How's weather at your place?

Do we have any TX folks? They're getting some weather they aren't used to, actually got snow on the Texas/Mexico border. Some of our corporate folks down there are experiencing power blackouts, snow & ice for the first time in their lives.

@Biro you still getting ice down in NJ? I'm about 25 miles NE of Philly and, knock on wood, we haven't gotten ice yet, just rain. We're under the ice storm watch yet till morning, I'm really hoping we don't get hit with it. Being on the edge between suburbia and rural has it's benefits but with ice it becomes a pain when literally every road within several miles has some pretty steep hills to navigate to get in/out of town.
 
Not looking good right now in the western foothills of the Appalachians. It is raining steadily outside, and the temp is right at freezing. The Ice Storm Warning that is in effect until 10 AM is projecting up to 3/10" (7.5mm) of ice. That would be devastating to trees and power lines. Already thousands of folks in this region without power.

View attachment 249132
Doomed. Doomed, I say.
 
Do we have any TX folks? They're getting some weather they aren't used to, actually got snow on the Texas/Mexico border. Some of our corporate folks down there are experiencing power blackouts, snow & ice for the first time in their lives.

@Biro you still getting ice down in NJ? I'm about 25 miles NE of Philly and, knock on wood, we haven't gotten ice yet, just rain. We're under the ice storm watch yet till morning, I'm really hoping we don't get hit with it. Being on the edge between suburbia and rural has it's benefits but with ice it becomes a pain when literally every road within several miles has some pretty steep hills to navigate to get in/out of town.
No ice here now. No precipitation at all, in fact. We'll see about overnight and in the morning. I'm probably more-or-less east of you... the more-northern part of the Jersey Shore.
 
Last edited:
No ice here now. No precipitation at all, in fact. We'll see about overnight and in the morning. I'm probably more-or-less east of you... the more-northern part of the Jersey Shore.
I take that back, Kevin. I'm working late and just went outside. It's kind of "misting" outside. It looks like a light rain... but when I walked over to my car, I could see the windshield is iced over. So we're getting ice. It's supposed to last until 3 or 4 in the morning and then change to rain. Good luck.
 
S. Texas has snow, ice, and the coldest temps in over a century. 9F is forecast tonight. This area has 1.5million households without power due to failing infrastructure control. Something like 5.5m without power in the state..
And I understand there are rolling blackouts in 14 states because enough plants in Texas are down that the southwest regional power grid is threatened. Ugh. I hope the worst is now past for you guys.
 
The projected ice storm never materialized. Somehow we were in a narrow band that had steady rain most of the evening. It ended somewhere past midnight, and the temp even climbed through the evening, prompting a lot of the ice that had coated everything to melt. Just as quickly as the rain ended, however, the temperature began to plummet, and a light snow to fall. The temperature is expected to fall through the day, with a strong wind. It is downright bone-chilling out there, but the birds don't seem to mind.

DSCF3897.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
S. Texas has snow, ice, and the coldest temps in over a century. 9F is forecast tonight. This area has 1.5million households without power due to failing infrastructure control. Something like 5.5m without power in the state..
Isn't Texas the only state to have it's own electrical grid? I heard they did this to avoid federal regulations. Have they not kept it up over the years?
 
Isn't Texas the only state to have it's own electrical grid? I heard they did this to avoid federal regulations. Have they not kept it up over the years?
They deregulated the entire system which in turn developed a huge patchwork of providers that buy an sell at competitive prices. So during crisis its everyone for themselves. Disastrous.
 
They deregulated the entire system which in turn developed a huge patchwork of providers that buy an sell at competitive prices. So during crisis its everyone for themselves. Disastrous.
Keep me honest here, Don. I get the impression there are other issues as well. For example, Iowa has tons of wind turbines. But they work fine during bitterly cold weather because they have anti-freeze and other protection. I also understand while a good number of Texas turbines are frozen, they had more problems with gas- and coal-fired plants.

It just seems as if the Texas utilities didn't prepare for the occasional bad winters they have always gotten. They also knew about this storm a week in advance and apparently didn't work hard enough on coordinated rolling blackouts. Three hours on and three hours off for most people would probably allow them to keep themselves warm enough and their food cold enough. Not perfect but good enough in a pinch. Instead, we have people without power for three days at near-zero temperatures.

Or am I totally off base here? You live there and I don't. Perhaps what I am describing is exactly what happens when there's too much deregulation of the kind you're talking about.

EDIT: I just tripped over this article - Texas grid fails to weatherize, repeats mistake feds cited 10 years ago
 
Last edited:
Keep me honest here, Don. I get the impression there are other issues as well. For example, Iowa has tons of wind turbines. But they work fine during bitterly cold weather because they have anti-freeze and other protection. I also understand while a good number of Texas turbines are frozen, they had more problems with gas- and coal-fired plants.

It just seems as if the Texas utilities didn't prepare for the occasional bad winters they have always gotten. They also knew about this storm a week in advance and apparently didn't work hard enough on coordinated rolling blackouts. Three hours on and three hours off for most people would probably allow them to keep themselves warm enough and their food cold enough. Not perfect but good enough in a pinch. Instead, we have people without power for three days at near-zero temperatures.

Or am I totally off base here? You live there and I don't. Perhaps what I am describing is exactly what happens when there's too much deregulation of the kind you're talking about.

EDIT: I just tripped over this article - Texas grid fails to weatherize, repeats mistake feds cited 10 years ago
You are right on all accounts. Too many uncoordinated utility companies could not prepare for the unprecedented winter storm.
 
Must agree with Don on the Texas power debacle. According to news reports only about 10% of Texas power is generated by wind. Hard to imagine that 10% loss caused all the power outages.
So far my area has not had the massive power outages—only lost power for a few hours. Have been without water for a couple of days, but finally have water again. By the weekend temperatures should be back in the 70s
 
Back
Top