OT Polar Vortex, anyone?

[Sk8ermaiden]

Is anyone else dealing with snow, ice, and prolonged freezing temperatures in places that normally don't see such things? I've lived in Texas my whole life but it has never, ever been this cold (feels like 9 degrees!). I believe at this point every one of my friends and family is without power and many without water! (Except us, miraculously.) The power isn't even from downed lines - it seems that effects of the cold weather took stations down? Add a shortage of natural gas and frozen wind turbines, and they may start rolling blackouts at 4. We are a mess. Both my mom and my in laws are without power and I'm worried about them - my mom in particular, but she has been too stubborn to come over yet. The time to do it is before the sun goes down and everything re-freezes - it's going to be 16 degrees tonight.

I can handle hurricanes any day, but this kind of cold is no joke (for us - we barely have winter jackets and are using $1 knit gloves!) Gym is closed through at least Wednesday, but it's supposed to rain and freeze again Wednesday night and not thaw until late Thursday.

 

[skschlag]

I am so sorry you guys are dealing with that. We are dealing with sub zero temps, but we are better equipped for that than you guys are. Here's hoping for a warm up for you soon!

 

[MILgymFAM]

The weather is indeed crazy! My friends in TX/LA/AR all say they’ve never dealt with anything like it before. We lived in Texas for three years, and I remember how crazy everything got just with snow. This weather is a whole other level. This is our first winter in Minnesota, and while the weather is normal for here, we aren’t used to it yet. Last weekend I went for a hike and my glasses froze, along with my husband’s eyebrows. I’m not sure great northern winters are for us. Ha. When it’s double digit negative temps I start dreaming of orders to somewhere else.

 

[txgymfan]

I’m in Houston too. Fortunately, I have power but no cable or WiFi . I’m using all of my data today. My boss wants me to come back to work tomorrow but I’m not sure if it’s going to happen. I don’t drive on ice.

 

[dgraves92]

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Many of my friends move because they can't stand being out in the cold. A lot of neighborhoods have had their lights turned off because of this, good thing I'm used to the cold.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I’ve seen some crazy stuff on the internet with the US weather! It’s the middle of Summer here, but it’s actually also been a strange Summer.

We have had our mildest Summer that I can ever remember. It’s usually hot and humid, but this year we have had the occasional super hot and humid days and most days have been more like what you would expect in Autumn.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

I’m in Florida and it’s been in the 80s here. We’re just not even a part of the US! Florida isn’t participating in winter this year

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

It's really so bad. They're not sure the power will even be back on after the cold snap.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It's been all over the news here too now! They said those in Texas are really struggling as they are just not set up for the cold, and with no power for heaters people have been huddling in their cars with the heaters on to try and stay warm. Its certainly shaping up to be a crazy decade!

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

It is a rare occasion that it hits freezing temps here for a few hours at night but it's barely been above freezing all week, with lows we've never seen before. I'll be curious what will come of the investigations into the board that manages the energy reserves. Hopefully this will not happen again. Some people can't agree why the climate is changing, but it very clearly is changing, and I don't think you could live in Houston and say otherwise as "100-year events" have started happening every year. I know this this kind of cold will happen again, and then again with more frequency, and they need to be ready. It's not "unprecedented" anymore.

 

[jorge29]

It is a rare occasion that it hits freezing temps here for a few hours at night but it's barely been above freezing all week, with lows we've never seen before. I'll be curious what will come of the investigations into the board that manages the energy reserves. Hopefully this will not happen again. Some people can't agree why the climate is changing, but it very clearly is changing, and I don't think you could live in Houston and say otherwise as "100-year events" have started happening every year. I know this this kind of cold will happen again, and then again with more frequency, and they need to be ready. It's not "unprecedented" anymore.

i think that exist climate changes and is because of deforestation of the planet, i wonder in some countries that the forest landscape was changed with houses and are zones that was before forbidden build houses for the risk and for keep balance in the environment. here in Santiago, Chile since a weeks ago there was rains in summer (unusual really on the season) and mudslides in the mountain and pre mountain zones. if nobody does something for avoid deforestation that climate change will be worse.