Winter Storm Uri is gone...and good riddance.

Let's take a quick look back at what transpired during this once in a generation, and perhaps once in a lifetime weather event for East Texas.  It started with some freezing rain and sleet and temperatures dipping below freezing, and for the most part we stayed in the 20s.

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Then came the snow.  At first, some weather models were showing just a light snowfall for the area, but as Sunday night drew nearer, the forecasts started warning of our second heavy snowfall in a month.  Sure enough, up to five inches or more of snow was pretty commonplace across the Pineywoods.  Snow on top of the ice already in place, and then the temperatures plummeted to near zero.  Power outages started to happen and driving the roads was like driving on an ice rink.

Then came the most unkind blow of all, the heavy freezing rain of Wednesday morning.  This covered trees and power lines with up to a half inch of ice, and the effects were devastating.  Huge limbs by the thousands and thousands broke off and slammed down on power lines creating tens of thousands of incidences of power outages across a large portion of East Texas.  We are still trying to recover from all that.

 

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Thankfully, we have a forecast much more in line with the temperatures that we usually have this time of year.  We'll see a week with high temps getting to the 60s.  However, mid-week will bring a lot of windy conditions.  Winds out of the south will be gusting to 25 mph.

What's the danger in that?

The strength of many limbs and branches in the area have been compromised from the weight of the ice over the past few days.  Plus, many limbs may have already broken off, but are still lodged amongst the branches above the ground. Winds steadily gusting over 25 mph on Wednesday may send quite of few limbs crashing down to the ground.  Of course, we won't be seeing the crazy amount of tree debris from the ice storm, but don't be surprised to hear about a few more isolated power outages due to falling branches.

Hopefully, this won't happen in your neck of the woods, but, I'd avoid standing under trees just to be safe.

 

Snow Pics 2021

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