| Author |
Message |
Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 8:41 am 
44 and foggy, not to bad, I can see the parking lot across the street. But it is cold out there with no breeze and temps going to 55.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-06-2000
| Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 9:03 am
Overcast here in SoCal.. I have to go out today, tomorrow and Friday for singing at senior center, then a lecture on Thursday and on Friday to a conference from 8am - 3pm at a hotel. Rain is a possibility last I heard.. Right now it says rain tomorrow.
Also says massive snowfall in parts of Russia.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 10:36 am
More about the upcoming storm. This one gets into the nitty gritty details. One of the many problems for predicting this storm is because of budget cuts.
quote: One thing I want to mention here is that sampling of upper air features across Alaska and western Canada will be critical, as what ends up occurring in the United States will be greatly impacted by what is happening upstream of us. As my colleague in Alaska Rick Thoman has been reporting and I have been trying to share in Balanced Weather, the NWS upper air balloon network in Alaska has been seriously degraded for months due to NWS staffing, budget and equipment issues. This map shows a particularly egregious example from a couple of weeks ago when 8 of Alaska’s 14 sites were missing.
Rick updated me this morning that Kotzebue, Nome and St. Paul Island have had no flights for months, King Salmon no flights since Jan 12, and Shemya has been getting up one flight a day about half the time. The only improvement is the site at Bethel has made it back to two launches per day. Again, it would take a significant scientific study to fully understand the impacts of all of this missing upper air data on the forecast for this upcoming weather system — but of course, it is not helpful and could be a significant degrading factor. Of course, we should be concerned about the daily impacts of this missing data on the forecast for Alaskans, many of whom are particularly vulnerable to weather impacts. On a more positive note, NOAA and US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft will be flying missions in both the Atlantic and Pacific over the next several days, releasing dropsondes and gather atmospheric data in an effect to improve the model forecasts for this system.
Alan Gerard
@wxmanms1.bsky.social
· 6m
Models are still struggling with the complex atmospheric flow pattern that will drive major winter weather impacts this weekend. I take a look at the various features and how data loss (AK raobs) and data gain (recon flights) might affect the forecasts.
High impact winter storm still looming, but many uncertainties remain
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 11:24 am
Sun is trying to break thru, the skies are brightening!
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 4:16 pm
severeweatherus
34m
It's possible that some people in the south see "Catastrophic" amounts of ICE this weekend with over 1 to 1.5" or more.
Ice of that magnitude is a disaster. This could be dangerous situation with extended power loss possible with very cold air behind, and this could halt travel for days. You and your loved ones should have a plan for extended power outages from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee over to Georgia and the Carolinas.
Preparations should be underway.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 1:54 am
This storm is going to be really bad.
Ted Cruz has left town and went to sunny Laguna Beach.
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 10:59 am
Sunshine!! It's going to be a great day, temps going to 64, it's practically spring. However, tomorrow back to the 50's, LOL.
Skies are clear and blue, we hardly had any fog this morning.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-06-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 11:28 am
Rainy
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 12:22 pm
apnews
28m
A massive winter storm is barreling toward the eastern U.S., threatening to bring severe ice and snow from Texas to Boston.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 8:27 pm
We are hoping to fly from the tropical tip of Texas back to WA state Jan.31, and had no idea this huge storm might affect us this far south, but friends DRIVING back to Nebraska during the same time period have convinced us we are also at risk down here. Yikes.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 8:38 pm
I think you will be fine Juju. Have to believe this system will not last anywhere close to your travel. Will it be balmy spring weather probably not but this is what passes for winter in south central Texas and it will be only a few weeks until at least false spring then real spring locally. 🙂
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 1:33 am
Juju, i think you will be fine, too.
I heard 2 interesting facts on the news yesterday. The first is that a 1/2 inch of ice on a power line is equal to 500 lbs. That's why so many power lines might come down. Second, in the south, if you hear loud noises outside, it could be trees bursting from their sap freezing and expanding inside the tree.
One other thing. Towns in NJ, and Philadelphia, have major road salt shortages. One mayor said it was because when workers went to the port to pick up the shipments of salt, they didn't have the right permit (or license or something) to pick it up. The mayor said everyone should stay off the roads for 2 days. And I'm like, good luck with that.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 2:29 am
OK, a different weatherman (and different channel) just said a 1/4 inch of ice is 500 pounds on a power line. So I googled and found this. Maybe the weathermen were using different lengths of wire.
quote:When it comes to getting electricity across power lines and into homes, ice can be a force to be reckoned with.
Ice can make falling tree branches 30x heavier and much more likely to break power lines and poles. Check out more facts about ice below!
ON A 300-FOOT SPAN OF 1-INCH THICK POWER LINES
1/2 inch of ice adds 281 pounds of weight
1 inch of ice adds 749 pounds of weight
2 inches of ice adds 2,248 pounds of weight
WHEN ICE MELTS
Melting ice can cause power outages. If ice on the bottom (neutral) line melts before the lines above, it can cause the lines to touch
OTHER ICE FACTS
Damage can begin when ice exceeds 1/4 of an inch
1/2 inch of ice can cause a line to sag up to 12 inches
Pressure can also be caused by a broken tree limb
Both ice and melting ice can cause power outages
Link
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 2:35 am
OK, other sites (including the weather channel) say it's 500 lbs for 1/2 inch. So, I don't know what to tell you.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 7:11 am
Guess it’s the calm before the storm here in San Antonio. 62F on our patio at 9:00. Light rain. Forecast is for up to 68F this afternoon. Overnight is when the stuff hits the fan and we will drop considerably after midnight. Saturday and Sunday forecast to be at or near freezing. Mrs Mack made it out of Washington, DC and should land in a little less than two hours.
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 9:33 am
The fog is back, it's very gray and a bit chilly, 48, no breeze and temps only going up to 54.
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 10:06 am
Lauren Rosenthal
@laurenthal.bsky.social
· 1h
As a massive winter storm bears down on the US, FEMA is pausing plans to "offboard" disaster relief workers.
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 10:15 am
Sunny and colder than normal in Portland.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 11:03 am
Retrieved Mrs Mack from the airport and we stopped at grocery store on way home. A bit crazy but that was expected. HEB grocery store keeping up as best they can though a few items were slim to nothing. We have several meal options so we’re good to go. Forecast changed significantly since this morning for the better. Now not forecasting freezing temperatures tonight and warmer on Sunday than the expectation. Keeps this up and it will be a non event in this part of Texas. Dallas and north could be quite nasty unless that moderates too.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 11:07 am
Glad she made it out of dodge in time and that you guys aren't going to get it to bad.
It's in the 30's today and is going to go down to 11° tonight.
The really strange thing is that I haven't had any birds all day at my feeder. I've been having to refill it every day and I throw some on the ground, too. You'd think they'd be stucking up today before the cold really hits.
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Dipo
Member
04-22-2002
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 5:11 pm
severeweatherus
49m
DEVELOPING: U.S. airlines have already canceled 2,500+ flights for Saturday, ahead of incoming historic winter storm, making it the worst day for air travel in the past year. Roughly, 4,500 cancellations are now posted from Friday through Sunday.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-06-2000
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 7:27 pm
Considering what our news said about airlines being affected by the storm and how people were trying to get earlier flights, I a delighted that Mrs Mack has arrived home and that it seems you will have less of a storm.
Laguna Beach wasn't so sunny yesterday, as Orange County was wet.
Today was .. Well, I missed most of the weather. It was still a bit damp when I arrived at the Hilton in Costa Mesa before 8am and I had no view outside until after 3pm. The parking garage lower levels showed signs of rain then.
But we won't be involved in this big storm.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Friday, January 23, 2026 - 7:53 pm
I was last outdoors here in South Padre Island, TX about 6:30 pm, and the temperature was still in the 70's, but there were some weird clouds forming off to the west.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Saturday, January 24, 2026 - 5:50 am
Change whatever to our weather….the forecast and actual weather now is freezing with potential ice. 35F on the patio at 7:50 AM and dropping. No ice or snow, at least not yet. We have gotten over an inch of rain but that all fell before the temperature started to drop. The forecast movement to the east and north of us changed overnight and the front is sticking around and not moving off.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Saturday, January 24, 2026 - 7:20 am
It was 9° this morning at 5 am, it's now 11° and windy. It's brutal outside. I went to a yard sale this morning and I felt like I was getting frostbite even with my gloves on.
Now I need to work outside and bring more firewood up to the house for the wood burning stove. The weather is expected to stay this cold for the next week, and it's expected that we are going to get freezing rain after the snow tomorrow, so everything will turn to ice, and I don't feel like killing myself on ice next week.
Im so thankful we filled up with oil this past week.
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