Advice For Those Not Used To Cold Temperatures!

[BluesWalker]

Seriously, though...there's lots of homes in the Southern US that don't have basements. Other than places to make musical noise, basements are places which keep water pipes warm and deep enough into the ground to generally avoid freezing. If you're on a slab, the need to keep your water flowing is even more paramount—and that's tough is you're on a well too. Best of luck all!

I once lived in New Orleans when it went below freezing for a few days between Christmas and New Years. No basements with pipes above ground under the houses (which usually sit on an above ground foundation. There were a of frozen/burst water pipes. Due to the number of cases, and shortages of plumbers and materials, some people did not have running water for up to 3 months.

 

[HardNHeavy]

It's just that in Texas, we're not set up for low temps. Our housing, our plumbing, our heating was not ever designed for this. The lowest recorded temp. in Beaumont was 10 deg, and that was in 1906. It got down to 12 last night. So we are just not prepared. In fact, most of our homes are all electric and have been usually built that way since the 70s. And those lucky enough to have gas heating, usually need electricity for the system to operate.

And now the entire Texas Power grid is struggling. And according to Ex-Gov. Rick Perry the West Texas Wind farm is froze up and not operating. So the rolling blackouts are really leaving many folks without any options. Especially those in the southern portions state. As most can't heat their homes with candles.

We had I guess a rolling blackout in the middle of the night here. Got pretty chilly inside. Power was back on about an hour after dawn.

So it is just a difficult time for many. Just saying. Praying we don't have many more deaths because of the Cold. And that our farmers can deal with it. We just heard the citrus growers have pretty much lost everything.

So I've had enough of the global warming stuff.

That sucks man, here in PA we lose power frequently, so i have coleman portable propane stoves, and a wood burning insert for heat luckily, but all the houses round here were like you say, built in the 70's including mine. We only have a crawlspace that stays 55 deg. all year round luckily, with a heater and dehumidifier down there. I miss a full basement!!
If we lost power for any extended time (onetime it was 5 days) there's a fresh water lakes nearby, tho it had to be boiled to kill any bacteria. Might be good to invest in a free-standing wood stove. Kerosene is dangerous and the fumes need to be vented bigtime to prevent that (Eternal Sleep).lol...I think the weather is gonna get crazier and unpredictable in the coming years....stay safe down there!

 

[Ellery]

Living in Southern California I have many family and friends sick enough of this place to move far away, and immediately start bagging on me for staying here. It's like a broken record with 5 different people. But while my friends stand knee deep in snow trying to pretend life is better than ever, I saw a friend's band play live at the beach, visited the mountains without snow chains, and barbequed outside. Enjoy!

 

[jmlee]

Canadian fridge.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

 

[Sponson Thrisby]

Where I am the problem isn't so much the cold, it's the wind. I'm on the shore of Lake Huron, and the wind can be brutal when it whips up snow. Like driving inside a ping-pong ball.

It causes some crazy snowdrifts sometimes.

 

[fdeck]

Do *not* lick the flagpole. If you do, your buddy is going to have to pee on it to get it off. So think ahead!

View attachment 4169832

An old Army survival manual said: If your hand gets stuck to cold metal, pee on it. If both hands get stuck, better have a friend along.

Couldn't agree more. Two points:

1) All vehicles have four-wheel stop.

2) Legit dedicated winter tires are the closest thing one can have to a superpower.

Indeed, since AWD has become widespread on cars, it has also become common knowledge that AWD with all season tires isn't really all that useful in snow and ice. We've got snow tires for an AWD car. You can get a complete set, mounted on rims, inflated and balanced, from TireRack.

 

[fdeck]

If it's any consolation, this winter has just been absolutely splendid for cross-country skiing.

 

[Sixgunn]

One more rookie mistake (that I even see here in the Northeast). Having four wheel drive doesn't stop you from sliding off the road into a ditch or slamming into another car. It may help you climb out of a ditch, but don't kid yourself. It does not increase your traction when you have momentum. In fact, the poor weight distribution in many trucks makes them more dangerous in snow. Great for driving up hills though.

When you see pictures of multi-vehicle accidents in icy conditions, you often see just as many 4 wheel drives in the ditch as anything else. Again, my recommendation is to stay off the roads if you don't know what you are doing. A once in a decade snow/ice storm is not the time to learn or test out your truck.

Also, if you start sliding, the brake pedal is NOT your friend unless you have ABS and even then, it needs to be used judiciously. It will completely remove your ability to steer.

 

[Wesley R]

In the meantime the volcano Etna in Italy erupts.

 

[5StringBlues]

If it's any consolation, this winter has just been absolutely splendid for cross-country skiing.

If God had meant for Texans to ski he'd have made bullspit white.

 

[hardtop]

Power outages all over Texas. Many say it is due to the West Texas Wind Farm is completely frozen up, and most all solar cells are covered in ice and snow. Those things are supposed to save us from this global warming. That global warming is reeking havoc in Texas. LOL

But I have a brother in Dallas, in an all electric condo, that has had power out since 3:30 PM (Monday). It is supposed to drop to 2 degrees tonite. I told him to go sit in his car running (outside, not in any garage) and warm up some. And recharge his phone. So I'm praying for him.

The outages are not at all due to wind or soler sources. They have been caused by natural gas and coal supplies, or lack there of. In part due to certain facilities being shut down to prepare for summer surges. Also, texas being on a stand alone grid creates challenges. An energy professor broke it all down very clearly if you're interested. Dan Cohan at Rice University.

 

[Bassclef46]

Dress in layers.

 

[Sixgunn]

Dress in layers.

 

[Koshchei]

I just checked the forecast for Houston. Low of 10 degrees? Good God!

To those of you in similar circumstances, these steps might save you some $ in frozen water pipe repairs:

1. Turn on all of your faucets and let them drizzle as long as outside temperature is abnormally low.

2. Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to expose the pipes to the heat.

Good luck!

Some thoughts from a friendly Canadian about -10C weather:

1) Layer up - if you get hot, take a layer off. For us, -10C is the start of t-shirt weather, but you equatorial people are soft and weak.
2) Make sure you have antifreeze in your car's radiator. If you're running straight water, it'll freeze and rupture.
3) Don't run your car battery flat. Same reason as 2): It'll freeze and burst, dripping acid all over your frame rails.
4) Shovel sooner rather than later if you've gotten a huge dump of snow. Left to its own devices, it'll compact and turn to ice, which is much harder to remove.
5) PEX plumbing is your friend. Copper likes to burst if the water freezes inside it. PEX will expand and contract without issues.
6) Walk like a penguin over glare ice. It hurts less than falling on your ass.
7) Don't drive like an *******. Assuming you guys all have summer tires on your cars, the rubber gets extremely hard and won't grip at all. All Seasons are only good to 7C, so they're not going to be much better. With this in mind, leave early, give people room, plan your stops and lane changes, and drive safely.

 

[Koshchei]

View attachment 4169918

Canadian fridge.

The only technical flaw I see in that is that the door knob is aimed right at the neck of that Moosehead. Otherwise, we do this all the time. Unless it's Guinness, which prefers to be served at room temperature.

 

[MustangWally]

 

[Basslice]

Truck slides down slick hill after winter storm - CNN Video

You can tell that he didn't know what to do. The driver didn't turn to turn the wheels to correct out of the slide. Just slid on down the road.

 

[DirtDog]

View attachment 4169918

Canadian fridge.

Haha! No word of a lie, I did this as a teenager.

Now, if it was a Nova Scotian fridge, they'd all be empty by now!

 

[MonetBass]

-22, yes real temperature, yesterday AM on the way to work.

Just another day.

We weren't far behind you at -13° F this morning, with a wind chill of -25°. The coldest ever recorded here in Oklahoma. My son and I shoveled about 6" of snow from the driveway this morning, and we're expecting more tonight (but not as much, thankfully). We had a rolling blackout this morning, but it only lasted about 30 minutes. We do have a gas fireplace, and it was 77° upstairs, so our son finished his classes on his phone up there. It will finally get above freezing on Friday and we'll see the 50s by next Monday. We get some crappy weather here in Oklahoma, but it typically doesn't last very long.