Winter Weather Trivia

Date: February 13, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

winter dog w hatThe winter of 2013 / 2014 has NOT been a record winter. When the final monthly statistics come out, January in the U.S. won’t be near record cold.

This crazy weather is not just a U.S. thing. Parts of South America and Australia have had much warmer than normal weather this winter. Parts of Europe have been cold and stormy, others record warm. For much of January, Greenland was 8 degrees warmer than norm. Hey, let’s go to Greenland!!

The Winter of 1779-1780 was so cold that ice was piled 20 feet high along the Delmarva Coast and stayed there until spring. The upper portion of the Chesapeake Bay and the entire Potomac River was frozen solid. People were able to walk from Annapolis to Kent Island and from Alexandria into DC.

Lowest world temperature: -128.6°F / -89.6°C, Vostok Station, Antarctica, 21 July 1983–without windchill.

Lowest world temperature in inhabited area: -90.4° F / -68° C, Oymyakon, Siberia (pop. 4,000), 6 February, 1933 and also at Verkhoyansk, Siberia, 3 January, 1885.

Lowest USA temperature: -79.8° F / -62.1° C, Prospect Creek, Alaska, 23 January, 1971.

Lowest USA (48 contiguous states) temperature: -69.7° F / -56.5° C, Rogers Pass, Montana, 20 January, 1954.

Ice Bar – London

Date: February 4, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

There is not much you can do to avoid the cold today in Houston.  Take a look at this bar in London where people SEEK out these temperatures to enjoy a quirky, fun (?) night out.

Hmm…maybe we could save some energy this summer and supplement the air conditioning with an ice couch?

Summertime and The Livin’ is…HOT!

Date: January 21, 2014 Author: cdoelle

ac unitIs your A/C ready for the upcoming Houston summer? This little break of gorgeous, Spring-like weather is a great time to get out and look at your unit and make sure it is clear of all debris and leaves. It spends all summer sucking up leaves, pollen, grass and sticks. Preserve the life of your unit by making sure there is a good two feet of clear space around it at all times.

Can you imagine Houston with NO A/C?

Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

Anyone who has been in Houston in the summer knows the way to survive is moving from the air conditioned vehicle to the air conditioned building – without too much stopping in between.  It’s only been a little over a century that humans have used “manufactured weather” to control the temperature of office buildings and homes.

In 1980, Houston was described as the Most Air Conditioned Place on Earth.  It was in 1922 that the Rice Hotel Cafeteria became the first air conditioned room in Houston and in 1922 the Second National Bank became the first building to have “man-made weather”.  It took almost another 10 years before air conditioning started to become available and accessible private homes.  And the  first consumers wouldn’t really be considered the general public.  Only the very wealthy could afford this luxury.  One of the first Houstonians to take advantage of this new commodity was Glenn McCarthy – otherwise known as Diamond Glenn.  He was the oil tycoon that James Dean’s character was based on in the epic movie Giant.  It wasn’t until after World War II that the blessing of air conditioning began to spread to the masses, making life in Houston much cooler!!

The Polar Vortex Reaches Houston

Date: January 9, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply
Photo Courtesy of HPD

Photo Courtesy of HPD

Most of our weather battles in Houston deal with battling the heat and the humidity.  Although we may never have the great Houston blizzard – this past week of near record low temperatures reminded us that we do need to know how to protect our homes from the cold weather as well.  Here are a few tips to help make the cold weather and the occasional snowfall a worry-free experience in Houston.

  • Checking your furnace BEFORE you need to crank it up is an must. Do not wait until it is 19 degrees!
  • Keep gutters clean and clear to avoid ice dams and damage.
  • If it’s forecast to freeze protect your pipes.  Wrap those pipes that are exposed, keep cabinets open to allow air to circulate and leave a trickle of water running through the faucets.

Stay warm!  It’ll be 105 again before you know it!