<p>The district where I teach borders the southern tip of Chicago, and it just posted on the website that we are being let out 1.5 hr. early tomorrow. I am pretty sure that will be followed by a SD on Wednesday. Even CPS says they will be monitoring the situation on an hourly basis beginning at Noon.</p>
<p>Please remember to clean the snow away from your gas meters. There is a vent (ours looks like an upside down funnel and is attached to the meter) that needs to have space or it will back up into your house.</p>
<p>I know some of you might find this hard to believe, but my son is experiencing his very first snow day. He’s a sophomore at a university in St Louis and they’ve cancelled classes for tomorrow. He’s very excited!</p>
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<p>Gas meters do not have vents. I think you are confusing an exhaust vent for a furnace/boiler or another gas fired appliance.</p>
<p>^^^ [Xcel</a> Energy - Gas Meter Safety](<a href=“http://www.xcelenergy.com/Minnesota/Company/Safety/NaturalGas/Pages/GasMeterSafety.aspx]Xcel”>http://www.xcelenergy.com/Minnesota/Company/Safety/NaturalGas/Pages/GasMeterSafety.aspx)</p>
<p>Being from cold weather region I have never seen a gas meter mounted on the exterior of a house. And I still don’t understand why a supply of ambient air wold be needed.</p>
<p>Our gas meter is inside (on the opposite side of the house from the furnace). One day the gas company folks came through the neighborhood checking to make sure the meter was properly vented. We didn’t have one, and they were stunned. Immediately installed the little upside-down pipe with vent that Kajon described. It comes directly from the meter/where the gas line enters the house.</p>
<p>D is experiencing her first winter in Indiana. She has been fine up till now. She is in a bit of a panic.</p>
<p>It is not an intake vent, it is on the pressure regulator so that if the regulator fails or there is too much pressure in the gas line it vents outside rather than inside.</p>
<p>If your meter is inside there should be a vent pipe from the the regulator to outside, by code. If you have a really old installation it is possible you don’t have a regulator, our utility changes the meters regularly so it would get flagged. Indoor meters are a safety risk, because they increase the risk of gas leaks inside the building, and if there is a leak it becomes much more dangerous to shut the gas off at the meter.</p>
<p>You are getting me worried. We don’t have a vent pipe, either. Ours is not that old, about 10 years.</p>
<p>I’m really, really hoping there’s no repeat of last February’s weather here (DC area). My H and I have been on a very successful weight loss campaign, and we don’t need to get into marathon baking like we did last year. Google “donut muffins.”</p>
<p>They’re predicting 20 inches of snow in my son’s college town today, with major drifting tomorrow. And this is his first semester with a car at school! But I know he’s staying put. S recommended following the local TV weather reporter on Twitter. His play-by-play is a great illustration of the power of tweeting. This storm is really big. I hope S can get out by Saturday, when he is supposed to drive 45 minutes to take the Foreign Service exam.</p>
<p>It just started snowing here about 30 minutes ago and it is coming down like crazy. I can barely see across the street. We are in the 18-20 inch belt but if it continues to snow like it is now, we will have more. The problem is, there is no where to put it…we have 10 ft banks on the side of our driveway…we will need to be plowed out this time by a front loader. I just hope we don’t lose power tomorrow…</p>
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<p>Gloworm…did you end up HAVING school today (Tuesday)?</p>
<p>It’s snowing like crazy here too. We are only supposed to get up to 8 inches today but if it keeps snowing here like it is, there will be more than that. I just can’t wait for tomorrow.</p>
<p>Is anyone else seriously thinking of getting up in the middle of the night to snowblow?</p>
<p>I never knew there was anything to worry about w/gas meters. I’ll have to tromp out there and have a look.</p>
<p>teriwtt, I do think it will be >10 inches… Let us know tomorrow!</p>
<p>They claim there will be a “lull” in the storm this evening about dinner time. That’s when I’ll go out and snowblow today’s snow (to where???). That way there will be room for the multiple inches of snow and possibly ice we are supposed to get tomorrow. Woohoo.</p>
<p>I will NOT do this in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>Round 1 is supposed to end this evening, so I’ll be doing the driveway tonight. It’ll make it easier to do round two tomorrow.</p>
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Here in MA they are saying we are going to get more snow on Saturday, but no one is saying how much.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the temperatures in our area have been pretty low at night, lots of single-digit stuff and I prefer to do snow work when it’s warmer (teens and twenties). I do plan on doing a little icicle removal this morning and maybe some other ice removal. The snow can wait until this evening.</p>
<p>They didn’t shut down the schools up here in Southern NH so I guess they’re short on days or they figure that they can get the kids home in the afternoon.</p>
<p>it is important to keep the vent clear. during a bad snowstorm a few years (and a few houses) ago, our vent was covered with snow. a safety feature cuts off the furnace–it got kind of cold until we figured it out!</p>
<p>We’re bracing for round 2 here, also. I’ve got to go out and clean up a shredded phone book. H was using his snowthrower and didn’t notice a new book had been delivered to our front walkway. ( That’s when you know the snow is deep 
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