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2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on


Parliament

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So it's shit right now, will be shit 24 hours from now, but supposedly will be up in the 30s in the afternoon Tuesday.  And it'll be clearing up later today, sunny, and the same Tuesday.

But Tuesday night into Wednesday, it's showing a lot of freezing rain, with temps between 25 - 30.

We won't be having rolling blackouts then.  It'll just be blackouts from all of the tree limbs and ice.

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40 minutes ago, mchookem said:

speaking of rolling blackouts - are those a thing right now?

just lost power for about 15 mins, back on - was that what that was? (central austin)

we've got a gas fireplace...basically will just camp out in the living room regardless - big picture window to the front street through which to watch developments in wonderment, landscape of unmarred bright white at the moment.

it occurred to me earlier this evening, this is yet another in the longest consecutive list of 'firsts' we have encountered in the last 12 months...

i mean, it's kind of been a lot guys.  

Yes. Power went out here from 2 - 2:20 in a rolling blackout. Dropped my downstairs from 68 to 64 in 20 minutes

Master bath 2 sinks cold water is frozen. All others in the house working. Just opened those up to relieve pressure and will hope for the best 

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1 minute ago, Wanker Bob said:

What's the phenomenon that makes it 3 in the morning but I can go outside in a blackout and see clear as dawn? Is it just the city lights reflecting off the snow and cloud cover?

Yep.  They are reflecting off of the snow and the very low cloud cover.

And I'm showing as in the rolling blackout area, but haven't lost power yet.  Wonder if our proximity to a hospital helps, since they are exempt.

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3 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

What's the phenomenon that makes it 3 in the morning but I can go outside in a blackout and see clear as dawn? Is it just the city lights reflecting off the snow and cloud cover?

yep. white snow reflects more light than grass/dirt.

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1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

And I'm showing as in the rolling blackout area, but haven't lost power yet.  Wonder if our proximity to a hospital helps, since they are exempt.

Doubtful, hospitals are segmented on their own separate from residential customers. power company coordinates that shit directly with critical customers.

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4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

how can ercot be maxed out at 3am ???

Electric heaters.  Portable space heaters.  People running their electric ovens.  But lots and lots of space heaters pulling a lot of power.

And lots of Surly types with hair dryers thawing shit at at 2:45 in the morning.

During the summer, nobody is like "I need to cool my faucet/pipes/whatever", but a shitload of people are running a lot of extra heaters.

I bet Amazon made a shitload of deliveries on Thursday/Friday/Saturday of heaters.  Wish we had ordered one.

Edited by atomheartbevo
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5 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

how can ercot be maxed out at 3am ???

Temperature lowering forcing millions of heating systems to keep up the houses temperature puts a major strain on the grid.

No different than it reaching capacity at 4 PM in late July.

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9 minutes ago, Xian said:

Really hope they learn some lessons from this...

Nope, too expensive.  Not many are going to retrofit their homes with freeze-proof faucets.  Some may boost their insulation going forward, since that's useful in the summer.

I hope Surly can put together a spreadsheet on #TeamStream and #TeamCoverUp and come to a consensus on what was the best method for certain conditions.

Also, we need to start a thread on the little digital weather stations we can stick in our yards.  I don't like relying on my multimeter to check temps, especially since I have to go outside.

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Started getting a rolling blackout.  No big deal, they said these would be 10-25 minutes, and it was only 25 minutes.  But inside temp did drop 4 degrees that fast.  (Outside temp is 8.) 

Except it turns out we're getting 25 off, 25 on, 25 off....

So now I'm pissed, especially because of seeing the usual massive glow on the horizon, and I took a brief drive.   Sure enough, the shopping centers had all their parking lot lights going full bore, some dumbass bar was blasting music outside despite being closed, most had their signs lit up, billboards lit, and the sporting goods/movie complex strip center had their giant bright video board still running some stupid advertising.  As I turned around that side got hit with a blackout, but I can now see the same glow again.  What a god damn stupid waste.

Why are non-essential businesses like sporting goods, clothing stores, and movie theaters even open the next 3 days, since the governor declared a state of emergency?  Hey Abbott, get off your ass (figuratively) and close them, cut their lighting to 10% max of normal, no advertising, etc.  Why do their lots need full lighting at 3am?  People are going to lose their pipes if we get too many blackouts, seeing the retail waste is infuriating.

Edited by clapclapclap
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49 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Earlier this evening.....

 

So many dumbass mayors without a damn clue.  They should have been on TV urging non-essential businesses to close for a few days and every business to cut their electricity use to a minimum.  And threatening to name and shame in the media businesses that didn't comply.

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We’ve been out for over an hour now so I don’t know if it’s ercot or something else. Either way, everyone else is asleep and I’m getting drunk. Whatever happens, happens and there isn’t anything I can do about it. It’s why I have insurance. Hopefully it doesn’t get too bad. I’m mostly worried about my pool. Oh well, it’s covered in my policy too.

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Just now, Hate said:

We’ve been out for over an hour now so I don’t know if it’s ercot or something else. Either way, everyone else is asleep and I’m getting drunk. Whatever happens, happens and there isn’t anything I can do about it. It’s why I have insurance. Hopefully it doesn’t get too bad. I’m mostly worried about my pool. Oh well, it’s covered in my policy too.

Same. I think we live within a few miles of each other. 

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