Major weather heading towards Tennessee!

It will be a long time before people recover from the storm. ..

Per the weather channel:

A total of 34 states have been affected by the current winter storm, which is bringing heavy snow and ice across the country. The storm is impacting millions of people, with significant accumulations expected in many areas.
 

I was talking to a gas station attendant years ago while on a fishing trip to Center Hill Reservoir.
He mentioned snow hill and I asked him if it was called that because they had a lot of snow some time ago.
He said “ No it was named for some folks named Snow that lived in that area.”
He also said “We don’t get much snow down here.”
That was way back when the weather was
more predictable.
Some young guys that worked nights at Dollywood took me fishing the next morning.
Nice people down there!
 
retiredtraveler said:
I'm going to ask the dumb question. Do states such as KY, TN, TX (basically southern states) have anything much in the way of plows? Do you store salt? I know in the past many, if not most, southern states didn't have salt and would put down sand for traction and I thought (?) there were few 'dedicated' plows and basically, plows were put on garbage trucks plus using 3rd party people. Am I all wrong about that?
I'm up north where we have 'endless' salt and plows/salters to handle heavy snow.
Click to expand...
Yes, TX DOT in Texas uses brine prior to and after each ice event. Snow plows are used but are limited.
 

Large limbs and a couple of full trees started falling on my driveway late Saturday night due to Ice and we lost power
at around 8 a.m. Sunday.

Got power back on late Sunday night and now I'm stuck until I can get the trees and branches removed enough to get out
the driveway. These are too big for me to move without being cut up.

My Son and DIL are still without power (it's Monday AM ) and he has my chain saw, but he lives about 15 miles south of us.
They say they're fine and just waiting for the power to be restored.

Our neighbors behind us and the one next to us lost their power lines from falling branches and are still without power.

I have been though some pretty major weather events, but this one is a notch above any I have experienced.
Never seen so much Ice. (it's 13° F as I type)
 
I took a shower right after the subzero temperatures rose above zero* F.
About a half hour later my phone notified me that we had a water leak.
I have a water use monitor that I installed on the city water meter.
I ran to the kitchen and bathroom and then down to the basement.
That is where I found water gushing from a pressure relief valve on the supply line for the hot water heater.
I just flipped the lever on the valve and it shut it off.
You can see by looking in the side of the valve that it is spring loaded and looks like it should have stopped gushing as soon as the pressure was off of it.
I went ahead and plugged the valve so it can’t blow water out again until I get a new one.
Water expands when it is heated and the city water was so cold that as the water heated inside the water heater the water had to do a lot of expanding.
Normally it just expands back into the expansion tank but because the water had to expand more than normal it blew out of the pressure relief valve.
I’m no expert at plumbing but I would think that the only water that should have leaked out would be just the amount that expanded and then it would stop leaking out.
I’m not sure right now if I just need a new pressure relief valve or a new or bigger expansion tank or both.
I’m thinking about calling a plumber for advice before I go to town to get whatever is needed.
I could probably replace both for what the water company charges for excessive water use.
 
Last edited:
I went to my daughter's house Saturday. She lives near the coast. Not too bad there. I left Sunday in a window of time to get back before any refreezing. As I traveled west it got more wintry and my yard and bushes were covered with ice.
As evening came the rain started and it has poured all night. Supposed to get to 40 today. No power loss. My other daughter and son have snow, no power loss so that's good.
My brother near Dallas was OK so far, just very cold. Last, my New England relatives are getting lots of snow and are all OK.
I'm very thankful. Sorry to all that are dealing with bad effects from this very large storm.
 
We’ve been 24 hours without power now, and no prediction of when it will be restored. Across Tennessee there are approx 350,000 who have lost power. Crews and linemen are working round the clock, hampered by trees continuing to fall across lines or transformers or bringing down poles, in some cases in areas that have previously had power restored!

We’re thankful for our heater powered by the generator which is keeping our main are around 60 degrees…not toasty but at least comfortable to be in when you add the couple layers of clothing we’re wearing. Plus we’re able to plug in a lamp, and charge our phones.

I made a big pot of chili last night because I was able to light the gas stove manually. And we had a hot breakfast of eggs and sausage, and I toasted some bread in the fry pan. We even had coffee because the Keurig draws so little power! So many of our friends have lost power and a lot have no way to cook a meal so they’re eating granola bars or crackers and cheese or pbj sandwiches for their meals.

I’m keeping a large pot of water simmering on the stove, to wash dishes, to pour into a hot water bottle so Ron can warm his hands after he’s been outside, and for washcloths so we’re not having to use freezing water to wash ourselves.

A couple of the kids have power, the rest not. Here’s my daughter cooking some noodles over the fire for her kids! ❤️
IMG_7094.jpeg
 
Gosh Ronni! Hope they restore you all soon! When the power goes out here I live on pbj and chips and cheez its and whatever other snack food I can get ahold of. At least if I'm at work there's a generator and heat and lights and food.
 
Sorry you lost power Ronni; sure hope they restore it very soon. I feel for others across the states that are also without power in this extremely frigid weather. It's great that you have a generator and were able to cook hot meals. Your ingenuity and fortitude are admirable.
 
Tennessee weather is a real conundrum. The weather man seems to delight in the using the S word. The evening news said we would get 12" of snow, we got about 1/2" and the grass stems were still peeking through. The temperature and wind chill predictions were more accurate. When the snow stopped it turned to a drizzle that was freezing as it hit the ground. That was the real issue. Ice on roads is a disaster. Unlike the northern states Tennessee's ability to handle road clearing is limited. Add to that the mindset of Bubba who thinks his four wheel or all wheel drive is the ultimate weather machine.
 
We live in middle Tennessee close to what is called the Cumberland Plateau. There is a land formation to our west that often acts as a natural guide for weather. A weather front that catches the northern side usually diverts storms away to the north of us. However, a weather front that catches the southern side tends to send that weather right to our door. During this storm we were missed by the worst of the snow, but enough of the following ice to make things tricky for a while. Just the way it is.
 
A side note about the cold freeze. …. if you have or can get the product, Super Beets/ it really can help older people with heart issues.. just one more line of defense.

The cold constricts the heart muscles when you are stressed, not only outside dealing with snow removal, but in general in an event like this, or anything that causes stress..
Super Beets helps with blood vessel constriction.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top