Hang in there

[YancyW]

For those with no power, how do they stay warm?

 

[Vashper]

Judging by the online climate map, the invasion of Arctic air in Texas has almost stopped; and I think solarization will help raise the temperature, yet geographic latitude matters.
There was a recent thread here about the survival of exotic animals in the cold, there was a perfectly correct remark about the need for a"barn and a chow". But there is a third element, which is very important for some - the availability of water. Not everyone can eat snow. Moreover, even those animals that are adapted to a normal winter, still try to use watering holes. Here I found a recent photo: a washout on a stream. All around are the tracks of beavers that support this hole in the ice, and the tracks of roe deer. The temperature is about -10C.

How to provide such a watering hole? Of course, it is difficult, there is not a running stream with beavers everywhere; you either need to maintain the hole manually, or throw a pipe with air supply to the bottom, as is done in zoos and some farms. This, by the way, saves the fish from lack of oxygen.

 

[dobber]

Been a few years since this has happened, but always a fun few miles when the tires on the car freeze and "square" - basically the flat part of the tire when parked, freezes and you get that "whump whump whump" sound till they warm up enough.
And then plugging the car/truck in for the block heater was as common as the Tesla charging stations

 

[Countrylife]

I live halfway between Houston and Dallas. I saw 0.0* F in the morning during this storm and I'm just now beginning to receive damage reports from friends. First, as you know 0* is very unusual as is the 6" of snow that sticks around for several days. There is still snow on the roads (we don't have snow plows) and it's been converted to ice. In this area, most people are staying off the roads and those that are on the roads are moving much slower than normal. I don't hear of anyone sliding off the roads into the ditch. However, many folks have lost power. Some who have portable generators have had problems restarting them after the second wave of power outages. When we don't have power, the furnaces don't run and pipes freeze up. The pipes here are normally run thru the attic as well, so even if you do have power, your pipes may still freeze. Then when they thaw your ceiling collapses and flood your house. That has happened to several people we know both locally and down in Houston.

I've seen some pictures where the high power transmission lines are down due to ice. It's going to be awhile before all that is repaired. The forecast for later today is a little more snow and freezing temps. We're not out of this yet.

Once the weather warms back up we'll see just how bad it was and start rebuilding - time to invest in building supplies.

 

[sgt_zim]

I live halfway between Houston and Dallas. I saw 0.0* F in the morning during this storm and I'm just now beginning to receive damage reports from friends. First, as you know 0* is very unusual as is the 6" of snow that sticks around for several days. There is still snow on the roads (we don't have snow plows) and it's been converted to ice. In this area, most people are staying off the roads and those that are on the roads are moving much slower than normal. I don't hear of anyone sliding off the roads into the ditch. However, many folks have lost power. Some who have portable generators have had problems restarting them after the second wave of power outages. When we don't have power, the furnaces don't run and pipes freeze up. The pipes here are normally run thru the attic as well, so even if you do have power, your pipes may still freeze. Then when they thaw your ceiling collapses and flood your house. That has happened to several people we know both locally and down in Houston.

I've seen some pictures where the high power transmission lines are down due to ice. It's going to be awhile before all that is repaired. The forecast for later today is a little more snow and freezing temps. We're not out of this yet.

Once the weather warms back up we'll see just how bad it was and start rebuilding - time to invest in building supplies.

I used to live not too far from you, in Coldspring. Winter of '10/'11 was pretty brutal as far as southern Texas goes. I burned a lot of propane that winter.

Nothing like this winter, though. Holy moly.

 

[jeanes]

Even when it warms up there are still going to be major problems. Saw an interview with the agriculture commissioner last night and he indicated food supplies were going to be in short supply. I also heard the refineries were off stream. This is going to be a far reaching problem. I expect prices will increase dramatically. I also heard the PUC was planning to raise electricity rates in the wake of all this.

 

[Vashper]

Been a few years since this has happened, but always a fun few miles when the tires on the car freeze and "square" -

This is another point that requires special care. A few years ago, I "put on" Cooper winter tires, studded and "toothy" to get out of the rut. It turned out to be very good for mud and compressed snow. But just a week later, frosts of more than-25C began, and early in the morning I was on clean asphalt, at the first turn I made a "tour of the waltz", knocked down a road sign with my back and drove off into the snow. Although the speed was small. However, I made a mistake myself, I dropped the gas. When they pulled me out, they tore off the silencer. I went online, and the guys from the north explained that below 24C, this rubber hardens and loses its grip on the asphalt. I immediately changed it to "Gislaved". Maybe it was necessary to go at low speed, warm up the tires, I don't know.
By the way, it is also cold in Europe now. In European Russia, about 10C below the norm (-5-7C), although this is not a disaster here, there are reserves for electricity, heat, and snow removal equipment.

 

[buck wild]

Last time it was this cold here was 1989, then 1981, then some time in the early '60s before that.

Your brain must have froze during '83 That was the coldest I have ever been in Texas. For 10 +- days, it never got above 32.
We got lucky this round and never lost power or water, altho water pressure is low.
There has been a massive fish kill in our bays and lots of exotic animals have died in the hill country and other areas. It is going to set recreational fishing back a decade and the hunting industry stands to lose millions is stock.

 

[buck wild]

Just a few examples

 

[buck wild]

 

[sgt_zim]

Your brain must have froze during '83 That was the coldest I have ever been in Texas. For 10 +- days, it never got above 32.
We got lucky this round and never lost power or water, altho water pressure is low.
There has been a massive fish kill in our bays and lots of exotic animals have died in the hill country and other areas. It is going to set recreational fishing back a decade and the hunting industry stands to lose millions is stock.

I don't remember one in '83, but I was also in Baton Rouge then, in the 10th grade. The bad cold snap we had was in '81, but same deal: we didn't see freezing for a week or more, and single digits at night, maybe down to 4º one night.

 

[Vashper]

View attachment 389713

This is terrible. But why? Spotted deer (sika) survive in much colder climates as well. North of Moscow, in the farm where Peter Larssen killed the bear, there are a lot of these deer and the climate is like now in Texas, almost six months, or even much colder, and a lot of snow.

 

[jeanes]

No expert but I suspect it might have to do with how they are acclimated. They don't seem to have a problem with our summers when temperatures can reach 43C+.

 

[buck wild]

This is terrible. But why? Spotted deer (sika) survive in much colder climates as well. North of Moscow, in the farm where Peter Larssen killed the bear, there are a lot of these deer and the climate is like now in Texas, almost six months, or even much colder, and a lot of snow.

I can't answer that but we already know here in Texas that during extreme cold and especially wet conditions, we often lose black buck, nilgai and axis in large numbers in that order. Other horned animals such as oryx also seem to be susceptible. These animals have been acclimated to Texas for over 50+ yrs in most situations and yes they are better equipped for hot conditions rather than cold.
As for the fish... well that's also a weather dependent condition. Our speckled (spotted) trout don't do well in water colder than 40 degree F for over 24 hrs and our bay water dropped into the 30s or lower for 3-4 days straight. There are a lot of fishing guides that are going to suffer for next 5-10 yrs.

 

[Wheels]

Texas electric bills starting to come in. Other states will probably deal with much of the same but probably not quite as bad.

ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Royce Pierce told Newsweek he owes electric company, Griddy, $8,162.73 for his electricity usage this month. He said that's a massive increase from his usual $387 bill.

Ty Williams told WFAA that his average electric bill is around $660 per month. He said it now stands at $17,000.


kat and tony
@katandtonyT
When your electric company tells you to switch but there has been a hold on switching for over a week now. Using as little as possible 1300 sq ft house and this is my bill. . How is this fair. I only paid $1200 for the whole 2020 year @FoxNews @wfaa @tedcruz @GovAbbott
11:52 AM · Feb 18, 2021

$3,801.16

 

[Vashper]

She wrote literally: "The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal".

 

[Scott CWO]

Robbery

 

[VertigoBE]

'Happens all the time in the N. USA and Canada. Winter as usual (and so far, lesser than many other years-although we got a break for the last 2. We've gotten 6' of snow and 0.5" of ice so far this winter.) Backup generator, woodstove/fireplace, plenty of firewood/food/water, home office-no need to go anywhere! I did think about shipping a load of snow tires (pronounced down to TX!) The MSM likes to puff up all stories...People shouldn't drive in this weather. That's the main issue. Ice storms snap powerlines. It happens, and people must be prepared to be a bit more self-sufficient.

View attachment 389497View attachment 389498View attachment 389500View attachment 389501

Those are some fine pictures Mr Richter!

 

[WAB]

My cousin in TX told me that people are posting your address on Facebook if they think you have too many lights on in your house for wasting power.

I’m off Facebook permanently. It is really helping spread hate and divisiveness.

 

[VertigoBE]

Texas electric bills starting to come in. Other states will probably deal with much of the same but probably not quite as bad.

ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Royce Pierce told Newsweek he owes electric company, Griddy, $8,162.73 for his electricity usage this month. He said that's a massive increase from his usual $387 bill.

Ty Williams told WFAA that his average electric bill is around $660 per month. He said it now stands at $17,000.


kat and tony
@katandtonyT
When your electric company tells you to switch but there has been a hold on switching for over a week now. Using as little as possible 1300 sq ft house and this is my bill. . How is this fair. I only paid $1200 for the whole 2020 year @FoxNews @wfaa @tedcruz @GovAbbott
11:52 AM · Feb 18, 2021

$3,801.16

I’m in the power business, and I understand exactly why ‘fair’ is not the right question. There are a lot of utilities that will be going bankrupt due to this.