snow-covered roads. “There is always a risk you face when driving on icy roads,” he said, “but honestly, I do enjoy it since it makes the roads smoother so there are less bumps and potholes to deal with.”
“My advice to other drivers,” Posivio adds, “is to be aware that the roads aren’t as good as they are in summer and take it as slow as you need to.”
Temperatures have pushed back up into the high 30s with some forecasts predicting a climb to the 40s by the end of the month.
