h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We got about an inch of ice Friday night and Saturday night. We didn't lose power, though, and while there are about a dozen trees down in the neighborhood, none of them are in our yard. The freezing rain predicted for yesterday didn't get the low temps it needed so none of it froze, and actually it took a lot of the existing ice down with it, so the danger of the trees coming down should be past, for now anyway.

We've been sitting at 30/-1.1 for the past four hours and we're about three and a half hours away from sunset so I'm expecting us to stay well below freezing tonight. Getting to work in the morning could be interesting if it rains but I think they're forecasting more in the way of sleet or snow. Last time we had an ice storm I managed to be at work by my regular time (8.30am) and I had to travel two or three times the distance then.

It's due here in Houston by this afternoon. The South East side toward Galveston should be okay but I have to drive into Houston proper for one last time today.

After that I'm taking half day off... maybe sitting at the pub.

That's an excellent idea.

Drove to work this morning on a solid sheet of ice. It was 11F according to the truck thermometer. Officially it's 10F/-12C. I brought my lunch so I don't have to go out & I can leave early.

It looks like we've had a light sprinkling of freezing rain during the night. There are icicles hanging off the cars outside my window and they're also covered in about a quarter of an inch of ice, but nothing on the trees. The temperature right now (and for the past few hours) is 29/-1.7.

I'm at work and it's snowing

It snowed on me this morning on the drive in.

High for today 23F
High for tomorrow 33F

It was 14F when I got up this morning.

Hurray! RAIN At last.

Humidity is down a tad.

Temps around 25.

Well, I just had to walk home because this city hasn't a bloody clue about dealing with a bit of cold weather. The buses stopped running at 8pm, but I saw not a bit of ice as my journey. Plenty of rain though.

Virtually the entire town has just shut down. Except for the Drafthouse. So where did all the people who *didn't* have to work go today? Yeah

This morning was interesting - hardly a car or truck on the roads, and those that were, were being driven in a way I can only describe as 'the way you're supposed to bloody well drive - with due care and attention and with an eye to the fact that there really are other people on the road and you're driving a lethal piece of metal'.

There wasn't a whole lot of ice about. The cars were covered in a thin film and there were lots of icicles but there wasn't too much on the trees and it was almost calm. Whenever the trees did move in the light breeze you could hear the ice on the branches cracking.

I only slipped over once Got a sore knee now

I half expected there to be no-one there when I got to work (about five minutes late) but the opening manager had made it in and the two of us had the place to ourselves for about 15 minutes. Then other people started showing up and for a while we thought it might be a really slow day... until about noon. Then management must have gotten wind that an onslaught was due because a whole lot of people who weren't scheduled started showing up, and the we got hit. I was like a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon, not a Tuesday.

We've had pretty much continuous rain, although it's been measurable only in the hundredths of an inch, and we haven't made it *up* to freezing point all day long. From 11.51 until 13.51 inclusive, the precipitation record is 'light snow' At other times there's 'freezing rain', but from time to time the National Weather Service noted 'Unknown precip'. The wrong kind of rain perhaps? Actually, I'd say that was probably when the sleet was falling.

There's a forecast for tonight of continued freezing rain and a low of 28/-2.2, and more of the same tomorrow with a high of 36/2.2.

Sorry to hear about your sore knee. It seems that anywhere south of the Red River hasn't much $$ in the budget for snow & ice removal. At least people were exhibiting caution. That's more than can be said for some of the SUV drivers up here.

It's just barely freezing in Houston and yet they are recommending anyone who can stay home to stay home. Schools and offices closed around town left and right even though they expect that temperatures will creep above freezing in most areas around town. In Galveston County there are no weather warnings or watches as the temperatures did NOT drop below freezing.

It feels colder than a bleep's bleep with the humidity and wind but the roads are safe to travel here.

That cracks me up that they're closing because it's cold.

We're supposed to get up to 27F today with a chance of snow. Then we have more snow coming in at the weekend. I'm starting to feel like I'm back in Nebraska or South Dakota.

People on the gulf coast have absolutely no idea what to do when it freezes. It never fails to amuse.

Poor things. But on the flip side, I wouldn't know what to do with all that summer heat.

I just read the 'hazardous weather outlook' for my area for the weekend. They use the words 'dire picture'. That doesn't sound good.

Oh, that's easy... You sweat. *













*Not crying, Gosho.

I knew that

Been to the supermarket this morning. Traffic is every bit as light as yesterday and there's still a good deal of ice on the walkways and sidewalks, and much more on the trees and surfaces - about an inch of it on the metal top of the rubbish bin next to the bus stop and only slightly less on the leaves of the bushes. I didn't see any on the roads though.

There's going to be a lot of runoff when that lot starts to melt, which it already is as we've just hit 32F/0C for the first time since 6pm on Monday. And the rain gauge is showing 6.11" at Camp Mabry since the beginning of the month. That's about 20% of our annual rainfall! The weather folks are saying though that it's nowt to be too pleased about yet since we're still catching up with shortfalls from the last few years.

Even though it's a few degrees warmer this morning than when I walked home last night, it feels colder. There's no more wind than last night so it must be more humid.

Of course, one of the hazards of this melting could be falling icicles or an entire sheet of ice sliding off a roof

It's snowing 35 miles south of here. The sleet we had over the weekend has frozen into a 3-6 inch crust of ice. The good news it isn't on the power lines, etc. The bad news is it's solid enough that my car doesn't leave tire marks.

Carp. Now it's snowing here too.