What's your weather?

[Cail]

Extremely good thread about how Texas survivalist LARPers are handling the great Texas freezeout
https://twitter.com/torriangray/stat...521605122?s=19

Thank you for this

[Tokitoki]

this is crazy

I don't even understand how that's possible, it's not THAT cold there, what do northern states do to stop this that Texas doesn't?

May have to do with buried depth? In NY they're generally around 3' deep to avoid the frost line. Though honestly, if the water is moving it shouldn't freeze that easily.

all the pipes are insulated. they probably aren't in texas 'cause there probably haven't had need to

Not necessarily insulated in the US/NY. A lot of water main are iron in some form. Ductile iron is replacing most old cast iron mains, but there are still cast iron mains and even WOODEN water mains that still get found in NY. No insulation on either cast iron or wood. Ductile iron has a layer of concrete which I guess could act as an extra layer, but it's more about prevention of corrosion.

[Fhloston]

This shit sucks. Power came back on, after 13 hours off, at 1am yesterday. Went back out at 10AM. Hasn't been on since. Thankfully the coldest part of the storm has passed so it's not hard to sleep w/o heat. I could be getting paid round the clock at work while sleeping there due to emergency declaration, but I don't wanna leave the Mrs home in the dark. She can't work since her job has no power. Our county judge is saying this outage could extend past the storm...

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[BerenTebogo]

I know I'm going to sound like an ass, but I can't believe such little snow shuts down whole metropolitan areas. Not referring to the power issues, just the snow itself.

Same thing happened in Atlanta years ago. And I think SC more recently?

Nobody driving in the south has ANY tread left on their tires whatsoever. No tread on their shoes. No training with how to brake when you skid. There are no plows. There is no salt.

It’s a safety thing. People would die trying to commute if you didn’t shut the city down.

[Rooney]

My apt has been w/o power for over 24 hrs. Functionally w/o water as well. Water is running, but all the drainage system is frozen, so you can't actually use it.

For some of the questions: pipes are not insulated down here, cities do not have plows salt etc, homes are not insulated against the cold nor are they built to run heat constantly like this (a/c yes), decent amounts of interstate ramps are way too steep to use with any sort of snow or ice

We typically get notices that it'll be below freezing for X hours overnight at worst. I'm used to northern winters, so I was prepared. But by and large the vast majority of people here weren't.

[Delayed]

Houses don't get built to trap heat because we don't want them to. It needs to be able to dissipate it for the real weather we get here.
The moaning about how its cause renewable energy is to blame its a ploy to oust abbott next year. Turning the state blue helps our idiot judge and mayor.

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[Dimmauk]

Day 3 with Temps from 9 to 20 degrees and no power and water. Running out of propane for the camping stove and running out of firewood. This is fucking terrible.

[archibaldcrane]

Is this the longest large-scale utilities failure in our lifetime?

[archibaldcrane]

Is this the longest large-scale utilities failure in our lifetime?

Looks like a couple natural disasters had longer power outages for a small share of those impacted, but the multiple system failures involved here (power, gas, and water!) is pretty unprecedented.

[Rhyis.]

Is this the longest large-scale utilities failure in our lifetime?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northe...ackout_of_2003

I remember the 4 day blackout like it was yesterday

[Rhyis.]

that shit was a party. everyone hung out on their front lawns every night 'cause there was no point being indoors.

[Apelila]

Nobody driving in the south has ANY tread left on their tires whatsoever. No tread on their shoes. No training with how to brake when you skid. There are no plows. There is no salt.

It’s a safety thing. People would die trying to commute if you didn’t shut the city down.

Bolded. If FTW pileup hadn't happened Thursday then collectively 10x the number of wrecks would have happened around the metroplex/Texas the last few days. Majority of Texans have no clue what to do to prep their cars for this weather. The roads are not designed for snow/ice at this level anywhere except the panhandle area.

And re: pipes freezing is a multifactor thing.
The power going out stopped pumping/water flow in large areas is a problem, also the lines aren't buried very deep in a many cases, and its colder than it's been in 100 years in some places. I'm tired of experiencing once in a generation events.

[Dantrag]

I was in Texas in 2017 or so and they had an ice storm in Houston(no where near what this was). I had to drive to the airport and the road conditions were shit. Texas has some of the worst fucking setup roads I've ever driven.

[Dimmauk]

Yall have to remember that the roads in Texas are made differently. They are made for high heat temperatures so there is more oils in the roads. Its why its so dangerous to drive in the rain and snow. At least that's what I've been told.

[Tymon]

Yall have to remember that the roads in Texas are made differently. They are made for high heat temperatures so there is more oils in the roads. Its why its so dangerous to drive in the rain and snow. At least that's what I've been told.

Correct. Roadway infrastructure is built either for heat or for cold. Building for heat nerfs the roads for cold and vice versa.

[BerenTebogo]

I'm also not joking about the tire treads. In colder climates people generally have all weather tires or summer and winter tires and change them appropriately. In the south there's no need even for all weather tires. Most people are running summer tires that are years past their replacement date because who fucking cares.

Put that shit on ice or snow and seeya.

[archibaldcrane]

I legit did not know anyone that had winter tires my entire life growing up in Wisconsin.

[Lucavi]

Can confirm. I have summer tires on my Camaro due to being unable to fit All-seasons due to the rim size in the rear and yeah, they can handle about 3 quarters of an inch of snow before they're functionally useless.

You can put them in 2 feet of rain and they're fine, but over 3 quarters of an inch of snow and get the fuck outta here. Its instant slip-and-slide.

[Yabby]

I legit did not know anyone that had winter tires my entire life growing up in Wisconsin.

The only ones I know that get snow tires are those that go to Canada often. Otherwise, here in MI, most just get all season and call it a day.

[BerenTebogo]

Yeah all season are good enough for any snow you'd be reasonably expected to drive in. Winter tires are for the "I don't care that there is 2 feet of snow on the road if you don't get into work right now you're fired!" crowd.