Blizzard-Ice Storm January 23-26, 2026

[TJC]

Now that is cool!

And the funny thing is.. the food never burns or sticks to the pots. Always tender.

The best pots to use are the cheap black porcelain enamel steel pots

Sponsored

 

[LaBalbe]

If you start sliding think of CPR while driving

Correct: (countersteer) Gently turn the steering wheel in the direction the rear of the car is sliding, not the direction you want to go

Pause: Take your foot off the accelerator and do not slam the brakes,

Recover: As the tires regain traction, gently bring the steering wheel back to center to straighten the car

I love it. I've added it to my list of instructions for the teen.

 

[LaBalbe]

That is definitely Russian - sledding straight into a steel swing set.

Thanks Morgan. Clearly, the sledding run I built in my backyard needs a bit of a top-up. Hey, @LaBalbe , throw an extra shovel in the back of your truck and head over here - we’ve work to do.

Yeah, especially if Thing 1 keeps breaking through the turns like last weekend!

 

[LaBalbe]

 

[LaBalbe]

Fear not, my friends in the South, Canada's elite Northern Rangers stand at the ready to assist.

When the North calls, we ride.

 

[Trustable]

I am much farther north then the storm but just a warning to those in the south getting hit the ranger cannot push through 2-4 feet of snow. That wall you see is around 4 feet. Heavy wind brings everything up my driveway to this corner. Here the is the aftermath after clearing it with the tractor snow blower so I could get the truck up my driveway. Second time I’ve gotten stuck on my driveway now you think I would learn my lesson. I don’t think we are supposed to get anymore snow just wind and extreme - temps. I’m sure I’ll walk out tomorrow and have to move all the snow that blew up the hill overnight though.

but seriously stay safe all that are affected. Stay warm and try to stay home if you can, it’s my understanding a lot of the southern states don’t have the infrastructure for rapid snow removal

 

[woodworker]

I love watching how storms form and how fast they can change. we'll be getting rain here later Friday and all day Saturday from this but this map shows how it's starting to take shape. The energy and Low is Right there off California about to hit Mexico. The winter part of it is happening because the system will merge with the Polar Energy which is still north of Alberta about to descend into the US.

Im about 40 miles east of the 95 sticker. Just put a pot roast and veggies in the crock pot. Got plenty of propane for the stove. Oil man supposed to be here today. The 20 Kw generator is already hooked to the PTO on the Kubota diesel and 20 gallons of fuel ready to burn. The last storm caused power to go out for 13 1/2 days and it was miserable as you might imagine. The ice wrecked about 80% of the main lines coming into town. We’re on the very end of the system so we’re always the last on line.

 

[woodworker]

I forgot where is he again?

One of the biggest problems is if the grid goes down for a long period of time is there's no fuel because gas stations are all closed and the pumps won't run. It's great if your Gen runs on NG but many are gas or LP which is hard to store large quantities of. The house we built in AR had a transfer switch all set up to run the whole house but I was limited to a 500 gallon LP underground tank. There were only a few companies who delivered and when you have a storm this large they can't get to everyone to top them off. I'm sure it would've been enough for about a week or two running the Gen 24/7 plus we had the wood stove but many others aren't prepared and or don't have the funds to do it. I always said if I had a choice I'd rather be without electricity in the summer because it's easier to survive that then in the sub zero temps where you have to worry about your pipes bursting too.

You are exactly right, the last ice storm here did exactly what you said and we were just short of total breakdown and chaos around here.

 

[woodworker]

“I was in the pool, does she know about SHRINKAGE”.?.?

 

[AzScorpion]

You are exactly right, the last ice storm here did exactly what you said and we were just short of total breakdown and chaos around here.

We had something similar happen back in October of 2011 when I was back in MA. We had a freak late October snowstorm that dropped over a foot of snow overnight. The trees still had a lot of leaves on them and the weight took out power lines across the whole state. It stayed unseasonably cold for several days too. We were lucky and were only without power for 5 days but many were out for 2 weeks. Like you I had a whole house generator, a stocked freezer and plenty of supplies and many don't prep for things and get caught off guard.

At least here if something were to happen our winters aren't that bad (it rarely if at all falls to the low 30's) and summers are more tolerable (3,000') than up in Phoenix. Worse case I can use a room AC or just head higher up to the mountains for a while. Another huge bonus is no//low humidity so you don't have to worry about mold issues.

 

[AzScorpion]

Clay, @TxOTRRanger hopefully it's not to bad later where you are but it looks like the Dallas area will get kind of nasty later.

Crunch time today for Texas Ice starts this afternoon, then into Oklahoma in evening and Arkansas overnight. Northern Louisiana tomorrow morning and into Tennessee.

 

[woodworker]

We had something similar happen back in October of 2011 when I was back in MA. We had a freak late October snowstorm that dropped over a foot of snow overnight. The trees still had a lot of leaves on them and the weight took out power lines across the whole state. It stayed unseasonably cold for several days too. We were lucky and were only without power for 5 days but many were out for 2 weeks. Like you I had a whole house generator, a stocked freezer and plenty of supplies and many don't prep for things and get caught off guard.

At least here if something were to happen our winters aren't that bad (it rarely if at all falls to the low 30's) and summers are more tolerable (3,000') than up in Phoenix. Worse case I can use a room AC or just head higher up to the mountains for a while. Another huge bonus is no//low humidity so you don't have to worry about mold issues.

Power companies haven’t figured out yet that you can’t let a 60 foot tall tree grow right next to a 30 foot power line and not expect problems.

 

[TxOTRRanger]

Clay, @TxOTRRanger hopefully it's not to bad later where you are but it looks like the Dallas area will get kind of nasty later.

Crunch time today for Texas Ice starts this afternoon, then into Oklahoma in evening and Arkansas overnight. Northern Louisiana tomorrow morning and into Tennessee.

Thank you for the information update Dave. The truck and I are as prepared as we can be. I saw TXDOT out looking over the road as I was driving to work this morning.

 

[Motorpsychology]

My brother moved from Oceanside, CA to Alvaton, KY just outside of Bowling Green last fall. He's on the southern edge of the storm path, but still the NWS is calling for 7-13in of snow and around .4 in of ice thru Monday morning. we have a lot of below zero weather expected here in Prescott, WI over the next week; had -21ºF here last night, hi of -9, but sunny!

 

[Motorpsychology]

Power companies haven’t figured out yet that you can’t let a 60 foot tall tree grow right next to a 30 foot power line and not expect problems.

Still, it must be cheaper to repair storm damage than to put the power lines underground. Most areas of the country expertly trim trees to save the power lines, so that there will be power during and after a once-in-a-100 yr storm.

Your 60 yr old tree in the front yard? You'll get used to it.

Sponsored