Why aren't Texas homes built for Arctic weather

[Ed Mahmoud]

Nobody ever worried about bursting pipes when I was a young'un living in New York. When I was stationed upstate New York, below zero (Farenheit) weather was common, and pipes never burst.

I will say, warming up the old 7 cyclinder 1976 Chysler Cordoba, that winter of 84-85, with 120k miles on it, a quart a week smoking habit, and a tendency to run on only 7 cyclinders until the engine got warm, would take 20 minutes before one could take the transmission out of "Park" without stalling the car. But it was big and roomy.


Just need better building codes, as long as nothing separates Texas from Siberia but a snow pack and barb wire fences.


OK, New York may have a few more sub-freezing days each Winter than Texas, but since Arctc outbreaks are a fact of life in our idyllic corner of the mid-latitudes, there is no excuse for pipes bursting because of cold weather.

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

Nobody ever worried about bursting pipes when I was a young'un living in New York. When I was stationed upstate New York, below zero (Farenheit) weather was common, and pipes never burst.

I will say, warming up the old 7 cyclinder 1976 Chysler Cordoba, that winter of 84-85, with 120k miles on it, a quart a week smoking habit, and a tendency to run on only 7 cyclinders until the engine got warm, would take 20 minutes before one could take the transmission out of "Park" without stalling the car. But it was big and roomy.


OK, New York may have a few more sub-freezing days each Winter than Texas, but since Arctc outbreaks are a fact of life in our idyllic corner of the mid-latitudes, there is no excuse for pipes bursting because of cold weather.

Do you think Houston should buy some snow removal equipment too?

[gboudx]

Louisiana also has this problem. Lots of older homes were built with exposed metal pipes outside the homes, and also running in the attic with little to no insulation. The homeowners bear the responsibility for wrapping the pipes and trying to insulate them as best they can.

[HouTXmetro]

Louisiana also has this problem. Lots of older homes were built with exposed metal pipes outside the homes, and also running in the attic with little to no insulation. The homeowners bear the responsibility for wrapping the pipes and trying to insulate them as best they can.

Ok, we get pipe bursting weather once every 20 years? I don't think that calls for revamping the building codes.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Louisiana also has this problem. Lots of older homes were built with exposed metal pipes outside the homes, and also running in the attic with little to no insulation. The homeowners bear the responsibility for wrapping the pipes and trying to insulate them as best they can.

Ok, we get pipe bursting weather once every 20 years? I don't think that calls for revamping the building codes.

At least as often as a major hurricane. No need for building codes near the coast?

[gboudx]

Louisiana also has this problem. Lots of older homes were built with exposed metal pipes outside the homes, and also running in the attic with little to no insulation. The homeowners bear the responsibility for wrapping the pipes and trying to insulate them as best they can.

Ok, we get pipe bursting weather once every 20 years? I don't think that calls for revamping the building codes.

I don't know what the building codes are now, but if they don't include having only interior plumbing, then it's ridiculous and should be changed.

[CajunMama]

We have improved over the years. We now have houses on piers (which you need for flooding) and interior plumbing...no more pumps and outhouses!

[MGC]

Cause Texas does not get Artic weather....MGC

[Ed Mahmoud]

Cause Texas does not get Artic weather....MGC

Wrong answer, -5

THE COLDEST IT HAS EVER BEEN CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS CAME DURING THE DECEMBER 1989 ARCTIC OUTBREAK. ON DECEMBER 23...1989 THE LOW FELL TO 4 AT AUSTIN MUELLER AIRPORT ...6 AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM...6 IN SAN ANTONIO...AND TO 10 IN DEL RIO. THE LOW OF 10 IN DEL RIO WAS AN ALL TIME LOW FROM 1905 TO PRESENT. THE LOW OF 4 AT AUSTIN MUELLER AIRPORT...6 AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM AND 6 IN SAN ANTONIO WAS THE COLDEST FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. SOME OTHER COLDEST LOWS AROUND THE AREA IN DECEMBER 1989 WERE AS FOLLOWS... BLANCO 0 DECEMBER 23 AND 24... BOERNE 2 DECEMBER 23...BURNET -4 DECEMBER 23... CARRIZO SPRINGS 10 DECEMBER 23...CRYSTAL CITY 11 DECEMBER 23...FREDERICKSBURG 1 DECEMBER 23...EAGLE PASS 12 DECEMBER 23...2 MILES NORTH OF GONZALES 4 ON DECEMBER 23... JOHNSON CITY 1 DECEMBER 23...3 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF KERRVILLE 0 ON DECEMBER 23...LA GRANDE 3 DECEMBER 23...LLANO -1 ON DECEMBER 23 AND 24...3 MILES WEST OF LYTLE 6 DECEMBER 23...NEW BRAUNFELS 2 DECEMBER 23...SAN MARCOS 2 DECEMBER 23...AND UVALDE RESEARCH CENTER 6 ON DECEMBER 23.

[jinftl]

An even bigger question....why hasn't Houston been a contender for hosting the Winter Olympics? All of the elements you would need for winter sport activities are there. Let's start a petition!

[Ed Mahmoud]

An even bigger question....why hasn't Houston been a contender for hosting the Winter Olympics? All of the elements you would need for winter sport activities are there. Let's start a petition!

Except mountains.

ETA: I don't think we could relocate the Wasatch Mountains from Utah, but they also held Olympics at Lake Placid, NY, and used White Face Mountain for the ski events.

[swampdude]

I suppose that it is related to the same phenomenon that while in Boston several summers ago I was informed that the city was having a heat wave with temps hitting between 85 and 90 each day. I learned that many in Boston did not have air conditioners. So with Arctic weather is a bit rare in my part of Texas, we don't worry too much about it's occasional appearance.

[MGC]

Ed, 10 degrees is not Artic weather, maybe in summer but not winter. Texas homes would be better suited to withstand hurricane force winds had high surges along the coast. In the panhandle they should be built to handle tornadoes and everywhere else built for scorching summer heat. The occasional cold blast is way down the list......MGC

[jinftl]

I grew up in Boston...and you are right....when temps get in the 85-90 range, it is a big deal (although i have seen 100 deg actually occur in boston....a nasty, smoggy heat). You can only imagine my shock when moving to Miami back in '95 for school....and the first time there was a really cold night...meaning temps widespread in the 35-40 deg range....officials delayed the opening of schools by several hours because of the cold! If 38 deg was the criteria for delaying schools in Boston, the kids wouldn't have a full day from about November through April!

I suppose that it is related to the same phenomenon that while in Boston several summers ago I was informed that the city was having a heat wave with temps hitting between 85 and 90 each day. I learned that many in Boston did not have air conditioners. So with Arctic weather is a bit rare in my part of Texas, we don't worry too much about it's occasional appearance.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Ed, 10 degrees is not Artic weather, maybe in summer but not winter. Texas homes would be better suited to withstand hurricane force winds had high surges along the coast. In the panhandle they should be built to handle tornadoes and everywhere else built for scorching summer heat. The occasional cold blast is way down the list......MGC

A burst water pipe can be expensive.


Anyway, unlike, say, Florida, Texas has all four seasons every winter, and has had cold outbreaks down to -23ºF.

Fact!

[Scott Patterson]

Ed, 10 degrees is not Artic weather, maybe in summer but not winter.

Not to enter a pointless arguement, but I would have to agree. A winter night as warm as 10F would be extremely rare in the Arctic (in fact even here nights that warm are rare in winter and we're way south of the arctic).

For example, here's the weather data for Umiat Alaska which is above the Arctic Circle:

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ak9539

Anyway even this far south (which is far from the Arctic) I've never heard anyone refer to the weather as an "Arctic blast" unless it was at least -30F. Even as far south as Colorado the temperature has dropped down to 10F in July (all time record) and we saw 13F near our house last year in June. Coincidentally, his morning was 10F and everyone has been wondering why the weather has been so unusually mild and warm so far this late fall.

Anyway, I was in Dallas once when our plane was grounded before it could be de-iced and Amarillo and surrounding ramparts can occasionally be chilly, but never Arctic. When the weatherman refer to an "Arctic Outbreak" or "Arctic Front", they just mean the air came down south from the Arctic not that it is actually as cold as the Arctic gets.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Getting rather semantic, aren't we? But for those Texans that experienced -23ºF temperatures, I wouldn't question their right to call that "Arctic".


Arctic would seem to be a region, not a temperature. If an airmass builds for days near the Pole, (ie, The Arctic) and then dumps down bringing high temperatures 30 or even 45ºF below normal, well, it may not quite be the -50ºF they had on the North Slope or the Yukon, but what else are you going to call it, 10 syllables or less?

Arctic Circle, Antarctica. You know. Houston is not in the Tropic of Cancer. Not in the tropics. I guess we can't have tropical depressions make landfall here.

[jasons2k]

As the saying goes, "it's all relative"

If you want to split hairs, Minnesota isn't "arctic" either but try telling that to someone who lives there in January.

Also, I'd be careful of lumping "Texas" or "Florida" into categories.

Key West, which according to Koppen is tropical, is nothing like Crestview or Tallahassee, which have 4 distinct seasons.

And Dalhart is much more like Denver than Brownsville or Corpus.

I lived in Lubbock for 4 years and I can personally testify that parts of Texas can get much colder than people think. I looked up the Lubbock codes and in a 2,000 sq. ft home, walls are required to have r-13 insulation, the same as the Dallas area and it's the same here around Houston. The only time one would have busted pipes with r-13 insulation is if their hose bibs are not frost proof bibs and are just sitting out there freezing without a cover (or dripping) - then you MAY get busted pipes in extreme events but it is still very rare.

[jinftl]

Being so vast, Texas has many climate zones....map of average annual minimum temp by region...clearly there is a huge difference if you live in Amarillo vs. Brownsville as far as home heating and construction needs.

[Scott Patterson]

But for those Texans that experienced -23ºF temperatures

Not many have since it only happened once in recorded history and that was almost 76 years ago.

If an airmass builds for days near the Pole, (ie, The Arctic) and then dumps down bringing high temperatures 30 or even 45ºF below normal, well, it may not quite be the -50ºF they had on the North Slope or the Yukon, but what else are you going to call it, 10 syllables or less?

I agree it's still called a Arctic Outbreak or Arctic Front since the cold air mass originated there; it's just not real "Arctic Weather". I guess maybe -23 could be sparingly called Arctic weather. I mean if Pikes Peak around here ever breaks their all time record high of 64F, would it be considered "extreme tropical heat" because it is warmer than usual?

Anyway, if you are interested, I actually took this photo literally a few miles from the Equator, so yes I agree that it can get cool outside the Arctic.



It's really a pointless arguement anyway, since someone from Texas would have a completely different opinion of what "cold" is than someone in say in places like the Rocky Mountains, North Dakota or Central Alaska or even more so the Arctic itself.

As the saying goes, "it's all relative"

That's the point exactly. It's all relative. I'm sure all the Texans would laugh at us when we say it's hot at 90F with low humidity.