quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:

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Originally posted by egregore:
Here, at least, it looks like "Snow-mageddon" is going to be a snow bust. Just barely enough to cover the ground and cars.

They seem to hype the storms big time, definitely brings viewers.

I follow a local meteorologist. Used to be a popular local TV network weather guy for years until he got tired of the corporate network BS and left for a different line of work. Still does meteorology on the side, for love of the game. And his current bosses support him in it, allowing him to do it on the clock during severe weather outbreaks.

He points this out all the time, how these network "SEVERE WEATHER IMPACT DANGER CODE RED ALERT DAYS" are about hype and attracting viewers to get the advertising dollars.

So instead I go to him for the no-BS version of the weather. And if he says it's going to be severe weather, you know it's definitely going to be severe, because he's not trying to make money off declaring everything that moves to be severe.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Here, at least, it looks like "Snow-mageddon" is going to be a snow bust. Just barely enough to cover the ground and cars.

They seem to hype the storms big time, definitely brings viewers.

I follow a local meteorologist. Used to be a popular local TV network weather guy for years until he got tired of the corporate network BS and left for a different line of work. Still does meteorology on the side, for love of the game. And his current bosses support him in it, allowing him to do it on the clock during severe weather outbreaks.

He points this out all the time, how these network "SEVERE WEATHER IMPACT DANGER CODE RED ALERT DAYS" are about hype and attracting viewers to get the advertising dollars.

So instead I go to him for the no-BS version of the weather. And if he says it's going to be severe weather, you know it's definitely going to be severe, because he's not trying to make money off declaring everything that moves to be severe.

We've got a college kid that runs the NC Weather Authority Facebook page and has become quite well known and respected for giving honest detailed forecasts without any of the hype. In my opinion, he's much more acurate than any of the "professional" weather people.

We got about 14" here.

The pile from the street plowing across the end of the driveway was about 4.5 feet deep and 10 feet wide.
My 26 year old 14 HP John Deere snowblower handled it with little problem. Those Tecumseh engines were great.

Nothing we haven't seen before.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: WaterburyBob,

This is just my personal experience looking out of my window, not to downgrade any people or areas that did get snow or ice accumulations. Still, "storm of the century" and other such talk is pure hyperbole. Not only was the storm not the biggest ever or even more than usual, but the century has a long way to go yet.

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Originally posted by egregore:
Here, at least, it looks like "Snow-mageddon" is going to be a snow bust. Just barely enough to cover the ground and cars.

Been saying this shit since before it hit. I’ve checked power outages over these days as that was my only real concern. We haven’t even hit 1%. The highest it has reached in my metro or the state as a whole is 1/2 of 1%. What a fucking joke. You know what I did for prep? 1 of my 2 exterior faucet covers needed to be replaced. 2 of 2 was near end of life. So I ordered a 2 pack of new ones from Amazon well before any of this shit. Took I don’t know, 120 seconds to put both on. Then I walked back into the house and made lunch. I am reminded of a Public Enemy song from the 1980’s, the lyrics…”Don’t believe the hype, it’s a sequel.”

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Been saying this shit since before it hit. I’ve checked power outages over these days as that was my only real concern. We haven’t even hit 1%.

Nashville had over 50% power outage. 85 crews were on standby before the ice hit. Nashville still has about 35% out of power. All the trees across the street from me lost most of their limbs. I lost one Douglas Fir and about half of a 20ft Magnolia on the side of my townhome. Luckily our power was only out about 9 hours. After freezing rain hit the snow it left about 1.5 inchs of ice.

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Originally posted by Anush:

Nashville had over 50% power outage. 85 crews were on standby before the ice hit. Nashville still has about 35% out of power. All the trees across the street from me lost most of their limbs.....

Rather than just local outages some are concerned the whole eastern grid could go out. Extreme weather over a large area like this puts a lot of stress on it. Add that all the data centers use so much energy even during what traditionally were low usage times like spring and fall, which was when they were able to shut some generation down for repairs and maintenance. They have been having to extend the maintenance intervals.

10 degrees this morning, I am without my normal remote start, heated steering wheel and heated seats


Driving a work truck

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Originally posted by ridewv:


Rather than just local outages some are concerned the whole eastern grid could go out. Extreme weather over a large area like this puts a lot of stress on it. Add that all the data centers use so much energy even during what traditionally were low usage times like spring and fall, which was when they were able to shut some generation down for repairs and maintenance. They have been having to extend the maintenance intervals.

Just saw this today:

https://x.com/zerohedge/status...984199803469917?s=20





It's cold here, like Arctic cold. It's supposed to be -12 overnight Thursday here which in 53 years of being alive and mainly living in this area, I have never seen. I recall as a kid in the 80's being warned that it was going to be 1-2 below zero and that was kind of an extreme. Now double digits negative?

The local FB neighborhood pages are flooded with people begging for help with burst pipes from plumbers.

^^^ I read that too and also that he halted certain regulations so that power plants could generate more power.

Thanks PASig, I assumed they'd have to stop powering data centers. As a rule when power becomes in short supply the power companies shut down commercial customers first.

It may have been insignificant for most folks, but my wife showed me a picture that was supposedly from the Nashville area that was pretty rough. I think there were six suburban homes in the picture, and all but one had a full-size tree ON/THROUGH IT.

It was severe for some people, and I don't reckon anyone could have known exactly who/where/when it would impact the worst. Our household did some preparation on top of our normal "posture", and we didn't even lose power. I am not sorry to have invested time/effort/money in the extra preparation.

I am very-much in agreement, concerning the TV hype though. Dramatic news provokes viewing, which makes money. It's only logical that media outlets would hype it up.

This is not THE picture I referred-to above, but this image also depicts some significant damage...

https://www.facebook.com/10009...old/757816727371917/

The storm had potential, and no one could know exactly where it would deposit it. It did deposit it in some places, and those of us not in those places should be grateful.

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The local FB neighborhood pages are flooded with people begging for help with burst pipes from plumbers.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I feel for these folks BUT that was preventable. Just run a pencil stream of water through your faucets and they will not freeze. We had a frost level nine feet deep and none of the pipes froze.
About twenty years ago we had a deep freeze one evening and I heard screaming from the pediatricians office two doors down. The pipes in the attic had burst and the ceiling fell in. To make matters worse they built an addition over the water shut off valve. The fire department was called and they turned it off at the street. Many things are preventable with some knowledge.

Yes, Nashville got hammered with freezing rain. Both my grandkids had to relocate to friends that had power.

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Originally posted by KSGM:
…It was severe for some people, and I don't reckon anyone could have known exactly who/where/when it would impact the worst. Our household did some preparation on top of our normal "posture", and we didn't even lose power. I am not sorry to have invested time/effort/money in the extra preparation.

I am very-much in agreement, concerning the TV hype though. Dramatic news provokes viewing, which makes money. It's only logical that media outlets would hype it up.

<snip>

The storm had potential, and no one could know exactly where it would deposit it. It did deposit it in some places, and those of us not in those places should be grateful.

Well put.

Five days out, the map with the fancy colors does not mean everyone located in those colors will experience those effects. Instead, it means someone within those colors will experience those effects in five days. Five days gives people time to prepare.

I’m just as guilty as the next guy of thinking and saying it wasn’t as bad as they said it was going to be. It took me awhile to get it through my head that just because it didn’t happen to me doesn’t mean the forecast was wrong. If it happened to somebody, then the forecast was right. What really drove it home was the prediction of 16’ of water and we only got 8’. The floor of our house at the time is 8’3”. I could say they got it wrong or half right. I’m thankful I had time to prepare.

Hurricane season forcasting is something. Instead of listening to douchebags like Cantore I just go to the site of the National Hurricane Center. It has the track and the reasoning. I dont understand much of the meterological terms but can follow the logic. That way I am not subjected to horrific images of Hurricane Camille or Katrina. Some of these networks would show dead bodies if it were allowed.

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Originally posted by Anush:

Nashville had over 50% power outage. 85 crews were on standby before the ice hit. Nashville still has about 35% out of power. All the trees across the street from me lost most of their limbs. I lost one Douglas Fir and about half of a 20ft Magnolia on the side of my townhome. Luckily our power was only out about 9 hours. After freezing rain hit the snow it left about 1.5 inchs of ice.

What I said was based on our weather forecast here before any of this hit. Our local news stations, etc, selling the fear and panic. That should be saved for areas actually affected.

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:

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Originally posted by Anush:

Nashville had over 50% power outage. 85 crews were on standby before the ice hit. Nashville still has about 35% out of power. All the trees across the street from me lost most of their limbs. I lost one Douglas Fir and about half of a 20ft Magnolia on the side of my townhome. Luckily our power was only out about 9 hours. After freezing rain hit the snow it left about 1.5 inchs of ice.

What I said was based on our weather forecast here before any of this hit. Our local news stations, etc, selling the fear and panic. That should be saved for areas actually affected.

I follow Space City Weather, the guys running that are more down to earth and give the facts. Everything is hyped up by news stations and I rarely listen to them. The Houston metro area is so large anyway that the forecaster from the north side to the south side varies greatly.

It turned out to be nothing here although I was prepared. Centerpoint (who provides nat gas) was sending out e-mails stating to conserve gas by turning heaters and water heaters down. If I lived in a colder climate I would prepare a contingency plan for loss of electricity and heat source. I no longer trust these large companies to provide what they say they will. Loss of nat gas would not be good if we lost power too. I could last a week or so on propane but would probably leave the area if that happened for an extended time.

We've seen negatives every day since Friday here, with really significant wind chill. The roads are iced over and it's so cold salt doesn't work so they're not getting any better. I've worked quite a few wrecks and slide-offs in the last two days, and the road conditions are exacerbated by cars dying in the roadway due to failed charging systems. I've had to drive through 2-3 foot drifts every morning on the way into work, and school was cancelled both days. They have a 2 hour delay right now, but I'll bet they end up cancelling because it's currently -1 with a wind chill of -14 and the busses don't like that.

I fell on my ass in the middle of the road yesterday morning working a wreck on what was essentially a skating rink. I'm fine...bounced right back up...but at least one guy saw it and it was embarrassing, lol. The most annoying thing was the boss found out about it and made me do paperwork on it.

I've gone through about a cord of wood since Friday, and even though what we're burning right now is pretty excellent seasoned oak, it's still not keeping up and I had to turn the furnace on. I was hoping to avoid that, but my wife was insistent that 54 was too cold. It's set at 60 now...hopefully with the fire going the bill won't be too horrible. The kitchen sink did freeze up yesterday morning... it's on a west-facing wall that's exposed to the wind and there's also an outside "freeze-proof" spigot plumbed off of it, so I think that didn't help. I opened the cabinets up and was able to get it going again in a couple of minutes by running the hot side...no leaks. We'll just leave the cabinets open until it warms up outside.

Ultimately it's annoying, but not a crisis.

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Originally posted by ridewv:
Thanks PASig, I assumed they'd have to stop powering data centers. As a rule when power becomes in short supply the power companies shut down commercial customers first.

I was wondering about this as well as we will be having the largest data center in the state of NC being built about 25 miles from us. I hope they can divert power in an emergency like we are experiencing now if needed.

Along the same vein I read that Microsoft is buying the undamaged nuclear reactor at 3 Mike Island for one of their data centers and wondering if they would have any requirements to divert some of the energy produced by that facility since it was built, at least partially, with public funds…