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whats the weather where you are?

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    • I live in N Texas. Today is Tuesday 2/2/2021. It is 65 degrees and clear, bright sun. I just washed the car. Yesterday was only 55, so I washed my truck. We'd had 50 and 60 MPH winds out of the west on Saturday so my white truck was tan as half of west Texas up and blew over here. By this Sunday, we get a cold front and the high will be 40 to 44. I expect wide spread panic, bread shortages, I35 blocked by stuck 18-wheelers........
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    • CoachLou wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      It's been cold and windy here since Sunday but after reading what you guys are going thru I'm not gonna complain!
      Those of us complaining are all veterans of MLK weekends and many years in the Northeast..........we are just reporting the weather! :thumbsup:
      I only wish I could get away this weekend and finally get to use my snow shoes again. But alas, I already have other commitments for this weekend.
    • rhjanes wrote:

      I live in N Texas. Today is Tuesday 2/2/2021. It is 65 degrees and clear, bright sun. I just washed the car. Yesterday was only 55, so I washed my truck. We'd had 50 and 60 MPH winds out of the west on Saturday so my white truck was tan as half of west Texas up and blew over here. By this Sunday, we get a cold front and the high will be 40 to 44. I expect wide spread panic, bread shortages, I35 blocked by stuck 18-wheelers........
      Well, it's Texas. 24 hours later and now the "Arctic air will be a thin layer and greatly moderated". Translation, instead of 40 for the high this Sunday, they now say 55 (which is average high anyway).
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • 9 AM here in TX. 45 in Alvord TX with a Wind chill of 41. That's an hour away where I'll be hiking around 10 AM. Planning to do 8.5 to 9 miles. Doggie is already watching me and not letting me out of his sight. He "knows" things. High shows to be 51 today. Sunday and Monday are supposed to be nice. I will probably be back at LBJ (Alvord) on Monday, when the high is forecast to be 73. Me and my buddy need to finish up some Orienteering course setting work for our event in March. Then the arctic air moves in. By next Friday, lows around 15 and highs just above freezing. Here in Texas, they should probably be announcing a state of emergency.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Trillium wrote:

      9am it's 14 degrees but windchill makes it fee like 0. Just finishing up breakfast and getting ready to head out for my walk. 8)
      Yikes -- that has to be one of those 1 mile walks just long enough to keep the streak alive. :)

      When I got up it was 31 -- so I waited til now to walk -- it's a more civilized 49 degrees (with a real feel temp of 47).
      2,000 miler
    • Had a great hike at LBJ National Grasslands. 8+ miles. WINDY and varying between 90 percent overcast and 80 percent clear. Fairly cool. I had on two merino wool shirts and a synth athletic shirt. Started with Wristies, Neck buff and beanie (plus Tilley hat). First mile, off with the wristies. Second, off with the beanie. Neck buff stayed on almost all day. 4 miles and then lunch back at the truck with fleece on and sitting so the truck blocked the wind. Dog had a great day, jumping in several old stock ponds along our routes. He did pick up something as we shared chicken for lunch, he went trotting off and then something stuck in his paw and got him to limping. I kept checking for a sticker or a cut but never found it. he wanted to hike the next 4 miles so off we went. Sunday (today) and Monday we should have highs in the upper 60's, but then the bottom drops out. They are still calling for lows in the middle teens and highs at freezing by end of the week. This will result in mass hysteria, mostly by the TV weather dorks.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • I read an article recently that asked the question where is the best place to live, given the rise in extreme weather causing disasters such as floods, fires, drought, hurricanes, and tornados. Their answer - the Great Lakes. While we do get storms, they are moderated by the lakes. It's warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. No shortage of water (20% of the world's surface fresh liquid water), but since watersheds never extend far from the lakes, flooding is rarely extreme.
    • odd man out wrote:

      I read an article recently that asked the question where is the best place to live, given the rise in extreme weather causing disasters such as floods, fires, drought, hurricanes, and tornados. Their answer - the Great Lakes. While we do get storms, they are moderated by the lakes. It's warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. No shortage of water (20% of the world's surface fresh liquid water), but since watersheds never extend far from the lakes, flooding is rarely extreme.
      Interesting since I have heard people complain about Lake Michigan and the "lake effect" causing their bad weather.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      Interesting since I have heard people complain about Lake Michigan and the "lake effect" causing their bad weather.
      It causes lots of snow in Jan and Feb (we had a lake effect event this week - first one this year). It causes lots of clouds in Nov and Dec (that can get depressing). It makes springtime come relatively late. That's all lake effect rain, snow and clouds. So if you call that "bad weather", then yes. But it also makes winters much less cold and summers much less hot.

      The article I was reading was talking about extreme weather. Lake effect is not extreme. It does not cause hurricanes, blizzards, floods, or tornadoes. In fact it's the opposite. On a hot humid summer day, you can expect lines of severe thunderstorms to form over IA or MN. They always move east across WI, but when they hit the lake, they usually fizzle out and go through here as a non-event. They are fueled by the hot air rising from the ground. Since the lake never gets much above 70 F, the cool air just snuffs out the storms. Of course there are exceptions, but generally this is what happens.
    • Move to Cincinnati they said. The winters there are mild they said. :cursing:

      We got 8 - 10" of snow last Tuesday and I got the opportunity to fire up the snow thrower that my new neighbors had laughed at as I unloaded it from the trailer. Another 6 - 12" is forecast for this Monday. And it hasn't warmed above freezing for a week.

      I was going to run back to Central PA this weekend to fetch another load of furniture but cancelled when I saw snow and ice in the forecast along the PA Turnpike.

      Filled the 5 gallon gas can and adjusted the snow thrower tire pressure. Bring it!
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • Astro wrote:

      Second snow/ice day in a row, and Mon-Wed not looking very good next week either.
      Ice melted finally, and was able to get to my office and grab books and other stuff to last me to Thursday. 3 to 5 inches of snow coming tomorrow and probably not clear again until Thursday.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Y'all probably saw the 100+ car/truck pile up here in north Texas/Ft Worth. Glaze ice hit that area of elevated freeway, which drops down into the Trinity river, so people were going along at 60+ MPH, over the hill and....ICE. Sadly, 6 fatalities. Almost 24 hours to clear the debris.
      Saturday, we actually got up to 30! I took the dog for a 3 mile forest hike because after this, it is a polar event. Sunday's high is projected to be tonight at midnight, of like 21. Snow tomorrow into Monday now with 6 inches expected. This is Texas...there are like 8 snow plows in the 11 counties of DFW area. Projected to be the second longest number of hours below freezing in the record books. Ice is a concern on power lines and also ERCOT (the state electric generation people) are asking people to conserve electricity and there are warnings of rolling power outages (15 minute duration every 2 hours).
      hopefully, everyone just stays home. We plan to.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • rhjanes wrote:

      Y'all probably saw the 100+ car/truck pile up here in north Texas/Ft Worth. Glaze ice hit that area of elevated freeway, which drops down into the Trinity river, so people were going along at 60+ MPH, over the hill and....ICE. Sadly, 6 fatalities. Almost 24 hours to clear the debris.
      Saturday, we actually got up to 30! I took the dog for a 3 mile forest hike because after this, it is a polar event. Sunday's high is projected to be tonight at midnight, of like 21. Snow tomorrow into Monday now with 6 inches expected. This is Texas...there are like 8 snow plows in the 11 counties of DFW area. Projected to be the second longest number of hours below freezing in the record books. Ice is a concern on power lines and also ERCOT (the state electric generation people) are asking people to conserve electricity and there are warnings of rolling power outages (15 minute duration every 2 hours).
      hopefully, everyone just stays home. We plan to.

      Some of worst winter weather I ever drove to thru was east texas. I used to drive family to CO/NM every year to ski......so I was kinda used to planning around weather. The long lonely north texas road to NM gets impacted.

      Anyway...about 15 yrs ago I guess.....I checked forecast in north texas....like an idiot I didn't check closer to home......so we left for CO one day (I like to drive all night)....about 5 pm near Shreveport we are getting freezing sleet and it's 31F. I overlooked a major storm! Cars off road.....hmmm.....long story short....drove about 25-30 mph all way to Dallas/FW. Big trucks were keeping road clear enough. Trail thru the 6" deep frozen slush. Virtually no one on road but occasional truck by 10 pm..,.but their spray froze on car instantly when they went by. No one but me after that! Drove right into and thru a major storm...AWD honda pilot. Got to Dallas at 1am.....they had 11" fresh snow......it was a winter wonderland. Cars in lots on side of road were buried. I stopped for gas...I had about a foot thick ice encrusted on front on vehicle. The slush that froze on vehicle mangled my ac condenser fins.

      But just an hour or 2 after the storm passed them, dfw already had interstates open and salted. Could drive normal speed there. 287 was being plowed and salted too drove on a lot of packed snow,etc for a while. Somewhere around wichita falls , road was totally clear, plowed and salted, clear to NM. I followed a snowplow for a while.....they go quite fast plowing those highways 40 mph.

      My take was texas does a good job getting those roads cleared and open as soon as storm is over. They do have equipment to deal with it. La, ms, Al, nope.

      There was another time we were leaving telluride , a storm was forecast to hit the Texas panhandle at the same time so we drove South all the way to El Paso to get under it..... Encountered snow and ice on I-10 all the way from between El Paso and San Antonio to Houston. drove about 30 miles an hour there for many hours through the night.... The bridges were slick..... Even in four wheel drive at 25-30 mph I'd start to slide on them....... But there was no one else on the road so.... Get in center, don't touch steering or accelerator....


      Same thing another time we left Santa Fe at 2:00 a.m. to beat a storm that was going to close down the Texas panhandle. Driving along I-40 at 3am wondering why no one else was on the road..... My windshield wiper started grinding on the windshield ice was building up from a fog that was freezing on the vehicle. I got out to clean the windshield and I slipped and busted my butt..... The entire road was glazed in ice.....25mph until 7am in 4wd.... The sun came up as we got close to tucumcari and could see trucks off the side of the road jackknifed, but the road thawed as soon as the sun came up. We did have snow flurries and sleet all through the Texas panhandle and North Louisiana that time too. Got past shreveport Louisiana right as they were closing down the interstate there.

      The post was edited 11 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • One of my pet peeves is the news report that says an accident was "weather related". I don't doubt that some are, but looking at the videos on the news, most times it is clear that accidents are "bad driving" related. That the roads were not cleared or people are not used to driving in winter conditions doesn't change that.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by odd man out ().

    • I grew up dealing with weather in Alaska, Michigan and.....Montana (talk about snow and cold!!!). Learned to drive in northern Virginia. Dad retired from the USAF and we moved to SW Fort Worth. I lived at home and commuted to college in Arlington (where Jerry World and the Rangers all now are). One morning, it snowed about an inch overnight. I get up, shower, eat breakfast and get in my 1969 Mustang coupe, automatic (still have it). I drive defensively all the way to college. Going 30, 40 and maybe even 50 on the flat ground of the freeway. I'm watching my rear view mirror and see about 4 cars, Caddy's, Lincolns, Buicks all roaring along, hit the freeway bridges, stab their brakes (WRONG), start sawing on the wheels and hit the ditches. I just putt along to school, downshifting the auto as I need to climb a hill, go thru the cloverleaf. I reach school, no big deal. First class has about 20 percent there. After that class they announced schools closed. I'm thinking "what? Why? Where is everyone?". I putt all the way home. Then I learn about Texas and that natives learned to drive with no snow or ice. News reports of all the cars in the ditches. I think some of them had passed me going backwards into the ditch!

      We DO have bad ice here, That is what hit Ft Worth this past week. There was sleet here last night and there is about 1/10 inch on my truck outside. We got close to an inch of dry powder on top of that. (or as they'd say in Alaska, Montana or Michigan... "what snow? Oh, that?! Doesn't even count....") There is 6 inches of snow due later today and into Monday. More ice due Wednesday and they are concerned about ice crashing down the power lines. When we drove in ice "up north", we had snow tires (some with studs in them) and chains in the trunk.

      I've learned to just not bother to drive in the snow here. It's not me, it's everyone else doing dumb moves (locking the brakes, quick steering moves, not driving about 1/4 mile down the road so you can anticipate......).
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    • The thing I never understood is the people who are afraid to drive in the snow but get caught out there when the first flakes start falling. What do they do? They put the petal to the metal to get home as fast as they can. Often does not end well.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Iced road has almost no traction. A 4wd can drive in it on flat ground if keep speed very low..20-25. I've had to put one wheel in grass before off road to go around slightly inclined curve on iced road before.

      North of amarillo toward capulin NM, used to always see 4wd vehicles .....jeep cherokee etc....in ditches and fences when we drove thru the day after a front. A lot of TX or other Southeastern drivers headed to CO would think having 4x4 made them invinceable.....only to end up off road when hit ice at 50 mph. Didn't see 2wd cars that way.

      CO and NM were generally cold enough and roads always salted in winter...not a problem . Dfw to amarillo....just right for ice from most storm fronts.
    • Yep, zero traction on ice, 2WD or 4. Another issue here in Texas is that it will thaw late in the afternoon, because the ground can be fairly warm. Then overnight the temp goes to 15 and all that slush and water is frozen the next day. Sometimes, the day after the snow, is much worse.

      I was messing around with the 4WD on my F250. I went into 4L, without locking the axles. That diesel was doing 3000 RPM in 6th gear and we were just doing 30 MPH. 4L is for under 30 MPH. The front hubs you get out and twist to lock. The rear axle can also be electrically locked by pulling on the 2WD/4H/4L switch. I locked the rear axle once "just to see" out on a dirt road. Interesting going around a corner as you could feel the axle "fight" you. But did it have traction!
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