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Texas-Era, brace for the cold snap.
- Thread starter Ottaro
- Start date
I want to jump on that trampoline so badly.
Stay safe.
How unprecedented is this?
In Bedford / DFW, power hasn't gone out since Saturday night around 11:30 PM, and that was only for 30-40 mins. But, we appear to be without water this morning. Not sure if that means someone else's pipe burst in the complex, or if shit just froze, or if it got turned off to somehow prevent that?
There's never been a wind chill warning in Austin before yesterday, today is the coldest day either since the 1980s or just ever depending on the forecast, 400,000 people in Austin currently without power. I've been living here a decade and never saw more than 1.5 inches of snow on the ground, and that happened earlier this winter.
So, I love winter weather, and have been in DFW for a decade now. The first 5 years were amazing, then we go on this 6-year snow drought. I decide to go to Jamaica for 8 days out of the entire winter and it decides to finally snow while out of the country. At least it's so cold that when I come back everything that happened over the last week and the major one coming Wednesday should all be preserved.
Also, thank God for Nest. I wasn't prepared for rolling blackouts and noticed my home was 40 degrees Fahrenheit, probably thanks to that 5-6 hour blackout we had. I was able to get my home warmed up. Just hope my pipes are ok.
Also, thank God for Nest. I wasn't prepared for rolling blackouts and noticed my home was 40 degrees Fahrenheit, probably thanks to that 5-6 hour blackout we had. I was able to get my home warmed up. Just hope my pipes are ok.
My part of Houston received minimal snow overnight, but I did wake up to no power and no water, and we have an electric stove in this apartment complex. Classic Houston bullshit. Cannot even enjoy a "snowday".
I'm in OKC and haven't lost power thankfully. It's cold af though. The snow is really light and blows around easily - on the side of the house that the wind blows up against the snow is about waist-high just because of the wind. On the other side you can still see grass.
Sucks to have to work from home on a day like this. It doesn't look like we'll go above freezing until Friday.
Looks like a lot of people are without power:
Sucks to have to work from home on a day like this. It doesn't look like we'll go above freezing until Friday.
Looks like a lot of people are without power:
In North Ft. Worth, lost power at around 8am, still out now. Luckily got plenty of fire wood for the fire place, but now just wrapping my cat up in a blanket to help keep her warm.
Dealt with colder weather before when I lived in Milwaukee, hopefully we get power back soon. Knew I should've gotten a gas stove.
Dealt with colder weather before when I lived in Milwaukee, hopefully we get power back soon. Knew I should've gotten a gas stove.
Austin here! 58 inside, power has been out since midnight. My in laws are about 3 miles away and still have power, we've discussed walking because the roads are still just... a ski trail
Make sure you are all leaving your water running/dripping.
I recommend running a little over dripping in this case.
Leave your hot water at least dripping too, in case anyone thinks it's only cold that you leave dripping.
I recommend running a little over dripping in this case.
Leave your hot water at least dripping too, in case anyone thinks it's only cold that you leave dripping.
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Fort Worth here.
Pipes are frozen except for one sink and only intermittent power. Not sure how warm the house is going to stay once the sun goes down. We have stuff for sandwiches, but we weren't expecting an extended power outage. We had counted on having hot water at the very least.
I feel like the power companies should have been better prepared. We had a week's notice for this.
Pipes are frozen except for one sink and only intermittent power. Not sure how warm the house is going to stay once the sun goes down. We have stuff for sandwiches, but we weren't expecting an extended power outage. We had counted on having hot water at the very least.
I feel like the power companies should have been better prepared. We had a week's notice for this.
Humans can survive without food for about 2 months.
RIP in peace
I'm completely ignorant to this but I live in the Midwest and it gets this cold usually every year, we are of course better prepped for this sort of weather I am just wondering how people are losing power and such?
As someone who lives somewhat close to Texas in northern Mexico, it's been pretty damn rough. Subway is suspended, a lot of stores didn't open today and luckily I got power back about an hour ago.
Read on Twitter that some parts of Chihuahua don't even have water right now, feel bad for them.
Read on Twitter that some parts of Chihuahua don't even have water right now, feel bad for them.
Was gonna play some PC games, but the 600W the tower consumes are better spent by someone else heating their house. Portable switch with battery banks it is.
If you have been in DFW for that long then no, you don't really love winter weather, or you would have moved.
You're living in the wrong place then.
If you have been in DFW for that long then no, you don't really love winter weather, or you would have moved.
Housing is constructed differently in the midwest to properly handle massive drops in temperature through insulation and pipe protections. Down south where they don't usually get this cold, things just aren't made to handle this.
I got an email from my leasing office saying the utility companies will start taking turns powering down and up to reduce the strain on the grid.
I kinda don't get it either, I'd assume the power draw in Houston during the summer with everyone cranking AC's should exceed this storm since some heating is going to be from gas. Maybe with the renewable energy down they don't have enough capacity with fossil fuels anymore?
Multi hour outages in DFW. Got power back and gf and I are proactively cooking right now for a few days. We also turned our fridge/freezer colder as well.
My folks' power has been out since like 5am. They live basically downtown Austin. It's got me worried.
do y'all think there's Uber/taxi drivers out there today in Austin?
do y'all think there's Uber/taxi drivers out there today in Austin?
The infrastructure down here is not designed to handle this kind of thing. Houses are not built to withstand 0 degree weather in Texas.
Stay safe, Texas-Era. Also make sure to take precautions if using space heaters (propane, kerosene, natural gas) during a power outage:
www.hopkinsmedicine.org
Here in MN, you always hear a few stories of deaths or close calls of people running portable propane heaters indoors, or in ice houses.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning is a life-threatening emergency that occurs when carbon monoxide (CO) fumes are inhaled.
Most new developments I've seen are underground from the street in, but that's it. It's still line and pole to the edge of the development
Go slow and don't ride the brakes if you start to slide. As soon as they lock up it's game over.
Also depending on the snow you might not have a problem at all. If it's really wet and sticky stuff it's actually a lot of fun to drive in.
- if really don't have to go somewhere, try to stay home
- leave yourself a lot of extra time to get where you're going, so you're not in a hurry to get somewhere
- avoid accelerating and braking too quickly - drive slowly and cautiously
- stick to the ruts created by other cars as much as possible
- leave a lot of space between your car and the cars in front of you because it will take longer to stop
- if you need to turn, brake in a straight line as much as possible, and slowly accelerate when coming out of the turn
- if your car's back end starts coming out during a turn, steer in the direction of the slide to avoid spinning out
- be prepared for an emergency - have warm clothing and a charged phone in case you wind up in a ditch
We had a low of -25 this morning.
drive slow. Change lanes slowly and turn slowly. Most cars have anti lock breaks so your breaks shouldn't lock up from sliding but if you don't have anti locks just pump your breaks. Stay far back from anyone in front of you, I hate when someone's riding my ass in snow. I'd advise start breaking way ahead of any stoplights and stop signs. The last thing you want to do is slide into an intersection.
drive slow. Change lanes slowly and turn slowly. Most cars have anti lock breaks so your breaks shouldn't lock up from sliding but if you don't have anti locks just pump your breaks. Stay far back from anyone in front of you, I hate when someone's riding my ass in snow. I'd advise start breaking way ahead of any stoplights and stop signs. The last thing you want to do is slide into an intersection.
Power was out for an hour last night in pflugerville. It came back and hasn't gone off again. My wife and 2 kids are trying to stay occupied while I work. Wife's work at a medical office was cancelled at least today and tomorrow.
I work remote and most of my team is in Boston. They don't seem to understand the severity of what's happening. One of them was like 'i took the dog for a walk in minus 5 temps this morning. You'll be fine.'
I work remote and most of my team is in Boston. They don't seem to understand the severity of what's happening. One of them was like 'i took the dog for a walk in minus 5 temps this morning. You'll be fine.'
San Antonio here. Powers been off 12-13 hours. Thermostat says it's 58 inside but feels much colder than that. Wish I had a gas stove. Anything warm to eat sounds good right now. Tempted to hold a can or anything I have over a candle for awhile.
I lived in conroe and drove to Sam Houston at least 2 times a week. When you get passed like nothing going 90 and you look over and the person is on the phone it's sobering. Luckily I never saw a big accident on that stretchHouston Chronicle has been doing a great series on this very thing:
Out of Control: Houston’s roads, drivers are nation's most deadly
Six hundred-forty people a year die on Houston-area roads, and 2,850 more are injured badly enough to go to a hospital. The carnage, all factors considered, makes the nine-county region the most dangerous major metro area for drivers in the United States, a Houston Chronicle analysis reveals.www.houstonchronicle.com
I've been lucky enough to still have power in my area, but I'm prepared at any minute to be a part of the next phase of rolling blackout.
