Upcoming freeze preparation (Fort Hood: cabinet, cabin, electric)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I'm staying indoors today and putting away and sorting Christmas stuff. UGH. It's bright and beautiful outside till you step outside.

My dogs are housebroken so when they need to go, they go stand by the back door. It's pretty outside so they both go running out there happily (they hate going out when it's gray or wet or both) but I can see them stop almost immediately outside sort of in shock at how cold it is. Within 60 seconds they are done with their business and pressing their noses against the glass of the door again!

They are big babies. I mean, they have fur coats on, right? One's a lab mix and one's a hound mix. You'd think they were made of porcelain! LOL

Where are you? It's still mostly cloudy here in Steiner (Northwest Austin).

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I'm staying indoors today and putting away and sorting Christmas stuff. UGH. It's bright and beautiful outside till you step outside.

My dogs are housebroken so when they need to go, they go stand by the back door. It's pretty outside so they both go running out there happily (they hate going out when it's gray or wet or both) but I can see them stop almost immediately outside sort of in shock at how cold it is. Within 60 seconds they are done with their business and pressing their noses against the glass of the door again!

They are big babies. I mean, they have fur coats on, right? One's a lab mix and one's a hound mix. You'd think they were made of porcelain! LOL

Ours are loving the sunshine and cold. But Joey (the 13 year old) is a Pyr/lab mix, and Tank is a German Shepherd/Tibetan Mastiff mix, so they think it's finally gotten cool enough. Though both are in the living room sacked out right now, it's mainly because we won't go out with them.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by cBach

Where are you? It's still mostly cloudy here in Steiner (Northwest Austin).

I'm in Tyler - I'm "cheating" by posting on this thread. I'm four hours north of Austin.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I'm in Tyler - I'm "cheating" by posting on this thread. I'm four hours north of Austin.

Sun never really "busted through" in Austin. I can see clear skies northwest of us, I estimate 150-200 miles...

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by cBach

Sun never really "busted through" in Austin. I can see clear skies northwest of us, I estimate 150-200 miles...

Well, just so you know, the sun didn't do much good - I don't think it's gotten above freezing today and the lows for the next few nights are supposed to be in the teens. BRRRRRRR!!!!!

But hey, it's winter time. It's January - and this is actually one of my favorite months in Texas. We get about a month or six weeks of cold, gray weather for the most part - nice evenings around the fire with some hot tea - and then it's spring again!

And spring in Texas is pretty hard to beat - if you don't factor in the tornadoes.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Well, just so you know, the sun didn't do much good - I don't think it's gotten above freezing today and the lows for the next few nights are supposed to be in the teens. BRRRRRRR!!!!!

But hey, it's winter time. It's January - and this is actually one of my favorite months in Texas. We get about a month or six weeks of cold, gray weather for the most part - nice evenings around the fire with some hot tea - and then it's spring again!

And spring in Texas is pretty hard to beat - if you don't factor in the tornadoes.

We are fortunately not in the "ice belt" of Texas nor the "tornado belt". You are in both unfortunately.

[mesmer]

Our neighbor doesn't understand the difference between a dripping faucet and an on faucet... and now we've got a frozen stream in the middle of our yard. Doh.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by cBach

We are fortunately not in the "ice belt" of Texas nor the "tornado belt". You are in both unfortunately.

Right but we're not in the drought belt or wildfire belt or flood belt so it's sort of a trade off. We're also not in the tarantula or scorpion belt or rattlesnake belt, though they're not unheard of around here. Apparently we ARE in the black widow belt though. And definitely the bible belt.

I don't think there's a single part of Texas that isn't prone to some sort of severe weather or nature issue. We're a state of extremes it seems. Keeps things interesting!

The worst tornado I was ever in though was at Fort Hood, Texas in around 1989. Wow, that was something else.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Right but we're not in the drought belt or wildfire belt or flood belt so it's sort of a trade off. We're also not in the tarantula or scorpion belt or rattlesnake belt, though they're not unheard of around here. Apparently we ARE in the black widow belt though. And definitely the bible belt.

I don't think there's a single part of Texas that isn't prone to some sort of severe weather or nature issue. We're a state of extremes it seems. Keeps things interesting!

The worst tornado I was ever in though was at Fort Hood, Texas in around 1989. Wow, that was something else.

Touche'

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by rangergrit

Has anybody here, in Austin, ever had a pipe problem from cold weather? Generally, it has to be below 20^ for a long time to cause any problem to pipes. Pets and plants are more of a problem.

Once. Many slab homes will have pipes that are rerouted thru the attic as a cost saving measure if there is a problem with the pipes in the slab. If you have such a situation and the house is sitting empty for a while (i.e. no heat over the holidays while the occupants are away) and the water main is turned off but the water in the house not emptied and you get enough days of sub freezing weather then a burst pipe is a def. possibility (or a reality for some of us ).