Cold weather

Enterpriseegghead

Is everybody doing ok with the cold weather?  My daughter and son-in-law are in Texas and having to abandon their fifth wheel camper due to power outage and sub-freezing temperatures.  Apparently it’s pretty bad across southeast Texas in places where they’re not used to cold temps.  

loco_engr

SGH

A friend of mines place in Houston. 

SaltySam

It was -7 and sunny as I prepared dinner tonight.  Granted, I didn’t stay outside too long, but the fact that it wasn’t incredibly windy and cloudy made it seem almost comfortable. 

We have mandated power outages throughout town as well.  It hasn’t hit my neighborhood yet, but we’re all bracing for it.  

Expected highs this Friday in Nebraska are in the mid 30’s.  Crazy to think that’s FIFTY degrees higher than tonight’s low.  Tank top weather baby! 

Photo Egg

It sucks when people die because of poor energy management.
The power outages across Texas are not from downed lines or damage due to storms for the most part. 

They just didn’t allocate enough. So they started doing their standard rolling blackouts and then just didn’t turn people back on. We were lucky. Have 1 old natural gas space heater, a little generator and a Mini Egg to thaw my water lines. Also lucky that we don’t have the colder temps they have just a few miles north.

Friend posted this from Kemah Texas.

WeberWho

-50F here in Minnesota this past Sunday

Photo Egg

WeberWho said:

-50F here in Minnesota this past Sunday

That’s just insanely cold!

sumoconnell

That’s sofa king cold! More ice tonight in Austin. 

WeberWho

Photo Egg said:

WeberWho said:

-50F here in Minnesota this past Sunday

That’s just insanely cold!

I'm not sure what makes it a "daily" state record but I know a town just south of Ely has hit -61F for the overall state record in the past. 

It's been a long cold week. 

Gulfcoastguy

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

nolaegghead

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

An official with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said Tuesday afternoon that 16 gigawatts of renewable energy generation, mostly wind generation, was offline. Nearly double that, 30 gigawatts, had been lost from thermal sources, which includes gas, coal and nuclear energy.

YukonRon

Just Googled for information on the cold weather crisis in Texas.

Not only will those in Texas have very little energy to get through this, but now you will have to pay even more to use it. 

https://www.puc.texas.gov/51617WinterERCOTOrder.pdf

https://www.valleycentral.com/

Edit:
If I read this correctly, and I may indeed be wrong, (which I hope I am) there is no shortage, ERCOT just literally told the natural gas plants to shut down, because they refused to pay for gas at the spiked prices, due to increased demand, while at the same time, removing the caps on both gas and electricity and increase the prices during a crisis for what you are able to use. Those using electricity during this event are going to be unpleasantly surprised on their next bill.

Best of luck getting through this everyone.

Carolina Q

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. 

NEVER NEVER NEVER burn charcoal indoors! CO risk is too high.

Acn

The recently resigned mayor of Colorado City, TX seems nice.

ColtsFan

Acn said:

The recently resigned mayor of Colorado City, TX seems nice.

And I'm just wondering how you can have multiple "bottom lines"?

fishlessman

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

hard to get a good draft going with charcoal in an open fireplace.  ive known people making it thru a new england winter finding free pallets in the industrial neighbor hoods. theres several places near me where they are just stacked up  for the taking, mostly for reuse, its where i get my shipping pallets when i get low

Hook_emHornsfan_74

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

We have been lucky here in Midland not to lose power or water. My brother and his family are staying with us.  We live fairly close to a nursing home so I feel like that is why we haven't lost power since we are probably on their same grid.  Heads better role at ERCOT.  

lousubcap

I cannot figure out how ice, snow or wind would directly impact a nuclear power plant.  Major transmission line issues (no way to get the power out) could contribute but the plant itself is pretty bullet-proof, save tsunamis.   

TEXASBGE2018

Acn said:

The recently resigned mayor of Colorado City, TX seems nice.

What a friggin d!ckhead. He deserves whatever hell comes his way. Maybe I'm crazy but this is America, power and water are ESSENTIAL services THAT YOU PAY FOR and if what YukonRon said above is true, I will guarantee you that anyone that has kept their power on this whole time and gets presented with a $600 electric or gas bill WONT be paying it

Legume

Hook_emHornsfan_74 said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

We have been lucky here in Midland not to lose power or water. My brother and his family are staying with us.  We live fairly close to a nursing home so I feel like that is why we haven't lost power since we are probably on their same grid.  Heads better role at ERCOT.  

Maybe Texas should limit the isolationist schtick to flags and bumper stickers on big trucks and integrate their electrical grid.

JohnInCarolina

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

Funny how the wind farms in North Dakota haven't had any issues.  My recollection is that it gets pretty cold up there.  Could it be that some states have energy infrastructure that is prepared for cold weather, while others... do not?  Hmmmm....

SciAggie

The issue was ice on the blades. It stresses the blades AND if the ice is flung off at high velocity it causes damage to surrounding infrastructure. That’s the way I understand it. 

Langner91

JohnInCarolina said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

Funny how the wind farms in North Dakota haven't had any issues.  My recollection is that it gets pretty cold up there.  Could it be that some states have energy infrastructure that is prepared for cold weather, while others... do not?  Hmmmm....

True.  It has been -10°F to 10°F for 2 weeks here in Iowa.  Every windmill I see here is going round and round.

Canugghead

nm...better not offend anyone 

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap said:

I cannot figure out how ice, snow or wind would directly impact a nuclear power plant.  Major transmission line issues (no way to get the power out) could contribute but the plant itself is pretty bullet-proof, save tsunamis.   

Reports are that some of the equipment froze. Take it for what it's worth.  I haven't spent any time tracking down details.  

JohnInCarolina

This is a pretty good explanation of what happened in Texas, and why:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/16/ercot-texas-electric-grid-failure/

fishlessman

the wind mills in north dakota automatically shut down at minus 20, its planned for, texas doesnt plan for it

https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/in-extreme-cold-north-dakota-windmills-stand-still/article_510b439c-0287-5931-99db-60582d578279.html

Gulfcoastguy

JohnInCarolina said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

Funny how the wind farms in North Dakota haven't had any issues.  My recollection is that it gets pretty cold up there.  Could it be that some states have energy infrastructure that is prepared for cold weather, while others... do not?  Hmmmm....

Quite possible though an ice storm in Galvaston on the Gulf of Mexico is pretty rare. 

frazzdaddy

fishlessman said:

the wind mills in north dakota automatically shut down at minus 20, its planned for, texas doesnt plan for it

https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/in-extreme-cold-north-dakota-windmills-stand-still/article_510b439c-0287-5931-99db-60582d578279.html

Yupp

 https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2021/02/16/why-wind-turbines-in-cold-climates-dont-freeze-de-icing-and-carbon-fiber/?sh=74631bfe1f59

JohnInCarolina

Gulfcoastguy said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

Funny how the wind farms in North Dakota haven't had any issues.  My recollection is that it gets pretty cold up there.  Could it be that some states have energy infrastructure that is prepared for cold weather, while others... do not?  Hmmmm....

Quite possible though an ice storm in Galvaston on the Gulf of Mexico is pretty rare. 

I guess I don't follow your argument.  You indicated that other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon, and I simply pointed out that this isn't necessarily true as many are plenty well equipped for cold weather.  

frazzdaddy

JohnInCarolina said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

My niece and her family are in Midland. They don't have natural gas. But they do have a fireplace.....with no firewood. I asked her about charcoal and she said she hadn't thought about that but would check in the morning. Meanwhile the three of them and the three dogs: Chihuahua, Sheltie, and Lab are all piled in one bed. 
I had heard that their windmills were iced over and for some reason they had to shut down a nuke plant. If so other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon.

Funny how the wind farms in North Dakota haven't had any issues.  My recollection is that it gets pretty cold up there.  Could it be that some states have energy infrastructure that is prepared for cold weather, while others... do not?  Hmmmm....

Quite possible though an ice storm in Galvaston on the Gulf of Mexico is pretty rare. 

I guess I don't follow your argument.  You indicated that other states in the wind belt should start having problems soon, and I simply pointed out that this isn't necessarily true as many are plenty well equipped for cold weather.  

From the article I posted above.

The answer, in short, is that turbines in colder places are typically equipped with de-icing and other tools, such as built-in heating. In Texas, where the weather is almost never this cold, they usually are not.