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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
There are so many New England towns that are centered next to or on a river because the river provided transport and power in the past. You're usually in a valley with streets descending in altitude as you approach the river.

Our primary residence is actually a half mile from a major river but the elevation delta is 200 feet. Some cities have put up barriers along the river, that are quite high to diminish flood risk and this works well in two local cities but there are areas of poor drainage that flood and the locals just have to live with it until the water goes down. Sometimes there isn't the political will or power to fix neighborhood problems.

Given the history, I think that this may be recurring for towns and cities that are set up like this as it's hard to redo your town center and the states don't exactly have a ton of money to fix things or to move things.
When I’ve purchased a house, I’ve always considered flood planes or not so great feature, like a house in California that the backyard, 30’ from the house is a cliff as a reason not to buy it. 🤔 Anyway I also realized some time ago, that the 100 year flood plane is no longer something you can place a reasonable bet on. Thirty years ago or so, Parsons, West Va a town near where my mother grew up in West Virginia was completely engulfed by the Monongahelia River and has never recovered as the County seat.
 

AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2008
3,585
13,429
Alaska
Alaska 20 August, 2023: after all the whining by some believing in "human-caused climate change" folks... about July being the hottest month ever and ever, and how the sky was falling (two weeks with a few days of temperatures in the high 80s was all :) For the past two weeks the ambient temperatures in the interior of Alaska have been in the low to mid 40s F. at night, and from the 50s to low 60s during the day. It made it to 55 degrees yesterday during the day. It is the same today, and the forecast for tonight calls for 47 degrees F.

We had a relatively cool and rainy Spring and Summer, so the wildfire season arrived quite late to the interior of Alaska (by July through a few days in August). The smoke from wildfires dissipated about two three weeks ago as the rain and cool temperatures moved into the interior. Weather conditions have been similar to "some" past years. Also, it usually starts raining by the beginning of August, but it was late after a period of dry weather this year. As September and the hunting season nears, the weather seems to be similar to other years, or somewhat raining and cool at night, with clear days in between.
 
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maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
As summer draws to a close here in Boston Massachusetts, I can only say what an odd year this has been. June was generally in cool, so much so that I think we only had a couple of days that got out of the seventies.

This past July was 2nd most wettest Julys on record and we only had 1 day that broached the 90 degree mark

August has been mostly in the low seventies - quite odd to be sure.

Now I'm the person who likes cooler/colder weather so I'm not complaining but it has impacted crops, for instance the apple crop is like 60% less then prior years and there may be little to no apple picking this year - a fun activity for many families.
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
As summer draws to a close here in Boston Massachusetts, I can only say what an odd year this has been. June was generally in cool, so much so that I think we only had a couple of days that got out of the seventies.

This past July was 2nd most wettest Julys on record and we only had 1 day that broached the 90 degree mark

August has been mostly in the low seventies - quite odd to be sure.

Now I'm the person who likes cooler/colder weather so I'm not complaining but it has impacted crops, for instance the apple crop is like 60% less then prior years and there may be little to no apple picking this year - a fun activity for many families.
I envy the hell out of you and our friends who live in Minnesota… :) 104F yesterday here (Houston).
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
104F yesterday here (Houston).
My daughter wants to move to Texas or Florida for the heat. At this point in my life I'm the polar opposite. Funnily enough back in the day when I was younger, I did enjoy the heat but it saps the life out of me. I've found new enjoyment with cool and cold weather. I'd much rather go camping in December then July.
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
My daughter wants to move to Texas or Florida for the heat. At this point in my life I'm the polar opposite. Funnily enough back in the day when I was younger, I did enjoy the heat but it saps the life out of me. I've found new enjoyment with cool and cold weather. I'd much rather go camping in December then July.
There can be too much of a good thing? A friend from Minnesota self described sun worshiper came down to visit during the summer, we hit the beach, she lasted about 45 minutes in the sun. :oops:
 

pshufd

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2013
10,133
14,562
New Hampshire
Wildfire Smoke in New England. I guess the weather for it would be hot and dry. We started the summer with wildfires in Nova Scotia. Then Alberta and Quebec. And now we have British Columbia, Northern Territories and the Pacific Northwest. The AQI is over 50 today. I went out for a short run and it felt oppressive so I checked the AQI and I was surprised at how high it was as we've had respite of about a week. I'm glad that Canada has their wildfires under control, at least in the eastern provinces. The poor folks in YellowKnife though are probably in bad shape after evacuating as they don't know what they will find when they return.

In NH, we've had a lot of rain. Our reservoirs are higher than I've ever seen them. We've had flooding in some parts of the state and flooding that made the national news in Vermont. Between rain, and wildfires, it hasn't been great for running outside this summer.

The rain has also resulted in high e coli levels in a lot of lakes so that they had to be closed to swimming. We had a lot of people coming from Massachusetts to our beaches as well because their beaches were crowded. Beach towns have responded by seriously cranking up parking fees - rationing by price as it were. The towns have also had trouble recruiting enough officers because our unemployment rate is 1.7% and it's hard to get people to move here for work as there's a severe housing shortage.

I'm looking forward to fall and hopefully the wildfires would be over; certainly by winter.

Screen Shot 2023-08-21 at 12.35.10 PM.png
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
We had the perfect chance for a drenching (in Houston) , a tropical storm zipped across the Gulf of Mexico, hit Southern Texas and Mexico and kept going West. Normally a storm like this after land fall would vear north and then NE. That’s because of the abominable high has been parked over the central southern US for over a month blocked it as it skirted around it to the South. 😞
 

pshufd

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2013
10,133
14,562
New Hampshire
We had the perfect chance for a drenching (in Houston) , a tropical storm zipped across the Gulf of Mexico, hit Southern Texas and Mexico and kept going West. Normally a storm like this after land fall would vear north and then NE. That’s because of the abominable high has been parked over the central southern US for over a month blocked it as it skirted around it to the South. 😞

Did you want the rain?

If we're in drought, I don't mind getting drenched - short-term pain, long-term gain.

New England and the PNW are apparently in good shape for a week avoiding the extreme heat in most of the rest of the country. I'm running outside more instead of on the treadmill. It's not humid, 50s at night and sunny during the day. This is actually fall weather and I love fall in New England. Most people like it a little warmer in the 80s and we're in the 70s during the day right now.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
Did you want the rain?

If we're in drought, I don't mind getting drenched - short-term pain, long-term gain.

New England and the PNW are apparently in good shape for a week avoiding the extreme heat in most of the rest of the country. I'm running outside more instead of on the treadmill. It's not humid, 50s at night and sunny during the day. This is actually fall weather and I love fall in New England. Most people like it a little warmer in the 80s and we're in the 70s during the day right now.
Desperately…wanted it.
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
Pick you poison, as a resident of East central Texas, if my choice is more rain and 70s (warmer, more humid after) or no rain and triple didgits (central, north, west Texas), I’ll take the rain with the knowledge that my neighborhood has not ever flooded (knock on wood…) 😳
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
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The Misty Mountains
Working in the garden, yard yesterday @100F I was doing pretty well, We have a line of trees, behind our property that blocks the sun in the back portion of the yard where I was working. I had drank a large glass of water before I came out and then got a big bottle of water. Then I went around to the front to mow the yard, which is not large and that’s in the shade because of a large oak and a mulberry tree. 2/3 of the way through mowing I just ran out of energy. I had to stop and lean against the car for a while. It wasn’t a sensation of being hot, just drained of energy. I finished mowing and put the lawnmower away. Came inside prepared a giant smoothie (frozen banana, frozen plum, handful of strawberries, some lemon juice, and Stevia). My clothes were soaked from the water I’ve been drinking so I proceeded outback to sit under the gazebo, turn the fan on And slurp my drink. Even though it’s hot, drinking that much frozen beverage is cooling, then came in and got a bath. :)

IMG_3245.jpeg
 
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Herdfan

macrumors 65816
Apr 11, 2011
1,349
7,896
which is not large and that’s in the shade because of a large oak and a mulberry tree.

Shade doesn't fix humidity. And 100 degrees in even moderate humidity is a recipe for heat exhaustion. Or worse, heat stroke.

Be careful out there.

And get one of those cute Husquavarna automatic mowers. :)
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
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The Misty Mountains
IMG_3249.jpeg

Beryl- Here it comes, it wreaked havoc in the Caribbean, actually a possibly positive for Texas based on if it’s associated with minimal flooding. . Over Cancun the hurricane became disorganized into a tropical storm and is projected to stay that way until landfall closer to Corpus Christi than Houston. It will bring rain, hopefully minimal flooding. In the meantime I’m making arrangements for a Generac standby generator that runs on natural gas. It’s pricey, $14k, they used to run $10k. But an average severe thunderstorm came through Houston a month ago and we were out of power for 11 hours.
Now you could ask how many nights in a hotel room can be bought for $14k, quite a few, but you‘d have to find a hotel with power, and the kicker is for an event like this, it‘s a matter of convienence and much more of this type of weather is anticipated.

For a 3 week event, running the gasoline generator, about $1000, making trips out daily for gas, because, you’d want to stay ahead of the curve, and how far would you have to drive to get gas? 3 weeks in a hotel, maybe $3k, not to mention if you leave, without power, you’d need to empty out your refridgerator and freezer and you’d be abandoning your home. Now, granted, I’m assuming my home will still be intact. Noted, there are tornadoes that can accompany hurricanes, 😬

I already own a gasoline powered generator that if used, burns about 15 gallons ($45) of gas per day, it has to be constantly tended with refills of gas, and I keep 10 jugs of 5 gallon containers of gas, which would last about 3 days. So for a several day event, I could handle this. But in parts of Houston, where they got the brunt of the the recent T storms, some areas were projected to be without power for 3 weeks, just because of the huge number of people who lost power and that wasn’t even a hurricane.
Fortunately, we live 75 miles from the Gulf, and in the highest part of our neighborhood, the farthest from the nearby San Jacinto River, that poses the flood threat, and we have never flooded, knock on wood. 🤞🏼
 

Herdfan

macrumors 65816
Apr 11, 2011
1,349
7,896
Looks like a good hit on Galveston. A week ago the models barely had it hitting Brownsville. And as a TS.


In the meantime I’m making arrangements for a Generac standby generator that runs on natural gas. It’s pricey, $14k, they used to run $10k. But an average severe thunderstorm came through Houston a month ago and we were out of power for 11 hours.
Now you could ask how many nights in a hotel room can be bought for $14k, quite a few, but you‘d have to find a hotel with power, and the kicker is for an event like this, it‘s a matter of convienence and much more of this type of weather is anticipated.

You won't regret it.

But I will say to not expect it to be just like regular power, it's not. You might not be able to run say the oven the same time as the dryer (if both electric). It is meant to get you by with about 90% convenience. :)
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
Looks like a good hit on Galveston. A week ago the models barely had it hitting Brownsville. And as a TS.



You won't regret it.

But I will say to not expect it to be just like regular power, it's not. You might not be able to run say the oven the same time as the dryer (if both electric). It is meant to get you by with about 90% convenience. :)
I wonder if you get some visual (maybe an app) that shows how much of capacity you're using? Fortunately we have a natural gas stove, the biggest electric draws are AC, Pool pumps, 2 refrigerators, an oven.
 

Herdfan

macrumors 65816
Apr 11, 2011
1,349
7,896
I don't know if the app does that. I have never used it.

You can tell pretty quick if there is an issue. We got our during the Derecho of 2012, which was summer and it ran the 5T a/C just fine.

Fast forward to that fall when Hurricane Sandy went up the east coast and hit us with a foot of heavy wrap-around snow. Was laying in bed that morning and heard it start up. Then die. And then it did it again. Didn't have enough power to run the heat tabs in the heat pump. But you will be able to hear it bog down when the load gets too much. Fortunately we had a gas furnace in the basement which was able to keep enough heat in the house.

They make modules that you could put on something like the pool pump so when it starts bogging down, the module senses a drop in the hertz wave, and it cuts power to that appliance.

The A/C should be fine as they really only have a high amp draw at start up. The oven will be your big one. Might not be able to use it during an outage. Like I mentioned, 90% convenience. :)

It is also a very keeping up with the Jones's thing. When I got mine, I was the second house on a street of 9 houses. When we moved last year, 7 of the 9 had them. Guess people didn't like looking out of their cold (or hot), dark houses to see the other ones lit up.. LOL.
 
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Mousse

macrumors 68040
Apr 7, 2008
3,647
7,082
Flea Bottom, King's Landing
Beryl's eye pass over my house this morning. I had 10 minutes to assess the damage before the wind kicked up again. My visible damage to any structures. The front yard is covered in tree limbs, the biggest 2 inches thick.

No power. As of now over half of Houston has no power.:(

The only positive is that my wife and kids are having fun in Vietnam right now. Since it's just me, I'll Bear Grylls a day or so.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
@Huntn

Hope everything is OK with you!
Beryl 2024- It came, it went , started raining last night, this morning no power, raining heavy, the pool looks like a tropical lake, with exotic vegetation growing in the bottom. After it cleared up, we spent several hours cleaning vegitation out of the pool. It really needs power to the pumps to let the cleaner get the small stuff.
The top of a large pine behind our house snapped off (the second time during a storm) and some of it landed on our climbing rose, most of it landed in the woods. And the neighbor has a big oak in his front yard, just like we do, but his snapped off and is laying on his house with some roof damage.

First time I’m using my portable GE Generator for real! Two summers ago or was it 4, I installed a switch on the side of the house by our electrical panel, so it’s simple to plug it in. We have tv, internet, powered fridge and AC in the bedroom. It’s been reported 2M customers are out of service, 10 transmission lines are down. :(

extra: We have what looks like a power line laying on my house and 2 neighbor houses but it also looks detached from the pole and the other end is up in some pine trees away from the power lines, so I think it’s dead. The generator. uses about 15 gallons a day and I got 50 gallons of gas so fingers crossed we get our power back within three days but I’m prepared to go refill if necessary. In fact after I use three cans, I’ll hunt for a gas station with power to refill. Today was cool but supposed to be up around 90 tomorrow so that AC will be a must along with the power to keep the bedroom cool. Any who, technically I have Internet and could be playing games, but the computer adDs a lot of heat inside the house, so I’ve decided to hold off on Gaming for now with anything other than my iPad. I’ve always got Minecraft.😁
 
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Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,968
27,051
The Misty Mountains
Glad you are OK!
I appreciate it. 😗 On Sunday I made the down payment for the Generac and should have that in 6-8 weeks, in time for the end of hurricane season. However, it was just last month that plain ole TStorms blew through and knocked outpower to 500k Houston residents. 🤔
 
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