Cold snap puts Sisters in deep freeze

Sisters Country plunged into a deep freeze last week, as high temperatures struggled to get out of the single digits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the mercury plunged to nearly unheard-of depths overnight.

Lows on Sunday morning were reported to range from 20 to 30 degrees below zero in areas of Sisters Country.

That kind of cold is potentially deadly, and most folks just stayed indoors over the weekend. Bend cancelled its Christmas parade and the Jingle Bell Run/Walk, which is a favorite of many Sisters folks.

Jeanette Pilak, executive director of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, was happy the event was canceled.

"I don't play in single digits," she said.

Instead, she turned out for the holiday craft bazaar at Sisters Art Works, which drew a crowd despite the chill.

Ten Friends cancelled their holiday event at The Belfry. Since it was scheduled to run into the night with temperatures sliding into negative territory, organizers decided to postpone it to December 15.

A number of residents and businesses suffered the bane of the season with broken pipes, and heating technicians were kept busy restoring ailing heating systems.

One heating system that took a hit was at Sisters High School. School was closed on Monday because heating systems at booth SHS and Sisters Middle School couldn't keep the buildings appropriately heated in the face of sustained sub-zero nights.

Two of the high school's three boilers have leaking sections, which makes it difficult to keep up with sustained temperatures in the single digits or lower. According to Sisters School District facilities manager Leland Bliss, parts for repairs are on order but won't ship till December 13, meaning the boilers won't be repaired until the Christmas break.

Last Friday, Bliss was having parts cannibalized from one boiler to get the other one running at full steam.

The school's biomass boiler "is running like a champ," Bliss said.

Some have wondered about the impact on Sisters Country's deer population.

There is some mortality, especially among the old and weak, Sisters naturalist Jim Anderson reports. However, younger, healthier deer manage to weather even severe cold.

"They hunker down in the tall brush," Anderson said. "That's what makes deer winter range so valuable."

There's not a high level of mortality among birds, either, Anderson says. However, you will see birds hopping from foot to foot while they try to keep one foot warm.

Accipitors like Cooper's hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and goshawks, that prey upon smaller birds actually benefit from the cold, because it slows down their prey and makes them easier targets.

High wildlife mortality can become a problem when severely cold temperatures are sustained for days on end. That's not likely to happen now. The Sisters Country forecast calls for a return to more usual winter temperatures by mid-week.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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