OT: Weather (just weather)

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Hey @Doohickie,

How are you doing now?  Running on battery backup, or generating your own?

Stay safe and warm and dry and ...

[Doohicksie]

3 hours ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Hey @Doohickie,

How are you doing now?  Running on battery backup, or generating your own?

Stay safe and warm and dry and ...

I have no backup.  Fortunately our power is still on.  Many friends have been without power for most of the day 😞 We had no internet from 9:45 am to 2:45 pm.  We got down as low as 4°F  (-15°C) this morning.  We had about 4 inches of snow yesterday but with the way it swirled I had about twice that in my driveway.  I shoveled it last night and we got another inch or two overnight.

Our house is pier-and-beam construction over a crawl space.  So far it seems like it's staying above freezing under there as all our plumbing is working.  The outside faucets are another matter.  I have three of them, and they all froze last night, even with insulating covers over them.  I used a blow dryer to get them going again at 1 am.  When I checked them this morning they were again frozen over.  I left them on at a trickle and so far they're doing better.  The ground is so dry it's just soaking up the water with little accumulation of ice.

This isn't the end of it.  Tonight will also be single digits.  It will warm up tomorrow into the 20s but then drop back into the teens at night before finally warming up over freezing Friday, and back into the 70s next week.  There's supposed to be more snow Wednesday, and possibly ice.  The ice worries me; it could take down the power lines.  Right now they're saying best chance of ice is south of us.

Apparently the blackouts are largely a result of lack of regulation.  With energy being such a big part of the economy, the legislature gives them a lot of leeway.  For instance, federal recommendation is to always have 14% excess capacity but Texas only had 7%, which caused the power outages.

Also, many neighborhoods don't have gas so electric heat is the only option.  And plumbing codes ignore deep freezes, which got us to where we are right now with our house.

What about @jsb?  Are you okay?

[Gatorman0519]

87 in Florida today. 

[ubkev]

54 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

87 in Florida today. 

29 and snowing in Pennsylvania. 

I like mine better.

[SwampD]

2 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

87 in Florida today. 

I hope to never be in Florida for the rest of my life.

[Marvin]

I just saw a map from The Weather Channel that indicated that every county in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas is under a winter storm warning.

[Gatorman0519]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

I hope to never be in Florida for the rest of my life.

Ha!  I retired from winter.  

[Marvin]

7 hours ago, Doohickie said:

I have no backup.  Fortunately our power is still on.  Many friends have been without power for most of the day 😞 We had no internet from 9:45 am to 2:45 pm.  We got down as low as 4°F  (-15°C) this morning.  We had about 4 inches of snow yesterday but with the way it swirled I had about twice that in my driveway.  I shoveled it last night and we got another inch or two overnight.

Our house is pier-and-beam construction over a crawl space.  So far it seems like it's staying above freezing under there as all our plumbing is working.  The outside faucets are another matter.  I have three of them, and they all froze last night, even with insulating covers over them.  I used a blow dryer to get them going again at 1 am.  When I checked them this morning they were again frozen over.  I left them on at a trickle and so far they're doing better.  The ground is so dry it's just soaking up the water with little accumulation of ice.

This isn't the end of it.  Tonight will also be single digits.  It will warm up tomorrow into the 20s but then drop back into the teens at night before finally warming up over freezing Friday, and back into the 70s next week.  There's supposed to be more snow Wednesday, and possibly ice.  The ice worries me; it could take down the power lines.  Right now they're saying best chance of ice is south of us.

Apparently the blackouts are largely a result of lack of regulation.  With energy being such a big part of the economy, the legislature gives them a lot of leeway.  For instance, federal recommendation is to always have 14% excess capacity but Texas only had 7%, which caused the power outages.

Also, many neighborhoods don't have gas so electric heat is the only option.  And plumbing codes ignore deep freezes, which got us to where we are right now with our house.

What about @jsb?  Are you okay?

Good luck, man.

You too @jsb and everyone else who is affected.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

21 hours ago, Doohickie said:

I have no backup.  Fortunately our power is still on.  Many friends have been without power for most of the day 😞 We had no internet from 9:45 am to 2:45 pm.  We got down as low as 4°F  (-15°C) this morning.  We had about 4 inches of snow yesterday but with the way it swirled I had about twice that in my driveway.  I shoveled it last night and we got another inch or two overnight.

Our house is pier-and-beam construction over a crawl space.  So far it seems like it's staying above freezing under there as all our plumbing is working.  The outside faucets are another matter.  I have three of them, and they all froze last night, even with insulating covers over them.  I used a blow dryer to get them going again at 1 am.  When I checked them this morning they were again frozen over.  I left them on at a trickle and so far they're doing better.  The ground is so dry it's just soaking up the water with little accumulation of ice.

This isn't the end of it.  Tonight will also be single digits.  It will warm up tomorrow into the 20s but then drop back into the teens at night before finally warming up over freezing Friday, and back into the 70s next week.  There's supposed to be more snow Wednesday, and possibly ice.  The ice worries me; it could take down the power lines.  Right now they're saying best chance of ice is south of us.

Apparently the blackouts are largely a result of lack of regulation.  With energy being such a big part of the economy, the legislature gives them a lot of leeway.  For instance, federal recommendation is to always have 14% excess capacity but Texas only had 7%, which caused the power outages.

Also, many neighborhoods don't have gas so electric heat is the only option.  And plumbing codes ignore deep freezes, which got us to where we are right now with our house.

What about @jsb?  Are you okay?

That seems not too bad.

We had an ice storm warning today, but right here on the coast (I can throw a stone from my back deck and hit the Atlantic) we stayed just warm enough that it was mostly a rain event.

Stay safe and warm and dry and ...

You too @jsb and anyone else toughing it out someplace.

Edited February 16, 2021 by New Scotland (NS)

[LTS]

Wife made my use the snowblower this morning.  There was like 4-5 inches of snow.. I swear that's why I have a near 17 year old child.

Meh.. snow storm my butt.

I am quite empathetic to all those in areas that are hard hit and this is not the norm however.  I have many friends and co-workers experiencing all kinds of weather hell.

[Doohicksie]

Just a quick check in.  We're still okay.  Neighbors and friends in the area are enduring various levels of hardship.  A musician friend and her husband were pretty proud of themselves for being able to track down some firewood to burn in their fireplace yesterday but today they are in great distress due to the burst pipes in the apartment above theirs, with water dripping into their apartment and ruining some of their music gear.

My AC guy and his wife camped out in their own home last night as temps fell through the 30s inside the house.  They're campers so they have sub-zero sleeping bags.  Their power just came back on.

My son and his wife have had their power going on and off.  They're getting by but it's unnerving when you don't know how long the power will stay on.

A friend posted pictures from inside his house showing the frozen water *trying* to drip out of his tap.

The Texas electric grid is semi-independent from the national grid so their providers don't have to follow federal guidelines regarding power generation capacity, etc.  As such, they are under the recommended level for overcapacity, and due to planned maintenance and weather related failures are capable of producing less than 60% of their typical power output.

They're scrambling to bring plants back up NOW.  They should have been scrambling  last week or even earlier when the cold snap was forecast.

Fort Worth City Water has issued a boil water order for the northside due to failures in the treatment system.  Restaurants in that area of 220,000 residents have been ordered closed.  Many of the residents who don't have power have no way to boil water.

We had a cold snap ten years ago (when Arlington hosted the Super Bowl) and many of these issues were exposed.  The utilities are actually less prepared to deal with the issues than they were back then; the stress test of ten years ago was not only ignored but preparedness was walked back.

This whole thing is just a big shitshow.  I'll get a little political here:  This is what happens when your government is a little *too* business friendly and doesn't regulate enough.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Doohickie

[jsb]

WooooooooooHooooooooo power just came back on, the heater is back on, I have water again and the internet. I don't want to say it was cold in the house but this is what I woke up to this morning. I haven't been this cold since January 1977. You can keep that freezing weather boys

[Stoner]

[Doohicksie]

So I'm starting to think we will escape unscathed.  Still a chance of losing power, still a chance of water issues, but I think we're gonna make it.

Yesterday a pipe burst at my son's house.  The plumber came out today and found the culprit:  the water line for the refrigerator ice maker, which ran through the attic, burst.  My son heard it go and was able to shut off the water so he missed something more like this:

https://www.facebook.com/joelburns1/posts/10159536892338013

(That's the kitchen of a friend of mine)

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Hang in there everybody.

We are expecting a Nor'easter on Saturday, so I had better ...

 

[miles]

Living in nj we seem to always have alternating snow years. One year of mothing and one year of tons of snow

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Lightning in Prospect ...

See yous later ,,,

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Bump ...

Stay cool and hydrated @dudacek and @bunomatic ... the intense heat in BC is horrific.

You too @Thorny and @Ducky ... seems to be heading your way.

Same to anyone else I am missing in western Canada and the US.

Meanwhile ... I am comfortable in sweatpants, t-shirt and jean shirt on top today, at least so far ... we are supposed to get some heat and humidity in Halifax, but right on the Atlantic I have my doubts.  It's foggy here this AM.

[Thorner]

11 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Bump ...

Stay cool and hydrated @dudacek and @bunomatic ... the intense heat in BC is horrific.

You too @Thorny and @Ducky ... seems to be heading your way.

Same to anyone else I am missing in western Canada and the US.

Meanwhile ... I am comfortable in sweatpants, t-shirt and jean shirt on top today, at least so far ... we are supposed to get some heat and humidity in Halifax, but right on the Atlantic I have my doubts.  It's foggy here this AM.

Summers here are terrible now. Gone are the days of 24-26 celsius - it's cold through April/May, then June hits and its 30+ every day. Way too hot - Winters (which now are significantly more mild) and Falls are where it's at. 

[DarthEbriate]

Roger, roger. All y'all keep drinking. (And check in on your neighbors/elderly folks if they don't have AC.)

It's hotter than Mustafar in the BC, WA, OR, ID world out here. Inland at least they're a bit more used to the heat. The areas west of the Cascades and Canadian Rockies, though...  It's ridiculous. The Pacific's oceanic effect usually has us at 3 to 4 days of 90+. Breaking 100 happens occasionally in a decade. We were breaking all-time records yesterday at 105, and today is forecast for 112. 112! What is this, the southwest?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Summers here are terrible now. Gone are the days of 24-26 celsius - it's cold through April/May, then June hits and its 30+ every day. Way too hot - Winters (which now are significantly more mild) and Falls are where it's at. 

I hear you that it's the 'new normal' for very hot, but we are talking 50+ in BC during the day and over 30 at night.  There is not time for the body to recover overnight if it is 30+.

It will be 40+ in Montreal for the next week and intense thunder storms.

We are up to 3 named storms in the Atlantic, with a fourth very likely in a few days.  On the 5th in the Pacific.  The season is just getting started.

[Thorner]

9 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I hear you that it's the 'new normal' for very hot, but we are talking 50+ in BC during the day and over 30 at night.  There is not time for the body to recover overnight if it is 30+.

It will be 40+ in Montreal for the next week and intense thunder storms.

We are up to 3 named storms in the Atlantic, with a fourth very likely in a few days.  On the 5th in the Pacific.  The season is just getting started.

Ya I see the near 40s temps headed for my non-airconditioned condo next week - though hopefully not up to the 50+ madness

[PromoTheRobot]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Ya I see the near 40s temps headed for my non-airconditioned condo next week - though hopefully not up to the 50+ madness

NH will be a balmy 97 today. But it will cool off to barely 70 for a high in a few days. Crazy summer so far.

Edited June 28, 2021 by PromoTheRobot

[steveoath]

Weather over here is "taps aff".

But if it cools down we have to go "taps oan"

[dudacek]

All-time Canadian high reported in Lytton BC. Of 46.7 C (that’s 116 F). Broke a record from 1937.

About 8 or 10 degrees cooler here, but definitely the hottest 4-5 day run we’ve had here in my lifetime. Supposed to start letting up here tomorrow, but it’s heading @Thorny’s way.