Octopus Overlords

9 degrees out there right now.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:07 am 9 degrees out there right now.

Ah, here we call it "spring like".

Monday it's supposed to be -7 F. Windchill -21.
Around here we call that cold.

Most annoying phrase folks not used to the cold can use with their neighbors: "The Swedes don't have a word for bad weather, just bad gear."

Wear a sweater.

actual snowfall in Seattle - 9 to 12 inches so far

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-ne ... the-state/

i'm going outside to go walk in it

I moved my car into the driveway to get a free wash tonight. It's supposed to rain like mad, and the car picked up a thick layer of dust after sitting unused in the garage for three weeks.

The Meal wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 11:48 am Most annoying phrase folks not used to the cold can use with their neighbors: "The Swedes don't have a word for bad weather, just bad gear."

Wear a sweater.

I don't know any Swedes but I'm wearing like 5 layers of clothes and I'm not sure how I'm going to pee.

4 degrees out there and our heater in the house can't keep up. Brrrrrrrrrrr

Winter Storm warning now, starts tonight with small amount of ice but could get 1/2 inch of ice tomorrow which will probably mean 3+ days without power as that will snap tree limbs and power lines and the roads will not start to thaw until Wednesday afternoon. I wanted snow not ice!

Son is driving to Chattanooga to stay with his girlfriend since impact looks like it may be less there. probably just rain.

We're supposed to get another 8-12" over the next 36 hours. That's on top of the foot plus that's already on the ground. At least the temps should get out of single digits (although nothing above freezing in the 7 day forecast).

Single digits here for the last few days. Be Friday before it gets above freezing.

I just got back from dropping my wife off at work. She works in a hospital and not going in wasn't an option. We got a few inches of snow last night and there is no real snow removal in North Dallas. She was afraid to drive her minivan in to work so we took the Tesla. It's about 40 miles round trip and 5 degrees out. We averaged about 25 mph (most of it in a 70mph zone) and it took close to 80 miles of range off my battery. Oh yeah, rolling power outages since 2am and each one sets the alarm system to beeping once per minute, so we were pretty tired too. A lot of the traffic lights were out along the way as well but being 4:30-5:30am there was no traffic to speak of.

All that fresh powder made me want to go snowboarding.

We are under a Winter Weather Advisory until noon Tuesday with up to 7" of snow coming.

Not a big deal at all and I have no problem driving in it. What sucks is we have the day off and were going to test drive new cars.

I'm not comfortable driving an unfamiliar car in that much blowing and drifting snow.

Outside temperature sensor must not work when it gets below zero. 55 in house. Brrrrrrrrr

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:39 am Outside temperature sensor must not work when it gets below zero. 55 in house. Brrrrrrrrr

Damn. That is too chilly for inside. I feel for you.

Got about 3 inches last night that I did not clear before driving in to work today. They're talking upwards of nine inches over night on top of that. So I absolutely have to clean the drive and walk tonight, probably twice.

Fortunately, tomorrow is WFH, so I have leeway but I my tiny electric blower can't handle tire tracks and 12" of snow and the ploughs will absolutely destroy the drive entrance.

The drag is I'm already exhausted and I have to run errands after work while I'm not at home today.

Power has been out since 4am and the pipes froze.

Shout out to the septuagenarian couple running their snowblower all down the sidewalk on the block (bickering the whole way)!

About to head home I'm this shit. It's arterial streets the whole way, no LSD like the last time.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:07 pm Power has been out since 4am and the pipes froze.

That's odd to hear from so far south.

Do you have a gas oven? When the power is out in the winter, as long as I am awake, I'll turn the oven on a low heat and leave the oven door open.

Also if you don't have a basement (or power outage) conducive to pipes not freezing, you need to leave faucet dripping. I guess it's a bit late for that advice though.

Frozen pipes suck, but hopefully they won't burst. My pipes used to freeze every time the temp went to about 0. I paid about $10K to have them all re-run in internal walls instead of in the external walls. Probably not worth it in Texas, but it was money well spent living here.

Kitchen is electric, but we have a propane griddle out back.

coopasonic wrote: Oh yeah, rolling power outages since 2am and each one sets the alarm system to beeping once per minute, so we were pretty tired too.

Probably a dead backup battery in the main panel.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:57 pm

coopasonic wrote: Oh yeah, rolling power outages since 2am and each one sets the alarm system to beeping once per minute, so we were pretty tired too.

Probably a dead backup battery in the main panel.

The alarm beeps to let us know the power is out. A few hours later it started beeping to let us know the battery was low. I disconnected the whole thing so maybe tonight I can sleep.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:07 pm Power has been out since 4am and the pipes froze.

We had one freeze going to the kitchen sink. Shot the hair dryer at the hole in the wall for a while then poured about a gallon of boiling water down the drain and left the faucet open. About an hour later water started gushing out.

I thought it was very rude of Siri when I asked her 'what do I do if my cold water isn't running in the middle of an epic cold snap?', and she told me 'grab your ankles '.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:10 pm
We had one freeze going to the kitchen sink. Shot the hair dryer at the hole in the wall for a while then poured about a gallon of boiling water down the drain and left the faucet open. About an hour later water started gushing out.

We were out for a couple of days. Seems the kitchen drain pipe froze about 15 feet out from under the kitchen sink. Been filling the basins with hot water, but so far no joy. Even plunging the hot water from time to time to try to create some convection.

We have above freezing weather on the remote horizon (Sunday) but right now it's 3 degrees, -15 wind chill, winter storm warning (up to a foot of snow expected) and -5 tomorrow night. The only thing more miserable than a heavy snow storm is a deep freeze on it's heels.

We've been fortunate in that the deep freeze is staying to our west and south. Right now it's light rain and 29 degrees. Off-and-on rain/sleet/ice is forecast for the next four days; it will be unpleasant, but nothing serious. Since I only ever leave the house twice a week anyway, it doesn't matter what happens "out there" if I don't have to shovel it.

Pipe still frozen. Filling basins with hot water isn't working. 3 degrees, -16 wind chill and I just cleared off snow drifts up to 2 feet deep off the driveway (and this snow is just getting started). One of the main roads feeding into our subdivision is reportedly so deep cars are getting stranded. Hope my wife took the other main road (Rt 34) to work, it should get a little more love from the snow plows.

It’s 55 in the house, 37 in the garage, and 7 outside with a wind chill of -8.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:40 pm It’s 55 in the house, 37 in the garage, and 7 outside with a wind chill of -8.

So your walk-in beer cooler is still operational! Mine, sadly is not.

Turns out the water is out city-wide. And they’re trying to hook us into the next town over via fire hydrant.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:40 pm It’s 55 in the house, 37 in the garage, and 7 outside with a wind chill of -8.

You're up north somewhere, right? Frisco/Plano/Allen, yeah? Saw on ONCOR's website that those areas have really been hit hardest. Sorry to hear that. This is one of the few times where being in a co-op I think actually benefits us in that, so far at least, they havent subjected us to the rolling blackouts. NOt sure if the fact that our (ginormous) sub-division is all gas heat has any affect on their thinking there. Though how odd is it that we can all-out tax the grid for 5 months straight running our ACs but 4 days of cold causes rolling black-outs?

Normally I'd like to joke about southerners facing winter weather, but not this time. It sounds epically bad down there. It sucks really, really bad up here, but we're at least relatively prepared for it and have the infrastructure to handle it. Good luck to you all. Sorry - I mean, good luck to y'all.

We’re in Corinth.

The water utility apparently isn’t prepared for a power outage, so there’s no water.

Blackouts expected to last through tomorrow.

ImLawBoy wrote:Normally I'd like to joke about southerners facing winter weather, but not this time. It sounds epically bad down there. It sucks really, really bad up here, but we're at least relatively prepared for it and have the infrastructure to handle it. Good luck to you all. Sorry - I mean, good luck to y'all.

Much obliged, partner.

My best friend sent me some pictures of his attempted dog walk this morning in Austin. Way more snow than Colorado. That's crazy. I lived in Austin for 8 years or so, off and on. I only recall snow a couple of times. And never a significant amount. And I remember people in Austin not being ready for it. I can't imagine how everyone is dealing with this. Those temps are not good. I had the heat in one zone go out a few years back. House got down to low 40s. No fun. Stay warm. I'd send some heat that'a'way iffun I could.

Watching this thread every year makes the tribulations of living in California totally worthwhile. You guys please be safe!

Got lucky in my area, temps held at 33 most of the day yesterday so it was very cold rain that melted the little bit of ice we got over night, and just a light snow this morning. Go about 30 miles to the west where the temps stay 32 or below not so lucky but power outages are minimal, utility crews have been great in restoring power.

You folks further west...(i.e. Texas) damn. Had a friend driving back from Arizona and she only made it to Texas before having to stop, may be a few days before she can even get out of the hotel.

-20 in Fayetteville this morning. 50 in the house. 6-7 inches of snow on the ground.
Welcome to global warming!