A winter storm warning just popped up on your phone. Or you looked outside and the sky is that flat gray that means business. Either way, you have work to do and not much time. Skip the scrolling. Here is the list.

BEFORE the Storm Hits

Do these now. You have maybe 2 to 6 hours before roads get bad.

Water and Food (30 minutes)

Fill every water bottle and jug you own. Tap water is safe right now — it might not be after pipes freeze or the treatment plant loses power.
Fill the bathtub. Not for drinking — for flushing toilets if the water gets shut off. A bucket of tub water poured into the bowl flushes fine.
Move perishable food to the fridge-freezer combo. A full freezer stays cold longer than a half-empty one. Stuff empty spaces with water containers — they freeze and act as ice packs.
Put a thermometer in the fridge. If power goes out, you need to know if food stayed below 40 F (4 C). Above that for more than 4 hours, perishables are done.
Prep meals that do not need cooking. Sandwiches. Peanut butter. Granola. If the power goes out, your electric stove is a very flat counter.

Heat (1 hour)

Test every smoke detector and CO detector now. Heating with fire or gas during a storm is when carbon monoxide kills people.
If you have a fireplace, make sure the flue is open and you have dry wood or Duraflame logs ready. Do not burn treated lumber, plywood, or painted wood — they release toxic smoke.
Locate every blanket, sleeping bag, and warm layer in the house. Pile them near the beds.
Close off rooms you will not use. Shut the doors. Heat fewer square feet.
Hang heavy blankets or sleeping bags over windows. Windows lose heat fast. Even a thin blanket cuts the loss noticeably.
If you have a generator, test that it starts. Check the fuel level. Make sure you have a heavy-duty extension cord long enough to reach from the generator (outdoors, 20 feet from the house) to whatever you want to power indoors.

Pipes (30 minutes)

Set thermostat to at least 55 F (13 C). Do not turn it down to save money tonight.
Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors on exterior walls so warm air reaches the pipes.
Turn on faucets served by exterior-wall pipes — just a slow drip. Both hot and cold lines.
If you know where your main water shutoff is, make sure you can reach it fast and it turns. If a pipe bursts, seconds matter.

Car (15 minutes)

Fill the gas tank. Gas stations run on electricity. No power, no pump.
Put the ice scraper and a blanket in the car. If you get stranded, a blanket can save your life.
Check that your phone is charged and you have a car charger.

Devices (10 minutes)

Charge every phone, tablet, and power bank. All the way to 100%.
Download offline maps for your area in Google Maps or Apple Maps. Cell towers can go down.
Take photos of every room. If there is damage, you need before-photos for insurance.

DURING the Storm

The storm is here. Stay inside. This is not the time to go check on the pipes in the crawlspace.

If Power Stays On

Keep the thermostat steady. Do not crank it up and down.
Check on pipes every couple of hours. If a faucet stops flowing, that pipe may be freezing. Open the faucet fully and apply heat with a hair dryer from the faucet end back toward the wall.
Do not open exterior doors more than necessary. Every time you do, you dump cold air into the house.

If Power Goes Out

Do not use a gas stove or oven for heat. This kills people every winter. Gas ranges produce carbon monoxide when run for extended periods in unventilated spaces.
Do not run a generator indoors. Not in the garage. Not in the basement. Not even with the garage door open. Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, and heavier than air — it pools and fills spaces. Generator goes outside, at least 20 feet from any door or window, with the exhaust pointing away from the house.
Do not use charcoal grills or camp stoves indoors. Same reason. CO.
Layer up. Base layer, mid layer, outer layer. Hat on. Socks. Your head and feet lose heat fast.
Move to one room. The smallest room with the fewest windows. Close the door. Body heat from everyone in the family will keep a small space warmer than spreading out.
Use your fireplace if you have one. Keep the damper open while the fire burns. Close it when the fire is out to stop warm air escaping up the chimney.
Eat. Calories are heat. Your body burns food to maintain temperature. A hot meal is best, but even cold calories help.
Stay hydrated. Cold air is dry air. Dehydration makes you feel colder.
Sleep with extra blankets. A sleeping bag rated to 20 F (-7 C) is worth more than three quilts.
Check on neighbors if you can do it safely. Elderly people and people living alone are the most vulnerable during winter storms.

How Long Will Food Stay Cold?

Appliance	Full	Half-full
Freezer	48 hours	24 hours
Fridge	4 hours	4 hours (less if opened often)

Keep both closed. Every time you open the door, cold air falls out. Decide what you need, open the door once, grab it, close the door.

AFTER the Storm

The snow has stopped. The sun is out. The danger is not over.

Check for Damage

Look at the roof from the ground. Missing shingles? Sagging? Ice dams at the eaves? Do not climb on a frozen roof.
Check for water stains on ceilings and walls — especially under the roof line and near exterior walls. A slow leak from ice dam backup can run for days inside the wall before you see it.
Inspect pipes. Turn on every faucet one at a time. Reduced flow means a pipe may have frozen and partially burst. Check under sinks and in the crawlspace if you can safely access it.
If you used a generator, let it cool down before refueling. Spilling gas on a hot engine causes fires.
Take photos of any damage. Contact your insurance company before you start cleanup. They may need to see the damage as-is.

Clear Snow Safely

Shovel in shifts. Do not wait until the snow stops if it is piling up — wet snow gets heavier by the hour. Shovel every couple of inches of accumulation.
Push, do not lift, when you can. Lift with your legs, not your back. Take breaks every 10 minutes.
If you have a heart condition, do not shovel. Hire someone. Heart attacks during snow shoveling are a documented killer — the combination of cold air (constricts blood vessels) and sudden exertion is dangerous.
Clear the area around your furnace exhaust vent and dryer vent. Blocked vents cause CO to back up into the house.
Chip ice off walkways with a flat shovel, then spread salt, sand, or kitty litter for traction.

Watch for Ice Dams

If you see thick ice buildup along your roof eaves, that is an ice dam. It forces melting snow under the shingles and into your house. Do not hack at it with a shovel — you will damage the shingles. Use a roof rake to pull snow off the lower 3 to 4 feet of the roof, which stops the dam from growing. If water is already leaking inside, professional removal is the safest option.

Regional Notes

US/Canada: Winter storm warnings are issued by the National Weather Service. Check weather.gov or your local forecast. Frostbite risk starts at wind chills below -18 F (-28 C). Hypothermia can set in at temperatures above freezing if you are wet and wind-exposed.
UK/Ireland: The Met Office issues yellow/amber/red warnings. UK homes are generally less prepared for extreme cold — many lack backup heat sources. Check on elderly neighbors. British Gas and similar utilities offer free priority service registration for vulnerable households.
Australia/New Zealand: Only relevant in alpine regions (Victorian Alps, Snowy Mountains, Central Otago, South Island high country). Most AU/NZ homes have no insulation in the walls — check pipes in roof spaces during cold snaps.
Renters: You can do the food/water/heat prep and the drip-faucet steps yourself. Structural issues (roof, insulation, furnace) are your landlord’s responsibility. If your rental lacks adequate heat, document it and notify your landlord in writing.

Caution: Carbon monoxide poisoning kills over 400 people per year in the US alone, and spikes during winter storms when people use improvised heating. The only safe indoor heat during a power outage is a properly vented fireplace or a battery-powered heater. Everything else — gas stoves, ovens, grills, generators, cars running in garages — can produce lethal CO in enclosed spaces.

Fact-Check Checklist

Claim: Full freezer stays cold 48 hours, half-full 24 hours. — [VERIFIED] Per USDA Food Safety guidance, assuming door stays closed.
Claim: Fridge stays cold 4 hours without power. — [VERIFIED] Per USDA, assuming door stays closed.
Claim: Perishable food unsafe above 40 F for more than 4 hours. — [VERIFIED] USDA danger zone: 40-140 F. Above 40 F for 4+ hours, discard perishables.
Claim: Generator must be 20+ feet from house. — [VERIFIED] CPSC and CDC recommend at least 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.
Claim: Gas stove for heat causes CO poisoning. — [VERIFIED] CPSC explicitly warns against using gas ranges for heating; extended burn produces CO in unventilated spaces.
Claim: CO kills 400+ per year in US. — [VERIFIED] CDC CPSC data: approximately 400-500 CO deaths per year, with winter peaks.
Claim: Heart attacks during snow shoveling are documented. — [VERIFIED] Multiple studies in American Journal of Emergency Medicine and JAMA Cardiology confirm increased cardiac events during snow shoveling.
Claim: Ice dam forces water under shingles. — [VERIFIED] Ice dams block meltwater drainage, forcing water under shingles and into the attic/wall assembly.

Winter Storm Prep: What to Do Before, During, and After