We knew that south Texas would occasionally get a cold front that would dip way down to the southern tip and into Mexico so we were expecting a few cold days during our stay here. We got way more than we bargained for…
We have been on the road nearly 10 years and have only experienced one day with a temperature below 32 degrees when it hit 31 one morning while we were leaving the Florida panhandle in March. We hoped to never see another day below freezing. Well that worked out pretty well until this winter.
A polar vortex from the north pole broke off and headed south bringing with it sub-freezing temperatures to many folks including everyone in Texas. It was reported this was the only time in history that all the counties in Texas were under a winter storm advisory at the same time.
I’m sure many of you who reside in northern regions of the USA would scoff at the Texans and what they call cold, Well, we too, have lived in colder states in our lives and I will tell you this was a real winter storm. Wind chills well below zero reached deep into southern Texas and our son in San Antonio got about 6 inches of snow and lows in the teens.
What about us here in South Padre Island? Our low dipped down to 25 degree F. Maybe not cold to Wisconsinites or North Dakotans but with added winds blowing steady at 30 to 35 mph it made for a frosty week. As Texans endured this frigid weather they overloaded the electrical grid and our power went out at 2:00 am one night for about an hour and a half.
I got up and tried to fire up the generator only to discover my batteries were low (they were due for replacement).. As a result I had to fire up the diesel engine to charge the batteries enough to fire up the generator! Once the genny was going the gas heater came back on and started to warm us up.
I waited until the power came back on about 3:30 and went back to bed only to be awakened once again hearing beeps telling me the power was out again. A few minutes before five with the inside temperature in the RV hovering in the 50’s I fired up the genny again. Little did we know then it would be many days before the power would be restored.
I the meantime we bundled up and let the heater do what it could to add incremental warmth to the inside of the RV. I also proactively turned on the faucets inside allowing water to drip once I realized the forecast low of 32 was going to be exceeded. We awoke to no water so I assumed they froze up anyhow… It turned out water was out on South Padre Island as well. Sigh.
We found ourselves trying to stay warm, with no water in our RV waiting for the big thaw and praying for no damage left behind, It could be way worse as the sea turtles and brown pelicans were being rescued after suffering from temperature shock. Sadly I am sure many of the cacti and palm trees will be lost here in the park as well. To keep things as cheery as I could I posted pictures of birds from another of our excursions to the Laguna Madre Trail before the big freeze…
NOTE: We are currently in South Padre Island in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas until March 1st…
One of the reasons we started going to the guaranteed warm parts of Mexico was because Texas and Arizona didn't give ANY guarantees of actual decent weather for the winter. When you have spent most of your life living with 7 months of deep freeze every year, Texas and Arizona (and California and most of Florida for that matter) just don't cut it.
ReplyDeleteYep, we all have our preferences... good thing too if we all went to the same place it would get very crowded.
DeleteLovely photos pre-freeze. I am probably 400 miles north of you (just guessing)and survived well, for which I am grateful. In my 75 years, most of which have been spent here, I've seen 5 degrees, but not zero. Stunning. I hope you are finding no damage to your RV...Yes, time will tell about the damage to the animal and plant worlds.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately "no damage" wasn't the case...
DeleteGreat pics of the wildfowl prior to the freeze, how many stayed during the cold? Glad you, the RV and your generator made it thru the worst of it.
ReplyDeleteMost stayed, some went to hotels, and I wished all was well with the RV...
DeleteSo far, it does not sound like you got much sleep during the worst of the storm trying to keep heat in the RV by different means. I did notice from the news shows that the streets were too dangerous to drive on; how did you manage to replenish your propane or fuel for the generator? And, of course, you needed the generator for electricity to run the fan to the furnace. About five years ago, we got caught in freezing weather in western NC and had to wrap the pipes with heat tapes going into the RV, but we had the convenience of stable electricity provided by the park to plug the heat tapes into, so no broken pipes. The furnace ran on propane, but we needed electricity to run the furnace fan. That trip made me think of installing a generator if perchance we were caught without electricity.
ReplyDeleteHow did the children and grandkids fare in this life-threatening situation? And if there is no electricity, you can't pump fuel at the stations.
I had propane filled and topped off my diesel before getting here so had plenty. It was a bit bleak down here at the worst of it.
DeleteIt was a bad time for son's family too. They were without electricity longer than we were. It was a time they were truly happy for their 3 dogs who helped them keep warm! They got record snowfall too. The grandson was a trooper!
DeleteJohn, as you know, those of us in some northern states are used to winter storms and frigid temps, but the difference is that we expect them and prepare for them, as do the municipalities we live in. Many homes in our neck of the woods here in the northeast have a secondary source of heat, large propane tanks and/or a generator ready to go. You poor folks in the southern states had no reason to expect or plan for this kind of weather, and it was truly heartbreaking to watch the news feeds. I trust that you and Sharon were able to wait out the bad weather and we'll be reading about a safe and happy ending in Part 2! Great pics, by the way!
ReplyDeleteWe have been wondering how you did with the big freeze. Hope Part 2 is not about damage. Stay safe and healthy. Great pics.
ReplyDeleteSettling in north Alabama but from NJ, I smile at what they call snow storms here. A few days before the DEEP FREEZE down there, hubby was talking to his brother who lives in the Lake Charles, LA area. He said he was freezing... it was 62. We laughed as it was 27 here. Only a few days later things changed, now he really knows what cold feels like.
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