Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Arctic Texas?

What the heck is going on?  This week, Texas has seen record breaking temperatures along with some nasty ice and snow. Those of you north of us will probably laugh at this post but you all expect this in the winter and have seen it before.  It's unfamiliar territory for some of us southerners.

Texas is known for it's hot summers and year round milder temperatures.  We have the saying, "If you can't take the heat, get out of Texas" and we have the "Hotter Than Hell 100" cycling event and we have a lot pools and lakes to cope with the 100+ degree summers.  Now don't get me wrong, in the winter, we have cold weather...like temperatures in the 40's occasionally dipping down into the 30's.  We have even had temperatures in the 20's sometimes.  It's cold enough to wear your warm cuddly sweaters and sweats but just not unbearable....until this week.

Temperatures have taken a nose dive into the single digits with howling wind chills below 0.  At the same time, we had a few inches of sleet and ice covered by a few inches of snow.  I'm a native Texan (been here all of my life) and I don't recall ever being in subzero temperatures.  This morning, I went outside and stood there for a minute just to feel it.  It was painful and not for me.

It is not supposed to get above freezing until Friday if we're lucky and then back to normal (40's-50's) on Saturday.  Schools are closed not only due to the ice but the temperatures.  Kids here just aren't prepared to wait at a bus stop in that kind of cold.  Add to that, the electric companies had to start rolling blackouts today so that neighborhoods and businesses would experience controlled brief power outages to help manage the energy consumption.  I'm sure we have to save some energy so we can power that massive stadium for the super bowl this week ;)

One of my dogs LOVES this weather and wants to play ball non-stop in it.
She doesn't even notice how uncomfortable we are as the wind stings our faces.
A few inches of snow...but under it is a layer of ice that fell first.


See the street?  It's an ice rink...just a sheet of ice.
It's so cold, that the snow has now frozen solid so everywhere you walk, it's just ice.

Oh well, the plus side is that my son and I have had a couple of unexpected days off.  My husband even had yesterday off so although we had to stay inside, we had a fun day together.  I work for the school district and the schools have been closed so I'm catching up on blog reading and laundry while he catches up on sleep (he's 14 so that's what he does).  

9 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, snow in Texas, some things just don't sound right!!

    Hope you cope with it all ok, when your not used to the snow and ice it can take you by surprise.

    Enjoy it as much as you can

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  2. It's crazy, isnt it? But I must say these rolling blackouts will be the death of me.....only because every alarm in the house comes on when it is restored, LOL. I am enjoying my second day home from work - but... I might just be ready to go back tomorrow, LOL. (Now, how to get RID of all the ice....)

    Have a good one, and STAY WARM!

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  3. Tell me about it! When our power went off this morning then I had visions of our swimming pool freezing solid and us having to replace everything this summer. Hopefully the outages stay short. Stay warm!!

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  4. The weather where I am is crazy as well. It just does not seem right to be THIS cold in the south! Oh well, enjoy the time off!
    Liz
    http://mylovelylittlelulu.blogspot.com/

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  5. I would feel sorry for you, but it is supposed to hit us on Friday night/ Saturday morning. Still my sis lives near Arlington and she is hating this! She told me she is running out of grocery's since today was supposed to be a Cosco day! Hope it melts soon!

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  6. I did not even think about them saving energy for the stadium this weekend...you are probably right! I am so ready for the spring. Take care and stay warm.
    Denis

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  7. Stay warm, we have to wait for Saturday for the thaw.

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  8. Crazy weather! I hate ice, it can get scary. Stay warm!

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  9. The weather is bizarre ,I think mother nature is a lttle stressed ,the US is Freezinf and Australia is flodding ,cysclones and blistering heat!~Sharon~

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