February 2021: Arctic Outbreak/Warmup Begins

[cperk]

After debating on this, I’ve decided the water gets shut off tonight until Wednesday at least. At the main. Unfortunately, I don’t have a shutoff going into my backflow, and I don’t feel like trying to do emergency PVC work in 33 degree weather to put one in. I have the parts but I just don’t feel comfortable chancing it with single digit lows approaching zero up here. We have plenty of drinking water and I have three tubs that will be full. We’ll survive.

May take a break on Wednesday and then drain again for Thursday morning.

What are the pipes in your home made of.

The pipes in the house are PVC and well-insulated. It’s the fact that my sprinkler backflow ties into the main line directly, below the spigot. And no shutoff. So I can’t drain my backflow unless I shut the main - and if my backflow goes, because there is no shutoff between it and the main - I would have a real problem in the middle of this. I’d rather just drain the pipes (including my backflow) and play it safe.

I see your point.

[jasons2k]

33 here and raining.

[jasons2k]

What are the pipes in your home made of.

The pipes in the house are PVC and well-insulated. It’s the fact that my sprinkler backflow ties into the main line directly, below the spigot. And no shutoff. So I can’t drain my backflow unless I shut the main - and if my backflow goes, because there is no shutoff between it and the main - I would have a real problem in the middle of this. I’d rather just drain the pipes (including my backflow) and play it safe.

I see your point.

Yeah, I was shocked that there was no shutoff going into the backflow. The previous homeowner had the backflow replaced with a single valve backlfow and never installed a ball shutoff valve, much to my surprise when I went digging around yesterday. At least now I know - something to fix when it's back in the 70's outside

[davidiowx]

I have an older house but all my pipes are PEX. I’ll still be opening cabinets and letting water flow. PEX can freeze!

[Kingwood36]

Travis Herzog just posted this

This may go down as the most significant week of winter weather in Texas history.

Locally it will rival anything winter has ever thrown at us in the city of Houston.

A rare combination of arctic air and deep moisture will bring temperatures about as cold as the December 1989 cold wave but with much higher totals of freezing rain, sleet, and snow, perhaps only exceeded by the Valentine’s Day snowstorm of 1895 (the one that gave us 20”).

Based on current observations and the latest data, we now expect almost every square inch of Southeast Texas will experience a changeover from freezing rain to sleet to snow. The amount of sleet and snow could reach several inches by sunrise Monday.

The freeze line lurks just northwest of Houston, and it could move into the city as early as 3PM but probably closer to 6PM. Be ready for bridges and overpasses to start icing over as soon as that happens. All roads will follow at some point in the night. The freeze line should reach all of our beaches by midnight.

The good news is we’re now expecting a quicker changeover from freezing rain to sleet and snow. The sooner that happens, the less ice we get on power lines and the better the chances we keep our power through the night.

Data from airplanes over Houston indicates there is a significant layer of air above freezing from 5,000 to 10,000 feet above the ground. When this layer drops below freezing will determine how much sleet vs. snow we get. I’ll have more on that later.

Be prepared for the possibility you will be stuck wherever you end up this evening until at least Wednesday, if not Friday, as another winter storm impacts us Wednesday and Thursday. Severe cold will follow tonight’s winter storm. Keep your pets indoors and hope for the best with whatever you’ve done to protect your pipes and plants.

Also, charge up all your mobile devices so you can still receive info and stay in touch with the world if your power goes out.

I’ll see you on TV and our digital streams later along with Meteorologist Rachel Briers.

Latest forecast: abc13.com/forecast

[Stratton20]

I really dont know why meteorologists are saying the 2nd system will be mainly rain for SE Texas, I think thats a load of bogus, with the kind of ice pack and snow pack on the ground expected I dont see temps getting above freezing even with the on shore flow from the 2nd system.

[LightningBolt]

I have an older house but all my pipes are PEX. I’ll still be opening cabinets and letting water flow. PEX can freeze!

I am shutting my well off later this afternoon. My pipes are pex but back of my house faces north and is about 10 feet above ground level with decks stepping down to ground. That will be a lot of cold air under my house.

[txbear]

Thanks for posting that Kingwood. I’m glad he mentioned the aircraft data. Knowing what’s going on in the climb-outs and descents is really helpful. That’s a stout layer of “warm air”....for the time being.

[Kingwood36]

Thanks for posting that Kingwood. I’m glad he mentioned the aircraft data. Knowing what’s going on in the climb-outs and descents is really helpful. That’s a stout layer of “warm air”....for the time being.

No problem..I really liked this part

"Based on current observations and the latest data, we now expect almost every square inch of Southeast Texas will experience a changeover from freezing rain to sleet to snow. The amount of sleet and snow could reach several inches by sunrise Monday."

[txsnowmaker]

Thanks for posting that Kingwood. I’m glad he mentioned the aircraft data. Knowing what’s going on in the climb-outs and descents is really helpful. That’s a stout layer of “warm air”....for the time being.

Won’t have any problem eroding that warm layer, see Travis Herzog post above

[MontgomeryCoWx]

I really dont know why meteorologists are saying the 2nd system will be mainly rain for SE Texas, I think thats a load of bogus, with the kind of ice pack and snow pack on the ground expected I dont see temps getting above freezing even with the on shore flow from the 2nd system.

Most aren’t. Most of the human Mets are forecasting ice on Wednesday/Thursday.

[txbear]

Thanks for posting that Kingwood. I’m glad he mentioned the aircraft data. Knowing what’s going on in the climb-outs and descents is really helpful. That’s a stout layer of “warm air”....for the time being.

No problem..I really liked this part

"Based on current observations and the latest data, we now expect almost every square inch of Southeast Texas will experience a changeover from freezing rain to sleet to snow. The amount of sleet and snow could reach several inches by sunrise Monday."

Absolutely. Crunchy with powder on top.

[TexasBreeze]

Sleet accumulates quick, especially more if already freezing for some time before. The Jan 10th event only sleeted for about 10 or 20 minutes and it covered my balcony and truck even when it was 35 degrees or so.

[Tx2005]

Question about types of pipes. The pipes in my attic running from the water heater down are red and blue. That means they are pex right? Doesn’t that reduce my risk of a pipe burst?

[cperk]

I have an older house but all my pipes are PEX. I’ll still be opening cabinets and letting water flow. PEX can freeze!

Yeah i had my entire home repipe done using pex uponor in 2018 and yes pex can freeze,but it will expand to i think twice the diameter of the pipe and return to normal size after it thaws out now i'm not saying pex won't fail but i'm a little less worried about it.

[srainhoutx]

Hey Gang. Make sure to post your pictures for this event! We are going to leave this Topic intact with the Current Title so everyone can see it in the future. This is going to be a Historic Winter Weather Event that will be remembered forever! Stay safe and warm and Stay Off The Roads!!!

I like Lit Photo for compressing and resizing you pictures for out Platform. It's free and easy to use.

[vci_guy2003]

I tried to drain the water from my back flow preventer on my sprinkler system, but it water keeps flowing. Will I be ok if I just wrap the PVC pipes?

[Kingwood36]

Where do I go to get REAL accurate data on Temps in my city? So many different apps say different stuff

[cperk]

Question about types of pipes. The pipes in my attic running from the water heater down are red and blue. That means they are pex right? Doesn’t that reduce my risk of a pipe burst?

Yes they are pex and because they can expand and go back t it's normal diameter when it thaws does reduce your chances of a burst.

[davidiowx]

Yes blue and red are PEX pipes. They can expand to allow water to freeze better than a standard pipe, but they still freeze. While the pipe bursting is less likely, you would still not have water if the PEX pipes are frozen. Keep that in mind.