It may get down into the single digits tonight in parts of the DFW area. Luckily we didn't get much ice in DFW proper so I was able to do the normal 60-70 mph to work. The southern and eastern portions of Dallas got ice/snow, but oddly, the northern portions didn't get as much and what it did get, didn't stick. I think Houston, Austin, and Dallas are supposed to be colder than Boston, New York, and Anchorage today/tonight.
In Texas, nobody or nothing will stop idiot drivers. Tailgating, doing 100. Nothing. However, I was in Buffalo one Christmas and people were fishtailing at 50 to 60 on the side of a mountain with no guardrail, so. idiot knows no bounds. I was doing 5 miles an hour for comparison and still felt scared shitless.
Im assuming by now they put salt, mulch, sod on all these icy overpasses. Tonight I have to take a freeway
I use this Transtar traffic map to show where there's ice; looks like there's still some all the way up to Willis. If you're not leaving for some hours it could melt away.... https://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layers/
I have two co-workers with the same problem. My wife and I had that issue during the freeze of one week/two weeks ago.
2 hour drive to work (Montgomery Cty. to Houston downtown)- holy moly. Got stuck at Shepherd, at least more than an hour then I-45/I-10 blocked, they are only allow I-10 West exit, or Houston Ave. The drive is slow for most around 55 mph, there are some spots with ice and water. I didn't slip at all, on turns, or speeding up. The main thing is don't press the gas too hard and the brake too hard. If you don't need to work, don't work.
Put on a heartwarming movie and turn the volume up to the max. It worked for me when I blasted My Life starring Michael Keaton.
The pipes that freeze are exterior and exposed. Find the one that comes directly from the water main. (At my house, it's in the front yard. It's where I connect a hose.) Take off the insulation, and heat the metal pipe with a blow dryer or even better with a small propane blow torch. The blow torch will be a lot faster.
Don't dig. Pipes underground don't freeze. The pipes that do are exposed and come out from the ground and go into the house. Wait, 6 feet under? What you mean?
Are you sure? That's exactly what I've always been told NOT to do. Edit: Talking about the blow torch part.
Hmm. Then don't. I have done that during these last two freezes. Wonder why I shouldn't have. I would think a blow dryer would be safe.
