2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

The street outside my house looks like pure ice in south Austin.  Problem is forecast is only 33-34 today so may be hard to access what the afternoon will look like.  
My brother drove here in the snow from Buda with his two kids.  He just found out he has power now but is likely stuck with us another day/night if roads are iced.

As long as you can get some sun on it, it should melt the ice

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

Dptapabork

[phdhorn 6,224]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

As long as you can get some sun on it, it should melt the ice

Not today. Or tomorrow.  But temps are > 32° today in much of TX thru at least dinner time.

[Neonmoon 38,129]

So are we waiting for natural gas plants to unfreeze basically? Where are they located? And what day does that mean? Are we talking Saturday or Sunday?

Edited February 17, 2021 by Neonmoon

[ztejas 43,473]

Anyone else have poor water pressure in Austin? Potentially not due to pipes freezing? 

[ztejas 43,473]

5 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Not today. Or tomorrow.  But temps are > 32° today in much of TX thru at least dinner time.

You mean the underlying ice right at surface level? Because snow is melting right now. And I'm assuming will continue to melt until the sun goes down. 

[Somnio 751]

5 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Not today. Or tomorrow.  But temps are > 32° today in much of TX thru at least dinner time.

And then another good chance of precipitation while freezing tomorrow morning.

 

[boknowstecmo 216]

Finally lost power around 6am. In a corner apartment, we'll see how much taping the seam of my front door helps. 

[SubliminalHorn 6,806]

Just now, ztejas said:

Anyone else have poor water pressure in Austin? Potentially not due to pipes freezing? 

We lost water, but we also got an email saying a pipe busted in the garage and that it may interrupt water to some apartments. We’re going that’s the reason and that it will be running again at some point today 

[BrickTop 477]

Power has been rolling Northwest Harris County somewhat consistently at 1 off 4 on still no water filled a couple of coolers with snow/Ice and am catching run off from the roof to fill the tubs. Tomball’s water supply is messed up, lots of wells with frozen small parts and chlorine injectors. Tomball ER is closed due to a massive water leak from burst pipes, we got a call that a nursing home had swiftly rising water this morning due to burst pipes. I feel bad for a lot of people who have been without power this whole time especially ones in older/lower income homes. We made a call Monday for multiple CO poisonings, people burning in their homes just to keep their families warm.

[phdhorn 6,224]

4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

You mean the underlying ice right at surface level? Because snow is melting right now. And I'm assuming will continue to melt until the sun goes down. 

yes

[BrickTop 477]

Also when all this went down Monday morning and we lost power 3 key point generators failed including the one for 911, 2 fire stations and a dispatch were ran off mobile generators which outperformed the big fixed ones by a mile.....impressive infrastructure

[burntorangebongos 10,747]

Yaayy. I got someone to come Friday morning. I hope the temp stays above freezing by then and I get my water on without too much damage. I hate the fucking builder who put my water heater in my attic. Jesus, what a dick. 

[phdhorn 6,224]

4 minutes ago, Somnio said:

And then another good chance of precipitation while freezing tomorrow morning.

 

Yep.  last round, but with that storm temperatures will start rising afterward and then keep rising through the weekend.

One more no lube...

[Dahobbs 17,625]

We abandoned the house and went to a friend's with a generator. According to my doorbell, our power came back at 2 am. I went to check on things this morning, including our dogs (bundled up in warmest room of the house). Power went back off about an hour after I got there. At least the house is warm again for awhile. 

[Cajun 11,714]

5 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Yep.  last round, but with that storm temperatures will start rising afterward and then keep rising through the weekend.

One more no lube...

This time next Thursday it’ll be damned near 80F

[phdhorn 6,224]

13 minutes ago, Cajun said:

This time next Thursday it’ll be damned near 80F

Ah, good weather to clean up the corpses from the coming week's supermarket and gas station Hunger Games wars!

[Auto Driller 2,506]

Where the fuck is FEMA in all this? Is it not an emergency when 4M+ people are freezing their asses off and without water?

[rage-a-holic 4,402]

30 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Anyone else have poor water pressure in Austin? Potentially not due to pipes freezing? 

Yes, Circle C/South Autstin area is having a problem

Quote

Travis County

Circle C – Austin Water says people who live in the 78739 zip code in south and southwest Austin may be experiencing water outages and low water pressure.

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by rage-a-holic

[gsoda3 3,263]

47 minutes ago, EE2B said:

This was quoted in his post. I didn’t read the full release but this certainly reads the way he described it in the tweet.

yeah that's the one, he's way wrong.  there's good discussion in the cloak room ERCOT thread about this.  

[Hanrahan 1,306]

My power appears to be back on in Houston - Memorial. I believe it came back on at about 4 am, but I've been warned of rolling black outs. So fingers crossed, and knock on wood. 
Thanks to the Minnesota poster upthread that suggested a Mr. Heater indoor space heater. It won't help much this go around, but I'll be ready next time. In the mean time, I'll use it stay warm on my back porch. 

Yours back off yet? Memorial and Wilcrest came on about the same time and crapped out at 9:30.

[texhorn 351]

You mean the underlying ice right at surface level? Because snow is melting right now. And I'm assuming will continue to melt until the sun goes down. 

You guys have sun?? Nothing but grey, gloomy and 25 here in Georgetown.

[billfromlaketravis 11,515]

Just now, Hanrahan said:

 

Yours back off yet? Memorial and Wilcrest came on about the same time and crapped out at 9:30.

 

Still rocking. Following the city guidelines to keep the heat at 68. I'm expecting another black out. Getting everything ready while I can. 

[phdhorn 6,224]

11 minutes ago, Auto Driller said:

Where the fuck is FEMA in all this? Is it not an emergency when 4M+ people are freezing their asses off and without water?

Agreed (no politico).

[gurt 749]

 

14 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

yeah that's the one, he's way wrong.  there's good discussion in the cloak room ERCOT thread about this.  

Edited February 17, 2021 by gurt

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

Ercot says they're pushing 50k now. How high did they get yesterday?

[Sbbruin 21,861]

24 minutes ago, Auto Driller said:

Where the fuck is FEMA in all this? Is it not an emergency when 4M+ people are freezing their asses off and without water?

[Message Board User 12,395]

 

[Somnio 751]

12 minutes ago, texhorn said:

You guys have sun?? Nothing but grey, gloomy and 25 here in Georgetown.

None in S. Austin.  Gray, cold, and covered in snow and ice. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

I'm down to a two cans of beans and a dozen cold tamales. This will not stand.

Contact the PUC and get an offer on your natural gas production...

[ztejas 43,473]

17 minutes ago, texhorn said:

You guys have sun?? Nothing but grey, gloomy and 25 here in Georgetown.

Not really but it's warm enough for shit to melt. 

[MoJames 8,244]

18 minutes ago, texhorn said:

You guys have sun?? Nothing but grey, gloomy and 25 here in Georgetown.

Blue skies in Colorado.

[texhorn 351]

Ercot says they're pushing 50k now. How high did they get yesterday?

Upper 40s

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

Didn’t know what I was picking up last week in my hasty preparations, but I’m definitely team Little Buddy at this point. Going to acquire a couple more and some more 20# adapter hoses as insurance before next winter. Much better than electric space heaters, especially when there is no electric to use. 
 

 

[CleverNickname 1,319]

Barrington Oaks (Nw Austin 78759) no water. I cut mine off voluntarily yesterday. 

[Somnio 751]

1 minute ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

Didn’t know what I was picking up last week in my hasty preparations, but I’m definitely team Little Buddy at this point. Going to acquire a couple more and some more 20# adapter hoses as insurance before next winter. Much better than electric space heaters, especially when there is no electric to use. 
 

 

How long is a tank lasting you?

[BonzoMontreaux 1,051]

No sun where I am at.  Stuff is melting though. 

[clapclapclap 9,000]

Watching the ERCOT press conference, salt and pepper beard's eyes and movements sure looks like he's lying his ass off.

[Somnio 751]

4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Not really but it's warm enough for shit to melt. 

Where are you?  I'm not seeing much melting take place.  Not to be a Debbie Downer, but at the rate any melting is taking place in my neck of the woods I'd still have snow and ice come July.

[ztejas 43,473]

4 minutes ago, Somnio said:

Where are you?  I'm not seeing much melting take place.  Not to be a Debbie Downer, but at the rate any melting is taking place in my neck of the woods I'd still have snow and ice come July.

78758

[Somnio 751]

78744

[clapclapclap 9,000]

Really pathetic that only 1 of the 4 OTA TV stations in DFW is covering this ERCOT press conference.  And they aren't being tossed softball questions.  NBC and CBS are already in their newscast, but I guess we have to program to the ADD lowest common denominator.

[Dewey 3,286]

11 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

Didn’t know what I was picking up last week in my hasty preparations, but I’m definitely team Little Buddy at this point. Going to acquire a couple more and some more 20# adapter hoses as insurance before next winter. Much better than electric space heaters, especially when there is no electric to use. 
 

 

If you were an energy company, you'd be selling that little set up for $10,000

[Somnio 751]

Those branches normaly wouldn't even be in view.  They're sagging from the ice.

[mchookem 16,336]

i'm sure it's been reported...power just popped back on in 78757. we're not doing much until we see if it lasts!

[Dbeasy 15,068]

How do I tell how much water I might have in the hot water heater tank? Water's been out for awhile, and I'm curious whether it all drained out.

[TwiceHorn 31,495]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

So are we waiting for natural gas plants to unfreeze basically? Where are they located? And what day does that mean? Are we talking Saturday or Sunday?

Most likely.  Some coal capacity could come on at some point.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_Texas

[ZB'Tejas 593]

Approaching hour 60 with no power, no hot water (still flowing), a manual burning wood fire place with no starter and no gas appliances (no line). The last of the Doritos and almond butter are gone. About to give up, load up the dog and retreat. Been driving last two days all over in 4x4 with no issues in the snow. How fucked am I to drive in north Austin now?  Pure ice?  Wait until noon to make a break?
 
Good luck to all of those taking it with no lube 

Everything is ice and slush in central austin but I had no issues driving around in 4WD. Even stopped off at a gas station and filled up with gas plus bought extra water jugs.

Yesterday the lines at CVS and 7-Eleven were nutty.


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[atomheartbevo 89,727]

17 minutes ago, CleverNickname said:

Barrington Oaks (Nw Austin 78759) no water. I cut mine off voluntarily yesterday. 

Most likely a very localized problem.  Like a water main problem.  

I want to strangle people on Facebook.   Lots of rumors flying around from somebody’s brother’s friend who works in an energy company in Houston or Dallas that Austin is going to cut off all water tonight to fix some problem and it will come back tomorrow with a boil notice.  

[TwiceHorn 31,495]

23 minutes ago, texhorn said:

Upper 40s

Current cap over 50.  Havent seen that since I started following early Monday morning, like 1AM.