Preparing For Winter Weather

NOAA

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Stock up on emergency supplies for communication, food, safety, heating, and car in case a storm hits.

Communication Checklist
Make sure you have at least one of the following in case there is a power failure:

Battery-powered radio (for listening to local emergency instructions). Have extra batteries.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio receiver (for listening to National Weather Service broadcasts). See www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr for more information.
Find out how your community warns the public about severe weather:
Siren
Radio
TV

Listen to emergency broadcasts. Know what winter storm warning terms mean:

Winter weather advisory: expect winter weather conditions to cause inconvenience and hazards.
Frost/freeze warning: expect below-freezing temperatures.
Winter storm watch: be alert; a storm is likely.
Winter storm warning: take action; the storm is in or entering the area.

Food and Safety Checklist

Have a week's worth of food and safety supplies. If you live far from other people, have more supplies on hand.

Drinking water

Canned/no-cook food (bread, crackers, dried fruits)

Non-electric can opener

Baby food and formula (if baby in the household)

Prescription drugs and other medicine

First-aid kit

Rock-salt to melt ice on walkways

Supply of cat litter or bag of sand to add traction on walkways

Flashlight and extra batteries

Battery-powered lamps or lanterns (To prevent the risk of fire, avoid using candles)

Water Checklist

Keep a water supply. Extreme cold can cause water pipes in your home to freeze and sometimes break.
Leave all water taps slightly open so they drip continuously.
Keep the indoor temperature warm.
Allow more heated air near pipes. Open kitchen cabinet doors under the kitchen sink.
If your pipes do freeze, do not thaw them with a torch. Thaw the pipes slowly with warm air from an electric hair dryer.
If you cannot thaw your pipes, or if the pipes have broken open, use bottled water or get water from a neighbor's home.
Have bottled water on hand.
In an emergency--if no other water is available--snow can be melted for water. Bringing water to a rolling boil for one minute will kill most germs but won't get rid of chemicals sometimes found in snow.

Car and Emergency Checklist