Weather thread. (can’t find my nuts)

[Bear19]

For flushing fortunately I have a pool. I have kept the equipment running so that it hasn’t frozen. It’s a 18,000 gallon pool. If I need that much for flushing the toilet then we’re all going to die anyway. ?

 

[63_Texas_1]

For flushing, I have hot tub on back patio. One handy bucket and voila. Power came on today. Generator is nice, but heat is better! The other night all of the smoke alarms went off. On the back of each smoke alarm state they go off at temperatures >100 and < 50. Weather app said inside temperature was 42 and outside temp was 9. That was an adventure! Lol 

 

[UTfish]

Y'all are lucky. You just can't imagine how hard  it is to get my wife to go get a 5 gallon bucket full from the lake. 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I have a koi pond that is completely frozen, from top to bottom. The waterfall froze over as well, making a spectacular display of ice.

When this thaws, the koi will just squirm out of the ice and swim away. Amazing how they do that.

 

[UTfish]

I have a koi pond that is completely frozen, from top to bottom. The waterfall froze over as well, making a spectacular display of ice.

When this thaws, the koi will just squirm out of the ice and swim away. Amazing how they do that.

Can you post a picture of it? Would like to see that.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Can you post a picture of it? Would like to see that.

I will tomorrow. I had put a tarp over the pond part because a whooping crane (must be aggy) kept trying to eat my koi. So there is a layer of 8 inches of snow of the top. But you can see the waterfall in all its frozen glory. lol

I had to shut the pumps off because they were no longer pumping water. Cold water has lots of oxygen in it tho.

 

[oldhorn2]

hauling water to flush cammodes?....You boys think you have it bad? I heard a report from Del Rio that they have been advised to NOT flush toilets....sewer lines are frozen.....flushing would flood the house!...I guess those poor souls will also be hauling buckets.....but in the opposite direction , if you get my drift....

 

[texbound]

Wow, this sounds awful.  Hope everyone is doing better now.  I grew up in San Antonio and I remember the 1985 snow storm of 13 inches. Don't remember the power going out then.  Been through a couple of 28+ inch snow storms when I lived in the DC area and been through some major ice storms and bitter cold when i lived in the St. Louis area.  Never lost power or water in any of those.  I can't imagine the horror.  Stay strong everyone and be well.

 

[dillohorn]

Wow, this sounds awful.  Hope everyone is doing better now.  I grew up in San Antonio and I remember the 1985 snow storm of 13 inches. Don't remember the power going out then.  Been through a couple of 28+ inch snow storms when I lived in the DC area and been through some major ice storms and bitter cold when i lived in the St. Louis area.  Never lost power or water in any of those.  I can't imagine the horror.  Stay strong everyone and be well.

Welcome to the world of green energy.

 

[oldhorn2]

here in San Antonio we are again blessed with more snow....looks to be a little over an inch so far....but the power has been on since last night.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

This is my koi pond. It is covered with snow. You can see the bridge going over it, kinda. The waterfall is the stone with all the ice on it.



A close up of the waterfall

 

[UTfish]

This is my koi pond. It is covered with snow. You can see the bridge going over it, kinda. The waterfall is the stone with all the ice on it.

View attachment 3625

A close up of the waterfall

View attachment 3626

Nice. Looks like a frozen character from Star Wars now, but I'll bet it looks really good when it thaws. 

BTW, we were just told that we may be out of electricity for another 3 weeks.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Nice. Looks like a frozen character from Star Wars now, but I'll bet it looks really good when it thaws. 

BTW, we were just told that we may be out of electricity for another 3 weeks.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. However, I can tell you they usually fudge on the error side, so it will probably be sooner.

 

[UTfish]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. However, I can tell you they usually fudge on the error side, so it will probably be sooner.

Thanks. I sure hope you're right. 

It was 15 days after Rita before we got power back. We had 17 people staying with us and 15 of them had a stomach virus and it was 95 degrees with no a/c. My generator quit on the 15th day and we got power 3 hours later, thank God. So we've seen worse. 

What this does show, however, is how unprepared people can be for the unexpected. It could be a glimpse of what to expect in the near future, though I sure hope not. 

When this first started, I checked on my neighbors to see if anyone needed anything. All said they were ready. 

Last night, one called and wanted to borrow 5 gallons of gas for his generator. Thankfully, we were able to help this time, but...

 

[tejasrulz]

For flushing fortunately I have a pool. I have kept the equipment running so that it hasn’t frozen. It’s a 18,000 gallon pool. If I need that much for flushing the toilet then we’re all going to die anyway. ?

Bear, so I'm assuming based on this statement, you never lost power? If you did, do you have some type of generator to run your pool equipment? If so, what brand and about how much $$?

 

[Coot]

Well I was totally unprepared for that. Outside tankless water heater (what a joke) froze up at 10 Sunday night. Electric power went off at 2 am Monday. iPhone battery failed at 3pm Monday. Slept with 3 pair socks + shoes, 2 long johns plus blue jeans, t-shirt, 2 sweaters and overcoat, two knit hats under every blanket I owned doubled and coats piled on top of that. That for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Power back on at 1:05 Thursday. Had to reboot my furnace to get heat going again at 2 pm. I still have water but I won't know about water pipes under house and outside until it thaws out. This certainly has sucked.

 

[Bear19]

Bear, so I'm assuming based on this statement, you never lost power? If you did, do you have some type of generator to run your pool equipment? If so, what brand and about how much $$?

tejas

correct I never lost power. I’m relatively close to a prison unit and a fire station and I assume I’m on one of their grids or both.

I have a natural gas generator that will power the house including the pool pumps. I had it put in because of all the outages we have had from hurricanes. Two different occasions we have been out of power for five days. Ike and Rita. Several other times for one or two days with severe weather. had it installed about a year ago and have never used it since. Maybe I was just buying an insurance policy. ?

I did a lot of research and I think the only natural gas generator to go with is Generac. The cost will range according to the square footage of your house but a general number would be $12 to $15,000.

 

[UTfish]

Well I was totally unprepared for that. Outside tankless water heater (what a joke) froze up at 10 Sunday night. Electric power went off at 2 am Monday. iPhone battery failed at 3pm Monday. Slept with 3 pair socks + shoes, 2 long johns plus blue jeans, t-shirt, 2 sweaters and overcoat, two knit hats under every blanket I owned doubled and coats piled on top of that. That for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Power back on at 1:05 Thursday. Had to reboot my furnace to get heat going again at 2 pm. I still have water but I won't know about water pipes under house and outside until it thaws out. This certainly has sucked.

Yes, sir. It's no consolation, but you had plenty of company. Don't know whether to laugh at your sleeping gear (which is a lot like mine) or cry for your misery. We only ran the generator all night when it got down to 5 degrees. Otherwise, we run it sparingly to conserve fuel. Gas stations are already out. 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Thanks. I sure hope you're right. 

It was 15 days after Rita before we got power back. We had 17 people staying with us and 15 of them had a stomach virus and it was 95 degrees with no a/c. My generator quit on the 15th day and we got power 3 hours later, thank God. So we've seen worse. 

What this does show, however, is how unprepared people can be for the unexpected. It could be a glimpse of what to expect in the near future, though I sure hope not. 

When this first started, I checked on my neighbors to see if anyone needed anything. All said they were ready. 

Last night, one called and wanted to borrow 5 gallons of gas for his generator. Thankfully, we were able to help this time, but...

Well, most folks saw the last five-six years of really having no to little winter. We got complacent.

My dad always taught me that Texas is a place of extremes. Especially the weather. So when we go a while without rain, we usually get it back and get it back fast. When we go without any type of weather, we make up in the harshest of ways.

I had a lower heat unit go out, which put my pipes at risk. Thank God I cut the usual cord of firewood this year, thinking I'd never need that much. But I did it anyway. Fireplace saved me.

I'd like to see our grid addressed when this is done. This should never happen again. If we lose power, it should be because lines were broken, not lack of supply.

On a positive note, my back yard, which still had 8 inches of snow on it last night, is largely melted now with the full sun today. The end is near.

 

[UTfish]

Well, most folks saw the last five-six years of really having no to little winter. We got complacent.

My dad always taught me that Texas is a place of extremes. Especially the weather. So when we go a while without rain, we usually get it back and get it back fast. When we go without any type of weather, we make up in the harshest of ways.

I had a lower heat unit go out, which put my pipes at risk. Thank God I cut the usual cord of firewood this year, thinking I'd never need that much. But I did it anyway. Fireplace saved me.

I'd like to see our grid addressed when this is done. This should never happen again. If we lose power, it should be because lines were broken, not lack of supply.

On a positive note, my back yard, which still had 8 inches of snow on it last night, is largely melted now with the full sun today. The end is near.

Exactly. And we shouldn't get complacent about the dark winter that's been forecasted. It's getting a little more serious here. People are saying they can't get milk or food for their children and the stores are all but empty.