What's the weather where you are?

Central Texas, 9 degrees F. 6 inches of snow. Rolling blackouts giving me about 20 minutes of power at a time. (A week ago we had temps in 70s)

Here in michigan we are getting slammed with 7" of blowing snow and temps of -7°. Sevenfeathers, I've been hearing stories about Texas and what you folks have been up against the last few days, not good. Is it true that not only are you out of power (on and off) but the cost of utilities have gone thru the roof. Example, cost of electricity for the average home was about $100 a month but since this artic cold snap your electric cost have soared to an average of $1200 a day? I also heard businesses can't reopen because of the escalating cost. Insanity if true and a major catastrophe. Feel for you all, stay safe and warm.
 
Here in Palmas de Gran Canaria we have around 20 celcious but with "calima" that is sand in the air that comes from Africa. So many that it looks like a little fog in the air. It reminds me the beginning of one sand tempest that we had in 2019, so strong that airports had to be shut down. So yes, it is good to go outside with a mask for once! But we know that sand brings with it virus and this is not good news. We will see. You can see from this picture from my balcony the horizon plain of sand that looks mist but it is not.sable (2).jpg
 
Here in Mid Coastal NSW, it’s been a mild summer with plenty of rain scattered with thunderstorms. Today was a top of 23*C and a low of 19*C. Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the next seven days. Quite the change from a year ago when we were surrounded by bushfires!
 
Here in michigan we are getting slammed with 7" of blowing snow and temps of -7°. Sevenfeathers, I've been hearing stories about Texas and what you folks have been up against the last few days, not good. Is it true that not only are you out of power (on and off) but the cost of utilities have gone thru the roof. Example, cost of electricity for the average home was about $100 a month but since this artic cold snap your electric cost have soared to an average of $1200 a day? I also heard businesses can't reopen because of the escalating cost. Insanity if true and a major catastrophe. Feel for you all, stay safe and warm.
I use an electric cooperative. They don't raise rates like that. My average bill is about 150 per month. For this storm, I have power for 30-60 minutes at a time, just enough to take the chill off the house and cook something (and check the forum!). It is my understanding that they are doing the rolling blackouts due to energy shortage, caused by frozen wind turbines and shortage of natural gas. Very poor planning.
 
Just got called off work for the second day in a row. Sub freezing temperatures from the North combined with a low pressure from the south dumped a considerable amount of freezing rain/sleet and a little snow yesterday. Everything is shut down.

So if I seem extra active on the forum, now you know why!
 
Feb 12 - 15:
Four days of all-out sunshine and beautiful blue skies from Friday to Monday in East EU, Hungary, Carpathian Basin. By Monday the sun melted almost all the dangerous ice (frozen snowy sludge) from the roads [except from the shadows], so I only skidded twice with my bicycle as I went to the edge of the town to do a long awaited fasted sprinting exercise.
Before Friday, we had at least 15 days of sunless white skies with freezing temps, ugly rains and biting winds. Today the skies closed again ending the day with ruthless cold.
 
Cont. . . More on Texas Freeze. If the elected officials can't get a handle on this disaster an invitation could materialize our worst fears, outside intervention?

Dan Boyd, mayor of Colorado City, Texas.

The mayor of a Texas town who told residents he owed them “nothing” as winter storms left millions across the state without power in single digit temperatures has resigned.

“No one owes you [or] your family anything,” Tim Boyd, previously mayor of Colorado City, Texas wrote Tuesday in a Facebook post. “I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout!”

He has since deleted the post.

In a second post, Mr Boyd said he “won’t deny for one minute” anything he said in the previous post, but complained that his wife had faced harassment while adding that he had resigned from his position

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Texas Freeze Raises Cost Of Charging A Tesla To $900
 
I use an electric cooperative. They don't raise rates like that. My average bill is about 150 per month. For this storm, I have power for 30-60 minutes at a time, just enough to take the chill off the house and cook something (and check the forum!). It is my understanding that they are doing the rolling blackouts due to energy shortage, caused by frozen wind turbines and shortage of natural gas. Very poor planning.

I may be wrong. In reading about the wholesale bidding that the electric companies use, the wholesale cost spiked way up! So I don't know what will happen with my bill.

Ice Age Farmer does a good report here
about our situation.

Temperatures have warmed up (22 degrees this morning) still not normal. My power has been on since last night. I lost water yesterday due to the company's supply ruptures. Today, I have water.

Those who have done no prep of any kind have suffered a lot during this time. Will this teach them lessons? I and my husband have been preparing for a long time, so we have not suffered. I have learned another lesson though. I learned that I must be careful in all things, not to get injured. I learned this when I fell (inside!) and sprained my wrist badly. I have not had to work due to the power/weather, which is good since typing is not easy. Lesson learned.

Warmer weather coming this weekend.
 
I may be wrong. In reading about the wholesale bidding that the electric companies use, the wholesale cost spiked way up! So I don't know what will happen with my bill.

Ice Age Farmer does a good report here
about our situation.

Temperatures have warmed up (22 degrees this morning) still not normal. My power has been on since last night. I lost water yesterday due to the company's supply ruptures. Today, I have water.

Those who have done no prep of any kind have suffered a lot during this time. Will this teach them lessons? I and my husband have been preparing for a long time, so we have not suffered. I have learned another lesson though. I learned that I must be careful in all things, not to get injured. I learned this when I fell (inside!) and sprained my wrist badly. I have not had to work due to the power/weather, which is good since typing is not easy. Lesson learned.

Warmer weather coming this weekend.

I just want to say thank you Sevenfeathers for posting the ice age farmer report. Maybe just the nudge in the right direction for some that are still wavering (not many here though). I sure hope your utilitie cost stay within reason. Take care.
 
The Netherlands has registered another heat record, the first one this year. In De Bilt, the official record keeper station, it went up to 15° Celsius at mid day (12.40 pm) making this the warmest 21st of February ever measured (since 1901). Moreover, we went from minus 15° C to plus 15° C in only seven days.

"Last weekend we skated on ice, this weekend we're eating ice cream", as someone put it on social media.

Details here:
Another weather record broken: Warmest February 21
Dutch people enjoying the outdoors en masse as temperatures rise

Coverage in Dutch:
Warmste 21 februari ooit gemeten, mensen genieten van lenteweer
 
Today in Sweden


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The preliminary** highest temperatures measured today, in southern Sweden, reached 13.9°C (55.4°F) in a place called Torup. It's is still quite below the all-time-highest-February record for Sweden with 16.7°C (60.8°F) measured in Karlshamn on 26 Feb 2019.

Europe is about to enter a weather "blockage" also known as "Omega" weather pattern - which marks a large anti-cyclone over Europe, which forces the cyclones form the Atlantic to make a large bow around it, over North Scandinavia - which at the same time pumps warm/mild air on it's west flank (with help of the cyclones "warm air sectors" swooping in over Spain/France to Central Europe and up to Scandinavia. Albeit up here, this is mainly a matter of overcast weather this time of the year.

In Stockholm for Thursday 11°C (51.8°F) are expected. I would assume that we see more high temperatures in Southern Sweden as well, perhaps with help of some sunshine there (bot not in Stockholm). Temperatures above 10°C are considered to be normal around mid and end of April in Stockholm)

As of now - the snow has almost all melted away - and it is very foggy.

The risk of new cold air break-ins, is almost certain (especially this time of the year in February) once the "omega" blockage wanes, giving way for the cold air masses from the north going south. This could happen around 4 March affecting primarily Scandinavia at first.

At the same time, with such a date being still too far ahead of time - one takes such weather calculations beyond day 4-5 with a grain of salt. I consider them at best to be "indicative". Of course being still in February and even during March, with a northern hemisphere vastly filled with ice cold airmasses - you can get winter/cold spells at any time to return. That I would consider to be pretty certain (from a common weather pattern perspective).
 
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