They're doing it in Houston too.
I just got power back, after an hour and 12 minutes.. City public service stated rolling blackouts of 15 minutes. Their 15 minutes must not be the same as my 15 minutes.. Thank god I have a 70+ gallon hot water heater.
Jennie just talked to someone from work who "tried" to make it there to UT Southwestern. Report is don't try it, still really really bad.
Power at the house just came back on. It was out for about an hour or so, in the meantime I walked a quarter mile to 24 Fitness to work out & swim, only to find out their power was out.
I just called them, power is back on over there so getting ready to make the trip again. I thought they were on a different grid but I guess not. Here's a photo from the first journey & it was a damn cold walk. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The roads look fine here. Its just that I cant get into my Audi which is parked outside. The doors are frozen shut.
I'm trying to fly home this afternoon. So far, just delayed, not cancelled. IF my car starts, any reports on I-635? TIA.
I would give the 635 traffic cameras a look. I have started hearing a couple reports of some main roads clearing up. I don't know how being 20 degrees and few sand and salt trucks. maybe just all the traffic is clearing it off.
I had to get my kid to a Dr. this morning, was on major city streets like Custer. Ice was pretty bad, but there were plenty of 'ruts' to drive in that were mostly dry. Side streets suck. The streets aren't as big of a problem as the dumb a$$ other drivers. A guy in pickup passed me going at least 50, after squeezing between me and the guy in the lane next to me that was just a little over a car length behind. Would've been a bonehead move on dry roads, was idiotic on those roads. Funny part was, his pickup was a AAA service truck for dead batteries. I guess he has so many calls that he can't keep up. I'm taking my 15 yr old out for a drive shortly, he needs experience. Don't get it often here. I have 2 cars parked in the driveway, got them both started and warmed up this morning. Thawed out all the ice with the defrosters. Don't want my batteries freezing up! I already have 2 pipes frozen, 1 hot supply, 1 cold. Friday should be fun.
Just spent three hours out and about in the Quattro. The major roads are passable and some are actually getting pretty clear. Took 121 from North Richland Hills into downtown Fort Worth and on down to TCU. Drove down to the Colonial CC and the roads there are still ice covered. We made it fine but I saw a new GTO attempting to make it over a small hump from the McD on Rufe Snow at 820 and he had back out and go around because he could not get traction over the hump. The merge at 121 and I35 north is backed up. 183, 820 and I30 seem to be getting by quite well. Do not know about the Dallas area.
This photo is from Greg Smith's FB page, University Dr near the zoo was pure ice yesterday. Lots o' fun to be had here if anyone knows this section. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's pretty closes to what I was thinking when I couldn't fight the Cabin Fever anymore, this morning. Boggles my mind that people would willingly choose to live there, or Chicago, or.......... Thanks for Quattro, Audi (although something other than Summer tires would be a good idea.....for the three days a year we need them).
I hear that the main roads are passable, but when I went on a scouting run yesterday I couldn't make it out of the subdivision. Too much ice on the single road that connects us to the world. Going to make another run shortly -- cabin fever is running high. . .
Oh, yes - Could hear the police sirens from upstairs, occasionally a really big hit, and the police "Whups!!" for escorting whichever Superbowl team is practicing at TCU. And some a**tard used a corner of my yard for traction after deciding that going up the slight incline was a better idea than going [/i]downhill[/i] to where it's flat, and he could have gained some momentum. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep, I would be driving on that crap at 60mph in my Tundra with snow tires like it was a summer day. The real ***** of it is, here it's expected, thus the high property taxes. In DC or Texas or anywhere else it's considered a disaster and federal aid kicks in. If other areas of the country start getting snow on a regular basis they can expect MUCH higher property tax bills. Not only is it crazy to live in this crap for 5 months out of the year, we pay a premium to do so because of the clean up costs.
Yeah we put our yard back together every year from the plow and just about the time it's all full and nice looking again the leaves start to fall...out comes the yard again. Originally the nes said we were going to get 2 feet but we ended up with only 8 inches, no biggie. Here is a picture of what it looks like here and has looked like for the last 4 months and there is a month or two left to go. Image Unavailable, Please Login
northerners like to brag down here they are use to these driving conditions and handle it, just the other people they are scared of. well, I'm a northerner 15 years Kansas and 4 years Boston. it is simply different down here, much more ice on the roads because our temps fluctuate around freezing and precip varies more from rain, sleet, to snow. also less sand and salt trucks. even just one state north there will be trucks hours before any slight chance of ice, during, and after. up north it is freezing most of the time and usually just snow. with AT/snow tires you can travel about the same speed on snow as you would dry/wet pavement. ice doesn't care where you are from and is tricky to anyone, AWD and chains help. people from the north aren't capable of driving faster on the ice sans AWD/chains, they just have advantage to know how slow to go, where ice usually forms, and their capability (going up an iced hill with rear wheel drive won't work!). so next time you hear a northerner talking smack in Texas simply ask about how the icing compares.
Ice = don't use the brakes use the accelerator to control the vehicle. Get lots of speed at the bottom of the hill coast down the other side. Coast up to the stop sign. Must have's....snow tires, AWD or 4X4, studs come in handy but aren't a necessity. And don't forget your vehicle will rot out about every 5 years. Replacing anything under the vehicle will lead to replacing more stuff you hadn't planned on because everything is rusted out or rusted together. I just set up a power washer outside my garage to wash the cars down before I put them away. Leaves a nice skating rink outside the garage door. So i put salt down and the whole catch 22 kicks in. It's something the southerners don't get and it's why a lot of out-of-state buyers who buy rental property here go bust. The weather cause's CONSTANT maintenance to be needed and they never figure it in to their buy price. In the south you don't have 20 tons of ice hanging from the house 6 months out of the years or damp cold temperatures, peeling paint and cracking concrete so it needs to be replaced every few years.
So I was leaving the office last night, the last one.... Went to my truck and started it up to warm, then went back and armed the alarm system and locked the front door. Walked over to my truck, running, warm inside, headlights on......I had locked it up too. I didn't even have a heavy coat....only my rain jacket.....it was chilly!! SO....... Walked back over, unlocked the building, disarmed the alarm...and call Valeria to bring my extra keys across town to me. LOL! The truck was REALLY warm , when I finally got into it, about 45 minutes later........low on gas too! ROTFLMAO! Everybody stay safe......
I'm a native Wisconsinite just passing through. Like thirty years give or take. Been here longer than anywhere else. Hey ! Maybe I am Texan. (please correct me if I'm wrong ) The absolute worst driving conditions I've every experianced were right here about 10 yrs ago when ALL the roads turned into glare ice. Its pretty close to that now except for the dry ruts on traveled roads.
174 going through Joshua is still pretty bad from what I've heard. Still lots of snow on the ground. Alot of businesses are having problems. Had to cancel my haircut appointment today because the shop's pipes were completely frozen. Also, I went into a Subway earlier. While they were making my sandwich, someone from the business next door comes in and says they had a major water leak through the ceiling. One of the workers who wasn't doing anything went back into another room, and came out a minute later and said they were having the same problem, and seemed a bit panicked.
My son just got his first taste of ice drivin'. Was fun. For me. Made him stop in a patch of iced road, going uphill. Told him to get out of it. Burned a gallon or two while he gave it more gas. Told him to back down the hill to a dry section, try again. He didn't back far enough. Then he learned what a limited slip diff does: spins the wheel that WILL spin! He also learned the value of momentum, how traction control works, and how it feels when your antilock brakes kick in. Like I said, was fun for me.
LMAO. That's COLD, man!!! I remember teaching myself when I was 16, when TX had Blue Laws so that the malls were closed. BIG, empty parking lots were great places to push a little past the edge.....and occasionally a lot.
