In states like Texas, cold weather like they are having is

[MineralMan]

a real threat. I live in Minnesota, where water mains and feeder lines are buried 8 feet underground and all plumbing is in the basement, which is kept heated by the same system used in the rest of the house. In Texas, a lot of plumbing is inside exterior walls, and water mains and the feeder lines to houses are not very deeply buried.

Worse, many homes in Texas and other states in that region don't have heating systems that are up to the job of keeping a home warm enough when the weather goes down into the single digits.

Then, too, if a bunch of furnaces and other heating equipment break down, there aren't as many repair companies around to handle the increased load. In Minnesota, you might have to make a few phone calls, but you'll find someone who can come and get your furnace back online the same day. Even in the worst case, you can get it replaced within 24 hours - if you can pay for that somehow.

Infrastructure is designed for average conditions in most areas. When temps drop well below average, look out. Those areas are simply not ready for a long cold snap like we're seeing right now.

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. I had a friend in Dallas...

She signed up for a winter trip with friends, and realized she hadn’t owned a coat in twenty years. She went shopping to buy one, and couldn’t find one to buy.

I went to Dallas a few years ago, and arrived the afternoon after an overnight 10 inch snowstorm. The temperature was about 30 degrees, but the snow and cold did something really strange to the highway. The interstate was literally crumbling under our tires, and those of our fellow travelers. We were dodging giant potholes, and boulders of concrete were flying off the pavement. It was opening up like a zipper. I kept thinking we would just fall through onto the highway below. Very scary.

[MineralMan]

6. Exactly. Everything is designed for typical weather conditions.

Climate change has had a huge impact in many areas, since it doesn't necessarily mean that warm places will get even warmer. Right now, the jet stream has a huge trough in it, redirecting cold air from the arctic deep into southern parts of the USA.

So, infrastructure that is designed for historically typical conditions can't stand up under deep freeze conditions in places like Texas. That affects roads, as well. Even though the design allows for some safety margins with regard to temperature, it never anticipated zero degree weather in Texas.

[Cracklin Charlie]

12. It's really really cold here today.

Kansas City.

-33 degree windchill this morning.

But there is a silver lining...this cold snap came really late in the season. We will be almost to March when it’s over. We won’t have to go through three more months of winter. Warmer days soon! (Please!)

[leftyladyfrommo]

23. It's improving by the hour. Wind is dieing down.

Last edited Mon Feb 15, 2021, 06:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Just make it another 24 hours .

Kansas City

[yellowdogintexas]

54. there is another one coming behind this one, and the Siberian Express isn't

going anywhere.

[Postal Grunt]

41. Been there before

Before I retired, I logged many a mile on foot as a letter carrier in weather like this which led to an incidence of hypothermia and brushes with frostbite. Today is good day to be retired.

Hopefully, this weather will kill the oak leaf itch mites in the KC area. We could use some relief from them.

[aggiesal]

66. Great name and welcome to DU. Enjoy your retirement. I'm very envious. n/t

[getagrip_already]

51. I had a similar experience in DC in the summer....

I'm an IT consultant and I had to work in the computer room of a 3 letter agency with more money than common sense, and they kept the computer room much colder than it needed to be. Added to that, the racks I was working were directly in front of a crac unit blasting 50 degree air on me.

I was getting physically sick having to work that way, so I tried to find a jacket or a sweatshirt to wear.

I couldn't find one anywhere and finally ordered one from amazon.

I mean really. Stores used to carry a range of clothing. Not any more I guess.

[waddirum]

75. Current data center best practice

has temperature set point at 80 deg F.

[getagrip_already]

86. yeah, several years ago

Dell built a data center in a tent in a parking lot in austin and ran it all summer long. Temps got over 100 several times but nothing bugged out.

[yellowdogintexas]

52. That may have been the cobblestone ice storm

There were large chunks of ice flying around as traffic went through them. We went out for a while in my husband's 4 wheel drive pickup with a higher clearance (not that stupid high, but high enough for snow up in Montana where he was working at the time) and those huge chunks of ice were really weird to drive on - and this was on the interstate. I have never seen anything like it. We also had thunder in that storm which was equally strange.

I do not recall any reports of the actual road surface breaking up so we could be talking about 2 different storms. If I remember correctly that was also the last major winter weather we have had until this year.

[redstatebluegirl]

2. Areas like Texas and Oklahoma for that matter, don't have enough snow removal equipment they need

to remove this much snow. Our house is not insulated the way homes are back home in Illinois. We have also been asked to turn our heat down and to to use less natural gas, they fear that we may lose our gas and our electric if the grids are overworked. We are being really careful. We have been here over 20 years and we have NEVER seen temps like this along with heavy snowfall. The wind chill this morning was almost 30 below zero.

There are a lot of homeless encampments here as well, the local homeless shelter has been working overtime to try and make sure they have them all off the streets for this week. They will die in these temps. We gave money yesterday to help them get motel rooms to house the ones they don't have room for. The need is dire, so many have mental health issues, many have their children with them. It is heartbreaking. What makes me nuts is Chesapeke Energy, which is in financial trouble, has a huge campus full of empty buildings, that could be used to house the homeless in OKC and the surrounding area during this horrible cold but none of the oil and gas industry have reached out to help, go figure, they are all warm and toasty in the homes in Nichols Hills.

[MineralMan]

11. Yes, that's true, too.

Heavy snow in many parts of the country catches public works people completely unprepared. In Minnesota, a 12" snowstorm just means one day, really, with snow-covered roads. The fleet of plows goes out here right away and has a well-rehearsed plan to get the roads back open.

Homeowners, too, in Minnesota are prepared for very cold weather and heavy snow. As soon as it stops snowing, everyone comes outdoors and gets to work, shoveling snow off walks and driveways. Those who can afford snowblowers often help their neighbors who can't afford them. I clear the city sidewalks in front of three 125' wide lots on my block. Others do the same, helping their neighbors with that job, since it's easy to just walk behind the snowblower and let it do the job.

We're ready for it. Texans aren't. Who owns a snow shovel in most of Texas? A snowblower? Nobody has one of those.

[redstatebluegirl]

20. We sold our snowblower when we moved here.

For some reason we kept the two snow shovels. Husband has been helping neighbors who look shell shocked. We are supposed to get another 8 inches tomorrow night.

[MineralMan]

21. I wish I could sell my snowblower!

Maybe someday. My wife and I are thinking about downsizing and moving into a condo. We'll see.

[redstatebluegirl]

22. We sold ours to my brother in law in Northern Nebraska.

[MoonRiver]

53. Hubs and I think about that, but our little Pomeranian loves her back yard.

And she's not good on a leash. So, thinking is as far as it's gone, so far.

[Lonestarblue]

50. No snow removal equipment at my house in Texas!

I got rid of all that when I left New England—and haven’t needed it until now. Given the condition of my street, though, I’m going nowhere. I’m just hoping power outages aren’t too bad.

I had extra insulation blown into the attic a few years ago so that seems to be helping. Most Texas homes are poorly insulted. If I take the cover off an electrical outlet, I can feel cold air rush in. Of course, when my house was built, the state didn’t seem to believe much in building codes—all that craziness about government can’t tell us what to do. One of the results of few codes is that a lot of older homes have hot water heaters in the attic, so if it goes you can get all kinds of damage to your walls. Those are against code now after a firefighter was killed when the ceiling collapsed and the water tank fell on him.

[yellowdogintexas]

56. our house (built in 1962) is surprisingly well insulated

Snow stays on our roof longer, anyway.
There is an ugly popcorn ceiling in the attic which may have helped some.

[yellowdogintexas]

57. I seriously doubt the state highway dept even owns a snow plow

well maybe up in the panhandle which gets real winter when we have far warmer temperatures

They get snow when the rest of the state gets rain (if anything) That weather is more like NE New Mexico

[treestar]

3. Now the majority of them

will use this as proof there is no global warming. At least the ones who voted for Cruz.

[Turin_C3PO]

8. That's why it should have been labeled "climate change"

from the beginning. Overall, we’re warming up but various areas will get colder than normal weather.

[dalton99a]

17. And blame the windmills (half of them are frozen)

Austin power outages

[Greybnk48]

28. We have windmills all over the place here in Wisconsin!

It was -7° this morning, with a windchill of about -26° to -28°. Our windmills don't freeze, or at least I have never heard a word of it on our news in the many years we've had them.

Maybe with climate change, the southern region needs to upgrade their windmills to take the cold like ours can. This is a very dangerous situation for the people of Texas and elsewhere.

[paleotn]

34. Same here.

Freezing rain / ice collecting on the blades in various ways could cause serious balance and vibration problems I suppose. Compared to snow what won't collect on moving turbine blades. Windmill novice here, but the mechanics are pretty straight forward. Something to poke around about as we await our shot of snow later today and tonight.

[TNNurse]

44. I read somewhere that some lubricant on the turbines in TX is not

rated for weather that cold, but that in say Maine is different.

[paleotn]

55. Good point.

[central scrutinizer]

29. Should be fewer cases of cancer, then

According to the expert.

[jaxexpat]

42. Something I don't get. Those mills in W Texas were shut down on a scheduled outage....

because of the season, they say. I've seen mill fields where half of them weren't turning at any given point in time. In winter weather anything that's exposed is subject to freezing up. Texas has about 20% of their electricity provided by wind. Why don't they power down the coal generators so the turning wind mills aren't subject to freezing? Why would any mill be shut down other than for repair if the coal mills are running?

I'm a suspicious sort, I suppose, but if I can see a misplacement of effort that profits one over another, then many others can and are seeing the same thing. That, in this case, says to me that there's complicity in an effort to shut out wind generation demand and expansion.

In any case, surely there's an "idle turning" setting for these mills so they don't set still and freeze up when they aren't generating. That's just common sense. Also, you'd think an electric generator could at least power up a heat trace system to prevent freezing in the first place.

So much doesn't add up about this except it is, after all, Texas.

[hunter]

25. It's the arctic warming, like the inside of a refrigerator warms when you leave the door open.

When the door of the refrigerator is opened the floor in front of it gets blasted with cold air as warm air from the room floods into the refrigerator.

When humans added all these greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere we added energy to weather systems, in effect opening the door to greater flows of arctic air.

Climate change deniers have a very limited understanding of how the world works. They don't even know how money works beyond the selfish and wretched means they use to acquire it.

[paleotn]

33. They just don't get destabilized climate....

where we bounce between costly extremes before settling on char broil.

[shrike3]

4. You know, you're right.

We live in Chicagoland, and other than the inconvenience of the bad weather I'm not really worried. We know how to deal with it and our houses are built for it. You're right, the cold in the southwest is a real threat.

[marble falls]

5. One thing did pan out, MM ...

Our air-conditioned houses are well insulated and tight.

When we lost power last night with 7F temperature, the house did stay at 58F inside.

Most homes of the last 50 years are built on the ground rather than with a crawl space (which can be a bear with freezing and difficult access in cold weather) and have utilities come up though the slab in the middle.

We have 2-3" of snow, the first cover in over twenty years. And the city is plain flat out shut down and with the most beautiful blue skies and big puffy white clouds- fit for next year's Christmas card. And it's gotten up to 10F.

You stay warm and safe, on the whole, I'd rather be down here!

[NutmegYankee]

76. I'm expecting that many homes will be in a similar situation

Good insulation is just as important to reduce AC costs as it is for winter heating bills. My only annoyance is the 1960s insulation settles in the walls over time, so my 60 year old house leaks heat at a good clip. The joys of a $250 gas bill in the coldest months...

At least I have gas though, heating oil is about $100-150 more, and electric is just outrageous at $500 or more in the coldest month.

[marble falls]

85. Its no fun. I remember shingling houses in Medina county in the late seventies. Electric ...

... went through the roof. They were not putting new NatGas accounts in for anybody and the heating bills went through the roof. I heard figures like $600/month. In February, the houses in the development started catching fire. People were burning their new houses because they could not afford to heat them.

[NutmegYankee]

87. One of my former co-workers built his house back in the early 70s

When people said nuclear power would make electricity too cheap to meter and he installed electric baseboard heat and also installed a wood furnace hydronic system as backup. Right up to the day he retired a few years ago, he heated his house using wood he harvested and split and never once turned on the electric heaters. Electricity in Connecticut goes for $0.22 per kWh.

About 10% of the region heats with wood and it's not uncommon to see several cords of wood under tarps in yards. Luckily New England has no shortage of trees, though climate change has killed a bunch near me over the last decade. The main carnage was Gypsy Moths killing some of the Red Oaks. It's quite common to pay for a tree to be taken down and the small branches and leaves removed and then allow people to come chainsaw the rest. It's such a thing that people have to put up plywood signs saying "DO NOT TAKE" if they want the wood for themselves. One of the Red Oaks that died between my neighbor's yard and mine was over 5 feet in diameter and proved to be a PITA to cut up. Even with 24" bars on the chainsaws, we had to wedge each ring apart for the bottom ten feet of the tree. My neighbors friend hauled 6 cords away from that job, using a hydraulic splitter on site.

[marble falls]

88. My hand splitting days are done. But I always preferred wood heat.

[nature-lover]

7. Exactly! Had a power outage during the night and lost the swimming pool pump. $$$

Have to keep the pool running or the pipes freeze. House is good and dogs love the snow. 7 degrees now. Near Dallas. Making soup.

[LuvNewcastle]

9. Yeah, it's supposed to get down to 19 tonight

here in coastal Mississippi. Most years we have a day or two of freezing temperatures, but not often does it go lower than that. My house is built off the ground, so my pipes are exposed in some places. I'll have to keep a little water running in the faucets to keep them from freezing up. We're supposed to have one more night in the 20s and then it should warm up some. If it weren't for the worry over what the cold might do to the house, I wouldn't mind it so much. I like a little cold weather now and then.

[Johnny2X2X]

10. It's a major crisis

Pipes bursting is a massive disaster for a house. And Texas homes aren't as insulated as they need to be. Some poorer homes in the warmest parts of the state might not even have functioning furnaces. This is no joke, this is a major disaster and people are suffering.

I'm from Michigan, so people like to make fun of people in the South not knowing how to drive in snow, but that's just a small part of it. They don't have snowplows or salt trucks for the roads. If there were no plows for the highways here in MI, it would be a total disaster no matter how well people here think they can drive on slippery roads.

And has been pointed out, very few people in TX have snow shovels and the stores don't carry them.

[yellowdogintexas]

58. Folks in Nashville described the salt trucks in the next county as

a couple of flatbeds with a couple of guys using salt shakers

Nashville has salt trucks though because that is a very hilly city, and ice storms and fairly deep snow do happen.

[catrose]

71. Just finding an ice scraper for your windshield can be a challenge!

[LeftInTX]

74. We have shelters open for people who do not heating...yes it is still a problem in parts of town

Yes, it is a poverty issue more than anything...

[dalton99a]

13. I bet many windshield washers are frozen in Texas

Outside of certain areas like the panhandle, few people own winter gloves or use winter windshield wiper fluids

[marlakay]

14. My daughter in San Antonio just told me

Power on and off all night, she is trying to work before it goes out again, she is accountant working from home on taxes these days. Its only 13 degrees there with wind feels like -2. She sent me pic of snow in front of her house.

I don't visit often because the heat gets to me, its hard to believe. I am worried because they have no fireplace if power stops.

[NewJeffCT]

15. I'm in Connecticut and I agree

I was able to make a call a month ago when my furnace died and had a whole new HVAC system installed within 24 hours. (We were thinking of doing it a year or so ago & had a lot of quotes on file) - they installed the furnace first, so we had heat within 12-14 hours. And since it's a newer and more energy efficient system, it will save money in the long run.

In the meantime, we used space heaters & confined ourselves to a few rooms.

[MineralMan]

16. I had the same thing happen to me about three years ago.

I made one call. A guy came and agreed that it needed replacing. The old furnace was over 20 years old. I picked out the furnace model. He made another call, and three guys started installing it about two hours later. By that evening, we had heat again. That's Minnesota for you. Here, no heat is a life-and-death emergency sometimes.

[awesomerwb1]

18. In Dallas right now.

Very cold and lots of snow on the streets obviously. Very few cars on the streets so one can take liberties going a little bit faster. Took 30 minutes get the car to be ready to drive because I left it outside though. Some friends without power all night. I can only imagine how busy ill equipped plumbers are going to be in the next few days. Not good.

[LazySusanNot]

19. A real threat which may cause lots of $$$ to remediate

I made a living as a Remodeling Contractor in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area back in the 80's and 90's. I spent weeks around 1989 fixing freeze breaks in several N. Texas cities, mostly for homeowners. Copper fittings and pipe were almost impossible to find and plumbers were working 24/7 to get people back up and running.

Many breaks that I found were do to poor insulation installation during the original build that allowed for migration of cold air into otherwise protected inner wall cavities. This can happen in any part of the country where insulation is inadequate or improperly installed to do its job.

Many other breaks that happened in homes and retail buildings that I saw were well insulated and appeared to be designed for the historical cold in our region - but were not adequate for these new even lower temps. This, as your post points out is the larger problem and is very expensive to fix.

Global warming will have many unanticipated costs and consequences going forward. Glad we have an administration in place who is finally taking this seriously. Thanks for posting.

[Wellstone ruled]

24. When you have Water Heaters on top floor

or Attic and Plumb the pipes thru the Exterior Walls,golly what could go wrong with that idea.

Hot water pipes freeze first because of mineralization of the water.

[LazySusanNot]

38. I've installed a few Water Heaters in attics and second stories

Although there are "historically adequate" building codes and designs in place to make these elevated installs function without a lot of risk, you're right, it's still just a big tank of water hanging up in the air. What could possibly go wrong?

One small leak from a Water Heater in 20 years for me and luckily, the mandated catch pan and drain line kept the house from flooding.

Water Heaters will be affected both from a freeze protection standpoint (of supply and distribution piping) as well as the energy efficiency calculations/loss of retained heat factor from these new and changing temps.

It's going to be a monumental task and expensive to fix. I'm hoping to see Federal Assistance and incentives with these changes going forward. This ain't gonna be cheap.

[Wellstone ruled]

64. Typical Water Heater blow out

for interior or attic installs if no floor drain is under the unit,runs in the thousands. Typical install in Nevada and Utah are Garage installs and Nevada does not require a floor drain by the Heater,which can cost you and your Insurance Company up ward to 50k if they Roman Candle.

New Construction fortunately has PEX,older are mostly Copper. Still have pre sixties running Galvanize,which costs about 15k plus to re-plumb if you can find someone to do it. Nice part about PEX is,expansion with frost if you catch it in time.

In your area,most people just plain forget to prepare for this type of cold. We used to live in the Great White North. So plugging in the Cars Trucks and Tractors as well as heat tapes on any exposed pipes was just a plain everyday thing to do when temps went below 32. Spent many a day in temps minus 10 to 30+below zero. Worse was -56 Xmas morning 1960 and again in 1967.

[LazySusanNot]

67. Yes. Seeing lots of Water Heater garage installs here in AZ where we now live

Architects trying to gain floor space in these new designs. What shall we do with the Water Heater?
Most of the work I did was replacements and not new installs. We had an Environmental Remediation company we worked with who came in to fix flood or smoke damage (in coordination with our work) from these types of disasters. I was floored by the costs (as were most of the clients). Fixing freeze damage, remediation of inadequate insulation in existing bldgs., design of new structures and higher efficiency appliances all come at a cost.

Add to that the public education strategies that would be necessary to get people to prepare for this new weather dynamic. Lots of work to do and hopefully better methods down the road. Sounds like a great jumping off point for our new Green Jobs Future. I'm on board! TY.

[NutmegYankee]

77. In Connecticut we have had a different type of disaster

While some basements require sump pumps, most homes are above the water table and dry. If the water heater fails the basement can fill up to several feet high. It happened to my neighbors. For this reason I had a cutoff system installed with an electrically actuated valve and a water sensor at floor level. If the sensor detects water it shuts the valve to reduce the flooding impact to an annoyance only.

[LazySusanNot]

81. I like it. Sounds like the cost would be tiny compared to the alternative of a basement flood

There is a similar actuated valve on HVAC Systems to prevent water damage. If the drain line backs up it kills power to the unit. First thing they checked on my son's downstairs system when it stopped last summer. Walked right to it!
Thanks for sharing this. I know less than zero about basements (or at least I did).

[NutmegYankee]

84. Yes, similar sensor for the condesate drain.

Since my furnace is in the basement I have one of those condensate pumps mounted to the side to collect the moisture from the AC evaporator coils. It then is pumped out through a tygon tube that follows the refrigerant lines to the outside unit. This is all fairly new since I decided to install central air in 2014, as summers are getting warmer and notably muggier up here.

Basements are handy. They are not taxed living space, so a 1500 sqft Cape Cod like mine will have another 850 sqft of space for utilities and storage. I do my seed starting and brewing projects down there.

[roamer65]

26. Mother Nature is just clearing her throat right now.

The full opera is coming over the next few decades.

[erronis]

60. Nice metaphor. Won't add in "It's all over when the lady sings...."

[roamer65]

72. ..

[Ilsa]

27. Very true. Add to that that many people there don't know how

to live (not just drive) under these conditions.


Whether it is five days of sub-freezing temps, or most of an entire season, there are practicalities that most far-northeners likely learned as a kid that many Texans have never, ever experienced. Even when south Texas got over a foot of snow at Christmas 2004, it never got even close to single digits. This storm is brutal and deadly, and preparation is everything. Expect to see a lot of people needing help for days, even weeks.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. You've articulated exactly why I prefer to live in

a place that actually gets winter, rather than in a place that doesn't.

I'm not quite ready yet, but at some point down the road I'll move into a condo or an independent/assisted living place so that I don't have to manage maintenance or the small amount of yard work I currently need to do.

[dchill]

31. All of which means that secession is postponed.

They need socialist money right now.

[2naSalit]

36. +1

[paleotn]

32. Well said...

What's normal for some regions can be life threatening for others. Snow removal equipment. Many of those locations don't have much, so digging out won't happen by tomorrow. It's going to take awhile.

[AllaN01Bear]

35. many years ago in ca, the temps all over the state dropped to

16 degrees f. i forget what year that was , but i do remember the aftermath. where i live cal fire was forming strike teams to help with backhaul houses that had their pipes burst . where i live , sometimes we get hefty winters but nothing like that . burrr. mucho, much frio. wood stoves and fireplaces are handy when that happens . i cant have one as i live in an apartment.

[Warpy]

37. Never got out of the teens at my house in NM yesterday

and my floor furnace is not doing the job. Fortunately, I moved here from New England, so I know how to dress. Problem then was I had so much on, it was hard to move. Frustrating day. I didn't lose power, which is the real danger.

I feel sorry for them in Texas. Cold weather sucks if you're not used to it. The only good part is that first day it crawls up to 40 is going to feel like springtime. It should do that in a couple of days in Texas.

We might get all the way up to freezing today.

So if you're in Texas, dress in layers, even if it's multiple t shirts, jacket over it if you need to. Keep moving. It's not going to last long.

ETA: This is dipping a lot farther south than Texas. The Yucatan is going to be in the low 50s and that's really cold for them. There is no heat in those houses.

[LudwigPastorius]

39. I have two friends that live about an hour north of me, and neither one of them...

has hot water.

These are new houses, and builders, in their wisdom, put the hot water heaters in the attic, and yes, pipes through exterior walls too.

[TheBlackAdder]

40. Yep. In NJ, we have lines 3-feet under ground, recessed hose shutoffs and interior wall plumbing.

.

I have two electric heaters and one of those large kerosene ones that throws of a ton of heat.

Also, I have a Honda EU200i camper generator for if the power is out for an extended period.


And this is NJ.

.

[LizBeth]

43. Late last night I got pictures from son of snow in Austin Tx. A good handful of inches. Maybe 4.

Actually, thirty minutes out in San Marcos, but most people know Austin and not San Marcos. A lot of fun because they never get snow. It is more common in other parts of Texas.

Drip drip drip of the faucet.

[yellowdogintexas]

61. Imagine the sledding going on down there Austin is hilly and all that water makes

it more humid than here .

Kids who don't have sleds may drag out any big sheets of cardboard

When I was a senior in high school back in KY, we had a really bad 3 week period of freezing rain, topped by snow which would melt a bit then freeze at night, with a second snow following. There is a very steep little hill in our little town (Maybe 50 feet) with a long straight stretch at the bottom. One of the boys would hose it down daily so it would be really slick and we spend our afternoons sliding down. There were only a few sleds but some creative substitutes - cardboard and I swear I remember pizza pans..

We were out of school for nearly 3 weeks. The northern half of the county has a much higher elevation, and a very nasty hill going down the escarpment. That hill is risky when it is dry and hot outside! Roughly 1/3 of the highschool student body lived above that hill. The assistant superintendant of the county school system lived at the bottom of that hill, and he would get out around 4 in the morning and try to get up the hill. If he couldn't get up that hill, we did not have school; we would lose too much state money if 30% of the students were not in school. Those of us in the south half of the county had a long vacation.

[LizBeth]

69. How fun and the stories we have with our snow days. Awesome fun. Thanks.

[lobointexas]

62. I work in San Marcos

I live just west of San Marcos, in Wimberley, and we got 6 inches of snow last night. It was only 7 degrees this morning and it won't get above freezing for a few days. I saw on social media that a lot of areas are without power in San Marcos. Some have been without electricity for a number of hours. They are having rolling blackouts in the area, but we haven't lost power yet, in Wimberley. Hopefully your son is able to stay warm.

[LizBeth]

70. He is young and tough, lol and not stupid, so he will make sure he is safe. Good info.

Thanks. He said he walked to Stripes late last night and saw a couple accidents on one of the hills. One with a cop car. He wants to walk to the river and get some pictures. I was afraid it would all melt but sounding like it is not going to. So much fun. My other son is in Minneapolis, so when youngest sent out pictures at 1:30am, your time, he was sending them to Minneapolis, like competing with brother. It was all fun.

Biden took care of your Republican Gov, without making him beg, is all I am saying.

That I35 accident was crazy.

[aggiesal]

45. Good thing climate change is a hoax ...

Do I need the sarcasm thingee?

Ok, here it is

[PurgedVoter]

46. Here in Texas, I would not be surprised if I have to rebuild the plumbing in my house

I had water running, but apparently it was not enough. I have the skills and know how to fix it all. It won't be fun but it won't break me. Here is the thing, none of the money my state asks for will go to poor folk in mobile homes who have had their plumbing destroyed. Any money that goes to individuals will go to someone connected to a politician who will make a claim for lost cattle that were just moved to another pasture to keep their tax exemption going.

There might be a pittance thrown at a few towns that have had pipes burst, but I doubt it. The people down here will be on their own. Bake sales are how the little folk are expected to help each other out.

In the distant past, the Red Cross would have come in and helped people, but it doesn't do that sort of thing anymore. We may have a disaster and need help here in Texas, but money sent will not help anyone that needs help. During some of the hurricanes, churches and schools provided shelter and food for people who had to relocate but when they went back home, their insurance was all they had to get them back and functioning. Insurance that doesn't cover burst pipes isn't going to help these folk.

[NutmegYankee]

83. Let the pipes thaw naturally and you may get lucky. nt

[Beringia]

47. The Polar Vortex is Unstable

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/01/19/polar-vortex-winter-snow/




The Polar Vortex January 19, 2021





When the vortex is strong and stable, it keeps cold Arctic air bottled north and the Lower 48 beyond the reach of its icy grasp. But disturbances that knock the vortex off-kilter can unleash that frigid air, bringing stormy weather and increased snow chances to much of the United States and Canada, while also affecting Europe and Asia.

Signs also point to the vortex remaining unsteady and unstable for the remainder of the season. That bolsters the odds of wintry weather in the northeastern United States, and some weather models agree on this outcome.

[smirkymonkey]

63. Thanks for posting that!

Very helpful.

[NutmegYankee]

78. Look up Rossby Waves.

This is the classic appearance.

[smirkymonkey]

80. Very interesting!

Thank you!

[NutmegYankee]

82. Picture number 4 shows a cutoff low.

We get those often in Spring in the Northeast. They suck because they can persist for a week and it’s cloudy every day with light rain and cold.

[Klaralven]

48. We don't build for the 100-year events because most of the US wasn't here 100 years ago

The infrastructure of the US is of very recent vintage, mostly built after WW II. For example, in 1946 most of Richfield was farmland. Now it's built up for 10 to 15 miles beyond the Minneapolis - St Paul city limits in all directions.

It's not only recent, but I'd bet that much of it is also temporary.

[Ferrets are Cool]

49. It is hard on us, but if care is taken, most situations can be handled. I feel badly

for the elderly who are not prepared for this type of weather.

[lobointexas]

59. You're absolutely correct.

I'm just southwest of Austin. I grew up in northern NM where we were used to cold winters. I spent the last couple of days trying to prepare for this cold blast as much as I could. I found out that I do not have freeze proof spigots on my 3 outdoor faucets. The plumbing for them goes through exterior walls, just like you stated.

I didn't think the standard outdoor faucet covers would be enough, so I got some insulation and built a box over the top of each one stuffed with the insulation. Hopefully they are not frozen. I guess I'll find out in a few days.

I also tried to seal any gaps around the garage door to keep the garage as warm as possible. I have one outdoor faucet in on an exterior garage wall. My water heater is also located in the garage, which is better than the attic, like our last house in TX. The main line coming into the house from the meter is only a few inches underground so I have been letting the faucets inside the house drip after the temps went below 25.

This is the second snow storm this year. We only had one "real" snow in the previous 15 years we have lived here. Also, these are the coldest temps we have seen in those 15 years. I think this type of weather will become more common, not less.

[Tree-Hugger]

65. My friend is in Texas.

They are stuffing plastic bags in the cracks of their external doors to create some insulation - using spatulas to jam the plastic baggies between the door and the frame. They're also covering those gaps with cardboard.

She's without power because they're doing rolling blackouts. She also posted a picture of downtown Dallas all lot up for Valentine's.🙄

The Jet Stream is broken. Get used to it.

[ananda]

68. And it's very inconvenient too.

I missed my online bridge game because my
partner's power went out... and he doesn't live
very far from me either.

Mine's still on, but I've been expecting it to go
off any time bc we're under a rolling blackout
order.

[Hortensis]

73. Gardens and landscaping that took years to grow are going

to be devastated. A lot of tender plants can survive a night or two, but in LA a freeze for a few days killed millions of plants.

We had a tree that's a little houseplant in most climates in our protectively enclosed little mountainside yard that was killed above a straight line right at roof level, untouched below, as if a blowtorch had been taken to the exposed top. That was amazingly obvious, but we waited weeks for dead-looking shrubs in other areas to demonstrate everything that was still alive by starting to put out leaves. Then we could reliably prune only the dead parts out.

[Bucky]

79. I'm in Houston, my pipes are frozen, and I need to poop

I'm normally an 11:00 o'clock man. There are no restaurants open around here and the convenience stores have gone to have their toilets roped off.

It's cold and I'm not liking my alternatives.

Thanks Obama 😆