5 P.M. Friday, Feb. 26, 2021
Two upper air disturbances will float over the Ohio Valley this weekend. The weaker one we’re seeing now. Mostly light showers will be scattered over the area this evening…ending after Midnight. Tomorrow will be warmer with mostly cloudy skies pushing temperatures into the mid 60’s. The second system will have more moisture and energy, heavier rains will be likely tomorrow night into Sunday morning. Our area should expect over an inch of rain with warm temperatures tomorrow night. Temperatures remain warm Sunday.
This time no major storm development is expected, so no major surge will move in as the rain stops, so temperatures should remain seasonably mild early next week. The average high temperature in early March is in the lower 50’s.
I have seen the future…and it is here. part 2
The recent ice storm disaster in Texas has been used as quite a political tool for various ideologies. The right blames solar and wind power problems (partly correct). The left blames fossil fuel problems (partly correct). Many say the state-run power network was the cause (big contributor). Still others blame climate change (probably not – ice storms in Texas have a long history). Actually, many factors combined to make a situation far worse than it should have been.
Most at fault is the government of Texas. To allow the statewide power grid to reach the ridiculous situation that exists there today is a wonderful example of political corruption based on money rather than the public good. It’s a rag-rag operation of little operators with little coordination. It’s like one of those dominoes creations where you tip over one domino and hundreds (or thousands) more also tip over.
In recent years, a push toward solar and wind power generation has been established. Today that produces roughly 10-11% of Texas’s total power input. Wind and solar are unreliable because sometimes the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. But losing just 10% of your power supply shouldn’t do much damage to the overall grid. Most of the power comes from good old fashioned power plants using either coal, oil or natural gas. Texas also produces some nuclear power. In recent years, for environmental concerns, coal and oil plants have been phased out along with nuclear power. The use of natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, has been growing rapidly. Okay, most states are doing the same thing, so what went wrong?
In the push to increase natural gas usage and build wind and solar facilities, something has been either forgotten or neglected, or both. Infrastructure! No repairs. No updates. No improvements to existing equipment. The existing infrastructure has been falling apart. In a crisis they can’t ask neighboring states to sell them some extra power (state law). So, when a crisis hits -usually winter storms and summer heat waves – they are stuck.
The way things are going, the power situation in Texas will get far worse before it gets better. The best thing they can do to clean up their power mess is to build nuclear power plants.
Texas is not alone in this rush to “clean energy.” Many other states are losing their energy independence. More on that on part 3.