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Mother Nature Unleashes Texas-Sized Storm on the South
The people who moved from New York to Austin, TX, during the pandemic are really regretting not sticking the snowblower in the U-Haul. A winter storm is pummeling the South, leaving millions without power and causing mayhem in the energy market.
Just how bad is it?
Some parts of Texas were colder than Alaska. Before dawn yesterday morning, it was 5°F in Dallas...and 18° in Anchorage. About 800 daily records for cold temperatures were set in the last week, according to Bloomberg.
And as huge as Texas is, this storm is bigger than just one state. More than 150 million Americans were under weather advisories and warnings yesterday, and the icy weather is heading to the Midwest and Northeast.
Texans cranked up the heat...
And the power grid buckled. Spot prices for electricity on Monday jumped a ridiculous 3,466% from Friday, hitting the cap put in place by regulators. About 5 million people across the region suffered power outages thanks to surging demand and lots of supply being taken off the market.
About half of wind turbines in Texas were inoperable on Sunday. Like Uggs, they don't function so well in moist winter conditions and freezing rain.
You're probably thinking, "nbd...Texas is a powerhouse for fossil fuels, not renewable energy." But wind power is actually the fastest-growing source of energy in the state's power grid. It recently overtook coal as the state's No. 2 energy source after natural gas, and last week supplied 42% of total power.
The storm is hammering oil output, too. The largest oil refineries in North America shut down their operations due to the weather yesterday. 3+ million barrels/day in output have been taken offline, more than half of the 5.8 million barrels/day typically produced in the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico.
Zoom out: The arctic chill + stimulus hype + added tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices above $60 a barrel, the highest since early in the pandemic.
The people who moved from New York to Austin, TX, during the pandemic are really regretting not sticking the snowblower in the U-Haul. A winter storm is pummeling the South, leaving millions without power and causing mayhem in the energy market.
Just how bad is it?
Some parts of Texas were colder than Alaska. Before dawn yesterday morning, it was 5°F in Dallas...and 18° in Anchorage. About 800 daily records for cold temperatures were set in the last week, according to Bloomberg.
And as huge as Texas is, this storm is bigger than just one state. More than 150 million Americans were under weather advisories and warnings yesterday, and the icy weather is heading to the Midwest and Northeast.
Texans cranked up the heat...
And the power grid buckled. Spot prices for electricity on Monday jumped a ridiculous 3,466% from Friday, hitting the cap put in place by regulators. About 5 million people across the region suffered power outages thanks to surging demand and lots of supply being taken off the market.
About half of wind turbines in Texas were inoperable on Sunday. Like Uggs, they don't function so well in moist winter conditions and freezing rain.
You're probably thinking, "nbd...Texas is a powerhouse for fossil fuels, not renewable energy." But wind power is actually the fastest-growing source of energy in the state's power grid. It recently overtook coal as the state's No. 2 energy source after natural gas, and last week supplied 42% of total power.
The storm is hammering oil output, too. The largest oil refineries in North America shut down their operations due to the weather yesterday. 3+ million barrels/day in output have been taken offline, more than half of the 5.8 million barrels/day typically produced in the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico.
Zoom out: The arctic chill + stimulus hype + added tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices above $60 a barrel, the highest since early in the pandemic.
Weather Observer
State of Texas
Energy
Oil
Money
Edited 3 y ago
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 11
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Lt Col Charlie Brown I am glad I am in Newport News, Virginia- cold but warming up today in the high 50's.
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SFC Terry Wilcox
Lt Col Charlie Brown - OK LTC - thanks for sharing - you can have this frosty stuff back now. We've had our fun - NOT!
(1)
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Meanwhile back at the ranch... Who said we have climate warming? Can't prove it by this large Artic Vortex of cold, wind and snow all the way down to Texas! LOL! Thank you for sharing, Lt Col Charlie Brown !!!
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SFC Terry Wilcox
It's all those political windbags in the NE, sending all this arctic blast way down to Texas, and the South East.
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SFC Terry Wilcox
And I read tonight that Hawaii is expecting 3 feet of snow. Probably, if you could collect every flake that falls and pile it in a single column?
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