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Old 02-13-2021, 08:36 PM
 
11,801 posts, read 8,012,998 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ashbeeigh View Post
It’ll be nice and cold? The lake is like 700 feet deep. It’s not going to freeze all the way to the bottom. I don’t think.
Travis only averages around 62 ft deep with a max depth of 210 ft. 700 feet would technically be about 2 and a half times the height of Mansfield Dam.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taynxtlvl View Post
I't wont be cold enough long enough to freeze the lake. Also with the strong winds the water will stay "water" Although the edges will certainly have mini glaziers. But they did say on KEYE news that in the 1989 event the city had infrastructure issues with supply lines freezing. Unlike the northern states the very way we build our cities here is different. That have heating systems which warm the underground pipe systems and use steam also. So from my childhood in North Carolina where I remember 0° F during a freakish snowstorm in 2000 that dumped two feet of snow. If you have an extra bathroom clean the tub and fill it with water just in case.
I have water in the pantry, learned my lesson from the mandatory water boil during the floods back in 18 ... or was it 19? can't remember. I've set my faucets to drip though.
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Old 02-13-2021, 09:01 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,269 posts, read 35,637,527 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ashbeeigh View Post
It’ll be nice and cold? The lake is like 700 feet deep. It’s not going to freeze all the way to the bottom. I don’t think.
The surface is 681' above sea level (actually 659 at the moment), but generally the main body is around 120' or so. The average bulk water temperature is too warm and will allowing cooling water to sink and be replaced by warmer water long enough to get through the cold spell. Maybe some ice sheets along the edges of the coves and such, I suppose.

Back in 1981 in a similar freeze, the San Gabriel river froze over hard enough that a few (rather dumb) individuals walked out on it. Not sure where those pictures went...
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Old 02-13-2021, 09:13 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,269 posts, read 35,637,527 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ashbeeigh View Post
The genealogy nerd in me was thinking this. My Norwegian and Swedish ancestors are probably thinking, “Well bless her heart.”
I have a line of Irish ancestors that were 1830ish settlers in central Michigan. They didn't even come from a place that was really all that cold but managed to survive the winters there somehow. It wasn't like there was any neighbors even at that time.
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Old 02-13-2021, 11:22 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,448 posts, read 15,481,027 times
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Covid and now this. It’s like a test of mettle with each succeeding year.

I am concerned about the massive damage and potential power loss. The weather people are really sources of joy right now
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Old 02-14-2021, 04:43 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,650 posts, read 60,925,505 times
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Up here in the Tyler area, we already have a covering of ice and sleet. I mean, we already had a thin layer of ice everywhere by yesterday morning, but now it's actively coming down and accumulating even more. So far the power is still on but honestly, I can't see this holding out for much longer.

I have a son in Austin and I need to check in with him. He lives on the lower floor of an apartment complex thank goodness, but they may lose electricity, I don't know. Pretty sure he's not going to work for the next few days! At least he doesn't work normally on Sundays anyway.
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Old 02-14-2021, 05:47 AM
 
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It hasn’t started snowing here yet. It won’t start till sometime in the afternoon for the northern suburbs.

My lawn is completely encased in ice, my trees look like they have been crystallized.

Unfortunately it looks like icy conditions may be prevalent throughout this entire upcoming week.
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Old 02-14-2021, 07:00 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX via San Antonio, TX
9,851 posts, read 13,698,680 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainwreck20 View Post
The surface is 681' above sea level (actually 659 at the moment), but generally the main body is around 120' or so. The average bulk water temperature is too warm and will allowing cooling water to sink and be replaced by warmer water long enough to get through the cold spell. Maybe some ice sheets along the edges of the coves and such, I suppose.

Back in 1981 in a similar freeze, the San Gabriel river froze over hard enough that a few (rather dumb) individuals walked out on it. Not sure where those pictures went...
Ahh. That’s where the 600 number comes from. I was just citing what I see on the news.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainwreck20 View Post
I have a line of Irish ancestors that were 1830ish settlers in central Michigan. They didn't even come from a place that was really all that cold but managed to survive the winters there somehow. It wasn't like there was any neighbors even at that time.
Most of my ancestors ended up in Wisconsin and Illinois from different routes. It wasn’t until the 80s that we made it to Texas. I feel like my grandparents would even be laughing.
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Old 02-14-2021, 08:11 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
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A friend who lives in England says they are having a cold snap that blew in from Russia.

Last edited by ScoPro; 06-13-2021 at 06:56 AM..
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Old 02-14-2021, 08:17 AM
 
8,007 posts, read 10,428,452 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Moonlady View Post
That certainly occurred to me after the first 24 hours. No Internet and no TV I could tolerate but no heat and no way to cook properly (all electric) was brutal.
The no internet and no TV would drive me batty LOL. We have a gas stove though, and could cook. We could also use our grill.

BTW, I grew up in a 200 year old house in the northeast. So snowstorms and losing power was not uncommon, and it never really bothered me. But we were much less dependent on things like TV (we only had like 3 channels back then), and we had no internet or computers. And I was young, so we would literally be out sledding with the neighborhood kids for hours. We used a kerosene heater for heat, and you could cook on it. It provided some light too. Or we used the grill. Playing monopoly with my family while eating hot dogs from the grill is a rather fond memory.

My husband, a native Texan, said there's no way he would stay here if we lost power because he's convinced the house would get down to 0 degrees and we'd all die. I tried to explain that no, it won't get that cold in the house. And if we get 5 inches of snow tomorrow, on top of the ice, how does he plan to get to a hotel?

I get being worried about pipes freezing and trees. But I do think people here, my husband included, kind of over react to the cold aspect of it. Just stay in your house and you'll be fine.
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Old 02-14-2021, 08:18 AM
 
8,007 posts, read 10,428,452 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riaelise View Post
Covid and now this. It’s like a test of mettle with each succeeding year.

I am concerned about the massive damage and potential power loss. The weather people are really sources of joy right now
If there's anything good about this, it may keep people home for a week or so, which is a good thing when it comes to COVID.
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