Icemageddon shuts down major parts of North Texas

reply to post by buni11687



considering how absolutely crazy the weather has been the past 6-7 years, I cant help but think of this movie.

All that sand around there and they don't have sand trucks to spread sand? Seems unnatural to me.

To add some more epicness to this ice-Mageedon, there was just an earthquake of 3.6 magnitude near the Azle area.

I wonder where all the tornadoes are? Did we really piss off mother nature so bad in the past few days?

reply to post by buni11687


Azle is in north Texas, right? We had a small earthquake here in Oklahoma today as well. Freaky, man. But it seems like every time it gets super cold we have some quakes.
We got lucky up here in that we just got some snow. The local roads are snow packed and covered in ice, but I drove on I-35 last night and it was absolutely clear. I guess it gets worse the further south you go. I'm about 1.5 - 2 hours north of Denton up I-35.

ItCameFromOuterSpace
reply to post by buni11687

 

Azle is in north Texas, right? We had a small earthquake here in Oklahoma today as well. Freaky, man. But it seems like every time it gets super cold we have some quakes.
We got lucky up here in that we just got some snow. The local roads are snow packed and covered in ice, but I drove on I-35 last night and it was absolutely clear. I guess it gets worse the further south you go. I'm about 1.5 - 2 hours north of Denton up I-35.

Yea, the quake was about a mile north of Azle. I heard about the Oklahoma quake yesterday to. Lucky yall north of us just got mostly snow, and not the huge mess we're getting. Im surprised mother nature isn't throwing any tornadoes our way at the moment.

reply to post by buni11687


Seriously, man up.

In the real world icemageddon is called December.

reply to post by jctcle


Well, I call it normal too, myself. When I was a kid it got like this just about every winter. But in recent years, the winters have been comparably mild. Do they have ice storms in the real world? If not, it's hard to understand what they can do and the disaster they can be.

I feel for you guys down there in TX. We've had our share of ice apocalypses. I remember waking up freezing one morning because the power had gone out, and hearing what sounded like rifle blasts every 10 seconds. The sound was of trees snapping and falling apart all over town. It went on all day. It was quite frightening. In some places people didn't get their electricity back on for nearly a month because it was so hard to get them, and every time they put up new lines they would ice over and collapse again. It was a mess.

reply to post by ItCameFromOuterSpace

Do they have ice storms in the real world? If not, it's hard to understand what they can do and the disaster they can be.

The thing is with Texas, we only get these every few years and they only last for a few days maximum. Comparing this to where I used to live (Minnesota), it would be snowing 4 or 5 months out of the year. The north is well prepared for situations such as these, while Texas just isn't prepared.

Take the budget into consideration, it wouldn't really make sense for Texas to spend the same amount of money on resources and equipment as a Northern state would, since we would only use it only a few days a year max. (Plus our state government sucks in most ways already).

State issues aside, I make sure to have enough food, cigs, and beer to last these out.

reply to post by buni11687


For sure. I'm running out cigs, myself. Had some beers yesterday.
I don't know about there, but the news was saying this is the coldest December here since 1983.
You're right that this kind of stuff usually doesn't last long, but it's supposed to be below freezing for like a week.

ItCameFromOuterSpace
reply to post by buni11687

 

For sure. I'm running out cigs, myself. Had some beers yesterday.
I don't know about there, but the news was saying this is the coldest December here since 1983.
You're right that this kind of stuff usually doesn't last long, but it's supposed to be below freezing for like a week.

We are extremely below our average low temp, and will last for atleast a week also (although it wont be below freezing here past Monday hopefully). I think our average temp around this time was supposed to be around 55.

It looks like this is quite an early start to winter for more than just a few places of the country.

reply to post by stormcell


Yea I have a police friend who said they picked up a few walkers last night - these people thought they could do it and the police thought otherwise (not arrested - just assisted). I saw a woman walking with a backpack, blue genes, and a regular coat with hoodie. I wanted to pull over and ask her if she wanted a ride the rest of the way but she looked spooked so I moved along. I wish I would have at least yelled out the window. Maybe she was almost home - hope so. It registered -11 on the thermometer in my vehicle and the wind was gusting. Not sure what windchill was at that moment but it was painful to walk from my vehicle into my house. I had no gloves on and my hands were stinging by the time I made it in.

reply to post by buni11687


Sadly, all a company will, and can, care about is making money. Even in a intense ice storm like the one posted in this thread, the safety of the worker is of no concern to the company. The day after we had that 9.2 earthquake here in Japan the company I was working for at the time actually attempted to force us all to come into work. Everyone of us refused to come to work so they had no choice but to shut the entire business operations for at least one day.

reply to post by openminded2011


The way temps have dropped made me think of this very scenario with that movie "the day after tomorrow" I know it will pass in a few days for some of us but I just saw W Yellowstone's forecast and it could hit -37 with the wind chill. It's a whopping -12 without the windchill where I'm at now. My question is - how does wildlife handle it. I bet they die when it gets too bad. If this can happen to us it can happen to them.

reply to post by Dianec


Wow..that is pretty cold.Hope you guys and gals are still hanging in.

stutteringp0et
reply to post by Ericthedoubter

 

Ericthedoubter
I must have a really twisted european view of Texas.....I thought it was all baking hot desert and stone...tumbleweed...injuns,six-shooters and such....

Let me give you a little quote we're fond of in Texas.

If you don't like the weather, wait a little while - it'll change.

Texas has desert-like areas, hill country, grasslands, swamps and beaches. In Amarillo (far north Texas) - it snows every year (at least it did when I lived there).

We do have a Texas sized share of baking hot desert, stone and tumbleweeds - but the injuns have integrated or gone to reservations. Six-shooters are for purists (like my wife) - the rest of us carry semi-automatics (many are fond of the .45 ACP 1911)

You should come visit Texas some time. Ignore the nasty things people say about us - they're just jealous.

Being born and raised in toronto, i sympathize with you guys. stay safe, black ice can be the worst, experienced it myself in a bad crash. hopefully the worst is over.

reply to post by stutteringp0et


I quote:"Six-shooters are for purists (like my wife) - the rest of us carry semi-automatics (many are fond of the .45 ACP 1911)

You should come visit Texas some time."

Not any more^^

Thanks though

reply to post by Ericthedoubter

Ericthedoubter
You should come visit Texas some time."

Not any more^^

Thanks though

Most everyone here is polite and respectful - we don't know who's armed and who's not. You're more likely to get invited to a barbecue than see a firearm used in aggression. The general belief around here is that an armed society is a polite society.

Around my house and my parents farm - the guns only come out when there's a predator to deal with. Wild hogs, coyotes and bobcats will take down a calf. Hogs and bobcats will rip a man to shreds - and are not afraid of people like coyotes.

We have this every year. Welcome to ice - apocalypse 2013. Every year, everyone in DFW flips out for some ice on the road. They complain that our cities aren't prepared for this weather and there are not enough sand trucks, etc. They whine about our government not being prepared, but complain when the government interferes with their personal choices. I don't get it. Any of it. EVERY YEAR! Go buy a generator and some tire chains and be prepared to care for yourself.

Thank you for my rant. I feel better.

reply to post by stutteringp0et


I was just sent this video. I don't know how to embed it but will place the link below. This is what can happen when driving in this crud. I spun around once (4x4 didn't help either) went right into the other lane and just missed getting jackknifed. I don't know how I made it but time sure slowed down. This is a bad video. Hard to believe this guy was hit so hard it crashed his car to bits. I've never seen anything like this.



Just incase above doesn't work here's the link.

youtu.be...

reply to post by Dianec


That video is terrible - someone definitely died in that crash.

Supposedly, front wheel drive is the best for ice - but it didn't help me on black ice. (Years ago) I was driving through Dallas to work when the traffic light ahead turned yellow. I tried the brakes - but I just started sliding. I slid all the way through the intersection. Fortunately the road was flat and straight - I didn't even change lanes, I just slid straight through (with a terrified look on my face staring at drivers of oncoming traffic).

When I finally got to work - the company put everyone up in a local hotel for 2 nights.

Ice is no joke. Black ice is even less funny.