Baby It's (been) Cold Outside (and inside!)

[375 Ruger Fan]

We had 3 F as a low a couple days ago in NW Louisiana and 8-10 inches of snow and ice accumulation. Had a rolling blackout for a couple hours yesterday. Been burning a lot of firewood too! My 4x4 truck, with some weight added in back (6x50lb sacks of sand) has managed to get around ok and pulled 3 stuck vehicles out so far. Every Bubba with a truck and tow line seems to be doing good deeds. Wondering if I should by a set of tire chains.

Yesterday, I captured a photo on a trail cam of the illusive Louisiana snow wolf. A neighbor was setting a trap line to see if he could get some snow crabs.

 

[Tbitty]

We had -23 on our coldest morning here in Kansas. My inside temperature never dropped below 75. Some days we had to open windows to cool the house. Hedge wood burns hot.

Grew up in KS with a wood burning stove. Cut a lot of hedge for those good hot fires and all day/night warmth.

 

[wesheltonj]

I have a friend in Baird Tx that said he saw -2 one morning.
I don't know if true but I've seen online reports that axis and blackbuck populations nearly wiped out in many areas?

I don’t know about the blackbucks, but the Axis are still walking around in my neighborhood.

Spoke too soon, a neighbor posted some photos of some dead Axis Fawns.

 

[Brent in Az]

I wish I could send some of our good weather your guy's way. Best of wishes to the great state of Texas. Hopefully, you will all be back to normal soon!

 

[375Fox]

And yes, I know all you damn Yankees walked to grade school three miles each way in these conditions. We are not equipped - physically or culturally - for such temps. Williamson county doesn't even own a snow plow. And my highly refined Southern blood will take weeks to function normally again.

Posting this just because of all the “damn yankee” comments (but am glad most everyone made it through safely)

However, I will admit to never being as cold as I’ve been in west Texas anywhere else in the country or Canada. Ice fog in Texas really scares me, very glad my days at work ended last Thursday and didn’t resume until today. I nearly missed it all. I’ve learned to break the ice off my antenna before driving.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I had to put on a sweatshirt to take the Harley on a ride this afternoon....

 

[375Fox]

Did I read correctly that the natural gas lines were also frozen? Or was all of the blackout due to the wind/solar equipment failure?

you can google it and a lot of articles will come up, but natural gas production fell dramatically with the cold temperatures too. Texas isn’t set up for cold weather like other states. It’s not as simple as just letting as oil/gas well flow. Workers can’t always get into field to fix issues when unsafe to drive. Oil/gas production makes a lot of water that needs dealt with and can freeze and further damage equipment. Colder temperatures make more ideal conditions for hydrates to form. These would be some of my guesses, but many more reasons on top of these.

 

[sierraone]

I just landed in Bozeman, Montana and it is two degrees warmer than Houston! Me and Ted both got the hell out of there!

Unbelievable.

 

[CJW]

Grew up in KS with a wood burning stove. Cut a lot of hedge for those good hot fires and all day/night warmth.

I grew up in Illinois and we had a wood stove in the nice finished basement. All it needed was one piece of hedge put on a hot fire and it could become uninhabitable pretty quick. I wish I had just one truck load of it.

 

[JimP]

From what I heard on the gas lines is that the control valves were frozen.

 

[Pheroze]

you can google it and a lot of articles will come up, but natural gas production fell dramatically with the cold temperatures too. Texas isn’t set up for cold weather like other states. It’s not as simple as just letting as oil/gas well flow. Workers can’t always get into field to fix issues when unsafe to drive. Oil/gas production makes a lot of water that needs dealt with and can freeze and further damage equipment. Colder temperatures make more ideal conditions for hydrates to form. These would be some of my guesses, but many more reasons on top of these.

Like everything else nowadays, news is so political I cannot tell what I am reading anymore. I thought I would just ask lol

 

[Hogpatrol]

Anecdotal but may warm some hearts. Kansas had rolling blackouts, mostly in the counties that voted for Biden.

 

[lwaters]

Anecdotal but may warm some hearts. Kansas had rolling blackouts, mostly in the counties that voted for Biden.

We never had any here. I thjnk they did shut off some areas that were poor Bill payers

 

[lwaters]

I had to put on a sweatshirt to take the Harley on a ride this afternoon....

Its up to 30 tonight so just ran the pellet stove.

 

[lwaters]

Posting this just because of all the “damn yankee” comments (but am glad most everyone made it through safely)
View attachment 389909View attachment 389908
However, I will admit to never being as cold as I’ve been in west Texas anywhere else in the country or Canada. Ice fog in Texas really scares me, very glad my days at work ended last Thursday and didn’t resume until today. I nearly missed it all. I’ve learned to break the ice off my antenna before driving.
View attachment 389911

That air tight stove will heat

 

[WAB]

From what I heard on the gas lines is that the control valves were frozen.

Not surprised, no way they’re set up to dry the actuator air for these temps. I remember our fuel gas freezing in the Fairbanks refinery at -60’F. My safety glasses froze to my face. I feel for you guys. Trying to make equipment run 30 degrees below its lower design limit is not easy.

 

[Tra3]

@Red Leg I also am in MN and got some of @Rob404 -23 F. It is hard to be a silent damn Yankee and read about what other people think is cold.
But then I lived in southern Spain for two years. 35 F was painful! An entire city built to shed heat rather than conserve it, that will make a guy cold. That experience was a good dose of empathy and learning how one’s body adapts to the environment.

 

[lwaters]

No wood to burn here in Greenland. Better have a good sleeping bag

 

[CJW]

I took this when it was still around -30 below. He is tired of being cooped up but it was too cold to touch the snow for too long.

This is his most favorite spot when it's cold.

 

[lwaters]

You know if someone suggested that the wind turbines and gas lines should be winterized they would have declared him an idiot. This is just a once in a lifetime occurrence for Texas. I doubt if anyone alive will see it happen again. I've lived in Kansas all my life and 13 days below freezing is a record. I have seen it colder. My record is 26 below but never it lasting this long.