Thursday, Nov. 10 is Winter Awareness Day. While you shouldn’t expect any parades or fireworks that may come with other “holidays,” the occasion gives you the chance to begin preparing for winter.
“This day is set aside so we can inform people that winter is coming, give them some safety information, some new information on some winter weather products, give them an outlook for the winter, and trying to get people prepared ahead of time before winter hits,” said meteorologist Brian Smith in an interview with KLIN News.
Smith says the “official” outlook, especially in northern Nebraska, is a colder than usual winter with an equal chance of lower-than-normal or higher-than-normal precipitation. As a result, winterizing your vehicles is of the utmost importance.
Dr. Rico D. Katrous, owner of H.I.S. Auto Care in Lincoln, spoke to KLIN News about how to winterize your car. “There’s several things I can think of,” says Dr. Katrous. “One is making sure that their anti-freeze is testing at least minus-25-to-35 below zero. Secondly, make sure they don’t have summer windshield washer in their window washer machine there, because it will freeze.”
Good tires are essential, too. Smith points out that re-learning to drive on snow and ice can take some time, and Dr. Katrous says cold weather can deflate tires, so it’s important to keep on top of things and make sure your tires are up to the task.
But winterizing doesn’t stop with automobile care. Winterizing your home is an important step in every transition to winter. Brian Gill, of John Henry’s Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, specializes in plumbing and told KLIN News that there are steps to take as the mercury falls.
“One, making sure that you’ve got your sprinkler system turned off for the winter and winterized. That’s going to be one of the biggest things that homeowners will forget is making sure that sprinkler system is winterized,” said Gill.
As for heat, Brian Gaines, HVAC specialist with John Henry’s talked to KLIN News and said replacing and cleaning is the name of the game. “The biggest thing from the furnace side of it for getting ready for wintertime is to get the furnace filter replaced,” said Gaines.
“That’s one of the more common problems we run into, is the furnace overheating. Especially when it gets colder, it’s going to be running a lot more. The other thing to be proactive on is getting your furnaces cleaned and checked.”
Cleaning your furnace can reveal a number of problems, which you can then fix proactively before you really need the heating. Gill and Gaines told KLIN News that they are often inundated with requests for repairs as the weather gets colder, so the sooner you start winterizing, the better.
These are by no means the only steps you need to take to winterize completely, but hopefully it’s a jumping-off point for getting started. That is, after all, the point of Winter Awareness Day.