Texas cold

Discussion of weather and climate outside of NZ's waters. Australian weather, tropical cyclones and USA storm chasing feature here.
spwill
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Texas cold

Unread post by spwill »

Very cold weather and snow will affect much of Texas over coming days.
Max temperature forecast for Dallas on Monday is -9C, min Monday night -15C . Houston max on Monday is -4C, Monday night-12C :eek: .
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

spwill wrote: Sat 13/02/2021 22:32 Very cold weather and snow will affect much of Texas over coming days.
Max temperature forecast for Dallas on Monday is -9C, min Monday night -15C . Houston max on Monday is -4C, Monday night-12C :eek: .
Yes I have noticed that with Dallas only getting up the 1C the other day, whereas their temperatures are usually quite mild for the time of year.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

There have been some terrible crashes. One was on elevated roadway (which always freezes first) in Dallas area. Traffic was coming up the ramp with power on up the incline and then when it leveled out were on slick ice from freezing rain unable to stop. It continued until the piled up cars were visible from the incline & people could stop in time. Sadly a number of fatalities. If you look for them you will find multiple videos, they are terrible.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Nev »

TVNZ ran a story about a spectacular pile-up in Fort Worth last night…

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/s ... s-motorway
The ice storm came as a polar vortex — swirling air that normally sits over the Earth's poles — has moved near the US-Canada border, resulting in colder weather farther south than usual, said Steve Goss, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

“As a result we’re getting unusually or unseasonably cold air that’s spilling south across a good portion of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains,” he said. ...
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Awhituobs »

a lot of people will be driving using cruise control ? (re speed)
Last edited by Awhituobs on Sun 14/02/2021 20:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Texas cold

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Houston gets hurricane warnings, now under a dangerous winter storm warning.

Disaster declaration for Texas due to stress on the electric grid.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Cyclone Tracy »

Here is the culprit from early to mid January. viewtopic.php?p=197665#p197665

These projected cold anomalies are staggering. I can't ever remember seeing a map like this over such a wide area in the U.S and into the gulf.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by spwill »

Dallas which is a similar latitude to Newcastle Australia is currently -8C with snow, the forecast low tonight is -13C.
Colder tomorrow.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

Goodland Kansas currently on -29C, Dodge City -23C, Wichita -22C. Tornado season only 2 months away.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

Insane temperature variation.
135F dif.jpg
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Cyclone Tracy »

The cost of this winter storm is going to be enormous. It's looks like Texas's renewable energy has failed under the conditions, mass blackouts associated with frozen wind turbines at peak demand.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Nev »

tgsnoopy wrote: Mon 15/02/2021 21:00 Insane temperature variation.
135F dif.jpg
That map doesn't show actual real temps though, but rather 'feels-like' temps.
(see their real Air Temps versus the Wind Chill & Heat Index)

However, the lowest real US air temp recorded yesterday was -45°F (-43°C) at Kabetogama Lake in Minnesota, compared to 90°F (32°C) at Palm Beach Gardens, Titusville and Brighton all in Florida. So there was indeed a real air temp variation of 135°F (75°C).
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

Nev wrote: Tue 16/02/2021 06:57
tgsnoopy wrote: Mon 15/02/2021 21:00 Insane temperature variation.
135F dif.jpg
That map doesn't show actual real temps though, but rather 'feels-like' temps.
(see their real Air Temps versus the Wind Chill & Heat Index)

However the lowest real US air temp recorded yesterday was -45°F (-43°C) at Kabetogama Lake in Minnesota, compared to 90°F (32°C) at Palm Beach Gardens, Titusville and Brighton all in Florida. So there was indeed a real air temp variation of 135°F (75°C).
Yes, I expect they created that on wind chill because if you were outside, that's what you feel. It says so clearly on the image. I find it hard to comprehend such a vast difference. Interesting they also got a real temperature difference of 135 F (Sorry, I generally won't use ° if it's in F)
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

Gulf Coast town of Galveston Texas down to -6C with strong winds.

Oklahoma City -21C.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Awhituobs »

crazy
must be some unusually positioned jet streams
(hence why Florida is warmer than normal on the other side of that stuck weather system)
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

Awhituobs wrote: Tue 16/02/2021 11:52 crazy
must be some unusually positioned jet streams
(hence why Florida is warmer than normal on the other side of that stuck weather system)
February and March is the Severe thunderstorm season for Florida, and Georgia too.

Tornado warning for SE Georgia last hr.

AT 442 PM EST, A CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO
WAS LOCATED 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ARLINGTON, OR 12 MILES NORTH OF
COLQUITT, MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

A tornado reported from east Texas today in the subzero snowy conditions. Probably a waterspout.

Image
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

Awhituobs wrote: Tue 16/02/2021 11:52 crazy
must be some unusually positioned jet streams
(hence why Florida is warmer than normal on the other side of that stuck weather system)
Yes. According to the Blitz, there is a line of thunderstorms moving east to the east of the cold air.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

Seasonal temperature outlook for the US. Feb/Mar/Apr

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/ ... 1_temp.gif
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Awhituobs »

so that was produced 21 Jan that projection
so that means there is going to be needed the next 2 months to be substantially above normal temperature
which would need a complete flip of the current weather pattern...whats the chances?
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

Texas had power outages because the wind turbines froze.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Awhituobs »

it would have been relatively high dew point compared to places at a higher latitude and hence more ice on the turbine blades?
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

Awhituobs wrote: Thu 18/02/2021 16:17 it would have been relatively high dew point compared to places at a higher latitude and hence more ice on the turbine blades?
Yes, probably more icing than usual with this storm.

Texas is no stranger to cold weather in winter, the high plains get freezing storms every winter. It's probably not unusual for the wind turbines to start breaking down in severe weather. Gas supply was disrupted as well.
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by Awhituobs »

I also have read where Texas is independant power , i.e they could not easily get more power from other states
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Re: Texas cold

Unread post by NZstorm »

The cold snap is expected to be the biggest insurance event in Texas history. Also 30 deaths in Texas blamed on the freeze.
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