How is everyone dealing with the weather?

[Kestrel]

How is everyone doing with the cold?

We are in western Washington state, so we got hit earlier than most and are just at the tail end of it. We got more snow in the last four or five days than the last three years put together! Granted, we get very little snow usually, and this ten-twelve inches shut down our communities. I kind of laugh at how closed we are - I went to part of elementary school in Minot, North Dakota and we'd just be waiting for the school bus as normal!
It's really the power outages that are causing us problems - this weather is so unusual here that people don't know what to do or don't have alternatives to heat homes or cook food if the power is out. We have a wood stove and generator, but we are not the norm - we are very rural and when our power goes out, it can be out for a week at a time. My parents are staying in two rooms of their home and keeping the rest closed, because that's all their fireplace will heat!

[gatorsmom]

We are in Wisconsin so we are faring fine. It’s cold (kids went to a short Boy Scout meeting last night with -30 windchills) that’s for sure but we are ready for that every winter.

My ILs just north of Houston, Texas are struggling. They have been without electricity for 3 days now and DH says it’s 5 degrees. MIL suspects they have pipes in their attic that are frozen which is a nightmare for them. They used to have a generator so I’m not sure why they haven’t run that. Everything in their house is electric except their cooktop which is gas. Dh’s sisters’ and brothers’ families are in the same area and having the same problems. There isn’t much we can do up here to help them which is frustrating.

[diamond]

I'm in the Houston area and We don't have power for the past 2 days. The water mains had pipes frozen and water supply was cut off for half a day yesterday and it was just crazy. Thankfully we have water now.. small victories.. no sign of when we would get electricity...We don't have a generator or a fireplace but the saving grace is gas cooktop on which we can make warm food..

[smilequeen]

It's extra cold and we have a few inches of snow, but we can handle it here (not great on the roads, but our grid can handle it, no power issues). I feel really bad for Texans.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We're used to winter but one annoying thing is that this is the one year I can remember where we haven't had a few token 60+ days. Around Christmas I always waited for those days to do my outdoor decorating. I think that the day I decorated outside was my last warmish day. It was cold for take down. And hasn't been warm since. I keep saying when it cracks 50 I'll have friends come over to sit outside but, nope. This winter has felt endless.

[bisous]

I'm in the Houston area and We don't have power for the past 2 days. The water mains had pipes frozen and water supply was cut off for half a day yesterday and it was just crazy. Thankfully we have water now.. small victories.. no sign of when we would get electricity...We don't have a generator or a fireplace but the saving grace is gas cooktop on which we can make warm food..

I'm worried about people in your area. I'm glad you have water and warm food. I hope everyone stays safe! I'm watching the news very nervously. I'm glad to hear from people on the ground that although this is difficult, you're making way through it all. We've had power outages during hot weather and it is seriously no fun but absolutely not dangerous (and we've had water!). Stay warm and safe!

We have no bad weather to speak of. I don't know why we haven't been hit. This is a "la nina" year for us which means very little rain--essentially the opposite of the more famous "el nino". My sister in Vancouver had lots of snow and very cold temps. My sister in Lubbock is in the middle of it. It "felt like' -15 on Saturday! My sister in DC has freezing rain. Has it not hit the East Coast yet?

[nfceagles]

Has it not hit the East Coast yet?

I’m in CT and we have normal winter temps today and forecast for the week ahead. It’s 42 degrees right now! My brother is in TX and lost water and power yesterday. I feel bad for people there because they just don’t have the back up sources for heat that we’re used to having around here.


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[MSWR0319]

I'm in OH. It hit us last night with 12" of snow and strong winds. Nothing we can't handle, just a nuisance. It is more snow than we've had in quite some time at once though. They did close the roads down in our county for about 12 hours because of the drifts and inability to see the road. We're supposed to get the cold temps tonight and tomorrow.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Texas here, and as i'm sure everyone knows it's majorly effed up. First we had that huge 100+ car accident in Fort Worth last week bc of the icy roads.

And then come to this week.. We were basically without power and no cell service for nearly 22 hours, except for one short time (less than hour) in the late afternoon. And it was below zero outside at several points. At first it was ok during the day (Monday) since it was sunny and we had our shutters open but by the nighttime it was getting super cold. We have a gas fireplace but no logs or anything like that.

I am really, really lucky we live in a newer home (2015) with really good insulation. Like this whole time, even with power out our garage has been at 48 degrees. That's incredible, given it was single digits for days. Also, our home is "smaller" (3,000 sq ft) so that helps.
I'm so glad i didn't have to deal with frozen pipes. Lots of folks i know didn't lose power but had to deal with trying to thaw frozen pipes. Again, i think with a newer house we lucked out on that front.

By the time power came back on for us at 730 this morning , our house was 48 degrees. Brr! Though considering the power was out for more than 20 hours, and it only dropped 20 degrees (68 to 48) that is pretty dang good. A friend of mine in same area had lost power in same time said her house got to the 30s! Brr.

I am really concerned about several of the students in our school district....low-income Latino kids who live in more rural areas, often in mobile homes. The roads here are such that it is not safe to drive anywhere. I have no idea what people without resources do in this situation. Wish more could be done to help. Scared to read the news. There's already been a child and parent die , i think in Houston, because the family was trying to warm the house up with the car in the garage.

[georgiegirl]

It’s been frigid here. -18 this morning (not including windchill). It’s been below zero for over a week. Tons of snow still on the ground.

[petesgirl]

Texas here, and as i'm sure everyone knows it's majorly effed up. First we had that huge 100+ car accident in Fort Worth last week bc of the icy roads.

And then come to this week.. We were basically without power and no cell service for nearly 22 hours, except for one short time (less than hour) in the late afternoon. And it was below zero outside at several points. At first it was ok during the day (Monday) since it was sunny and we had our shutters open but by the nighttime it was getting super cold. We have a gas fireplace but no logs or anything like that.

I am really, really lucky we live in a newer home (2015) with really good insulation. Like this whole time, even with power out our garage has been at 48 degrees. That's incredible, given it was single digits for days. Also, our home is "smaller" (3,000 sq ft) so that helps.
I'm so glad i didn't have to deal with frozen pipes. Lots of folks i know didn't lose power but had to deal with trying to thaw frozen pipes. Again, i think with a newer house we lucked out on that front.

By the time power came back on for us at 730 this morning , our house was 48 degrees. Brr! Though considering the power was out for more than 20 hours, and it only dropped 20 degrees (68 to 48) that is pretty dang good. A friend of mine in same area had lost power in same time said her house got to the 30s! Brr.

I am really concerned about several of the students in our school district....low-income Latino kids who live in more rural areas, often in mobile homes. The roads here are such that it is not safe to drive anywhere. I have no idea what people without resources do in this situation. Wish more could be done to help. Scared to read the news. There's already been a child and parent die , i think in Houston, because the family was trying to warm the house up with the car in the garage.

Oh goodness! I’m glad to hear your family is doing ok. I read about that family in Houston, so sad.

[ezcc]

It's been fine here in the mid-atlantic, although this has been a dreary winter- not horrible cold but very little sun. DH and my boys are stuck in Denver though- they were in park city for the long weekend and couldn't get out because they were supposed to connect through st Louis, then Dallas, finally just flew into Denver last night and hopefully will make it home later tonight. And yes, very worried about folks in Texas- we lost power for a week from an ice storm once, but I have a fireplace, a gas stove for cooking and a well insulated house. Still ended up moving in with my brother after a few days- it's no fun.

[bcafe]

Every county in Texas is under a winter storm watch/warning. This has never happened in the history of the state. There is snow at the border to MX.

[gatorsmom]

I do hope the folks in Texas can help each other out. It looks like by Sunday temperatures will be back up in the 60’s and warm again next week.

[twowhat?]

We're 30ish hours into when we first lost power and the worst stretch was 12 hours of power followed by like an hour of power, then another long stretch. Last night was the worst since temps dipped to -1 (Fahrenheit!!). The kids slept with 4 blanket layers piled on top of them and they were OK. We fortunately have a gas/woodburning fireplace but limited hardwood to burn. We had enough to burn 2 fires for 3ish hours each evening which helped with both heat and light. Our gas stove was probably the main saving grace. Being cold is one thing, but being cold with no warm food is something else! We were able to boil water and warm up simple foods on the gas stove (I just avoided cooking anything greasy/smelly). I could have probably even done a frozen pizza on the stove if we had to - rigged up a large pot with a large domed lid and it was great for heating up not-soups!! Our house dropped to about 48 at its worst. It's not the most insulated house but we do have spray foam insulation and it's a large house and so lots of air = insulation.

Today was a "dodge the outage" day, with no idea when we'd lose power and how long we'd have it when it came on. We planned today to prep one hearty meal so that it was ready to hit "start" on the Instant Pot the moment power came on, and the kids planned to take showers. It was hysterical because when the power came on, our alarm system did its usual short scary wail, the kids leaped off the couch, tossing their blankets aside. I leaped off the couch, we all yelled GO GO GO and I ran to the kitchen to start the stew and the kids shot off to different bathrooms to shower. They came back totally renewed after a quick hot shower! I finished a large pot of stew! And then the power went out again. :) We were unable to work today due to lack of power but at least I don't have to prove anything to my boss...it's all over national news.

Now our town is dealing with the temps warming up. It's still cold, just not in the single digits now, and with the rolling outages starting to stabilize (we are now getting 2 hours of power every handful of hours), houses are slowly warming up and the extent of busted pipes being known. We were diligent with running our faucets on a "hearty trickle" - both cold and hot taps - and I think we are OK. My MIL had a busted pipe and DH had to brave the ice to get over there to help her collect water for drinking/toilet and turn it off at the meter. Getting a plumber out to make repairs will be tricky.

We will also wait to see extent of pool damage. I think we were able to drain the pump and filters in time and threw a bunch of toys in the pool to absorb pressure from expanding ice and so far it LOOKS ok. But only thaw will tell.

We have another snow/ice storm tonight which could wreak more havoc, but it will be easier to deal with 20 to 30 F vs -1 to 15 F!!

We are lucky. For sure. Even though it's been horrible! Neighbors are helping each other out (town FB page). We currently have power, expecting it to go out anytime now!

[SnuggleBuggles]

We're 30ish hours into when we first lost power and the worst stretch was 12 hours of power followed by like an hour of power, then another long stretch. Last night was the worst since temps dipped to -1 (Fahrenheit!!). The kids slept with 4 blanket layers piled on top of them and they were OK. We fortunately have a gas/woodburning fireplace but limited hardwood to burn. We had enough to burn 2 fires for 3ish hours each evening which helped with both heat and light. Our gas stove was probably the main saving grace. Being cold is one thing, but being cold with no warm food is something else! We were able to boil water and warm up simple foods on the gas stove (I just avoided cooking anything greasy/smelly). I could have probably even done a frozen pizza on the stove if we had to - rigged up a large pot with a large domed lid and it was great for heating up not-soups!! Our house dropped to about 48 at its worst. It's not the most insulated house but we do have spray foam insulation and it's a large house and so lots of air = insulation.

Today was a "dodge the outage" day, with no idea when we'd lose power and how long we'd have it when it came on. We planned today to prep one hearty meal so that it was ready to hit "start" on the Instant Pot the moment power came on, and the kids planned to take showers. It was hysterical because when the power came on, our alarm system did its usual short scary wail, the kids leaped off the couch, tossing their blankets aside. I leaped off the couch, we all yelled GO GO GO and I ran to the kitchen to start the stew and the kids shot off to different bathrooms to shower. They came back totally renewed after a quick hot shower! I finished a large pot of stew! And then the power went out again. :) We were unable to work today due to lack of power but at least I don't have to prove anything to my boss...it's all over national news.

Now our town is dealing with the temps warming up. It's still cold, just not in the single digits now, and with the rolling outages starting to stabilize (we are now getting 2 hours of power every handful of hours), houses are slowly warming up and the extent of busted pipes being known. We were diligent with running our faucets on a "hearty trickle" - both cold and hot taps - and I think we are OK. My MIL had a busted pipe and DH had to brave the ice to get over there to help her collect water for drinking/toilet and turn it off at the meter. Getting a plumber out to make repairs will be tricky.

We will also wait to see extent of pool damage. I think we were able to drain the pump and filters in time and threw a bunch of toys in the pool to absorb pressure from expanding ice and so far it LOOKS ok. But only thaw will tell.

We have another snow/ice storm tonight which could wreak more havoc, but it will be easier to deal with 20 to 30 F vs -1 to 15 F!!

We are lucky. For sure. Even though it's been horrible! Neighbors are helping each other out (town FB page). We currently have power, expecting it to go out anytime now!

How stressful!!
Good luck!!


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[carolinacool]

The concept of rolling power outages is interesting. I’ve never lived anywhere that did that. If our power is out, it’s because something is preventing power from getting to our house. On very rare occasions it will come back on and then go back out, but that’s because they haven’t fully fixed the problem. It usually comes back on for good maybe an hour or so later.

Parts of northern North Carolina up through Virginia got hit with a big ice storm over the weekend. We were in one of the few pockets of our city that didn’t lose power at all. The SVP of our department ended up checking his family into a hotel, and he had to call six or seven before he even found a room. Another storm is supposed to sweep through starting tomorrow night and possibly bring even more ice. Based on the models, The part of the city that I live in again looks like it might be OK, but all the poor folks to the north who are just getting their power back on might get hit hard again.

I’ve been following the news on Texas and I have a couple of friends who live in the area. Thinking good thoughts for you guys.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Our gas stove was probably the main saving grace. Being cold is one thing, but being cold with no warm food is something else! We were able to boil water and warm up simple foods on the gas stove

yep, this was one of our saving graces too. Being able to boil water to make hot tea, hot chocolate and ramen noodles for the kids and being able to heat up frozen meals on the stovetop was awesome. So grateful for that. I was also using boiling water to boil those reusable handwarmers after using them

we have a gas fireplace as well, but didn't use it at all. i think we would have turned it on if outage lasted one more day. basically we had no source of heating at all in our home for almost 24 hrs, while it was dipping into negative temperatures outside. And our garage maintained 48 degrees! towards the end, i noticed that walking into the garage (to get something from a fridge, or car) didn't feel cold at all..... because it was literally the same temperature as the house - LOL!

having a big house is a blessing and a curse at the same time - bigger the house, the more insulated, but then it takes much longer to heat up once it's been cold and without power for a long time. So it takes longer to heat up once the power came back on and 2 or 3 hours here and there isn't enough. once we got power Tuesday morning, even after 3 hours, it was barely in the 60s. Friends we know with 4000+ sq ft houses in the area were getting power here and there every few hours but was never enough to heat up the house more than a few degrees, so it stayed cold (30s-40s) even when power came on sporadically. On the other side, those with small houses i'm sure got colder quickly with dropping temperature. felt so bad for my MIL in San Antonio - their house is small and they had no power for almost 36 hrs. Luckily it came on finally late Tuesday.

in many towns in the area, the water treatment plant was frozen over/non functional so they were under a Boil Water ordinance as well! Yikes, i can't imagine with this plus a power outage.

i am grateful that yesterday (Tuesday) we had power the entire time. Monday day & night was the worst. i slept upstairs with my DD in my son's room (queen bed) under tons of blankets. the upper level thermostat is in that room, and the worst thing was throughougt the night, hearing the "clink" of that piece of metal inside indicating the temperature dropping- but no heater kicking on after it. :48:Was like a constant reminder that temperatures were dropping.

on Mon & Tues all my meetings were canceled due to the power outages. I'm glad it will be in the 20s now.

[dogmom]

The concept of rolling power outages is interesting. I’ve never lived anywhere that did that. If our power is out, it’s because something is preventing power from getting to our house. On very rare occasions it will come back on and then go back out, but that’s because they haven’t fully fixed the problem. It usually comes back on for good maybe an hour or so later.

Parts of northern North Carolina up through Virginia got hit with a big ice storm over the weekend. We were in one of the few pockets of our city that didn’t lose power at all. The SVP of our department ended up checking his family into a hotel, and he had to call six or seven before he even found a room. Another storm is supposed to sweep through starting tomorrow night and possibly bring even more ice. Based on the models, The part of the city that I live in again looks like it might be OK, but all the poor folks to the north who are just getting their power back on might get hit hard again.

I’ve been following the news on Texas and I have a couple of friends who live in the area. Thinking good thoughts for you guys.

I know! Living in NE I’m used to a big ice or heavy wet snow coming through and wiping out power. But unless it is a really crazy huge one, most power gets back on in 24 hrs, but it’s lack of transmission, not lack of actually supply. That and I’m sure there is a lot more electric heat down there. My BFF lives in Houston and grew up in Mobile, she is use to hurricanes taking down the power for days, but not this. Maybe brownouts on very hot days. I’ve been reading several articles about it. It’s all very interesting, you know if you aren’t in you home freezing! All about privatization and Texas deciding to make their own grid and cut themselves off from the regional power grids. The Governor and legislature is talking about holding hearings and I’m thinking, I don’t think it’s going to be particularly flattering to them. Then there is a group of people trying to blame renewable/wind energy because they didn’t think to prepare for freezes like we do up north for their wind turbines. Sadly I fear these extreme winter pattern are becoming more common.

The only advice I can give is try to close off one or two rooms and keep everyone is the same room. We lost power for three days once and we all spent time on the first floor and slept on the floor in the family room with the fireplace. It does keep things warmer to have everyone in the same room. Just think, it will feel less pandemic claustrophobic when the kids can go back to their own rooms.

[lizzywednesday]

My BFF is in the Round Rock area & has been without power since 3am on Monday. She has a kindergartener and a toddler at home (and several pets.)

Although she's lived in the northeast (moved to northern NJ in the early '90s, just in time for the blizzard of '94!) it's been a while since she's had to manage snow, ice, and the risk of burst pipes.

Honestly, for all the other issues going on right now, knowing some homes' pipes will almost certainly burst makes me extra empathetic - burst pipes are more than a simple "pain." The damage is expensive!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I was reading up on your power grid in TX. What a mess. I mean, we wouldn't be prepared for some of your extreme weather so not saying you should be able to handle our extreme weather but choices were made for your infrastructure that sure led to these problems. I've never lived anywhere with rolling blackouts. I hope that this lights a fire under leaders to make the necessary improvements.

[twowhat?]

having a big house is a blessing and a curse at the same time - bigger the house, the more insulated, but then it takes much longer to heat up once it's been cold and without power for a long time.

in many towns in the area, the water treatment plant was frozen over/non functional so they were under a Boil Water ordinance as well! Yikes, i can't imagine with this plus a power outage.



Yes!!! When we did have our short bursts of power, it wasn't enough to warm up the house. It was basically enough for us to run around like mad chickens to make a meal, charge devices, run a space heater for one room...

We are also fortunate we decided to keep 1 traditional hot water tank heater (gas) rather than switching both of ours to tankless for EXACTLY this reason (even DH is thanking me for making this decision, LOL!). Tankless won't run in an outage...but the traditional tank will so long as the pilot light stays on and there is gas supply (which has been an issue - some people aren't even getting gas to their homes here!). So, we were able to at least take quick hot showers by flashlight :)

And yes, water issues everywhere. I filled up our large soaking tub with water just in case we have issues getting water. Yikes. Today it feels much better as it's in the 20s and we've been having more frequent bursts of power. I was reading to NOT use the washing machine until WELL thawed and to pour hot water down the washer drain first unless you want to risk your washer filling your laundry room with soapy water...yikes. Most people have washing machines on an outside wall. We have no idea if those pipes are frozen. And outside hose bibs...forget about it, LOL! Doesn't matter what you did to insulate them, they are frozen. We are hoping there are no major leaks once we thaw...

[gatorsmom]

And yes, water issues everywhere. I filled up our large soaking tub with water just in case we have issues getting water. Yikes. Today it feels much better as it's in the 20s and we've been having more frequent bursts of power. I was reading to NOT use the washing machine until WELL thawed and to pour hot water down the washer drain first unless you want to risk your washer filling your laundry room with soapy water...yikes. Most people have washing machines on an outside wall. We have no idea if those pipes are frozen. And outside hose bibs...forget about it, LOL! Doesn't matter what you did to insulate them, they are frozen. We are hoping there are no major leaks once we thaw...

And next week you will have temperatures in the 70’s again. With those temperatures back comes the high humidity again, I’m guessing. At least here in the winter things dry out very quickly, but not in the Houston area... Hang in there. I sincerely hope and pray that the rest of the year is relatively uneventful for you guys. I’ve always loved Houston.

[mom2binsd]

I was reading up on your power grid in TX. What a mess. I mean, we wouldn't be prepared for some of your extreme weather so not saying you should be able to handle our extreme weather but choices were made for your infrastructure that sure led to these problems. I've never lived anywhere with rolling blackouts. I hope that this lights a fire under leaders to make the necessary improvements.This, where I've lived power is out because ice or snow or wind downed power lines or substations blew up. Is some of this the power companies doing and actually preventable???? I've seen a few videos of folks saying the power companies could put more power out there but aren't???? I have no idea how the Texas power companies are set up?

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[o_mom]

This, where I've lived power is out because ice or snow or wind downed power lines or substations blew up. Is some of this the power companies doing and actually preventable???? I've seen a few videos of folks saying the power companies could put more power out there but aren't???? I have no idea how the Texas power companies are set up?

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Much of this has to do with the infrastructure in TX not being designed for cold weather use. Power plants (all kinds, not just the wind turbines/solar panels) are not able to function in these temperatures because they were not built for them. One article I read said that the natural gas plants are a huge offender in this - that they can't even get the gas out of the ground. This is causing cascade effects to water utilities, etc. The building codes are not set to insulate houses/pipes to the degree we have in the north. Add to that the reliance on electric heat. That means most people have heat pumps, which do not function below 30 degrees. At that point they switch to "emergency mode" which many times is an electric backup which draws significantly more current. ETA: Article on natural gas failure https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

Finally... TX has its own power grid. They are not connected to the rest of the country, so when their power generation goes off line, they cannot import power from other states. They did this to avoid any federal regulation.

This is a "hundred year" event, which means if power companies design their infrastructure for this, they will never see a return on that investment. The only way they will make that kind of investment is if they are forced to by the government. In a state that prides themselves on small government/deregulation.... not going to happen.

[zukeypur]

Yes!!! When we did have our short bursts of power, it wasn't enough to warm up the house. It was basically enough for us to run around like mad chickens to make a meal, charge devices, run a space heater for one room...

We are also fortunate we decided to keep 1 traditional hot water tank heater (gas) rather than switching both of ours to tankless for EXACTLY this reason (even DH is thanking me for making this decision, LOL!). Tankless won't run in an outage...but the traditional tank will so long as the pilot light stays on and there is gas supply (which has been an issue - some people aren't even getting gas to their homes here!). So, we were able to at least take quick hot showers by flashlight :)

And yes, water issues everywhere. I filled up our large soaking tub with water just in case we have issues getting water. Yikes. Today it feels much better as it's in the 20s and we've been having more frequent bursts of power. I was reading to NOT use the washing machine until WELL thawed and to pour hot water down the washer drain first unless you want to risk your washer filling your laundry room with soapy water...yikes. Most people have washing machines on an outside wall. We have no idea if those pipes are frozen. And outside hose bibs...forget about it, LOL! Doesn't matter what you did to insulate them, they are frozen. We are hoping there are no major leaks once we thaw...

This is what we are doing as well. When the power comes on, we have a plan! It usually involves the instant pot or some other quick meal. We've had tacos, nachos, instant pot soup, instant pot verde salsa chicken, and tonight is leftover night. We usually don't have power for lunch, for we've been having sandwiches. Luckily, the power comes back on in the morning for coffee. We are now also under a boil water notice, which is hilarious during a power outage. I boiled a pot and put in the sink with dishsoap, and I have another pot on the stove for rinsing. I was able to do a load of dishes earlier and it made it all the way through the sanitize cycle! We do have a fireplace with gas logs, but it doesn't put out a lot of heat, and it was blocked with snow a few nights ago. It's cleared now (I guess it melted?) so we had a fire last night. There is a heat lamp in the chicken coop (don't worry, it's up high so it doesn't start a fire) but keeping water for them has been challenging. We have a UPS for DH's work computer and our modem, so we do manage to get an extra hour or so of work after the power goes out. Luckily, my college canceled classes for the rest of the week, and the kids are out as well.

All of those times I forgot to cancel the subscribe and save batteries sure is coming in handy this week for our flashlights and battery operated candles. I was also contemplating a tankless water heater, which I have now taken off my list forever. Ours is gas powered, thank goodness.

We got another ice storm last night, and will be getting more snow tonight. And now they're talking about freezing fog....I think they're just making $h!t up now. This is 4 storms in the past week. The first storm was the type of ice storms we used to have when we lived in DFW, and it took out 4 huge trees, or parts of them, along with our power for 12 hours. The next storm was snow, which was definitely more fun. DD3 and Margot the Mutt played in the snow ALL.DAY.LONG. Yesterday they went out a bit, but no one has been out today after ice storm #2. It's like a storm sandwich, and it's super slick. I'm hoping the snow will give a bit of traction to the ice so that DD's neighbor can take her some food until I can get to her on Friday during the great thaw.

This blows.

[zukeypur]

Much of this has to do with the infrastructure in TX not being designed for cold weather use. Power plants (all kinds, not just the wind turbines/solar panels) are not able to function in these temperatures because they were not built for them. One article I read said that the natural gas plants are a huge offender in this - that they can't even get the gas out of the ground. This is causing cascade effects to water utilities, etc. The building codes are not set to insulate houses/pipes to the degree we have in the north. Add to that the reliance on electric heat. That means most people have heat pumps, which do not function below 30 degrees. At that point they switch to "emergency mode" which many times is an electric backup which draws significantly more current. ETA: Article on natural gas failure https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

Finally... TX has its own power grid. They are not connected to the rest of the country, so when their power generation goes off line, they cannot import power from other states. They did this to avoid any federal regulation.

This is a "hundred year" event, which means if power companies design their infrastructure for this, they will never see a return on that investment. The only way they will make that kind of investment is if they are forced to by the government. In a state that prides themselves on small government/deregulation.... not going to happen.

Today's episode of The Daily is about our electric system.

[Kestrel]

Don't forget to check on your neighbors! DH took the Jeep and brought a neighbor a half-cord of firewood, as power is still out. I have two familys' crock pots sitting on my counter, as well, that they dropped off earlier and will pick up before dinnertime. Everyone is running to the store before we get more weather tonight!

- Here we go again! -

[marinkitty]

The whole TX thing is nuts and my heart goes out to all of you dealing with it. It is so avoidable with better infrastructure planning and just a horrible mismanagement that is costing people lives and money.

Here in Chicagoland we are getting tired of our snowy winter, but the artic temps have passed for more normal winter temps now. Just constant shoveling, lots of fires to stay cozy. We had to drip our pipes one night but are fairly prepared for sub-zero spells and lots of snow.

[o_mom]

The whole TX thing is nuts and my heart goes out to all of you dealing with it. It is so avoidable with better infrastructure planning and just a horrible mismanagement that is costing people lives and money.



Gotta love the TX governor speaking for all the people suffering through this: "Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,"

https://news.yahoo.com/rick-perry-suggests-texans-prefer-191900865.html?

They continue to throw renewable energy under the bus, when the fossil fuels are just as much to blame, if not more. Wonder who funds their campaigns?

[zukeypur]

Gotta love the TX governor speaking for all the people suffering through this: "Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,"

https://news.yahoo.com/rick-perry-suggests-texans-prefer-191900865.html?

They continue to throw renewable energy under the bus, when the fossil fuels are just as much to blame, if not more. Wonder who funds their campaigns?

Well he sure as hell didn't ask me. Meanwhile, Fled Cruz is vacationing in Cancun, and Beto is helping his fellow Texans during this crisis. And republicans are saying "what? you want him to cancel his previously scheduled vacation?" YES!!!! Our athletic director was driving around town with a 330 gallon water tank delivering water to people whose water was out. I expect leaders to lead, not flee.