Yikes! Midwest Ice Storm!

[3113]

Everyone okay? I've put an extra blanket on the bed and hey, last night even the very fluffy cat dug her way under the quilt and snuggled up with us (stole the blankets away from me too!)....

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A crippling winter storm lashed the central part of the nation with another blast of freezing rain, sleet and snow Saturday, causing widespread power outages and tying up highways and airports.

The storm was expected to continue through the weekend, laying down a coat of ice and snow from Texas to Illinois, where an ice storm warning was in effect through Monday morning....Farther west, frigid arctic air reached as far south as southern and central California, where plunging temperatures prompted worry about the homeless and crops.

The storm in the Midwest had been blamed for at least seven deaths, and brought Amtrak service in Missouri to a halt on Saturday. Trees and other debris knocked down by the weight of ice blocked tracks at several locations between St. Louis and Kansas City. About 115,000 homes and businesses had no electricity Saturday in the St. Louis area.

"We have hundreds of crews. We kept them working all night long," Susan Gallagher, a spokeswoman for the utility Ameren, said Saturday. "Like everyone, we don't know what the extent of damage will be with the arrival of more ice."

Between 60,000 and 70,000 customers were without power in Springfield, Mo., Saturday, plus an unknown number of homes and businesses in surrounding towns, said Jenny Fillmer Edwards, spokeswoman for the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management.

Roads in southwest Missouri began freezing after sunset. Two shelters in Springfield filled Saturday and emergency officials planned to open one more. There were also three shelters for people with special needs and medical conditions. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency Saturday and activated the National Guard. He said the worst wave may come Sunday.

In San Marcos, Texas, it wasn't clear whether a tornado or straight-line wind damaged at least 10 homes, several businesses and the police headquarters. Fallen power lines blocked a section of Interstate 35 until crews could remove them, said Melissa Millecam, communications manager for the city, 30 miles south of Austin.

"It's a good bit of damage," she said. "It's still stormy and we've got power outages in different places."

More than 6 inches of rain fell in places across central Texas, causing local flooding. Water also blocked three highways in southeastern Oklahoma, the Department of Transportation reported.

About 300 flights were canceled Saturday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, spokesman David Magana said. Cancellations also were reported in St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

In Oklahoma, more than 68,000 customers were without power early Saturday, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said. The weather grounded the Oklahoma State men's basketball team and a game against the University of Nebraska scheduled for Saturday in Lincoln was postponed.

More rain, freezing rain and snow was expected from northwest Oklahoma all the way to Wisconsin on Sunday, Pedigo said.

In Nevada, temperatures plunged as much as minus 28 in the northern part of the state, filling homeless shelters to capacity and prompting ranchers to use axes to break ice in troughs so cattle could drink, authorities said.

In Colorado, 61 homes were evacuated Friday night in Highlands Ranch 10 miles south of Denver because of a leaking gas line. Xcel Energy spokesman Mark Stutz said the company could not shut off the gas because that would leave thousands without heat, so a crew planned to install a bypass line around the leak.

In California's San Joaquin Valley, where much of the state's nearly $1 billion citrus crop is grown, temperatures dropped into the teens overnight Friday. Growers burned fires, sprayed warm irrigation water and ran giant fans to keep cold air away from their oranges, lemons and tangerines.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Doin' ok, but everything's covered in ice, that's for sure! And we're supposed to get more tomorrow, too... just gonna stay in and snuggle!

 

[Liar]

Dunno if this is frm the same occation, but it's pretty cool.

http://www.extremeinstability.com/06-12-31b.htm

 

[Darkniciad]

This one is either going to peter out or go around us too. It seems even the weather does its best to detour around Indiana.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/Darkniciad/lmao.gif

 

[cloudy]

Dunno if this is frm the same occation, but it's pretty cool.

http://www.extremeinstability.com/06-12-31b.htm

I think that's in Montana - WAY north.

 

[Guest]

We're ok right now. Lot's of ice, but nothing accumulating in heavy quantities.

Tomorrow we have snow predicted - 6-8 inches.

But we knew this was coming so we stocked up on food and wood and batteries and charged cell phones, gameboys, etc. The kids had a popcorn party in front of the fireplace tonight to celebrate the ice.

We're staying inside, well-snugged, with no plans to go anywhere (well, except to feed the stray outside critters).

It also makes for some nice hubby and wife time.

 

[blackhaus7]

I had to come up with an excuse to get out and practice bootlegger turns.

Seems I was the only one.

 

[Belegon]

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/warnings.php?wfo=sgx&pil=XXXNPWSGX&zone=caz043&productType=Freeze Warning



and we had snow flurries this morning!!!!

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Meh. We're okay for now, the roads weren't too bad earlier. A lot of people are without power again, mostly west of St. Louis and some rural areas here in Illinois. Massive amounts of ice is hitting our roof and it scares the life out of me every time! Tomorrow night could be a lot worse because we're getting wind too, along with more ice. Yay. At least we have plenty of supplies from the last five major power outages since last spring.

 

[S-Des]

This one is either going to peter out or go around us too. It seems even the weather does its best to detour around Indiana.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/Darkniciad/lmao.gif

This one missed us (as have all the big ones this year). I'm not complaining, the new job requires me to drive every night and the truck sucks on ice.

 

[The_Fool]

Good weekend to stay home and watch football....

 

[Darkniciad]

This one missed us (as have all the big ones this year). I'm not complaining, the new job requires me to drive every night and the truck sucks on ice.

The crews around here are rather remarkable, so I don't fret snowy weather much. We get just enough snow usually that they're always well-prepared and effective, but not so much that they can't handle it and keep up. When I lived farther south, where the big snows are less frequent, a much smaller storm would leave you with nasty roads for days. You could actually see the dividing line just past Vincennes heading north. Ice on one side, dry pavement on the other.

Of course, there's pretty much jack you can do about an ice storm, too. No amount of salt/sand/scraping is going to help that much, and that's only a tiny fraction of the issues with power lines and trees falling willy-nilly all over the place.

 

[S-Des]

The crews around here are rather remarkable, so I don't fret snowy weather much. We get just enough snow usually that they're always well-prepared and effective, but not so much that they can't handle it and keep up. When I lived farther south, where the big snows are less frequent, a much smaller storm would leave you with nasty roads for days. You could actually see the dividing line just past Vincennes heading north. Ice on one side, dry pavement on the other.

Of course, there's pretty much jack you can do about an ice storm, too. No amount of salt/sand/scraping is going to help that much, and that's only a tiny fraction of the issues with power lines and trees falling willy-nilly all over the place.

Not to mention the wind we get here. 30 MPH winds combined with icy roads is fun beyond words.

I live just outside of the city limits of the local town. There have been days in the past couple of years when I called in to work because I couldn't get out of my subdivision, and they were shocked (because the roads everywhere else were fine). Not only do we have lovely weather conditions, we're surrounded by cornfields, so blowing & drifting is a huge problem.

 

[Darkniciad]

Not to mention the wind we get here. 30 MPH winds combined with icy roads is fun beyond words.

I live just outside of the city limits of the local town. There have been days in the past couple of years when I called in to work because I couldn't get out of my subdivision, and they were shocked (because the roads everywhere else were fine). Not only do we have lovely weather conditions, we're surrounded by cornfields, so blowing & drifting is a huge problem.

That's the only bad part of my trek, the stretch of corn fields, followed by a bunch of s-curves through hills an' hollers, all through a place so overrun with stupid deer that I've actually had to bump a few of them to get herds of a dozen or more out of my way before.

I usually take the long way when it snows, because the roads are at least straight that way, and once the hills an' hollers start, the road is cut through them, rather than winding through them. Fewer deer too.

My girlfriend is Texan, and spent years in Vegas up until we met, so she goes into immediate hibernation at the first sign of a snowflake, and a panic attack every time I leave for work.

After spending one year living in Texas, I know why. Sorry Texans, but most of Y'all can't drive in anything less than sunny weather worth a damn. The freeways look like demolition derbies in a decent downpour, and the one snow while I was there... forget about it! It was like a slalom course through all the sideways vehicles and people driving two miles per hour on an inch of snow.

[/threadjack]

Stay safe, everyone in the path of this thing. An ice storm is the worst possible thing that can come riding up on you short of a tornado or a hurricane.

 

[Liar]

On a related note, the weather service o'er here warns people to stay indoors, due to heavy rain and hurricane winds. January is supposed to be all about drought, freezing chill and doldrum calm.

Weather's gone wacko lately. I blame Al Gore.

 

[minsue]

On a related note, the weather service o'er here warns people to stay indoors, due to heavy rain and hurricane winds. January is supposed to be all about drought, freezing chill and doldrum calm.

Weather's gone wacko lately. I blame Al Gore.

Doesn't everybody?

 

[matriarch]

On a related note, the weather service o'er here warns people to stay indoors, due to heavy rain and hurricane winds. January is supposed to be all about drought, freezing chill and doldrum calm.

Weather's gone wacko lately. I blame Al Gore.

We seem to be getting extremes all over......we move from freezing, to dense fog, to gale force winds......and today, its blue skies, sunshine, and light breezes................and no rain!! Amazing.

Bizarre.

 

[impressive]

Doesn't everybody?

. .

 

[Guest]

we had lake love shack yesterday. lucky tooke some piccies im sure shell post them later today.
temps are cold and things are slick but theyre calling for bad stuff to hit tonight.

 

[rgraham666]

It's trying to snow here in Toronto. Not succeeding very well.

Temp is currently 4C (40F) with a supposed high of 11C (52F), which is warm for this time of year.

Yes, Mother Nature is insane. Well, more insane than usual.

 

[matriarch]

deleted

 

[Guest]

Here at the Cartoon Network there is a My Gym Partner is a Monkey marathon.

TEN, count 'em TEN hours.

This culminates in their first movie at 6:00 tonight.

We'll give the kids some time with it, but there are other things on today, like football. And news. And the weather channel.

Anything other than this.

 

[Guest]

Here at the Cartoon Network there is a My Gym Partner is a Monkey marathon.

TEN, count 'em TEN hours.

This culminates in their first movie at 6:00 tonight.

We'll give the kids some time with it, but there are other things on today, like football. And news. And the weather channel.

Anything other than this.

nods emphatically.
the living room becomes the parental zone since the kids have their own tvs.
i imagine the fire will be roaring and i'll be spinning wool while watching movies or some mindless marathon today...
and laundry
and and and.

keep your sanity, beautiful even if that means letting the rugrats watch their cartoons.

 

[TxRad]

6 inches of rain sounds about right for last night..... maybe a little on the low side in fact.,..... The farm land around the rig looks like a lake this AM.... Expecting more later and then freezing temps....

Oh good, I thought spring was just around the corner....

 

[Guest]

nods emphatically.
the living room becomes the parental zone since the kids have their own tvs.
i imagine the fire will be roaring and i'll be spinning wool while watching movies or some mindless marathon today...
and laundry
and and and.

keep your sanity, beautiful even if that means letting the rugrats watch their cartoons.

Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.