I imagine a lot of the school closure have to do with facilities. If they were winterizing for low temps last night then they may not be back up and running today to have classes.

Our office building informed us that they were draining the AC tower and wouldn't be filling it back up until tomorrow. In the meantime they wouldn't have the ability to control temps so it was come in at your own risk knowing that not all building utilities may be available.

I can imagine school districts with an insane amount of facilities are spending today getting everything up and running.

Point being it's not just about the roads.

37 on the nose

Ag_07 said:

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I imagine a lot of the school closure have to do with facilities. If they were winterizing for low temps last night then they may not be back up and running today to have classes.

Our office building informed us that they were draining the AC tower and wouldn't be filling it back up until tomorrow. In the meantime they wouldn't have the ability to control temps so it was come in at your own risk knowing that not all building utilities may be available.

I can imagine school districts with an insane amount of facilities are spending today getting everything up and running.

Point being it's not just about the roads.

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Depends on their HVAC set-up. The Humble ISD schools I see/go to are mostly closed loop chilled water with compressors for cold and 'boiler' (aka heater) for hot water. So no cooling tower or other stuff to deal with. Not sure of the closed loop chemical make-up, but should be glycol and water. So it can take these temps.

Other campuses have a cooling tower(s), so would need some winterization. But most of those can handle lower air temps, assuming the system is still running.

~egon

Anyone know how long you can keep plants covered before the covers themselves cause a problem? Given another potential round of sub-30 this upcoming weekend I rather not uncover just to have to do it all over again. I used cloth, not plastic...so figure they can breathe a little.

Dr. Doctor said:

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Ag_07 said:

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I imagine a lot of the school closure have to do with facilities. If they were winterizing for low temps last night then they may not be back up and running today to have classes.

Our office building informed us that they were draining the AC tower and wouldn't be filling it back up until tomorrow. In the meantime they wouldn't have the ability to control temps so it was come in at your own risk knowing that not all building utilities may be available.

I can imagine school districts with an insane amount of facilities are spending today getting everything up and running.

Point being it's not just about the roads.

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Depends on their HVAC set-up. The Humble ISD schools I see/go to are mostly closed loop chilled water with compressors for cold and 'boiler' (aka heater) for hot water. So no cooling tower or other stuff to deal with. Not sure of the closed loop chemical make-up, but should be glycol and water. So it can take these temps.

Other campuses have a cooling tower(s), so would need some winterization. But most of those can handle lower air temps, assuming the system is still running.

~egon

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More than just hvac winterization. Can they keep up temp with kids there? Are they all functional? Any damage from pipes and not winterizing? Parents love kids in damaged schools or off temp environments. They handle it well.

Adjusting school schedule to meet hour requirements, staff not showing up and classrooms not covered, busses not running, etc. NG suppliers see government (buildings and schools) as a big usage group that will actually listen and close to help with supply shortages and price spikes.

Depends on the cover type / material/ color and if sun light gets through. I use clear greenhouse plastic so it can stay on indefinitely.

TXAG 05 said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Easiest commute ever taking the kids to school this morning.

Early quiet drinking coffee on the porch in the city with most staying home. The normal buzz of a big city isn't there.

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Nothing beats driving during peak Covid. I could blast through Galleria on the loop going 80 and not have to hit the brakes.

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You can do that right now. My office window looks at 610 from San Felipe and traffic is laughably light.

the local news stations seem a bit disappointed

Some chatter about a round 2 this weekend. Guess we will see if materializes.

Agz_2003 said:

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Some chatter about a round 2 this weekend. Guess we will see if materializes.

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From the Space City guys:

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Another strong cold front is in the cards for this weekend, likely arriving on Friday. This may bring some precipitation with it. Although we cannot rule out some of this rain turning into snow or sleet, it looks like the colder air will arrive after the precipitation ends. We'll be watching things closely, all the same. Friday will probably see highs in the 50s, but the weekend looks cold with high temperatures in the 40s. What of lows? It's a good question, and I could see them falling anywhere in the 25 to 35 degree range for Houston. So worst case, probably about what we're experiencing this morning. But there's still some wiggle room, so I want to wait for more clarity before making bold predictions.

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Great so when that happens everyone will have to go to work because this week turned out to be nothin

htxag09 said:

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lol why?

They said all along this last front would be very dependent on timing of the cold vs the precipitation and expressed the uncertainty of that timing up until Friday/saturday.

They even said they wouldn't make any calls on cancellations until Sunday if you could because of it.

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I can't speak for all the Karens and Deborahs, but this cold snap was picked up almost 14 days in advance. With 4 million variables, that's pretty damn impressive. The fact that it didn't get as much ice….i mean….thats the gripe?

I often wonder how people would have survived 70 years ago when the first inkling of an ice storm was ice on the doorstep.

I think people rely too much on this stuff which is why they are pissed. Watch the weather outlets that just do weather and don't depend on the office to tell you if you should or should not come in. Make a decision and own it.

One thing is certain, people are dumb and they will dismiss this as a blown forecast which will get it in their head that it will be wrong next time and then before you know it you're sitting in your attic drowning because you didn't believe the forecast that said 50" of rain. Lol.

Quote:

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lol why?

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A lot of people have just gotten bent out of shape because Berger has gone all in on Climate Change, so suddenly, Berger doesn't know what he's doing.

CenterPoint just sent out an email about conserving natural gas due to high demands.

Is there a real threat they can't meet demands or is it them not wanting to pay demand prices?

Imagine if they had power issues. Everyone running their generators. No electricity or natural gas.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Easiest commute ever taking the kids to school this morning.

Early quiet drinking coffee on the porch in the city with most staying home. The normal buzz of a big city isn't there.

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I like to think of it as a glimpse of the alternate universe of what Houston traffic would be like if we had enforced immigration laws back in the 90s-10s

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Or if they had just built a few more lanes..

There's also no such thing as a 100% accurate forecast. If you're getting pissed off every time a forecast misses then you're just gonna be pissed off all the time.

SCW (like every other forecaster) is not 100% accurate but they'll tell you that and explain in detail the limits of the tools they're using and realistic expectations given those limits.

Not sure anyone could ask for anything more.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Imagine if they had power issues. Everyone running their generators. No electricity or natural gas.

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Yep. The next time there is a widespread power outage all of the people who paid $20k-$30k to install single fuel whole home generators are going to be pissed.

wessimo said:

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Martin Q. Blank said:

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Imagine if they had power issues. Everyone running their generators. No electricity or natural gas.

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Yep. The next time there is a widespread power outage all of the people who paid $20k-$30k to install single fuel whole home generators are going to be pissed.

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This is why I love my hybrid F-150. I can hook the truck up to the house and run enough stuff to be comfortable and not lose all my food. After Hurricane Beryl we didn't have power for two days.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Imagine if they had power issues. Everyone running their generators. No electricity or natural gas.

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And there it is.

Next house will have ample propane supply to operate for 2 to 3 weeks.

Any generator solution that requires on fuel to be obtained after the event is risky.

My guess is that as well.

We're only in the second night of barely below freezing conditions. I sure hope it's not an actual supply concern and just a demand forecasting issue that's gonna cost them financially.

Even if so, they'll just pass it on to us somewhere down the road.

Tom Cardy said:

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It's not that difficult to drop a couple 1000 gallon propane tanks into a neighborhood backyard

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I went the large tri-fuel route as I couldn't afford the 5x markup of the stand by generator when I did it. I looked into getting a 250G tank as a backup and there wasn't space I could get it permitted unless I stuck it in the middle of the yard. So I keep 3-4 20lb tanks on hand for it and other things that is about 48 hours of continuous run. Double that if I needed to stretch it.

I was originally disappointed in not getting a standby, but now I'm kind of glad I didn't. Only time I wouldn't be is if a long power outage happens when I'm not home and the food in the freezers spoil.