Compared to Dallas?

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by whereiend

What's happening in Texas right now is a freak event, historically. It's purely chance that it happened in Dallas and not Atlanta. It is very possible that with climate change we'll see these "freak" events with more regularity, but in that case I don't think Atlanta will be uniformly spared.

In fact it did happen in Atlanta in 1993. Atlanta nor Dallas are much different in the way of attracting cold weather.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

In fact it did happen in Atlanta in 1993. Atlanta nor Dallas are much different in the way of attracting cold weather.

1993?

The March 1993 “Storm of the Century” blizzard was a standout event, but Atlanta and Georgia have had extended cold events much more recently than that.

Atlantans admittedly understandably don’t like to talk about the infamous 2014 ‘Snowpocalypse’ event that effectively shutdown the metro area and stranded tens-of-thousands of motorists out on gridlocked roadways for several days in late January of that year after the entire workforce of metro Atlanta panicked and all flooded the roadways all at once as snow began to fall during the middle of the workday.

The January 2014 ‘Snowpocalypse’ is an event that metro Atlantans don’t like to talk about because it turned into a major media story and became a major embarrassment for image-conscious Atlantans.

The 2010-2011 winter season was also a very active one with about at least 3 major inclement winter weather events that directly affected metro Atlanta that year.

That includes a severe ice storm and sub freezing temperatures in January 2011 that shutdown the metro area for at least about a week and forced former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s first inauguration to be moved inside of the Georgia State Capitol.

Originally Posted by whereiend

What's happening in Texas right now is a freak event, historically. It's purely chance that it happened in Dallas and not Atlanta. It is very possible that with climate change we'll see these "freak" events with more regularity, but in that case I don't think Atlanta will be uniformly spared.

That is a good point that what is happening in Texas right now is a freak event.

But what is happening right now in Texas appears to have happened before in the distant past and does not seem to be completely out of the realm of possibility given Texas’ geographical location in the middle of the continent with no real raised topographical barriers to block severe cold and extreme winter weather generated by polar air masses that can invade from the north.

Much like during the 2014 ‘Snowpocalypse’ winter weather event when Georgia learned that it must do a much better job in preparing for major winter weather events, no matter how rare those winter weather events may seem to be, Texas unfortunately appears to be learning a really tough lesson here in February 2021 that it must winterize its power grid to effectively prepare for major winter weather events, no matter how rare those major winter winter events may seem to be.

North Georgia and the ‘Texas Triangle’ generally are warmer subtropical climates, but both areas still can be prone to experience major winter weather events for extended periods of time, from time to time.

And both Georgia and Texas most likely should be willing to pay to prepare for those relatively rare, but not completely unheard of, periods of extended winter weather or risk having their states suffer through dangerous and even deadly winter weather disasters for lack of adequate and necessary government preparedness.

[whereiend]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

1993?
But what is happening right now in Texas appears to have happened before in the distant past and does not seem to be completely out of the realm of possibility given Texas’ geographical location in the middle of the continent with no real raised topographical barriers to block severe cold and extreme winter weather generated by polar air masses that can invade from the north.

Dallas does get winter weather a bit more often, but what happened in Austin had not happened for over 30 years. This storm brought snow to Brownsville. That's an extremely rare event historically.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by whereiend

Dallas does get winter weather a bit more often, but what happened in Austin had not happened for over 30 years. This storm brought snow to Brownsville. That's an extremely rare event historically.

Not unlike Atlanta and North Georgia, I know that the DFW Metroplex and North Texas can sometimes be prone to experience ice storms.

One of the most notable DFW area ice storms that stand out in my memory is the February 2011 ice storm that happened during Super Bowl week and played a major role in the NFL basically classifying Dallas as a “cold weather city” as one of its excuses not to bring the Super Bowl back to Dallas in the near future.

(A very similar thing happened to Atlanta when an ice storm struck the Atlanta area during Super Bowl weekend in January 2000, combining with other high-profile unfortunate events to motivate the NFL to classify Atlanta as a “cold weather city” as an excuse not to bring the NFL back to the city in the near future.)

Another very notable DFW ice storm that stands out in my memory happened very early in the cool/cold weather season when the Dallas Cowboys most notably played the Miami Dolphins in a seemingly very severe snow/sleet/ice storm at the old Texas Stadium during a nationally televised game on Thanksgiving Day 1993.

It was a very memorable winter weather event, particularly for a supposedly warmer weather city like Dallas, but even more so since it was a major winter event that happened in Texas on Thanksgiving Day.

The first was on Nov. 25, 1993, when the Cowboys played the Miami Dolphins. A mix of rain and sleet fell in Dallas-Fort Worth that afternoon, completely covering the field at Texas Stadium. It was the first time snow fell in Dallas during an NFL game.

The total precipitation was a mere 0.3 inches, according to the National Weather Service, but it was enough to create some interesting — and frigid — playing conditions for the teams.

Without a retractable roof or climate control, fans in attendance that day endured the coldest Dallas-area Thanksgiving ever, according to the weather service. The low that day was 23 degrees, and the high reached just 35 degrees.

Snow at a Cowboys Thanksgiving game? It’s happened before - There’s no chance of snow in Dallas-Fort Worth this Thanksgiving, but it’s happened before during a Dallas Cowboys Turkey Day game — twice. (The Dallas Morning News)

Fortunately, severe and extended inclement winter weather events do not happen the most frequently in Sun Belt metros like Dallas and Atlanta and in Sun Belt states like Texas and Georgia.

But inclement winter weather events do seem to happen frequently enough in those Sun Belt areas that the officials in those areas probably should be making a good effort to be more prepared for these types of extended winter events.