Snow and Ice Storms Will Break Records, Take Down Power Lines

10:30 AM Sunday 1/25/26 East TN, got a few flurries last night then rain no ice. Today rain all day….maybe. Relatives in central PA got four inches of light snow with a lot more predicted. Son in Charlotte, NC got some sleet ending last night.

Next up: they will remove Natgas from CPI calcs.

Now Mish is a weatherman. Might be his best option.

Mr. Shedlock, it’s getting quite unreal. I just watched the South Park clip from 14 years ago, “Blame Canada!”, and I’m still chuckling.. Pretty funny, how absurdist comedy predicts the future. I’m out on a farm, out in the country in the Great White, using my Starlink dish to read the datafeeds. The news gets more weirdly gruesome, each month now. Your stuff is good. I read the massive pork-project outta Washington you documented from the Uniparty – over 7600 earmarks to bloat the US budget! Wow. And the hard-core comedy, is the Swamp-folk are framing this as a big win, where the system is working right!… but I digress. The subject is the weather, which has gone cold-crazy. My digital wireless thermocouple-thing says it’s minus 20 Celsius outside. It’s dark, cold, windy and snowing, and i feel like “The Martian”.
One has to “suit up” to work outside. Not complaining, I like this climate. Keeps the streets free of trash. No “homeless’ street criminals here… they expire quick.

But things are getting unreal. The harsh weather keeps us safe. I like our terrible weather, since like the Russki’s, it gives us the assistance of “General Winter”, a commander who successfully destroyed 500,000 German soldiers at Stalingrad, back in WW2. I noted that our PM is having the Canadian military model and rehearse what to do, in the event of an American invasion of our homeland. Good idea. And this is nothing new. Up until 1934, virtually all Canadian military planning focused on possible attacks from our Southern neighbours. The Fenian Raids in 1866 (during the US Civil War), were particularly interesting. Fort Erie got raided and robbed. USA has attacked us four times, in our short history.

So, we don’t mind the goofy weather. Like both Hitler and Napoleon discovered, when they had their armies invade Russia – the harsh arctic conditions make conquest difficult, expensive, and ultimately, not worth the extreme costs required. We are happy to sell Americans our gold, silver, uranium, copper, diamonds, iron ore – whatever – at fair market prices. The Danes say the samething about Greenland.

So, we kinda like the wild weather. (Even though I had to get my hydro-electric line fixed three times, last year, due to ice-storms and wind-storms…)

All the best. Keep writing, eh? We appreciate your analysis.
– Rus

Looks like a foot or two of snow where I am… nice, last good winter we had was 2011 I believe, when we had like 3 of these in a row. Snow along my driveway was higher than my cars’ roofs.

I’m sure FEMA will be ready help all the victims of the ice storm across the cradle of the civil war.
/sarc

Greenland comes to the US, no need to conquer it.

got bread?

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fjxv79vzh25fg1.jpeg

Anyone who has experienced a bad ice storm understands how devastating it can be. But for those fortunate to have not experienced one, here are a few thoughts to help you understand because there are significant downstream impacts. I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska for a period when an early snow/ice storm in October caused massive tree damage. Falling trees took out power lines. Roadways were impassable from the frozen precipitation and vegetation. The city triaged roadways for passage of emergency vehicles, which were extra busy due to the severe conditions. It took weeks to clear some less important residential streets. In late 2006, another bad ice storm in central Nebraska impacted areas just to the west of Lincoln. Weather conditions were perfect for snow and ice to accumulate on everything. Radial ice thicknesses of 1 to 1.5 inches on overhead powerlines were enough to take down entire stretches of poles and conductor (line) in what is called cascading failures. Wooden power poles, which are common across rural electrical expanses, easily snapped under the extra weight of the ice and wind. 600 miles of transmission line – along with many transmission towers – were destroyed. I don’t remember how many miles of distribution and feeder lines were down. 6000 poles were snapped across the state. 30 communities were without power completely and many more experienced partial power outages. Communities that thought they had power redundancy found otherwise as multiple separate power lines serving a community were all down. Rural electrical cooperatives did not have nearly the resources needed to even begin to respond. Some communities did not receive emergency power for over a week, and even then, only from generators and not from a rebuilt electrical system. Some poor folks at the end of residential distribution lines weren’t repowered for two months. Mutual aid agreements were an absolute savior! Lincoln’s power generation was mainly in western Nebraska (the Gerald Gentleman Station) and the electrical distribution infrastructure through the iced area was all down. As a result, the Lincoln Electric System (LES) had to purchase emergency power on the open market outside of the state. LES customers paid additional charges on our monthly power bill for 9 months to pay off the extra fuel and repair costs. 57 of Nebraska’s 93 counties were declared federal disaster areas and total damage was estimated at $240 million just to the utilities (which is 100% public-owned, so likely would be higher in for-profit electric service areas). This is 2007 dollars, so would be much higher in inflated terms.
The ice storm coming today and this weekend will be impacting areas that don’t have plows and salting equipment like in the Midwest and North. Power outages affect all people – residential and commercial electrical hookups. So no work and no play, even while stuck at home. Have candles and flashlights and charge your cell phones. People will need to have alternative ways to stay warm such as firewood/fireplace and blankets. There are likely to be warming stations opened for vulnerable populations. If you don’t have a generator, you’re at the mercy of overworked line repair crews who are most likely not from your area. Travel will be strongly discouraged except for emergencies, and even emergency vehicles will have difficulty moving across ice-covered roadways. The ice may be thick enough that sanding/salting will have minimal impact so returning to normal may depend on above-freezing temps. Falling ice from buildings and many other sources will cause damage to anything below them – including living things.
For the last year and continuing even today, the current administration has been dismantling FEMA. If this ice and snow event turns out to be the generational storm that many expect, the response capability from the federal government will be under intense scrutiny. Lack of effective response to Hurricane Andrew dinged George Bush Sr., just like for George H W Bush from Hurricane Katrina.
A last comment: When the sun comes out after an ice storm and before the ice starts to melt, the entire landscape is alight with amazing reflections. It is dramatic irony to see breathtaking beauty amidst massive destruction.

What know one using the storm to say how fake global warming is.
Oh yeah 70 next week in northern ca.

Side benefit. Screwworms die in cold weather.

At least the ice storm in the South won’t be as bad as the ICE storm in Minnesota

“Stay warm, but expect higher electricity and heating bills.”

As someone that is most likely going to get walloped by this weather event, I’m reminded of not only how thin our polite society is but also how fragile the systems are that we rely on every day that preserves that polite society.  I can’t imagine (well, I can, but I’d rather not) what would happen if we lost power, a means to keep warm or eat for any extended period.  It wouldn’t end well that’s for sure.  The self-sufficiency skill set that our ancestors had are almost completely forgotten these days.  Stay warm indeed…