Storm Checkin

[TPA]

Got our groceries delivered Thursday instead of waiting to get them on Friday as usual. Good thing we did, as the store had limited deliveries on Friday due to the weather.

Plenty of TP onsite. I try to keep at least 50 rolls on hand. I buy on sale in quantities to get it cheap, so, I tend to keep well stocked.

Proper Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.

 

[Candleometry]

View attachment 89921

Carry On!

Lived in OKC for a few years back when I was young. We got 3” one winter and it shut the city down for 4 days. I just laughed.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Lived in OKC for a few years back when I was young. We got 3” one winter and it shut the city down for 4 days. I just laughed.

It makes a big difference in what a city's Public Works department is used to dealing with and has the equipment and supplies for. I know my area here in the Central Plains is not equipped for deep snow like folks way up north are. While we do have snow plow trucks, graders and rock salt, I don't believe that we are equipped for the amount of snow Northerners deal with on a regular basis. But I really feel for the Southern states that are getting all the ice...they just aren't equipped for it.

 

[TPA]

The weather service said wind chills here were down to 14F last night, and I believe it. I think our actual low was around 24F.
A few scattered reports of snow flurries, but every time I stuck my nose outside I didn't get to see any.

 

[Candleometry]

It makes a big difference in what a city's Public Works department is used to dealing with and has the equipment and supplies for. I know my area here in the Central Plains is not equipped for deep snow like folks way up north are. While we do have snow plow trucks, graders and rock salt, I don't believe that we are equipped for the amount of snow Northerners deal with on a regular basis. But I really feel for the Southern states that are getting all the ice...they just aren't equipped for it.

You’re right. They had a bit of sand but no salt. Very few working plows. There wasn’t much they could do.

 

[HarryN]

I can understand water, as pipes and water mains might break. BUT... how does cold weather affect toilet paper? Are there really that many people who don't have at least 3 days' worth of TP on-hand? To me, 10 rolls = reorder. 6 rolls = buy immediately.

Unfortunately, a lot of people don't seem to have much experience with avoiding pipes bursting when there is no heat.

There are two general approaches:
- Allow the water to trickle just a little in the faucet furthest from the water coming in
- Drain the water out of the pipes as best you can

__________

This just proves again that electric heating is not reliable. Homes need to have natural gas, fuel oil, fire places, etc.

It only requires a very small amount of power to keep a natural gas furnace running.

 

[Monocrom]

Walked outside last night to head to work.... SNOW!!!
Thankfully it was mild and stopped after a few minutes.

 

[Candleometry]

-18 wind chill this am on morning walk with dog. Warming up this week.

 

[tech25]

Colder in NY than Siberia today.

 

[Candleometry]

Colder in NY than Siberia today.

What’s the cost of living in Siberia?

 

[PhotonWrangler]

This is an interesting website:

https://poweroutage.us/

Interesting. It looks like they're aggregating data from all of the individual power companies' status pages.

 

[Monocrom]

What’s the cost of living in Siberia?

Too high.... no Pizza.

 

[Fuzzywuzzies]

Well, my turn! Posting using a neighbour’s satellite internet.
Unusual for Feb here down under in the Southern Hemisphere, but we’ve had a massive summer storm come through the middle of New Zealand. It’s done a metric tonne of damage; there are huge trees and power lines down everywhere. Our power and internet has been out for two days so far with no sign of it coming back for a while.

The locals in our rural community have all pulled together and checked on each other, and we’ve got many of the roads cleared now so most folks can get out to town where there is some power and fuel.
Very few people have been hurt that I’ve heard of, but one guy lost his life trying to cross a flooded bridge, which had collapse under the surface, and his Ute (truck, for my North American friends) went down the gap underwater and trapped him.

My collection of torches, batteries and chargers (some of which double as power banks) have been incredibly useful.
We’ve got a genset running the fridges and freezers, and water pump, and a BBQ to cook on and boil water. On the positive side, our rainwater tanks are brimming!!

Glad to be prepared in some measure anyway.

 

[TPA]

No severe weather here, but we lost cable internet service for 18+ hours last week.

Both Ms TPA and myself work full-time, so this is a problem. We're in the middle of a medical trip for her, so this isn't exactly ideal.

Something told me as we were packing for it to grab one of the T-Mobile 5G Business Internet routers from the office and take it with us. I'm glad I did as it's worked flawlessly. Even more remarkable is the speed, which easily puts to shame the 500Mbps/25Mbps cable internet service here.

Having done data-over-cell in the early 1990s, where data was 1200bps-2400bps (0.0012 Mbps - 0.0024 Mbps), seeing Gbps speeds over wireless is truly jaw-dropping. Add in that it's $35/month unlimited, and I'm just amazed.

 

[Monocrom]

Well, my turn! Posting using a neighbour’s satellite internet.
Unusual for Feb here down under in the Southern Hemisphere, but we’ve had a massive summer storm come through the middle of New Zealand. It’s done a metric tonne of damage; there are huge trees and power lines down everywhere. Our power and internet has been out for two days so far with no sign of it coming back for a while.

The locals in our rural community have all pulled together and checked on each other, and we’ve got many of the roads cleared now so most folks can get out to town where there is some power and fuel.
Very few people have been hurt that I’ve heard of, but one guy lost his life trying to cross a flooded bridge, which had collapse under the surface, and his Ute (truck, for my North American friends) went down the gap underwater and trapped him.

My collection of torches, batteries and chargers (some of which double as power banks) have been incredibly useful.
We’ve got a genset running the fridges and freezers, and water pump, and a BBQ to cook on and boil water. On the positive side, our rainwater tanks are brimming!!

Glad to be prepared in some measure anyway.

Good to hear that you and others in your community are safe, Fuzzy.

 

[HarryN]

A portable power station - either to build your own or buy, can solve a lot of power outage problems. Especially if you confine the needs to running the refrigerator and device charging.

I started out goofing around with leds , flashlights, learning how to build them 25 years ago here on the forum.

It evolved into building my own semi - portable power station and even helping others with building them. The are sold all over the place by multiple companies and it really is no more difficult than building a DIY flashlight.

Just because of economy of scale ( and dumping ) it is cheaper to buy than build, but either way works.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

A portable power station - either to build your own or buy, can solve a lot of power outage problems. Especially if you confine the needs to running the refrigerator and device charging.

I started out goofing around with leds , flashlights, learning how to build them 25 years ago here on the forum.

It evolved into building my own semi - portable power station and even helping others with building them. The are sold all over the place by multiple companies and it really is no more difficult than building a DIY flashlight.

Just because of economy of scale ( and dumping ) it is cheaper to buy than build, but either way works.

How much run time do you get from the power station with your fridge plugged in?

 

[TPA]

A relatively modern kitchen fridge doesn't use a lot of electricity while running. Only about 150 watts or so. The problem is if the fridge tries to defrost. Then you're looking at up to 800w, to melt frost you just paid money to create! When fuel is limited, this is quite a threat to your fuel supply.

I've often thought I should manually wire a defrost disconnect on my fridges for hurricane scenarios, but I've just learned to only run them on generator for a short period of time. Long enough to keep things cold, but not long enough to let the defrost cycle start. If I heard it kick into defrost, it gets disconnected immediately.

 

[Candleometry]

I have an Anker Solix C1000 and an Anker Powerhouse 521. Got them both on sale. Peace of mind and use the smaller one for portable power once in a while if I’m in a pinch. I also have a solar panel I can connect them to. I hope I never have to use them to their full capability but if so I’m good.

 

[Monocrom]

For now, the blizzard is cold, wet, icy, rain. Not too intense.
I pray it stays that way.