The Weather Where You Live? (3 Viewers)

[MIflyer]

We are presently enjoying the attentions of a Major Hurricane. The predicted track has shifted Eastward and now they say that rather than hitting Tampa and proceeding inland in NW from there it will come ashore at around Ft Myers and go between the Cape and Orlando - fortunately, they say, by that time it will be below hurricane strength.

Were not that enough, two days ago my Internet started crapping out. Spectrum said they will send a tech out at around 1300 today. But after trying various things and replacing an RJ-45 cable, for no obvious reason it started working normally yesterday afternoon and is still up and running. I may tell them not to bother to come out in this weather. They insisted that it was not their problem but rather something wrong in my house, but I doubt that was the case.

 

[Wayne Little]

18C here today and mostly sunny, a pretty good day..!

 

[MIflyer]

Well, folks I stayed up to about 0100 last night, trying to figure out what the storm was doing, and concluded by my own analysis that it was coming right for us, despite what the Tropical Prediction Center was forecasting. I was thankful that I decided to get my plywood panels out of the hangar and boarded up my most vulnerable windows.

I woke up at 0630 to find the power still on, the Internet up, a big branch off the sweetgum tree in the front yard, things generally in good shape, but with one real problem. I have to reset the clock on the microwave open; as usual on my first try I'll probably set it to run for eight hours and thirty minutes. or something like that.

This storm proves once again you have to look at the information and make your own decision. The TPS got the forecast consistently wrong, and wrong in a manner that would have led to me making the wrong decisions. They had a model, the UKMET, that on Friday morning showed the storm doing it exactly the path it actually followed, but they chose to believe something else.

 

[Greg Boeser]

Glad you made it through.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Few spots of rain here in York, UK a tad cold at 12c but also nice when the sun pops out.

 

[Gnomey]

Cold and wet for the most part. Around 10C/50F…

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Foggy start to day, glad not flying anywhere but will be takin bus ride later in day out into Yorkshire countryside. Wet and cold also forecast for day.

 

[MIflyer]

Today has been exceptionally lovely, even for this time of year, but the main road that runs from our peninsula to the rest of our island has been flooded along one section since Hurricane Ian. It usually floods some along that same section with heavy rains; it's a lot worse this time, the worst since Hurricane Irma in 2017.

As a result I have been driving my 1999 Toyota 4X4 pickup exclusively. You have to slow way down when going through the flooded area, in order to prevent sending waves into people's homes or blinding passing drivers. And besides, you have to avoid the water skiers in the road; I am amazed what some people consider recreation.

At the end of that road, where it intersects with one of the major thoroughfares, there is a Tesla dealership; they seem to be quite popular in this area. And today I have more than once been transiting the flooded area and encountered a Tesla coming down the other side of the road. The driver's expression always seems to be somewhere between great concern and abject terror. What do you suppose happens if a low slung electric car gets very wet?

 

[ThomasP]

In theory they should be relatively safe. The design standards require the high voltage/amperage system to be protected against dangerous/catastrophic short circuits. The battery packs themselves (especially the lithium types) are required to have circuits built into both the entire unit and the individual cells to prevent destructive discharge. Again in theory, you should be able to drive the car through deeper water than for the ~equivalent gas powered vehicle. The primary concern (in terms of becoming non-operational) should be if water gets into the fuze boxes.

Although my 2002 Prius uses a NiMH battery pack, it has similar safeguards against shorts and catastrophic discharge. I have driven it though water deep enough that the water was washing across the bottom of my windshield, without any problem other than a warped brake rotor. However, one time the water choked off the air to my ICE and I proceeded the rest of the way (only ~100 ft) on battery alone.

Not that I recommend people drive through water that deep, and never if the water is flowing. One time I felt my car start to lose traction due to buoyancy.

 

[MIflyer]

Once my 1978 Celica quit because water entered the tailpipe because I did not realize the water was suddenly getting so high, had to stop for a traffic light, and did not keep the engine revved up. When the water level went down all was fine.

 

[Greg Boeser]

Good morning, Minnesota. 33 degrees F.

 

[Wurger]

Nice.

 

[NVSMITH]

-Not as bad as Minnesota but we had our first winter storm yesterday. We had a little rain at our elevation but the local mountain has a decent amount of snow on it; it was bare yesterday.
-The wind was a steady 35mph (56kph) gusting higher. My wife & friends cancelled a trip to Reno due to REALLY gusty conditions on one local 25 mile (40 km) stretch of road that often closes due to wind and/or snow.
-At least one highway on the eastern slope of the Sierras that goes from Reno to Lake Tahoe went to chain controls; I didn't hear about I-80.
-Today, of course, the sky is clear blue and all is calm. The mountains are starting to wear their "winter coats" and maybe, just maybe, we'll get enough snow pack to alleviate our chronic drought. Inshallah.

 

[Greg Boeser]

What are you talking about? It's a warm, sunny day with temps in the 70's here!

 

[NVSMITH]

-I forgot to add the normal consequence of a winter storm: we had our first seasonal town wide power failure accompany the storm. Naturally it wasn't until about 9PM when the temperature was well on the way down before failing...

 

[Greg Boeser]

I remember a storm that hit us about twenty years ago. It knocked out power all over the suburbs. We lived in an older neighborhood in Minneapolis. Half of our block was without power. After patiently waiting a few days, (thousands were still without power in the 'burbs,) I called the power company.
"Hey, we have been without power for five days!"
"Yes, sir, our crews are working hard to get power to our suburban customers."
"OK, but we're inner-city folk. It's only a matter of time before we start burning and looting."
A truck had our power back on within the hour.

 

[MiTasol]

-I forgot to add the normal consequence of a winter storm: we had our first seasonal town wide power failure accompany the storm. Naturally it wasn't until about 9PM when the temperature was well on the way down before failing...

for us that is a spring or summer storm and usually when the temps are high and the humidity higher. Standby power is essential, even if you have solar as the solar goes off with the mains because of the way it is wired here.

 

[Gnomey]

Thunderstorms and heavy rain. Around 15C/59F…

 

[fubar57]

A wee bit of wind out on the dam for the past three days

 

[Wurger]

Snowing ?