A SHELTER IN PLACE order has been issued for Oxford, Mississippi as a crippling #icestorm continues. Hours of thunder freezing rain has accrued 1-2 inches of ice. Falling trees are a threat to life and property. #ice#winterstormpic.twitter.com/RbJ0U9gMLs
We woke up to an ice storm apocalypse in Oxford, Mississippi this morning after hours of thunder freezing rain. Power flashes lighting up the sky, stranded motorists, trees falling on cars and homes under the weight of over an inch of ice accretion. Coverage for @accuweather… pic.twitter.com/iaNFs6ls75
The massive winter storm bearing down this weekend on a large swath of the nation, from the Southwest to the Mid-Atlantic, promises to cripple travel, cancel schools and civic gatherings, and impose frigid temperatures on tens of millions of Americans.
But another worry is looming for those in the path of the storm: Power outages and the very human dangers that come with them.
Other winter tempests in recent years have laid bare the frailties that exist: Freezing spells that have crippled gas production. Surges in demand that tax the grid. The buildup of snow and ice that overwhelms transmission lines and stymies crews trying to help restore power. Extended outages that can lead people to make dangerous choices, such as driving on slick roads or using unsafe heat sources inside their homes.
“I think this has the potential to rank up as one of the more consequential storms we’ve seen over the last five or six years,” said Jim Robb, president of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
The blast of winter weather, which is expected to begin delivering snow and ice on Friday across the Rockies and Plains, is likely to cause a wave of impacts as it barrels through the Midwest, Southeast and up the East Coast through the weekend.
By Thursday, forecasters already were warning that accumulation of ice — a reality predicted throughout much of the South — could weigh down trees and overburden power lines, leaving residents across numerous states to endure the winter blast without electricity. – In addition, many homes in Southern states aren’t built for deep, sustained cold weather, said Julia Matevosyan, chief engineer at ESIG. “When it gets cold, then the heating becomes so inefficient, it actually draws more power than during warmer weather, and that stresses the system.”
Analysis by ICF, an energy consulting firm, shows that the main grid in Texas, which is run by Electric Reliability Council of Texas, will hit its peak demand between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Monday. Across the Mid-Atlantic region, on the grid managed by PJM, which includes 13 states and the District of Columbia, demand is expected to crest from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesday. That’s when the system operator anticipates it will reach the highest winter demand in its history.
The Department of Homeland Security has paused terminations of employees working on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster response as it ramps up preparations for a massive and life-threatening winter storm that will pummel half the country this weekend.
Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that the agency planned to terminate disaster response and recovery workers in waves. On New Year’s Eve, agency officials eliminated about 65 positions that were part of FEMA’s largest workforce, known as the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) — staffers who are among the first on the ground after a disaster and often stick around for years to help communities recover. But on Thursday night, DHS’ head of human resources sent an email notifying teams that “just a few minutes ago,” FEMA headquarters decided the agency would halt their process of non-renewing dozens of federally funded employees. These roles, hired by FEMA for multiyear terms under the Stafford Act using the disaster relief fund, have been up for renewal on a rolling basis.
This may be one of the most memorable icing model runs I've ever seen for this region.
The HRRR simulates 30+ hours of freezing rain in north central/northwest Mississippi.
It never gets above freezing in the model. Just nonstop icing. Really a remarkable event. pic.twitter.com/XZGdj7dsFE
CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme…. pic.twitter.com/2EFJ2aUROc
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented Thursday on the separatist movement in Alberta — making him the highest-ranking member of the Trump administration to weigh in on the province’s politics.
While appearing on the right-wing TV station Real America’s Voice, Bessent claimed Canada won’t let Alberta build a pipeline to the Pacific.
“I think we should let them come down into the U.S., and Alberta’s a natural partner for the U.S.,” he said. – “They have great resources. The Albertans are very independent people,” Bessent said, adding there’s a “rumour that they may have a referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or not.”
When asked if he knew something about it, Bessent said, “People are talking. People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got.” – Some organizers of the Alberta independence movement have claimed they had meetings with members of the Trump administration, although they have not disclosed any names. Their message has started to spread among MAGA influencers online, and among Republicans broadly.
Andy Ogles, a Republican congressman in Tennessee, told a BBC panel earlier this week that the people of Alberta would “prefer not to be a part of Canada and be a part of the United States because we are winning day in and day out.”
The Alberta independence movement is collecting signatures to trigger a referendum. The question that referendum would ask is whether Alberta should be independent from Canada — not whether it should join the United States.
A lot of us will be watching the Texas grid this weekend, to see if it holds up under severe stress.
Hundreds of people died in the blackout of Valentine’s Day, 2021, and it’s become an absolute case study in how Americans have been systematically disinformed about clean energy.
Above, see the perspectives of some Texas’ smartest and most well informed grid experts, on just how the event played out, and what it meant. In particular, pay attention to the contemporaneous interview with Governor Greg Abbott, who told it like it was to the local Texas journalists, who knew he couldn’t lie to, who knew the score and were following events on the ground.
Then check the clip below to see what Abbott told a Fox News audience THE SAME DAY – to see the fossil fuel misinformation megaphone in action.
Much has been made of the (purported) need for US bases in Greenland, to insure national security. (It’s clear now the need related more to the Orange Toddler’s in-security)
Many Americans might not remember that in the early days of the Cold War, the Strategic Air Command had forward bases in the arctic for radar installations (the DEW, or Distant Early Warning, line).
Google Gemini gives this:
The DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line in Greenland refers to the eastern extension of Cold War radar stations, known as DYE Stations, built to detect Soviet bombers, with notable sites like DYE-2 and DYE-3 on the ice cap built on massive stilts to withstand deep ice. These stations, operational from the late 1950s to the late 1980s, were crucial for North American defense, supported by the U.S. Air National Guard, and also collected vital scientific data before being abandoned, leaving behind unique architectural relics in the Arctic.
When I visited there, in 2013, we were on our way to take samples deep in the interior of the ice sheet, where, as far as Lead Scientist Jason Box knew, no one had ever flown in by helicopter. (Jason had maintained a weather station at that location for years, going in via snow machine) The Dye 2 station, about an hour by chopper from Kangerlussuaq, was a stop on the way, because although the military mission was abandoned, an American scientific base was maintained there, and they had fuel reserves that we were able to fill up with. Personel came out to meet us in snow machines, and I noted that the American flag planted at the site drew no notice or comment from anyone, including our Danish ex-military pilot.
