Sheba, Our 12YO Lab-Shepherd, Had a Stroke

[JR]

Hope you and your family are staying safe Ron. It is apparrent Texas can not handle a little chilly weather!

 

[Wiredawg]

Hope you and your family are staying safe Ron. It is apparrent Texas can not handle a little chilly weather!

Yes Sir, major cold is bad. We lucked out when I discovered sink and toilet water lines froze... I turned on space heater that gradually thawed both, no leaks. We have not had power outage, but have 25KW diesel genset if we did that can run about a week.

We have great utlities support, had a waterline break somewhere on the other side of the water meters, fixed when we woke up.

Forecast shows temps should start normaling up by Friday. Good hard freeze helps kill bugs and makes plants hardier.

Cheers and stay warm, Ron

 

[gsbrockman]

We had an outage beginning around 5:00 pm EDT yesterday; it was restored about 9:30 pm. Unfortunately....it went out again at 1:30 am today. I’m running a 6,250 watt Centurion/Generac generator. We have two smaller heaters, my fiber optic system, and 65” LG OLED tv going currently. Forecast to be 4*F here tonight. 70% of my county is out, and it’s gonna be a long few days with additional weather systems rolling in later tonight....

 

[DavidC]

Cheer up guy's, the SIL, Daughter and kids have been significantly below 0 for weeks now. Either way you can keep all of it.

 

[JR]

It really amazes me how delicate our infrastructure can be all over the country. Texas has to be geared up for severe weather, Ie extreme heat and everyone and their brother running A/C. Intriguing how 1/6 of the states power grid crashes from a cold snap....I am guessing many probably heat with natural gas/propane due to its availability and cost compared to electric?
On the radio they are blaming it on windmills freezing up. They run here out on Lake Erie above the freezing spray and Lake Effect blizzards pretty reliably. Strange indeed.

 

[JR]

We had an outage beginning around 5:00 pm EDT yesterday; it was restored about 9:30 pm. Unfortunately....it went out again at 1:30 am today. I’m running a 6,250 watt Centurion/Generac generator. We have two smaller heaters, my fiber optic system, and 65” LG OLED tv going currently. Forecast to be 4*F here tonight. 70% of my county is out, and it’s gonna be a long few days with additional weather systems rolling in later tonight....

Greg what do you heat with?

 

[gsbrockman]

Greg what do you heat with?

Heat pump.

 

[DavidC]

Just saw 200k Texans told to boil water as the water facilities have not had power. Kind of odd they do not have generators.

 

[DavidC]

Just talked to the Daughter at Minot ND and they are talking about rolling black outs to help get power to Texas. Minot currently -3 wind chill -17.

 

[crispyboy]

We were supposed to get up to 12" of snow but only received an inch of sleet and 3.5 inches of snow. My dog Phoebe (border collie) and I did go feed the cows before the ice and snow came through yesterday. I wanted to get a jump on the bad weather coming through. The pictures are taken pre-storm.
I can't help think of how our country can think of pushing electric cars with a power grid that cannot handle a winter storm.

 

[bcbender]

I can't help think of how our country can think of pushing electric cars with a power grid that cannot handle a winter storm.

Ding ding ding.. we have a winner! Its just all hype to keep them happy and distracted... Most POLs just vote to enact these mandates far enough out so they never actually have to deal with them..

 

[BSeyler]

I love Border Collies! That picture makes me want to get another one.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

It really amazes me how delicate our infrastructure can be all over the country. Texas has to be geared up for severe weather, Ie extreme heat and everyone and their brother running A/C. Intriguing how 1/6 of the states power grid crashes from a cold snap....I am guessing many probably heat with natural gas/propane due to its availability and cost compared to electric?
On the radio they are blaming it on windmills freezing up. They run here out on Lake Erie above the freezing spray and Lake Effect blizzards pretty reliably. Strange indeed.

JR, Lake Erie? No thank you. I got stuck there 40 or so years back when I was at the bottom of the food chain on Christmas layover. Bitter...Bitter cold and the wind coming off the lake...No thanks. Bring from Ohio I love it, but up North...nah.

 

[JR]

This is where we send the bottom of the food chain fellers to eat lunch

 

[Cummins12V98]

From my Son in Forney, TX. Single digits.

My old 98 12V does NOT look happy!!!

 

[BoeingDiesel]

This is where we send the bottom of the food chain fellers to eat lunch

View attachment 126890

That's exactly what I mean. Come to think of it, that picnic table looks really familiar

 

[Bill Lins]

On the radio they are blaming it on windmills freezing up. They run here out on Lake Erie above the freezing spray and Lake Effect blizzards pretty reliably. Strange indeed.

This is how they're explaining that:

"How Will the Weekend Polar Vortex Affect Our Energy System?
Written by Isaac Orr

in Energy

on February 04, 2021

Print

Minnesotans are bracing for frigid temperatures this weekend, as some forecasts are estimating temperatures could reach -20° F in the Twin Cities and -30° F in Greater Minnesota on Sunday morning. The Polar Vortex of 2021 could be the biggest strain on Minnesota’s energy system in the last year, and it will be Minnesota’s coal, nuclear and natural gas fleet that will be the unsung heroes of the weekend.

The Forecast

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) produced the image below detailing the likely temperatures Sunday morning. Temperatures will be below -22° F in all parts of the state, and parts of North Dakota will see the mercury dip below -30° F.

#ad


Where is the Wind Energy?

During the Polar Vortex of 2019, we learned that wind turbines are shut down when temperatures are below -22° F because it is too cold to operate them safely (see the figure below). This means it will be too cold for the wind turbines built by Xcel Energy, Minnesota Power, and Otter Tail Power in Minnesota and North Dakota to generate any electricity.#ad


In fact, the wind turbines will actually consume electricity at these temperatures because the turbines use electric heaters in their gearboxes to keep the oil in the housing from freezing, which would cause damage to the turbine. During the 2019 Polar Vortex, it was reported that wind turbines were consuming 2 MW of electricity. This means wind turbines will be a liability on the grid when the power will be needed most."

 

[Bill Lins]

Just saw 200k Texans told to boil water as the water facilities have not had power. Kind of odd they do not have generators.

They do have generators but the natural gas pipelines froze up- no fuel to run them.

 

[DavidC]

They do have generators but the natural gas pipelines froze up- no fuel to run them.

Well isn't that crazy. Only difference I can think of between Minot ND and Texas would be the buried depth of the lines.

 

[SnoKing]

Just saw 200k Texans told to boil water as the water facilities have not had power. Kind of odd they do not have generators.

Just image how autonomous driverless trucks would have handled the massive wreck in Texas the other day! Beep beep!