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Your/Our Weather, Event

Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
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The Misty Mountains
Holy moly, not sure it’s an Artic vortex coming but our serene Winter maybe getting a bit ugly in the US South. I realize you guys up North are used to this, but we are projecting 4 days in a row of freezing to below freezing temps in the Houston area and down to 13 degrees. That temp is laughed at in Minnesota, but here not so much. Now I have to consider how many plants we’ll lose. The lantana, boganvilla and hibiscus are like goners. One I stuck in our shed, maybe a I’ll fit a couple more potted ones in there. And my lemon tree, hmm. :(

76C11EBA-6359-42EC-8132-69CFC2B31971.png
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www.msn.com

Arctic Blast Grips U.S., Upending Markets, Setting Records

The Arctic blast sweeping the U.S. has unleashed winter weather from coast to coast, spawned deadly ice storms as far south as Houston and sent natural gas and power prices soaring to record levels. Conditions are set to get even worse.Storm warnings and advisories stretch from Washington state...
www.msn.com www.msn.com
 
Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,052
The Misty Mountains
Scepticalscribe said:
And it is exceptionally cold Across the Pond, and in mainland Europe, as well.
Click to expand...
Do artic vortexes ever arrive in Europe? The interesting thing about the UK, say London (51deg) is farther North than Minneapolis (45 deg) yet your weather is much milder and my impression it’s due to the Atlantic current.
 
Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
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The Misty Mountains
Strelok said:
Tampa area :)
Click to expand...
My Dad’s in Winterhaven.

Not a sight I often see, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. Tonight it’s headed down to 12F which is brutal for this area Houston). The brown tent on the other side of the pool is my car cover I’m using to try to protect both the lemon tree (small) and a Bird of Paradise. I’ve got 5 plants covered and 3 in the shed, which works well for frost, but a hard freeze is more iffy.

E533429A-CD52-46F9-B598-04D5CB6463C8.jpeg​
 
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tobefirst ⚽️

tobefirst ⚽️

macrumors 601
Jan 24, 2005
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St. Louis, MO
Here in St. Louis, the weather has been significantly colder than normal the past couple of weeks or more. I'm not sure if it made it out of single digits today, and we're getting 6-8" of snow.

The only real way I've been impacted is my runs. Last winter, all my December and January runs were done on the inside track at the rec center. Since I don't feel comfortable going there, they've all been outside. I've learned to love even the coldest and wettest of runs. I bought some wet/cold weather running shoes and they are nothing short of phenomenal.
 
Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,052
The Misty Mountains
tobefirst said:
Here in St. Louis, the weather has been significantly colder than normal the past couple of weeks or more. I'm not sure if it made it out of single digits today, and we're getting 6-8" of snow.

The only real way I've been impacted is my runs. Last winter, all my December and January runs were done on the inside track at the rec center. Since I don't feel comfortable going there, they've all been outside. I've learned to love even the coldest and wettest of runs. I bought some wet/cold weather running shoes and they are nothing short of phenomenal.
Click to expand...
Be tough! ;) When I lived in Minnesota I ran all Winter outside. I usually wore a complete cloth head/face cover and at times I had to wear a ski mask to protect my eyes. It’s the wind chill. I remember if a little bit of flesh around my eyes was exposed, it felt like a needle.
 
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Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
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The Misty Mountains
Houston, Texas, what seems to be an extreme weather event for Texas and other Southern States, we lost elec power at 11pm central Tuesday night when temps dropped to 13F. Fortunately we have a gas fire place, and a gas water heater with a permanent pilot light. My understanding it was turned off so power could be restored to other areas hit before us.

My impression is that it was a combination of record cold temps and the demand for natural gas by homes heated with it (bunches of them) and electrical utilities that are using natural gas for electricity generation.

Just got it back 22 hrs later. Apparently a huge mess. Lots of nightmarish burst pipes in homes. Gov Abbott went on Fox and complained about wind turbines shutting down, but got egg on his face when he was reminded that some operators of Texas located windmills opted not to put deicing on them. The corporation that controls the grid, http://www.ercot.com/ apparantly catching heat because it is not accountable to State or Local governments. So I have to wonder how this came about and what demands for changes will be insisted upon. For example, I would think if windmills are not considered reliable for winter conditions, you would need to have a proper excess of available power capacity available.

My understanding is that Windmills up North, Minnesota, Iowa, run through out the winter. When the power came on at 9pm, outside 35F and House temp was 60F. The 2’ of cellulose insulation in our attic helps. When we moved in we had barely 4” of fiberglass batting. It was a challenge managing battery power of our iOS devices. :)
 
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J

jeyf

macrumors 68020
Jan 20, 2009
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the super cold weather short lived here; it warmed up a lot after Sunday into Monday.
Another storm came through my city Wednesday night, not as cold and some lite snow just now

glad your safe
 
tobefirst ⚽️

tobefirst ⚽️

macrumors 601
Jan 24, 2005
4,612
2,335
St. Louis, MO
Huntn said:
The corporation that controls the grid, http://www.ercot.com/ apparantly catching heat ...
Click to expand...
Pun intended? :)
Huntn said:
It was a challenge managing battery power of our iOS devices.
Click to expand...
At least you're keeping a good attitude about it. Hope everything returns to normal soon. When it does, go get yourself a chocolate chip cookie from Tiny Boxwood. Yum.
 
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J

jeyf

macrumors 68020
Jan 20, 2009
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I would NOT go out and buy a set of Bernie Sanders mittens if I lved in say Huston. Likely a storm like this will not re occure any time soon.

our neighborhood was buuilt out ~ 1920 - 50. Than the city grew around it. Some of the power poles are 60 years old. Insulation is falling off the over head wires. About every 2-3 years gravety takes its toll than the fire trucks, and a power company repair crew arrive. Crimp the old wires back together. Seems a mind set that this stuff should last forever.
 
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A.Goldberg

A.Goldberg

macrumors 68030
Jan 31, 2015
2,549
9,715
Boston
Huntn said:
Houston, Texas, what seems to be an extreme weather event for Texas and other Southern States, we lost elec power at 11pm central Tuesday night when temps dropped to 13F. Fortunately we have a gas fire place, and a gas water heater with a permanent pilot light. My understanding it was turned off so power could be restored to other areas hit before us.

My impression is that it was a combination of record cold temps and the demand for natural gas by homes heated with it (bunches of them) and electrical utilities that are using natural gas for electricity generation.

Just got it back 22 hrs later. Apparently a huge mess. Lots of nightmarish burst pipes in homes. Gov Abbott went on Fox and complained about wind turbines shutting down, but got egg on his face when he was reminded that some operators of Texas located windmills opted not to put deicing on them. The corporation that controls the grid, http://www.ercot.com/ apparantly catching heat because it is not accountable to State or Local governments. So I have to wonder how this came about and what demands for changes will be insisted upon. For example, I would think if windmills are not considered reliable for winter conditions, you would need to have a proper excess of available power capacity available.

My understanding is that Windmills up North, Minnesota, Iowa, run through out the winter. When the power came on at 9pm, outside 35F and House temp was 60F. The 2’ of cellulose insulation in our attic helps. When we moved in we had barely 4” of fiberglass batting. It was a challenge managing battery power of our iOS devices. :)
Click to expand...

Most windmills will shut down around 0F due as the material the blades are made out of does not structurally tolerate anything lower. Their lubrication system additionally has an operational temperature range. There are ways to expand the operating temperature range, but the turbines have to be designed for that. Turbine blade icing is also a problem below freezing, but there are ways of managing this with the right equipment (apparently helicopters de-icing liquid or specially designed blades that contain heaters). I imagine they assumed it would never get that cold in Texas or considered such temperatures are so rare it’s not worth the extra cost.

Wind turbines and solar are one thing, as they have known weather limitations. But the fact many conventional power generating systems all experienced problems simultaneously resulting in a massive reduction in energy output is ridiculous.

Reportedly, the power company didn’t take any measures to prepare against the impending weather. Maybe some of this is a lack of experience with such temperatures, but you’d have to think they might consider erring on the side of caution if they were sensible.
www.washingtonpost.com

The Texas grid got crushed because its operators didn’t see the need to prepare for cold weather

The widespread power failures in Texas in the face of a winter cold snap shine a light on what some see as the derelict state of America’s electricity infrastructure, a mirror reflection of the chaos that struck California last summer.
www.washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com

To compound the issue, evidently the state government does not exercise any oversight of the ultility company:
www.texastribune.org

Texas leaders failed to heed warnings that left the state's power grid vulnerable to winter extremes, experts say

Texas officials knew winter storms could leave the state’s power grid vulnerable, but they left the choice to prepare for harsh weather up to the power companies — many of which opted against the costly upgrades. That, plus a deregulated energy market largely isolated from the rest of the...
www.texastribune.org www.texastribune.org

Seems to me like some heads need roll over this catastrophe.

Anyways, sorry to hear about your predicament. Be safe! Stay warm!
 
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