2022-2023 Winter Weather Thread

[atomheartbevo 89735]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this many transformers blowing or arcing or whatever.  Officially at 66,700.  At least the rain slowed down.  That may help slow down ice accumulation on the trees and lines.  Just need it to warm up a few degrees.  

edit counting the other power companies in the area they are up to about 86,000.  

Edited February 1, 2023 by atomheartbevo

[boknowstecmo 216]

Yup, power just went out in '51.

[UnivTex34 1763]

Went outside to grab firewood, and counted 9 different limbs/trees cracking and falling within a minute. Sounds like a war zone.

 

Driveway and street in front of my house are still just wet, not ice. Damn yard is one giant puddle. If this were 2-3 degrees colder, I’d be in trouble.

[Biff Tannen 45692]

Lost power in 78751 about 20 minutes ago. Hospital grid don’t care about ice on the lines and transformers. Luckily I got the gas fireplace started. Not sure how that works without a spark, but whatever. 

[South Austin 52521]

Been without power in Brentwood since about 4am. Looks like folks are driving on Burnet without issue.

[South Austin 52521]

Just now, Biff Tannen said:

Not sure how that works without a spark, but whatever. 

This gun’s for hire. Even if we’re just dancing in the dark.

[ztejas 43488]

Hey - quick fucking PSA - despite the anecdotal evidence don't start driving around Austin. Drive around enough today and you will hit ice and you will fuck either your own day up or someone else's or both. This isn't one of those situations where everyone is overreacting and being a pussy this is one of those situations where the margins are very thin and everything looks awesome until it isn't and you kill someone's grandma. 

Thanks. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

14 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

Went outside to grab firewood, and counted 9 different limbs/trees cracking and falling within a minute. Sounds like a war zone.

 

Driveway and street in front of my house are still just wet, not ice. Damn yard is one giant puddle. If this were 2-3 degrees colder, I’d be in trouble.

I’m in 78748 also and already hear a chainsaw running outside.

[Biff Tannen 45692]

Just took the dogs out to pee. Trees and lines are all ice, but street and driveway are just wet. Guess the ground is still warmish. 

[Bateshorn 9928]

2 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Hey - quick fucking PSA - despite the anecdotal evidence don't start driving around Austin. Drive around enough today and you will hit ice and you will fuck either your own day up or someone else's or both. This isn't one of those situations where everyone is overreacting and being a pussy this is one of those situations where the margins are very thin and everything looks awesome until it isn't and you kill someone's grandma. 

Thanks. 

As a Texpat who has spent decades living in a place with real winter weather:  ITS STOPPING, not going, that is the hard part in icy weather. 
 

None of y’all have proper winter tires and your 4x4 system and big pick up don’t mean shit when you hit the brakes.  Stay home until the temps get up and you get a proper melt. 

[UnivTex34 1763]

1 minute ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I’m in 78748 also and already hear a chainsaw running outside.

I’m literally about 10 inches from being that guy.

 

 

[Homercles 10206]

6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Hey - quick fucking PSA - despite the anecdotal evidence don't start driving around Austin. Drive around enough today and you will hit ice and you will fuck either your own day up or someone else's or both. This isn't one of those situations where everyone is overreacting and being a pussy this is one of those situations where the margins are very thin and everything looks awesome until it isn't and you kill someone's grandma. 

Thanks. 

Weren’t you, just an hour ago, hoping for a work cancellation because you’re still drunk and not interested in navigating the streets?

[ztejas 43488]

13 minutes ago, Homercles said:

Weren’t you, just an hour ago, hoping for a work cancellation because you’re still drunk and not interested in navigating the streets?

I'm failing to understand the "gotcha" here. I was never going to work today. 

Maybe your sarcasm meter needs adjusting? 

Edited February 1, 2023 by ztejas

[Anastasis 23477]

Why is grandma driving around if I am not suppose to be. Someone tell that old broad with her slow reaction times to stay in bed. 

[AUS-97HORN 11809]

I was in the 2000 kansas city ice storm where we got almost 1 inch  like 13/16th of an inch of ice on everything and it took the city 8 days to restore my power in the middle of the city, and in the meantime the streets looked like a mega warzone with whole sides of trees laying on the ground

[Orange&White 5528]

Drove from NW Austin to Georgetown this morning. The roads are really just wet from rain. The rain has basically melted most of the ice on the bridges and turned it to soft slush, but there are still a few patches of real ice. The ice laden oak trees are the a real danger because they are hanging all over the roadways, so slow down if you are on a tree lined street/neighborhood.

[South Austin 52521]

Seems like we got so much more ice over a shorter amount of time than in Feb. 2021, and it’s weighing down trees and lines all over the city. I’m not sure why else there’s a wider spread of outages this quickly. Based on the Austin Energy outage map, I don’t see my power coming on this morning anytime soon.

[Anastasis 23477]

So far I’m down one tree. I hated that fucker anyways. All the oaks are hanging in but it needs to warm up quick and drop some of this ice off them. 

[Homercles 10206]

Here in cedar park I walked outside for five minutes to inspect my own situation…during which I saw two huge branches fall of neighbors trees and hear an ominous buzzing every 90 seconds.  I know what PhD said about once-in-a-thousand-years but I’m still getting major snowvid flashbacks from the ice alone. 

[UnivTex34 1763]

Power out in 78748

[HOOKEM4 5038]

I feel lucky that AE just finished trimming all the trees in our hood a few weeks ago. All of the sagging trees are well away from the lines.

[Biff Tannen 45692]

13 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Seems like we got so much more ice over a shorter amount of time than in Feb. 2021, and it’s weighing down trees and lines all over the city. I’m not sure why else there’s a wider spread of outages this quickly. Based on the Austin Energy outage map, I don’t see my power coming on this morning anytime soon.

Yep. Ice is falling all over my place. Another transformer just blew. I don’t plan on having power til at least tomorrow. 

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13585]

Woke up to the sound of cracking ice. Looked out to see my truck partially blocked in by a sagging oak. Heard 2 trees fall in the neighborhood while moving my truck out of the danger zone. 

[hornian 5219]

78731 ice storm check in. Losing limbs on cedar trees. Haven’t had power since 4:45 am (it actually woke me up - we have an air purifier in the bedroom and the silence woke me I guess). 

[Blotto 23560]

My power just took a shit (78751). 

[HenryJames 66132]

1 minute ago, hornian said:

Losing limbs on cedar trees.

[Ghost of LL 15539]

I have to go into the office, as I have no power and a hearing today. So I can’t do my Zoom hearing from home (unless I want to go do it from my car). So I’ll report on the roads from downtown after a while.

[Anastasis 23477]

I can hear trees and or big limbs coming down all over my neighborhood. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

9 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

Power out in 78748

What part?  Ours is still on just south of Westgate and Slaughter.

[Tailgate 3022]

Limbs coming down all around yard in 78739. One just took out a piece of gutter….good morning!

[UnivTex34 1763]

1 minute ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

What part?  Ours is still on just south of Westgate and Slaughter.

Slaughter/Manchaca

[Armybrat 40851]

Power out here 78717 at 7:30am

[Anastasis 23477]

Thank god there are no gusting winds or this would be a total shit show. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

Thank god there are no gusting winds or this would be a total shit show. 

Oh thanks, man, you've jinxed us!

[HenryJames 66132]

Neighbor.

[Hefeweizen 5328]

Guys I think I figured out the power issue.

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89735]

7 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Oh thanks, man, you've jinxed us!

Yep already at 122,000 Austin Energy with another 46,000 from outlying areas.   

Edited February 1, 2023 by atomheartbevo

[AUS-97HORN 11809]

and boom.  after I heard the 3rd transformer in 30 mins blow (with power cycling each of the first 2 times)  totally out in 78757

 

this might be a long couple of days.

[HenryJames 66132]

4 minutes ago, Hefeweizen said:

Guys I think I figured out the power issue.

 

 

I think the dude on the left in clown shoes is doing the sign for Pauly Shore.

[atomheartbevo 89735]

 

Austin Energy’s IT guys right bow

 

[Homercles 10206]

I’d like to express my gratitude to the city of cedar park, for their newsletter email states ‘we are reaching out to make sure you’re aware the NWS has issued a winter storm warning’.  

Edited February 1, 2023 by Homercles

[Gatorubet 30247]

3 minutes ago, Homercles said:

I’d like to express my gratitude to the city of cedar park, for their newsletter email states ‘we are reaching out to make sure you’re aware the NWS has issued a winter stork warning’.  

[TexArcher 37983]

Lots of crackling sounds in 78730, but the power's holding on, so far.

Stay off the roads, people.  I don't care if you're pretty sure you can make it.  The only things that ought to be on the roads today are power trucks and first responders.  Get out of their way.

Edited February 1, 2023 by TexArcher

[BabaYaga 15301]

1 hour ago, UnivTex34 said:

I’m literally about 10 inches from being that guy.

 

What she said.....

[phdhorn 6224]

Morning... well I'll leave out the "this is bad" talk because this is bad. Why it happened weatherwise I'll also skip over for now, but the bar ate us on this one. It's still gonna get worse in NW Texas today, but we have our own problems.

So here's today weatherwise for Austin and immediate surroundings (N and W will be worse):
- First the good(?) news is that this heavy band of rain is clearing the area to the NE. So at least for a few hours the ice won't get much worse. The bad news is another round should happen later today and tonight. How bad it'll be simply is how the temps fare.
- Also, there is warm air slowly working its way up from the SW, and actually the heavier rain is dragging down warmer air above the cold layer. Hopefully these will cause temps to rise - but I'm not sure fast and wide enough.
- Temps will rise actually into tonight for these (and other reasons), and most of us should actually be above freezing by wakeup tomorrow.  But of course that means we have to get through today. It's not going to be fun. More and more stuff will break, power lost, etc. 

In this case, we didn't get much help to keep this from being a destructive storm. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes... 

I'll be back later if weather merits it... oh yeah I've lost big parts of (for now and counting) 3 trees, all cedar. I'm gonna need a bigger chainsaw.

 

[A-Tex Devil 2451]

Out in 78746 (Austin city limits part) since 6:15.  Some solace in that it will be 55 degrees tomorrow so even if power not back I can leave the house and get away from the family.   This is apparently my fault because we are still in the generator waiting list. 

[GhostOfTomJoad 9337]

In CP. Vacant investor home behind me had a dead tree fall into our backyard around 7AM. Told my buddies beers are on me when they help me push it over the fence.

It sounds like when the marching band comes down the street for their fundraiser each summer.

[phdhorn 6224]

power just did the on/off/on flicker, this is gonna be a fun day.

At least yesterday we got a notice that our power had been restored, but it never went out. Maybe I can use it as an IOU.

Buckle up, gonna be a fun ride the next 24.

 

[Post Oak 20247]

I feel so much better when phd is around.

[phdhorn 6224]

FYI, current outage map:

Not sure how you get 100K out of that, but maths isn't a requirement.

Edited February 1, 2023 by phdhorn