We Are Fine
It is 10:45 right now and it’s warmed up to 17 degrees, so when I say I’m fine, please take that to mean I’m alive.
Out my front door.
Deb T sent me a picture taken in Galveston that appeared on Kansas City television. Yeah, it’s that unusual.
Well, we aren't the only ones dealing with snow and cold this morning. It's not every day that you see a snowy Galveston, TX beach. Their temperature as of 8:30 am is a balmy 21°. pic.twitter.com/wyT8Duasyw
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) February 15, 2021
Our houses aren’t built for this. My laundry room is filled with tropical plants. My house was built in 1936 so it was built for cross breezes and ceiling fans. We’ll probably be house locked for a week – except maybe Wednesday – but right now, it looks like we’ll have ice on Thursday and Friday.
Same temp way up north in Conroe, but we got more snow. Water pipes will be bustin’ all over the place, come the thaw. Plumbers will be pleased.
1When the water outside is crunchy, it’s officially cold.
2It’s above freezing outside of Boston. I hope you don’t get one of those horrendous ice storms…
3Those of us who once lived in Alaska, Boston, Chicago and forty years in the mountain west are somewhat bemused by the panic over the light frost in those photos. Not to mention a few degrees south of not zero, but freezing.
4To quote Gomer- “well gollee!”
Good luck to all.
When I was young, living in Bossier City LA, we were supposed to get snow. Instead it bypassed us. The news that night showed a picture of snowy golf course in Galveston. Or it may have been in the newspaper. That’s twice in a half century. They get hit by hurricanes much more often than that. I’m really bot sure which is worse for them.
5I’m less than 100 miles NNW of you in Bryan (for non-Texans, next to College Station, home of Texas A&M) with about 6 inches of snow covering ice from sleet which fell first. I was without power from 2:00 am until 9:30. It was 49 inside my house at 9:15 am. It’s not forecast to be above freezing until Friday after a low of 15 Friday morning. I’ll be inside all week and hoping not to lose power for so long again but am told there are likely to be rolling blackouts. More snow is predicted. This is my 40th winter here and the first that it is below freezing for more than 3 days and first that it is so bad statewide for there to be rolling blackouts expected statewide. Yes, I lived with this during the decades I lived up north, but the housing was better insulated and better set up for cold. So all Texans (and others) please stay inside and safe until the ice melts.
6Heat pumps aren’t built for this either. There is no heat to pump. I’m cold.
7I’ve been iced in in DC this week. It’s supposed to get to near 40 F this afternoon, so I will venture out to the store this afternoon and stoke up for the next round of storms.
Is it Spring yet?
8I’m about 30 miles north of BarbinDC. We still have snow on the ground from a couple of days ago, with temps in the mid-30s. Tonight’s rain should take care of that, along with tomorrow’s higher temperatures–upper 40s, if we’re lucky–and still more rain. We’re expecting a low of 22 tomorrow night. Punxsutawney Phil lied his little rear end off.
9Sympathizing on the tropical plants. Our citrus “grove” in the living room can’t have anything that won’t survive <60F. In the house. And pepper seedlings are in a make-shift (living room) greenhouse on a bed of seedling warming mats. Good luck!
10We’re doing “rolling blackouts” in Hockley. They started at 2 am. It’s about 40 minutes without power, then 40 minutes with power. I have an old drafty house, so inside temp is about 57-58 before the power cuts off, then it drops to 49-50. 2-3 inches of snow on the ground.
I found where a cat barfed in the hallway this morning and made a mental note they had eaten some grass. Five minutes later I thought, where does an inside cat get grass? Turns out they found a couple plants I brought in and “hid” in the back bedroom.
My old house is just not cut out for this cold weather. C’mon sunshine!
11I know that cold Temps are bad in parts of the country thar almost never get them, but don’t you have heat in the house? Can’t you crank it up and blow fans wherever there’s a danger of frozen pipes?
12Checking in with Texas friends and relatives, we are sympathizing about water pipes not being buried very much.
13Here in north central Idaho our pipes are 3 to 4 feet underground, we have back-up power, crockpot of chili, and lots to read. No mail today anyway so no need to go the 1/4 mile to the box. If UPS makes a scheduled delivery, that will make a good start. It’s warmer here than in Texas.
Everybody in Texas be careful! Apparently the rolling power losses are happening because the state grid can’t cope with the demand for power. And for God’s sake stay off the roads!
14During the last huge cold snap in 1983, my future wife visited family in Dallas over Christmas, and had suite tickets on the 26th when the Cowboys lost to the Rams. It was so cold that all the restroom pipes in Texas Stadium froze, adding to the catastrophe. Ever resourceful, my wife and her sister-in-law found an unlocked janitor’s closet and took turns sitting over and peeing into the sink!
15Yes, please stay off the roads. You all aren’t trained for that. I live in Michigan and even Michiganders forget how to drive in it over the summer.
16Just south of Lake Superior it was -26 this morning. I walk around barefoot inside because our houses are built for this weather. While it’s a big change from Houston, I watched an eagle soaring yesterday and had deer in my yard. It’s worth it.
17Picture from Australia;
18https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/damaging-winds-hit-south-east-coast-of-australia/news-story/1370ef8ae2ce0355ccc38d9fa0b69c6b
isak @11, No better down here in South Central /Coastal Bend Tx.
Cold as a Rethuglikan witch’s tit. Snow ain’t melting even with today’s brilliant sunshine, actually up to 28 degrees now, after getting down to ~12deg; even cplder tonight.
Hockley, eh?
When I had frequent TDYs in the Houston area*, we used to take the kids to the O.I.L Ranch near Hockley years ago, they are still around according to their website.
It’s a very good place for the keikis, lots of petting and riding animals and stuff.
I highly recommend it as a rather different from the usual recreational destination, kids luv it.
https://www.oilranch.com/
https://www.oilranch.com/activities/
.
19* Gotta do -something- to make the best of the Houston area :] . Living in a Galveston [Sea Isle] beachhouse for months at a time wasn’t too bad though. Stayed mostly downtown or way out Westheimer or on Voss though.
Sam in Superior @17, Used to vacation in/from Houghton [family], Traverse City, Petoskey, St. Ignace, Grand Marais, Wawa, Killarney[fam], [and a few other places]; but only in non-wintertime [except for hunting trips around Cadillac, Au Sable].
20Damned near bought the farm when a bounding deer nearly got my minivan as we were southbound descending from the Big Mac bridge one evening; that was the closest I’ve ever came to hitting a deer, just a few feet at 70mph.
Sue G, also in Bryan.
What folks up north don’t get is that we are absolutely unprepared for these conditions. Our houses are insulated some against heat, but I haven’t had even curtains on my windows in over 20 years; the trees around my house keep out a lot of the heat.
And since we never have icy roads to practice driving on, we have no idea how to do it. (I don’t have a clue about “snow chains” because we “need” them about twice every 10 years…)
My power was out from about 10 a.m. to about 3, just long enough for me to try to decide if it’s worth standing on the deck to cook supper over my gas grill. Thank goodness the power is back on!
21Spent a good chunk of the day checking in on Daughter in Houston and Sister in Austin. Was able to watch KHOU on the Roku and KEYE on the computer so saw the press conferences for both Houston and Austin. Frequent visitor so I know both areas fairly well. Roaming reporter interviewed a couple from Michigan at the Bucky’s near the hospital–only gas station with power. Even they were complaining about the cold.
Both Daughter & Sister lost power about 3am, but Daughter just texted theirs finally came back on about midnight. She has little kids so I was worried about her the most. Poor thing–now she’s having flashbacks to when we lived on a farm in WV.
We’re looking to get your Tues/Wed ice storm up here in Southwest Virginia on Wed pm/Thurs. We were supposed to be getting our Fauci Ouchie #2 on Thurs but hospital called to bump it up a day. Very glad because I hate driving in ice. One of the best things about being retired is we don’t have to any more.
22I sympathize. I live in central Oklahoma. My thermometer this morning is -15. That’s negative 15. Breaking all records. Our frost free hydrants are frozen. Having to run water to the cows through hoses. This is calving time and if you don’t catch them quick and get them in a heated barn/house, they freeze to death.
23Hang in there. I live in SW Portland and we had 3-4 days of sleet, freezing rain and snow. Up to 14″ of snow in spots, 1.5″ ice. Still 200K without power, some for 4-5 days and maybe another 5 days till all back on-line. 5 or 6 substations out +400 miles of transmission line. Worst in last 30 years.
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