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I hope all our Texan members are safe and well (Feb 2023)

noelekal
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All better now, thank you dsio.

Interstate 35 is one half mile east of us. It's not been effectively moving for two days. We remain unscathed. We've enjoyed staying home through the icy mess.

I paid my dues years ago having to drive on the occasional icy roads, to go in to the bank, whether it be early in my career and commuting into the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro-Mess in all that nitwit traffic, or later to drive 30 minutes to a bank in a rural community, navigating even more treacherous road conditions. I learned early on how to manage on ice without mishap even though I was but a mere youth.

Yesterday ... and Today.

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JwRosenthal
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
Beautiful town you have. Went down for my wife's birthday as she was born in Texas. We left Monday, the day before the ice.

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Driving down to San Antonio on Sunday we were surprised with the constant traffic the whole way, all doing 70 plus mph. It doesn't take much imagination to guess the impact of freezing rain and ice.

Living in Portland, we regularly experience freezing rain. You can't safely drive in it. I live near a park and knuckleheads always want to go to the park when there's any snow or ice. One guy parked uphill and across the street from us. I watched as he got out of his car then as his car started sliding downhill into mine. (We had kids at home then so more cars than could fit in the driveway.)

Wonder if Texas will ever connect their grid to the rest of the country. Your electric bills are going to be expensive.

Very great country and people.

Next stop is East Coast. More cold and ice.
We know better on the east coast. I learned my lesson many years ago when I had the “have to go to work at all costs!” mentality. My car was in the shop so I borrowed my wife’s. We had an evening of ice and freezing rain- not much, but enough that at 5:30am it was slick. I made it about half way to the train station- approaching an intersection at around 20mph and hit the brakes only to discover I was in a sheet of ice. I had to make a hard choice on the fly, either slide into cross traffic or curb it- I chose the later. It cost me about $1k in suspension work.
Prior to the days of pandemic telecommuting I would just take the leave on a wintry mix day, absolutely not worrrh the risk to properly (mine or others) nor life (mine or others). And to anyone who shames others for erring on the side of caution- go salt yourself.
 
Pvt-Public
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I grew up outside Chicago mid 60's thru 70's the only weather day our school ever had was when the water main to the school broke. Now here in the Wash DC area the schools shut down sometimes at the threat there might be snow. Different times, different places, different ways of dealing.
gbesq gbesq
I remember walking to school in blizzards when I was a kid. It was brutal. Uphill. Both ways.
My driveway alone is "uphill both ways" LOL From the creek near the middle, it's about 100 yds. up hill to the garage or about 70 yds. uphill to the street. LOL
 
gatorcpa
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Pvt-Public Pvt-Public
I grew up outside Chicago mid 60's thru 70's the only weather day our school ever had was when the water main to the school broke. Now here in the Wash DC area the schools shut down sometimes at the threat there might be snow.
Question—How many days of snow are expected in an average year in Chicago? How many in Washington DC? I suspect that difference will explain why DC shuts down when the first snowflake hits. The city simply can’t afford ice removal equipment when it will only be used twice a few times a year at most.

I have never driven in snow or ice, nor do I intend to learn. If I need to go up north in the winter, I take an Uber or public transportation.

Then again, most of you haven’t gone through tropical storm force winds or worse, I suspect, which is rather routine in our summer thunderstorms, that happen often here.

We are a product of where we come from.
gatorcpa
 
Pvt-Public
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
How many days of snow are expected in an average year in Chicago? How many in Washington DC? I suspect that difference will explain why DC shuts down when the first snowflake hits. The city simply can’t afford ice removal equipment when it will only be used twice a few times a year at most.
Exactly !
Pvt-Public Pvt-Public
Different times, different places, different ways of dealing.
 
JwRosenthal
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Pvt-Public Pvt-Public
I grew up outside Chicago mid 60's thru 70's the only weather day our school ever had was when the water main to the school broke. Now here in the Wash DC area the schools shut down sometimes at the threat there might be snow. Different times, different places, different ways of dealing.

My driveway alone is "uphill both ways" LOL From the creek near the middle, it's about 100 yds. up hill to the garage or about 70 yds. uphill to the street. LOL
When the blizzard of ‘96 hit (during the Barry admin years) there were 12 operational snow plows in the district…12!

My brother lives in Atlanta and they got that fluke snow storm a couple years ago and his wife got stuck trying to get the kids from school-they waited too long to announce closures.
She made it to the school but by that time it was already too late. She had to stay with friends that were walking distance from the school for 2 days with the kids and leave the car in the parking lot. It’s all about how the area is equipped to deal with weather and how accustomed the locals are to it.

So people who just want to wait it out in Texas (or wherever with our currently rapidly changing weather patterns) and don’t want to risk the roads with the absolute idiots out there- you have my strong encouragement.
 
Walrus
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I was annoyed as I had purchased a seiko world timer from a dude in Texas. It was supposed to be here this past Monday and when it didn’t show up I was cursing fedex,Zeus, and others. Then it dawned on me an event had occurred that messed a lot of people up and I put the watch on the back burner figuring it would make at some point. Just got a text its due tomorrow before noon.

Sometimes I forget it’s a big world with a lot going on and not everything revolves around me. I’ll send the seller a text letting him know it arrived and send some positive vibes that he got through ok. Strange it’s already February I’ve only run the snowblower once and that’s only because I redid the carburetor. It’s going to be -15f this weekend, good to have a roof over your head and some heat, not everyone does.
 
Canuck
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Black ice! We who live in the frozen wastes of the Rocky Mountain foothills (Canada) have to contend with the conditions being discussed. Snow tires, all-wheel drive, are totally useless on black ice. The city I live in has 1,500 kms of roads, and enough equipment to (generally) keep those roads passable. 27 graders, 76 tandem sanding trucks, and 7 snow blowers. Plus they hire private contractors when necessary. We cope, but it can be tough!
 
perks713
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Vermont has been a bit cold today with wind chill. Schools were closed so kids didn’t get frostbite on the walk to school. Luckily we’re built for it, I can’t imagine living somewhere like Texas and and having such an extreme swing in temp. Stay warm, friends.

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TexOmega
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Canuck,

I doubt the State of Texas has 3 of each you speak, and 2 are most likely in the shop from November through April........
 
Canuck
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TexOmega TexOmega
Canuck,

I doubt the State of Texas has 3 of each you speak, and 2 are most likely in the shop from November through April........

A bit of trivia. Texas is several thousand square miles LARGER in area than the province of Alberta, where I live! The city where I live is 327 square miles in area. The snow removal equipment I describe belongs to our city. A major 6-lane provincial freeway that runs virtually through the centre of our city is maintained by our province, so I have no idea how much equipment they need!
 
josiahg52
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Pretty cold here in the NE US:
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With the wind, it's about -42C. It is handled and dealt with much differently up here, for sure. It's supposed to quickly warm up, fortunately.
Edited:
 
river rat
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I been living in Montana since 2014 delt with snow and ice before when in the navy and trips to Reno in winter. But I learned fast in Montana to drive slow keep a good distance from other cars due to you sometimes slide a little before you come to a stop after it snows and you get ice. This winter we had a few 45 below zero days. In Montana our electric company does a great job in winter keeping the power on nothing like Texas that had a major problems in some storms. We get these heavy winds in Montana we’re I live in winter l lost 2 20ft flag poles one got bent like a tooth picks bought a cheap one from Home Depot then ordered a wind rated one both were sectional the weak point so the next one a one piece tractor trailer delivered it so far that one surviving Montana wind but never lost power longer than 10 minutes to a few hours and I live in the boondocks . Had morons slide into me from behind twice in Bozeman those suckers don’t know how to drive college students. Luckily no major damage. Our state does a great job clearing snow from the roads and putting sand down lucky no dam salt that rust the hell out of you truck or car like they do on the east coast. You learn not to drive some days if it can wait. A house getting built across from me the weather really bad but they keep working building when it snows they dig it out even used flood lights to keep going after dark seen a lot of houses built around me but the first in bad winter conditions. Most are built in spring to fall then most go hunting in winter. Tell you my back getting tired of digging snow off the driveway this winter. Was talking about Texas with some friends one laughed and said we deal with icy roads for 5-6 months of the year they should be able to handle a few days a year.
Edited:
 
blufinz52
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The US record for the coldest wind chill occurred last night on Mt. Washington in NH, at -109F.
 
RI Omega Fan
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Meanwhile, last night up on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, USA, world records were broken. The wind chill got down to -110F. 😲

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Here we are on a nice, balmy, mid-July day on the summit ~
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pdxleaf
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How to do a roofing job in Minnesota.

Step one - Use your ax to chop off the ice.

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My buddy and I back in the 80's. I took the pictures so I had the shittier job on top.
 
Archer
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
Then again, most of you haven’t gone through tropical storm force winds or worse, I suspect, which is rather routine in our summer thunderstorms, that happen often here.

According to your NWS, that would be winds of 39 to 73 m/hr (roughly 68 to 117.5 km/hr) which is not common, but not unheard of here in storms.
 
Archer
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
How to do a roofing job in Minnesota.

Step one - Use your ax to chop off the ice.

20230204_080211.jpg 20230204_080201.jpg


My buddy and I back in the 80's. I took the pictures so I had the shittier job on top.

Ice dam? I admit I've chopped a few of those off houses as well...
 
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