central arkansas iced in!

jimmoore · Dec 13, 2000

Thick coat of ice everywhere this morning! no school today. goody goody. Bird, are you near dallas? i see they are also iced in.

JerryG · Dec 13, 2000

Jim,
It's the same in NW AR. We have about 5" of snow and it has been sleeting for about two hours now. The tractor started fine. But there was a problem.....When I would try to put it in gear it would die. Found out that the neutral safty switch on the shifter, had went out of adjustment. Got that fixed. I quess that I can blade the farm for the 18 wheelers to bring my chicken feed now.
JerryG

Bird · Dec 13, 2000

Jim, the "ice storm" didn't start here until after 11 p.m. last night, then our electricity went off for five and half hours starting about 3:45 a.m. However, we're lucky that it's warmer (26 to 28 degrees) than the high ever got to yesterday, so it looks like our local roads are not in bad shape.

Bird

ERNIEB · Dec 13, 2000

Ice in South Texas too. Some Schools closed, some delayed two hours. Highways thru San Antonio were closed, rush hour a mess. Lost power for about two hours early this am. I've got broken off mesquite limbs laying everywhere. Better go reread that section on chainsaw blades.

ErnieB
"We were surrounded by some gross, proud, and victorious men. Anyone who knows the character of the North Americans can judge what our situation must have been."
Jose Juan Sanchez Navarro

Bird · Dec 13, 2000

ErnieB, sounds like it got worse farther south (which has happened in the past). About noon, we had just a very brief spell of sunshine and icicles dropped everywhere; fast thaw. After the thaw, my rain gauge had about .38" in it, but fortunately the only limbs I have down are small ones off that big Sycamore that drops a few every time a breeze comes up.

Dave, glad to hear the good guys in Clarksville scored./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Just sorry to hear about 3 more murders anywhere.

Bird<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Bird on 12/13/00 04:31 PM.</FONT></P>

gordon · Dec 13, 2000

Is this what it looks like around your place?
See attached picture.
Gordon

Bird · Dec 13, 2000

Actually, no, Gordon. The ground wasn't quite that white; you could still see the blades of grass; it was just like each blade was heavily coated with ice. And instead of evergreens, I have pecan, oak, sycamore, plum, hackberry, chinaberry, fruitless mulberry, and a couple of unidentified trees in the yard. Nearly all the leaves are gone so it was just wood all coated with ice, as were the overhead power wires, fences, etc. I guess that picture wouldn't look too much different from the Corps of Engineers land across the road - almost solid cedars. The temperature never quite made it to 32, but the sun came out for a very brief time. The ice fell off the barbed wire fences first and it looked like it was raining under all the trees it was dripping so fast along with the small pieces of ice falling. The good news is that it's supposed to be back in the 50s tomorrow./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

jimmoore · Dec 15, 2000

Well, just now back on line. The internet has been out here for the last 3 days.My place has been totally devastated by the ice. I will prob loose 2 pecan trees. a large pin oak by the barn broke off about 10 feet up and a big sycamore was root wadded and smashed a chicken coop. Woodruff county looks like a tornado went throgh with all the downed trees and limbs. it continued a slow freezing rain all day the first day and every thing had about a 3/4 inch build up of ice. I will get it all cleaned up about the first of August. Ol Blue and the little green Poulan have their job cut out for them. Some people out in the rural areas still have no power or water. jim

Bird · Dec 15, 2000

Jim, I wasn't too happy being without power for five and a half hours (sure glad my wife filled a couple of Thermos bottles with coffee the night before) and having to pick up a few little limbs out of the yard yesterday, but it didn't take long for me to realize how lucky I was compared to a lot of you folks./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

jimmoore · Dec 15, 2000

Bird, at the December city council meeting, I was appointed police commissioner for a 2 tear term. No big deal, I will report to the city council on police dept activitives and make recomendations as to the needs of the department. The previous commissioner had no idea about how a dept should function! I have "walked the walk and can talk the talk".
jim

Bird · Dec 16, 2000

Jim, I'm not sure whether congratulations or condolences are in order./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I've been retired long enough and gotten lazy enough, I don't think I'd want the responsibility. But I'll bet the police department is glad to have someone who understands their operation and needs.

Bird

dullpain · Dec 16, 2000

Jim Moore and all in the ICE. Know exactly what you are talking about. Happened here in Mid-TN. 5 years ago. We were out of power for 2 1/2 days. Trees down everywhere , roads impassable, and lots more. Some people were 3 & 4 weeks getting power back. NASTY business. Had electric utility workers from all over south east volunteer and came up here to help.

I still am finding widow makers (large limbs and braches) hung up in trees that survived. Have to be careful when trimming the fence row trees!!

Again you all have my sympathy and hope it is not too long till all is restored to normal.

jimmoore · Dec 16, 2000

McCallum, It rained all night last night and melted all the ice off of everything. I ventured out this morning and took a good look around. It is pretty bad. My biggest problem is the huge limbs that have broken off up high and are still attached to the tree.I have a friend with a bucket-truck that I will hire to cut those down. He charges $100.00 a day for the bucket truck. I went today to TSC and bought a 20" Homelite chainsaw to cut the smaller stuff. it was on sALE FOR $189.00 including a plastic case and extra chain. I will have to wait now untill the ground drys up a little and then "get with it". State Farm insurance has already sent me a check for $550.00, that will help some. jim

Jag · Dec 17, 2000

JIM, last night's low was was 15.1 degrees up the Arkansas River from you.. with the rain last night, I had to get the heater and pry bar out to open the the door of my pickup truck this morning.

jimmoore · Dec 17, 2000

Jag, I had the same trouble with my doors also. when I finally got them open I sprayed de-icer in the door locks and sprayed the rubber door gaskets with WD40. I hope I can get in the truck in the morning to go make the bus route. jim

Bird · Dec 17, 2000

I thought that was what hair dryers were made for./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

Rowski · Dec 18, 2000

Don't use to much lock de-icer with out spraying in some lubricant afterward. The de-icer will dry out the lubricant too and give you more trouble down the road.

Derek

Thomas · Dec 18, 2000

Derek,
Kinda feels like sugaring weather this morning. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
Least the the ditches around these parts got a good flushing out,and tonight its pick up limbs around the house. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
Hope you folks over there didn't get ice in.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Rowski · Dec 18, 2000

Had 50F yesterday with heavy rains and lots of wind. Rivers and streams were near flood stage, some ice jams. This morning temps in low 20s, wind is howling out the north north west. Will be a task to get into the cars this morning. Got a couple of inches on the ground now and still snowing. Pretty much looks like snow showers right through the weekend. So maybe a white x-mas after all.

Derek