A question for those whom have never known snow...

"A question for those WHOM snow has never known"

So here in Austin, Texas we're getting our first taste of real snow since about 1985. It's pretty! There's enough to go sledding! Or flattened cardboard boxing, since nobody around here owns a sled. And surprise, our infrastructure can't handle the sudden power demand! Who would have guessed... flipping the feds the bird by refusing to connect the state to the national power grid has come back to bite us. Don't worry, the Governor will blame it on wind power or all the liberals here in Austin turning on their avocado toasters at the same time.

I always forget how wet the stuff is.

Enjoy it while it lasts!

fuck snow

my question for these people would be, can i switch places with you

little flakes of death

5° in Houston tomorrow

My mom has been without power for 18 hours and I can’t get her to let me bring her and her dogs to my apartment because she’s afraid to leave her house unattended.

She’s got two dogs, a lot of comforters and I bought her 10 cases of logs (as useless as they are overall) so I think she’ll be okay but all of this stress has had me on the verge of puking for four days now.

Enjoy it while it lasts!

fuck snow

point, counterpoint.

the snow is pretty but what a shitshow this state is... I'd like to be sitting on my couch, but my friend lost power and her apartment is about 38 degrees inside now, so I gotta drive over and pick her up so she doesn't freeze to death. not looking forward to the drive.

so sorry to hear that about your mom, milo, and your friend, f. hazel. i have a friend in austin who ended up checking into a hotel, even though that makes her worry about COVID. libertarian influence on government in this country is so bleak.

i always take it for granted that in the northeast we have the infrastructure to withstand heavy snow - hope everyone gets through ok.

woke up to 14" this morning, thought it looked very pretty from inside the house. got a swift comeuppance for my smugness with a near heart attack shoveling the front steps.

In the Northeast you have a lot of overground utilties going to semi-rural/exurban areas like where my parents live in Connecticut; so wind, snow or ice bringing down power lines is a constant threat.

We've got about eight or nine inches out there... and it's 10º.

Another five or six inches is supposed to fall tonight. It's crazy.

We've had an insane run of snow since the last weekend in January, resulting in well over 30" of snow in the low areas in our yard. Just since Sunday night we've gotten about 19 additional inches (though I've seen some estimates nearby that go up to as much as 21"). Simply running out of places to put the snow we've shoveled at this point, there are drifts in our front yard that are well above my waist.,

We've had a ton of snow in WI as well, and it's been getting down to -10', but it's more or less business as usual here.

News in Houston is so sad, bunch of stories about people accidentally gasing themselves or setting fires trying to stay warm.

xpost - I mean, this round wouldn't even rank in the top 5 snowstorms we had and we've definitely had colder snaps, but the combination of extreme cold days and snow after snow is somewhat unusual for us. If we get measurable snowfall tomorrow, it will set a new record for most continuous days of measurable snowfall.

Definitely places that have it far worse.

My GF's brother is in McKinney TX, the high yesterday was like 3*. I asked if it was C or F, I've never been in weather that cold in my life.

friend rescued, we even stopped at a 7-11 that was open on the way back and stocked up on junk food and wine so it's festive (as long as my power holds out). driving wasn't as bad as I thought (although still wildly unsafe, mostly due to people in SUVs and trucks that seem to think gunning it is the way to deal with not being able to get up an icy hill).

3/4 of my friends have been sitting in the dark and cold without power for over 24 hours now, all over the state. some of 'em have gas stoves so they can at least make coffee. stay warm everyone!

wonder how many tech workers who were planning on leaving California for Texas are reconsidering their plans rn ... 55F and partly cloudy ... it drizzled a bit the other day

or rather, to use the term from the place I lived where I did get to know snow -- it was "Providencing"

I'm also in Austin. My electricity has been out for over 36 hours and it looks like we are getting at least another night of this. This was clusterfuck I was not anticipating at all.

iving wasn't as bad as I thought (although still wildly unsafe, mostly due to people in SUVs and trucks that seem to think gunning it is the way to deal with not being able to get up an icy hill)

when i lived in north carolina it snowed a half-inch or so once or twice, and i still remember how all the cars that were spun out onto shoulders or into ditches were always the gigantic 4WD monster machines, apparently driven by people who had no idea how to actually use them in adverse driving conditions.

there's a main north-south artery here called Lamar Boulevard which has a curved incline between 24th and 29th streets, and it was just littered with spun out cars on the shoulders. and people were seeing the like eight beached cars and still not turning around! then a big truck came spinning down the southbound lane caroming off the cars scattered along the shoulders, that was enough to get everyone waiting for their attempt to crest the hill to say "fuck this" and turn around.

and yeah, Moodles... freezing rain coming after midnight until morning, that's going to turn the roads into complete chaos

We've had a ton of snow in WI as well, and it's been getting down to -10', but it's more or less business as usual here.

― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, February 16, 2021 11:37 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

it was like 30 all January, I kinda figured we were gonna pay for it

every time it snows I lose 2 more inches off my driveway. I'm running out of room here

You Yankees should've seen me trying to kick the snow out of my driveway today. Then I got the (non-snow) shovel out, which was about as helpful as a tablespoon.

Finally, I got the big janitor's broom out, swept the snow off the Honda and called it a day.

Lost power at 5:30 PM, and it seems like afterwards that also happened to everyone I know on Facebook.

I spent two hours in Walmart getting an air mattress for my mom and as I was being rung up she called to say her power just came back on.

Complete hell on Earth in there, shocked I didn’t see anyone throw a punch about line cutting or anything.

The 11-year-old boy wanted to go to Home Depot to get a sled.

I think he was impressed by my vivid reply about "how are we going to get there?" and "do you really think they still have any sleds left back there?"

now have a nice layer of ice coating everything from a night of freezing rain... still have power and water though!

Got my power back a little while ago. I can see my breath inside!

I just shoveled out my long inclined driveway with a garden shovel

just spent hours digging in the ice and dirt to find the water shutoff valve for a unit in my condo complex with a burst pipe. watching a waterfall sprouting out of the side of my building was an unsettling feeling.

No water, shocked at how long it takes to melt a pot of snow.

Weirdly last night I dreamt I was in a house where pipes in the walls/ceiling were bursting and flooding shit.

Then this morning I read in the news somewhere this has been happening to some ppl.

Texas' lieutenant governor said older Texans should sacrifice themselves to the coronavirus to save the economy.

Rick Perry says Texans should be willing to freeze to death to preserve an unregulated power grid.

Texas politicians keep demanding human sacrifices and it's weird. https://t.co/C3i5nNOVwt

— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) February 17, 2021

Choosing an electric plan in Texas is the only shopping experience worse and more incomprehensible than picking an ACA plan.