Officials: 'prepare for days of power outages' Atlanta metro area

hillbilly4rent

Jefferton
Remember their recent under-reaction?

Welcome to the over-reaction.

That was not under reaction, that was true panic with a healthy dose misinformation.

Misinformation? No. The government had access to the info, they just didn't listen. It was a case of of ignorance and stupidity.

If I remember right a 12 inch cube of ice can way 60lbs.

reply to post by hillbilly4rent


Thanks for the quick response and I gotcha. The infrastructure being old makes sense.. The specific issue of ice is only confusing because many other old cities also get ice quite often and don't seem to have so many power issues as the south does, well not on a mass scale for days on end. Then again, maybe they do and they just don't report on it as much as they do from cities in the south.

I guess I'm lucky cause we get sub zero temps all the time with ice and power issues don't happen very often, even in the older towns.

This sums up the hysteria when it's going to snow www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Liquesence


I understand ice is heavy, I'm familiar with it. Maybe it's somehow heavier in the south cause it just doesn't affect power lines in colder cities like it seems to in the south.

Wookiep
I'm confused why the power has to go out? They know this in advance? Isn't the power grid in the summer pushed pretty hard with all the A/C and such? How much more power do heaters suck up?

This sounds like an infrastructure problem more than an icy road issue. What do icy roads have to do with power? Are the power lines and transformers etc made out of some different material than in colder states where it just can't take the cold? Maybe I'm just super naive to these things......well I admit I am naive to the south being in Colorado and all so please forgive me...

They had prolonged power issues in the NE as well recently (Penn, I think), and I know it gets plenty cold there all the time. Sometimes I wonder if they intentionally shut the power off during these times for some... unknown reason.

Edit - So it's downed trees and power lines caused by ice? This begs another question.. Do they not trim trees in Atlanta or anywhere east of Kansas? Valid question, this is a strange concept to me..

edit on 11-2-2014 by Wookiep because: (no reason given)

edit on 11-2-2014 by Wookiep because: (no reason given)

The trees don't get pruned by ice as often in the deep South so there a lot of branches that are going to get loaded up and collapse under the sheer weight of that much ice. The further north you go, the more often it happens to the trees so the less likely they are to have a multitude of branches that are going to snap and fall in icy weather although you always get some.

At least they can be reasonably sure of returning to better temps unlike those of us further north who get stuck with really cold weather for long stretches when the ice takes down our power lines.

reply to post by EyesOpenMouthShut

I know that guy he was behind me yesterday in line while I was getting some ammo.

Wookiep
reply to post by Liquesence

 

I understand ice is heavy, I'm familiar with it. Maybe it's somehow heavier in the south cause it just doesn't affect power lines in colder cities like it seems to in the south.

Not trying to start an argument (and not being familiar with weather in the north in general) but do you guys get solid coatings of pure ice? I mean, I know you get frozen precip but we seem to get a lot of straight ICE. :/

Power lines are power lines, regardless of region. Ice wrecks havok, though.

hillbilly4rent
reply to post by EyesOpenMouthShut

 

I know that guy he was behind me yesterday in line while I was getting some ammo.

oh lawdy hahaha

reply to post by ketsuko


I see, thanks for the solid response. More ice related power issue does make sense if the trees aren't trimmed. Maybe it needs to be more of a priority at least in the thicker areas. Seems we hear of power issues a lot down there!

At least they can be reasonably sure of returning to better temps 

reply to post by ketsuko


That is true 61f on sunday and the sand hill crains have been flying north for the past few days.

Wookiep
reply to post by Liquesence

 

I understand ice is heavy, I'm familiar with it. Maybe it's somehow heavier in the south cause it just doesn't affect power lines in colder cities like it seems to in the south.

Trees.

What normally takes our power out is large tree branches or whole trees being dropped from the weight of the ice, and across power lines.

Many of them are long needle pines, that grow tremendously fast. They get over 60 feet in just a few years, and even when they try to keep right aways clear, you can still have a very tall pine be brought down by the ice, and is tall enough so that when it falls, it reaches all the way to the right away and takes the lines down.

Wookiep
reply to post by ketsuko

 

I see, thanks for the solid response. More ice related power issue does make sense if the trees aren't trimmed. Maybe it needs to be more of a priority at least in the thicker areas. Seems we hear of power issues a lot down there!

Even if trees are trimmed, hell even if there are NO TREES NEAR THE LINES, >1/2" of ZR (freezing rain ice accretion) has absolutely ZERO problems completely SNAPPING a power line. I think you underestimate the weight of ice.

..>And they're expecting a full inch~!

reply to post by Liquesence


Good question, and I guess I'm not sure. That's why I'm wondering if there is perhaps a difference in the ice itself. Maybe the humidity has something to do with it, anywhere west of Kansas and north of Texas has little to no humidity. (I could barely handle standing outside in the summer when I went to OK, sheesh!)

The government's reaction to the weather conditions this week can be contrasted drastically to that of the snow storm in the last week of January.

President Barack Obama signed a Georgia State of Emergency Declaration Tuesday, which will send relief efforts across the state.

This declaration will authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency — FEMA — to coordinate efforts, minimize the threat of catastrophe and provide the “appropriate assistance for required safety” in 45 counties including Athens-Clarke County, according to a FEMA news release.

link

All is well we have FEMA on the scene.

reply to post by Wookiep


Freezing rain requires a warmer air mass riding up over a colder one (sometimes there are several atmospheric layers involved; it's complicated). The warmer air mass produces rain (or a higher air mass produces sleet or snow that falls through the warm mass that melts it into rain) which falls down into the colder mass which causes the freezing (or refreezing) at ground level into ice.

Those are pretty specific conditions and usually happen in a narrow band along any winter storm front sandwiched between the snow and the rain although the narrow band may be miles long.

I think the ice bands are most common in the same areas where you find the same clashing of hot and cold air masses that produce tornadic storms every year.

Today I ventured out into the world for the first time since Jan.30. My driveway is on the north side of the house and still covered with half an inch of ice pellets, an inch of snow, another inch of ice then more ice pellets and finally another inch or so of snow. Although all the main roads are cleared of ice, the secondary roads still have icy patches where there are trees that shade the roadway. Since the ramp to my garage is angled, there was no way my car was going to go up it with all that ice. Luckily, I have a very old ('73) land barge (Chevy Impala) that I keep parked in barn just in case.... That big ole boy fired right up and didn't mind the small hill he had to climb on ice.
Hopefully, this storm system has given enough warning that the folks will be prepared....but don't count on it. From what I've observed, there are those who can suspend belief and act totally astonished when they find themselves hungry and without power---this after three days of warnings that bad weather was on the way.
Be safe.

reply to post by Wookiep


Most of those places you're talking about get snow and not ice. There is a big difference. You can work with snow. You can shovel it, get traction on it. But sleet and freezing rain can bring a city to its knees. It covers EVERYTHING in a thick sheet of ice. Roads get treacherous, ice builds on trees and they split like a lightning bolt hit them. In the process they fall on power lines, cars, houses. Utility poles snap, fall over. No city can properly handle an ice storm. They are hell. Northerners need to remember that these aren't wimpy snow storms.. it's a completely different type of weather event in the south.

Wookiep
reply to post by Liquesence

 

Good question, and I guess I'm not sure. That's why I'm wondering if there is perhaps a difference in the ice itself. Maybe the humidity has something to do with it, anywhere west of Kansas and north of Texas has little to no humidity. (I could barely handle standing outside in the summer when I went to OK, sheesh!)

Yeah, the summer humidity is the worst. My hibernating season is summer. I much prefer the weather we've had recently. We've had Colorado weather recently. Don't think we've been above freezing for a couple of weeks.

reply to post by hillbilly4rent


N. Ga Mnts. here. All prepared. I took the first pic of my driveway at 11:00 today, the second pic of my front yard at 5:30 this afternoon. Already have the jeep and my car parked down by the pond. My neighbor pulled out his tractor and slapped a blade on it and did our roads. 4-wheeler and generator all gassed up. Goats piled deep with straw. They are projecting 10 to 12 inches of new snow by tomorrow night in my neck of the woods.

Just regular winter life up here...





If the pics are sideways...ooops....

Des