The Great Lakes are helping our temperatures not to be so frigid. It’s been getting into the teens, which is cold but not as cold as the other side of Lake Michigan.
I was reading about the rolling power outages in Texas. I guess the windmills are covered in ice and are not working. They may not be able to run the windmills because if they did and the ice sheared off, it could cause great harm to people in the path. Additionally, Texas is its own power grid which makes things complicated.
OK, I won’t talk about San Diego weather. 
But here’s my brother’s back yard in the northern Chicago suburbs:
@Marilyn , we are not quite as bad, but almost, we have 10” and more on Thursday. I haven’t been out of my house since Friday. Now Austin says it may be Wednesday for all power. They have set up warming centers. I need to tell my son. No internet and bad cell reception.
I’m not even sure how much snow we’ve had so far. So far. 3-5 more inches possible before noon, north suburbs of Chicago. 60 pound dogs can get lost in the snow, lol.
No exciting pics here, but I didn’t realize the extent of the damage we had from Saturday’s ice storm. We were fortunate not to lose power, but lots of people are still without 72+ hours later. My co-workers were exchanging stories this morning. One heard several transformers pop a couple of times. The second time, he heard a loud rumbling and it rocked the whole house, so he went out investigating. The surge blew his electric meter off the house! So when power was restored, the wires were live into the blown meter. The only good part of this is that with his job, he had a direct line to someone who could get a truck out there much more quickly than otherwise. They said had his house been vinyl and not brick, it would have burnt down. Still, he has several blown appliances to deal with. Ugh.
And word is that power will be fully restored by Wednesday night. The next ice storm hits at 1am Thursday morning. Ugh. And I checked the latest forecast. This one looks to be worse.
Today’s view. The dog wouldn’t go down the backstairs. The snow is four times higher than he is.
Sorry about the rotated imagine. No idea why/how that happened!
Texas here. It’s a cluster. We’ve had power all along, but so many friends don’t. I put out the welcome mat to a friend, her dh and dog, but they are afraid pipes will burst while they are gone. She is cold and angry and stressed.
ETA: Well, that didn’t take long. She just texted and said they can’t do another night like this and is coming over if her power doesn’t come back.
About a foot here. Yuck. Roads are closed except for essential/emergencies.
Poor pup was freaked out. Finally got him a little path for “business” .
Now more cold sets in with -8 degrees tonight - + (or minus?) whatever the wind chill is
CT here. Woke up to an inch of ice on our driveway and pouring rain. Now the sun is creeping out and it’s supposed to be near 50. Crazy weather.
Sis in the Willamette Valley of Oregon has had no electricity since Saturday with no promise of when power will be restored. It’s in the 40’s inside her house.
Meanwhile, it’s a lovely day for tennis here in SoCal.
It’s a beautiful day here in Colorado. A sunny but brisk 12° during my morning commute. We got 3" of snow over the weekend with more forecasted for today.
We are in MN and I’m told our weather is completely normal, but it’s our first winter here and we are still adapting. It’s been very, very cold (negatives in the double digits) and I’m definitely not in love with it. We went for a hike recently and my glasses froze up with a layer of ice on them in minutes. I cannot wait for a thaw.
I would love it if my daughter ends up in CO after college. I would make sure she has pull out couch so I could visit often. So incredibly gorgeous!
Some animals are enjoying the snow!
https://twitter.com/ptdefiancezoo/status/1360745068173271040?s=21
Well, D in Austin just lost electricity in her apartment.
@mountainsoul --the blue in that picture is amazing.
We do have 50s and partially sunny here in NJ, but that’s after two-feet of snow two weeks ago and several smaller storms since. And probably more coming. I won’t gloat, but the reprieve is nice. My backyard did look like these pics here, last week.
I feel so awful for the folks in Texas. Praying power gets on for everyone soon.
No filter or special effects—just good ol’ Mother Nature. I’ve lived here nearly three decades and the views still take my breath away.
Here’s an article that explains some of the problems affecting Texas and their power problems.
I have learned that we in Lubbock are not under the Texas Electricity grid, So far no loss of electricity here but they are threatening roll out black outs tomorrow. D will get her 3rd snow day tomorrow and I am on my 2nd work snow day. Snowed again today.
