my2kidsmom said:
Since by the time we close on the house, we will be toward the middle of Nov. I pretty much have decided to request that the current owners take care of closing the pool, after inspection. I also asked that I be allowed to be present with the pool is closed. Turns out that the cover has a hole in it and the owners are not sure it's safe. My realtor says they will probably pay to have it repaired and he's done some calling around about it and got some place in OKC that repairs them. I looked at the average low temps for Dec-Feb on the NOAA website for our area and since I haven't been here during the winter yet, decided to go ahead and close it. Kind of sad to not be able to look out at it this winter through my big windows in my living room or upstairs from the sunroom.
Ya know, I'm thinking closing might be the best thing as this is your first winter and you won't be there to watch things for a while. It can get pretty severe up that way in the panhandles for pretty extended periods. There is nothing between you and Canada to stop those "Blue Northers" blasting straight down, killing people and livestock caught out unprotected. We get them too with temps abruptly dropping 50 F or more. Even in the Dallas area, another half or full climate zone warmer than yours, I've lost some pipes/valves even with water running during a few, rare, freaky winters. I do protect pumping station better now and it is doable even up where you'll be but with this year's strange weather who knows what this winter will bring. One winter we had extended days hovering around 0 F.
That is rare though. I lost more than pool equipment that winter mostly because most water/irrigation pipes are buried only about 6" - 8"where we are.
If you happen to watch Thanksgiving Day football. The weather is frequently "balmily" for those games in Texas Stadium. 1990 Miami/Dallas game called the TD "Snow Bowl" or "Ice Bowl II", or Leon Lett-"down" game is a great example of unusual. We used to always go in to Dallas for TD dinner with friends (some of us always sneaked off to watch the game) located about 25 miles north east of us. We were iced in and couldn't make it off our place for a few days. They thought we were lying as they had no ice/snow in Dallas. The old Copyboys Texas Stadium, that had a major ice/snow "blizzard" that day (Big opening in roof), was about 20 miles due west of our friends. That's a perfect example of "micro climates or zones". BTW.... X-mas Eve in '89 vs. the Packers is the day all the toilets froze at Texas Stadium...., pretty unusual weather. Our past two winters had very few freezing nights and few days in a row near or a little below freezing but a few nights into the mid-teens. Doing some more remembering .... in the late 70's we had an early ice/snow storm, in Dallas, that lasted several days, 10-12 days into Nov. 1980 we had burst pipes, in kitchen, west wall even with water running and cabinets open to let heat in. They burst above the counter behind backsplash in well heated kitchen. Year or two before that major ice storm crippled Dallas, lasting more than a week, with much of Dallas without eletricity for a week or more. We had gas in that house, thank doG.
So what is "usual" up or down the road can't be counted on even when the season is "normal". It's been unseasonably cool, down here for weeks. I'm thinking our, you're included, region may be in for a more severe winter than usual.
So, I, personally, think you are being very prudent even though you'll have to delay satisfaction a bit. It won't be very long though. You could conceivably open in March as long as you are prepared for a few freezing nights.
gg=alice
n th
irat: 
