Polar Vortex
Posted By: Skittles
Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 06:09 PM
It looks like the majority of the US is going to be hit by a polar vortex this week. I hope everyone stays safe - and warm!
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 06:15 PM
Really cold here and going to get colder. Lows 12-15 Friday-Sunday, and we're not used to such down here. Icy this morning, and calling for more freezing rain the next couple of days, then some snow over the weekend. I'm already sick of it. Bring on spring.
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 06:17 PM
I agree - it's supposed to get down to 10-12 degrees here on Saturday night. I live in Middle Tennessee that that's really cold for here.
Brrrrrrrrr
Posted By: Bankwoman1
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 06:21 PM
Going to get down to 6 and -3 here on Sunday. Brrrr... However, it seems like we always get at least a week or more of really cold weather here in Indiana every year. My husband read on the Weather Channel earlier this month that February was gong to be abnormally warm this year.... I think they were wrong about that.....
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 06:23 PM
Yes, i saw the "abnormally warm" forecast for Feb, March, AND April on weather.com a few weeks ago......um..
Posted By: HappyGilmore
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 06:29 PM
75 today, 45 on sunday...both still considered shorts weather in my book...
-8 on the drive to work today. Lows around -24
Posted By: RR Sarah
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 09:21 PM
The Polar Vortex has been here for a few days...-20 when I went out to do horse chores Saturday morning, -26 when I did the same Sunday and -27 yesterday when I went to work. Yesterday I drove to work on Fred Flintstone tires. Those of you from cold climates will know what that means.
Right now it is a balmy -4...
Posted By: Purple Pride
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/09/21 09:50 PM
The most recent forecast I have seen said that most of MN will not get above zero between Thursday night and Monday morning at least. I am glad I work remotely and don't have to drive on Fred Flintstone tires like RR Sarah.
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/10/21 02:17 PM
Updated low for Sunday is 5....windchill of about -15. Too cold for Oklahoma.
Posted By: burkemi
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/10/21 02:55 PM
Weather is calling for an ice storm here up to half an inch. But the temps are supposed to be pretty mild at least. Lows in the low 30s and highs in the low 40s.
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/10/21 03:14 PM
3-5 inches of snow forecast for Monday....another 1-3 Wednesday. That will be our biggest snow event in a decade or more.
Hope all my fellow okies made it to work ok this morning. I drove 35 miles on a solid sheet of ice. Not looking forward to the commute home. Taking care of livestock in this weather is brutal. Hubby and I work together to shorten how long we're outside. This cold is for the birds! I cannot imagine -20.
Posted By: DoS
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/10/21 07:07 PM
After about -10 it all feels the same ….
Posted By: HappyGilmore
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 02:11 AM
i hate this polar vortex crud...freaking was 68 degrees at 6:00 PM soccer game tonight. Miserable, almost had to wear long sleeves...
Posted By: Purple Pride
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 01:08 PM
I hear you Happy. It is tough to have to put on long pants to go outside because the temp is below zero. But we are supposed to have double digit positive highs by Tuesday so we will get to be comfortable in shorts again.
Posted By: Pale Rider
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 01:56 PM
9 degrees Sunday for south Texas.
Posted By: HappyGilmore
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 03:24 PM
I hear you Happy. It is tough to have to put on long pants to go outside because the temp is below zero. But we are supposed to have double digit positive highs by Tuesday so we will get to be comfortable in shorts again.
i could not imagine living in a climate that is below freezing, much less below zero, for any extended portion of a year. i am happy with our snowfall once every 3-5 years, all 1-2 inches of it. minimal instances of ice. not having to wear a heavy coat just to check the mail. shoveling snow just to get the car out of the driveway. yeah, no thanks to any of that. honestly don't comprehend how anyone can do that.
good luck to everyone that this is truly impacting, it sounds pretty bad.
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 03:59 PM
I'm reading wildly divergent forecasts on how much snow we'll get.....could be anywhere from 3 to 15 inches depending on who you believe.
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 04:01 PM
And i agree with Happy......we generally have 1 tiny frozen precip event a year (a little sleet...or 1 inch of snow)....and generally, a REALLY cold spell means lows in the low 20s, highs in the high 30s. That's why this thing stinks.....we're not used to extended cold and extended frozen precip....we're talking 10 days or more of this evidently.
Posted By: one deer
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 04:29 PM
Thank heavens for holiday weekends, I am going home Friday evening and don't plan to step foot out of the house until Tuesday morning at 7:30AM. This forecast cancelled my plans to visit family this weekend, oh well better safe than sorry.
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/11/21 04:40 PM
Similar plans here. I'm actually taking off work a few hours early tomorrow to go to the grocery. We usually go early on Saturday morning before the crowds - and it's about 30 miles from home. Plan on making a big pot of soup over the weekend.
Posted By: GuitarDude
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 06:51 AM
i hate this polar vortex crud...freaking was 68 degrees at 6:00 PM soccer game tonight. Miserable, almost had to wear long sleeves...
I feel your pain. I'm getting pretty tired of having to remember to throw a hoodie in my backseat just in case it dips down into the 60s.
Posted By: Purple Pride
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 01:12 PM
Currently -13 in the Twin Cities with a windchill, or feels like temp, of -31. Invigorating.
Posted By: RR Sarah
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 02:35 PM
It was -29 when I woke up this morning.
No wind chill though so...yay????
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 02:36 PM
It was -29 when I woke up this morning.
No wind chill though so...yay????
The same here in Eastern Montana too! My kids were actually rooting for the thermometer to hit -30. My 14 year old son put it into perspective for his 8 year old sister: we are 60 degrees below freezing!
Posted By: burkemi
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 04:02 PM
Geez - and I complain when our temps hit the teens and low 20s!
The absolute lowest temperature reading I can remember is -14. We can get some extended cold streaks here, but we aren't used to that!
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 04:24 PM
Geez - and I complain when our temps hit the teens and low 20s!
For good reason.......teens and 20s are way too cold!
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/12/21 04:25 PM
I remember it going down to -20 more than once when I lived in Southern Indiana. Working in Louisville, KY in the early 80's I remember it being so cold that the Ohio River froze over and people (not smart ones) were walking across it. We could see them from the windows of our building.
Posted By: HappyGilmore
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/15/21 01:54 PM
looks like this stupid storm has made it's way to the deep south, texas and louisiana impacted...i am working from home, my fellow louisianians have no idea how to drive on ice or snow covered roads, they think it is just business as usual and cause wrecks like crazy. no thanks...
looks like this stupid storm has made it's way to the deep south, texas and louisiana impacted...i am working from home, my fellow louisianians have no idea how to drive on ice or snow covered roads, they think it is just business as usual and cause wrecks like crazy. no thanks...
And that's before you even consider the lack of ice/snow removal equipment and winter tires in the deep south.
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 01:36 PM
Middle TN got lots of snow/ice. Several of our branches are closed today and the 7 that are open have limited hours. Supposed to get more snow starting tomorrow and possibly through the end of the week.
Everyone stay home as best you can - and stay safe.
Posted By: Purple Pride
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 02:01 PM
Yes please stay safe. I have several coworkers in San Antonio and Plano Texas who have been without power or only limited power (10 minutes per hour) since 2 AM on Feb 15. Temps in the teens and concerns about pipes freezing as no power to keep furnaces running. Praying for quick resolution and safety for all.
Posted By: Pale Rider
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 02:56 PM
7 degrees, snow and ice, wind turbines are frozen, I have not had water since Sunday, many of my neighbors are without power, running out of firewood, cattle are out there somewhere.....just another day in south Texas paradise......
Posted By: burkemi
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 03:32 PM
upper 20s here and rapidly dropping. Sleet started falling again. Temperature is projected to keep falling through the day and over night, with lows expected to reach single digits or low teens.
Everyone stay safe and warm.
Posted By: DoS
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 03:35 PM
I have buddies in Austin sending me pictures of 6 inches of snow on top of an inch of ice … at least, up here, we have ways of dealing with it.
Posted By: RR Sarah
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 03:55 PM
And that is the norm for us. I hope everyone stays safe and warm!
On a positive note, our temps will be above zero today for the first time in 10 days...
7 degrees, snow and ice, wind turbines are frozen, I have not had water since Sunday, many of my neighbors are without power, running out of firewood, cattle are out there somewhere.....just another day in south Texas paradise......
Meanwhile, all the way up here in Montana (hitting a balmy 4 degrees this morning), I received notice from our power company that regional power suppliers (i.e. from coal-driven producers) are implementing rolling blackouts, as power in the national grid is diverted to help out the frozen Green power down south.
We are happy to share, but this should make everyone rethink the entire power supply dilemma. Actually, to be truthful, I imagine the Keystone Pipeline folks who lost their jobs aren't feeling so charitable about it...
7 degrees, snow and ice, wind turbines are frozen, I have not had water since Sunday, many of my neighbors are without power, running out of firewood, cattle are out there somewhere.....just another day in south Texas paradise......
Meanwhile, all the way up here in Montana (hitting a balmy 4 degrees this morning), I received notice from our power company that regional power suppliers (i.e. from coal-driven producers) are implementing rolling blackouts, as power in the national grid is diverted to help out the frozen Green power down south.
We are happy to share, but this should make everyone rethink the entire power supply dilemma. Actually, to be truthful, I imagine the Keystone Pipeline folks who lost their jobs aren't feeling so charitable about it...
Amen! Montana is the best, even if it was -22 when I was going to church on Sunday.
Posted By: Retired DQ
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 08:01 PM
WEATHER WARNING!!
Southerners are urged not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Northerners, you will need your big coat.
Posted By: hmdagal
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 08:53 PM
It's up to 21 here today, and felt almost balmy walking the dogs at lunch.
Posted By: TB 12
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 08:55 PM
WEATHER WARNING!!
Southerners are urged not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Northerners, you will need your big coat.
Word.
Posted By: RVFlyboy
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/16/21 10:09 PM
I'm good with that. I've been in both areas. I'll stick to the South.
Posted By: Q
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/17/21 06:06 PM
My understanding is that natural gas makes up majority of their power supply and the lines are currently frozen due to not being insulated for cold weather.
Posted By: JWills, CRCM
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/17/21 08:51 PM
We were closed yesterday due to the amount of snow--12-15 inches, with temps in the single digits without the wind factor.
Stay safe and warm everyone!
I made it off my property for the first time since Sunday. We got probably 11" of snow which is unheard of here. We don't have salt/sand trucks or snow plows. We kept power except for a couple short blackouts. Our water stayed thawed. Friends were not as lucky so they sheltered with us for a few days. Forecast is calling for 3 hours above freezing today. I think I'll go sunbathe.
fyi the power grid was actually weakened by the fossil fuels. Wind and solar actually outproduced natural gas through this whole crisis. The folks in TX that sign up for variable rate electricity (meaning fossil fuel generated electricity) are already seeing bills of several thousand dollars. TX is going to need a lot of assistance to recover.
fyi the power grid was actually weakened by the fossil fuels. Wind and solar actually outproduced natural gas through this whole crisis. The folks in TX that sign up for variable rate electricity (meaning fossil fuel generated electricity) are already seeing bills of several thousand dollars. TX is going to need a lot of assistance to recover.
Be careful of the cool aide. The specific power supply units might not have been designed for the type of weather TX experienced but it has nothing to do with fossil fuels not working. We have been below freezing for over 2 weeks and running on fossil fuels without any issues at all.
fyi the power grid was actually weakened by the fossil fuels. Wind and solar actually outproduced natural gas through this whole crisis. The folks in TX that sign up for variable rate electricity (meaning fossil fuel generated electricity) are already seeing bills of several thousand dollars. TX is going to need a lot of assistance to recover.
Be careful of the cool aide. The specific power supply units might not have been designed for the type of weather TX experienced but it has nothing to do with fossil fuels not working. We have been below freezing for over 2 weeks and running on fossil fuels without any issues at all.
The fact that Texas usually has mild winters, and so plants are offline for scheduled maintenance in preparation for summer has far more to do the current outages than "fossil fuels not working." These planned outages were exacerbated by some wind farms offline because they weren't hardened against extreme cold and some solar offline because panels were covered in several inches of ice and snow.
Variable rate electricity does not necessarily mean fossil fuel generated electricity. It means someone chose to buy at going market rates instead of locking in a rate per kilowatt hour. As might be expected, market rates skyrocketed during a period of much higher than expected demand with significant production offline.
Posted By: Valley girl
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/19/21 07:13 PM
We have a member that is with a variable rate provider. They have charged him $2,485 since February 15th. They withdraw via the debit card from his account several times a day. His normal payment is $175 per month. The electrical provider's website states that electricity is currently $9.00 per kilowatt hour.
Posted By: rlcarey
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/19/21 09:35 PM
That would have made my bill this month around $12K - good thing I am locked in at $.049 per kilowatt hour.
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/22/21 02:31 PM
How is everyone doing today?
In true OK form we had a roughly 70 degree swing in 4 days. We hit the 60's this weekend and about all of our snow is gone. Lots of people dealing with busted pipes around. Other than that, we're back to normal.
Posted By: burkemi
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/22/21 04:23 PM
We hit 50 yesterday. Today is milder. Supposed to hit 60 by Wednesday.
I think someone finally apologized to Elsa.
Posted By: HappyGilmore
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/22/21 05:51 PM
several of my family members in north texas had the busted pipes, i think the bigger issue is how quickly they can get food back to grocery stores...
Posted By: madukes
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/22/21 06:34 PM
snowing heavily today in Philly; about 4 inches so far on top of the last storm. Supposed to be in the mid-50s on Wednesday.
Posted By: Valley girl
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/22/21 10:40 PM
We hit 72 today, but I believe we will have a lot of damage to our citrus crops. We had a grapefruit tree for many years - the fruit would be ready around Christmas, and then bloom in the 3rd week of February for the following year's crop. All of the key lime trees in my neighborhood are completely brown. The sugar cane is wasn't very high before the freeze - hopefully it will rebound.
We hit 72 today, but I believe we will have a lot of damage to our citrus crops. We had a grapefruit tree for many years - the fruit would be ready around Christmas, and then bloom in the 3rd week of February for the following year's crop. All of the key lime trees in my neighborhood are completely brown. The sugar cane is wasn't very high before the freeze - hopefully it will rebound.
It is GORGEOUS here today - 70 and sunny. Makes me want to go out and play.
Posted By: P*Q
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/24/21 04:49 PM
We are at 47 or so in New England and for us in Feb this is FANTASTIC! A light coat works just fine!
Posted By: Soccer
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/24/21 06:39 PM
We are at 47 or so in New England and for us in Feb this is FANTASTIC! A light coat works just fine!
I'm in CNY and I was so happy when I went out at lunch time. 45 and it's a heat wave!
Posted By: Skittles
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/24/21 06:54 PM
Here where I'm located in middle Tennessee it's 72 degrees. Such a difference from a week ago.
Posted By: HappyGilmore
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/26/21 03:21 PM
no one probably wants to hear that in south Louisiana today it is 80 degrees
Posted By: Valley girl
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/26/21 03:57 PM
We will hit 84 today in deep south Texas. Last week we were running our heaters. This week, the air conditioners.
Posted By: Purple Pride
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/26/21 04:08 PM
In the 40s most of the next 7 days here in the Twin Cities. Balmy. Time to break out the shorts.
Posted By: raitchjay
Re: Polar Vortex - 02/26/21 04:10 PM
We were snowing and -20 wind chills a week ago.....spring storms with rain and serious thunder and lightning last night. Good times.