Texas Is Closed Today
It is sleeting in my neck of the woods today and it might even snow this afternoon. They closed my county.
I know I should feel blessed to live in an area where temperatures in the 20’s cause the Houston local news station to stay on all day with pictures of actual icicles. The schools are closed, county and city government is closed, and everybody is inside making chili for dinner.
Pray for us, y’all. We can’t stand this.
Our high today is supposed to be 22 and we are all so excited.
1– 20 with windchill yesterday morning.
22 is positively a heat wave to us.
Stay warm!
Gee, you think somebody should tell the republicans that the climate is changing, whether they like it or not?
2Having grown up in the seventies in the midwest, basically the test to close schools was if our superintendent couldn’t get out of his driveway. We all knew he must have had a hidden snowplow ’cause I swear they never closed schools.
True story—we had to walk backwards during blizzards otherwise our faces would get blown off. I remember my mom digging out the driveway an hour after my dad had gone and there was about a foot of new snow in it. She had on a pair of cute leather boots that weren’t made for shoveling and she cussed the entire time.
And as far as parents giving you a ride to school. Ha! At least thats what they used to say as they careened down the road bumping into snowdrifts the opposite way.
I guess it all built character. I’m still here. But I did get a job where I never have to step foot outside into the frozen hellish tundra (when we get that kind of weather).
And by the way—its all relative. Icy roads are icy roads wherever you are. So enjoy a day of chili Juanita!
3During daylight hours, I’ve been pouring a saucepan of boiling water over the chickens’ inconveniently frozen water dispenser every two hours.
You can’t have your chickens dehydrating, now can you?
4I’m a down-the-road neighbor of Juanita, and I am listening to the all-day news coverage as we speak! I’m a born & raised Yankee, so I grew up in ACTUAL frigid, snowy, icy weather. My daughter was complaining about having to walk to the Metro train stop this morning, since her school is the only one not closed, apparently. Asked her if she wanted me to tell her again about the time at Michigan State when I walked to class in -80 wind chill weather. Am surprised she didn’t reply with the “eyeroll” text.
5Rule for Driving on Ice.
#1. DON’T
#2. If you still have to, call ahead why make sure they’re going to be there.
#3. Brakes don’t work. Easy on the pedal. Keep the tires in contact with road.
#4. Accellarator doesn’t work. easy on the pedal. Keep the tires in contact with the road.
#5. Take action early so as not to slide. Easy on the Pedals.
#6. Following distastancute about a car lenghth for every MPH.
#7. Don’t drive faster than your Gaurdian Angel can fly.
It was once said that Arkansaw Depertment of Roads used Half of it’s annual salt budget in a single morning during an ice storm. They were saving the other 5 lbs. in case they need to do the Governors driveway again.
6@Jill Ann
My sainted father-in-law grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. Over the years I learned that all schools in the town are accessible to the students thereof only by a 2 to 4 hour walk in -60 F temps and 6 foot of snow, and that the schools are uphill both ways.
7The windchill in KC is only -23, not Michigan chill but brutal enough to shut down schools here, toss on some snow and ice and even the area superintendents said to heck with it. Saw Houston called schools off as well, given the Flu Outbreak (epidemic around here), staying home for 4 days to get well might be a really good thing!
Stay home, stay safe everyone!
8Jill Ann–let me guess, 1981/82?
9In Alabama, it is snowing! Milk sandwiches for all. When there is a remote chance of snow or ice, the stores all sell out of milk and bread.
10I have lived most of my 70+ years on the high plains of eastern Colorado and I have seen nasty winters come too often and go too slow… no power for weeks, tunneling out through a window, and remains of drifts as late as June! Probably the worst (at least for me) was when I was in the third grade. It was a quarter mile hike to get to and from the school bus pickup point. One winter afternoon I didn’t get home and it wasn’t even snowing! Brothers made it with ease but I was MIA. Mother went searching and basically carried me home. I spent the next year sick in bed! Four years ago I had open heart surgery the cause of which to a certain extent harkens back to that time.
So, if you have to go out, do so with caution because if you don’t and you survive, your experience may come back later to bite you on the ass big time!
11Bama is the same way. Not one penny is budgeted for road maintenance when bad weather hits.
12Yeah, driving in winter conditions ain’t brain surgery, even for someone born and raised in southeast Texas. Just a little common sense and some patience. The problem is the drivers who have neither. And it only takes one or two to make things “interesting”. So to everyone in earshot, if you have to travel, drive dull, and stay safe. Since anybody hangin out in this joint fell out the interesting tree, and hit every branch on the way down.
13Noticed on the weather map this morning that Houston was colder than DC and NYC, but about the same as Boston. Big cold wave down the middle of the country, but we may get it next. We expect about 2″ of snow in DC tonight. Our high temps have been bouncing between 20 and 60 every week.
Other rule of winter driving: AN SUV DOES NOT MAKE YOU SUPERMAN. Or whatever macho-man vehicle you think you have. I’ve seen a number of them spun out in pools of knee-deep slush as I tooled past in my little Honda hybrid, driving sensibly.
14I grew up in California, where a cold day was in the 40 degree range, with driving rain. When my kids would gripe about having to walk to school in that weather, I used to tell them horror stories about walking to school with snow, uphill both ways. That worked until my daughter was about 11 y.o., and she suddenly said “Mom, it doesn’t snow in California!!!”, so that didn’t work any more. It was fun while it lasted, though!!
15We would be laughing at all y’all from up here in Minnesota if we weren’t dreading the next heating bill so much.
16WA Skeptic –
It doesn’t snow in California??
Two words: Donner Party.
17Oh, it snows in California. Up in the mountains, say near Lake Tahoe, it snows so much you could lose your whole house. California’s a big state with a lot of elevations and climate zones. Last winter Squaw Valley had 47 FEET of snow, seven in one week, and announced in February that the ski slopes would be open through July 4. (Scroll down and look at all the photos.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/02/23/500-inches-and-counting-snow-has-clobbered-california-ski-resorts-this-winter/
Looks like we may be snowless in the Washington suburbs tonight. And it’s 33° here, 26° in Houston.
18Whoa, how did you know we made a big pot of chili tonight! Noth’ns private since the Patriot Act came to be, I guess.
19Lless, we get a thaw starting tomorrow!! I’m so excited! Melting snow in Minnesota! We got about 6″ total last week.
I interned in northwest Washington state and in the winter temps were usually in the 40s. Rarely there was a little frost on the road. I’d zip right along, noticing cars in the ditches. They had no clue what to do so when they felt a little slip in traction they’d jam on the brakes. Yeah, really bad idea.
20Ya’ll are just babies. I live in NC and my car had at least 6” of snow on it yesterday and it was still snowing. I just thanked my lucky stars i managed to get my obligatory snow food in along with dog food, sunflower seeds and deer corn. Came in the house and stayed away from windows. I had seen enough.
21I heard on the news this morning it was 8º with a wind chill of -6.
Ooops…just remembered i need to turn my water i left running a little bit off. It’s warming up to over 20º now.