Deep Freeze finally works – Yuma Pioneer
The freezing state that enveloped the area for more than a week was so cold that it actually felt warm last Tuesday when the high was only 21 degrees.
Many ranchers in the area are calving and the newborns are at risk if they are not sheltered from frozen weather in a short period of time. Many others still had to work outside despite the arctic conditions – feedlots, dairies, postal workers, construction workers, even pizza delivery men and many more.
Although not yet official, the region set record temperatures as well as low lows. There was also wind chill that went to the 30 below zero range.
The Arctic explosion was one of the most persistent in the recent past. It began on Monday, February 8th and lasted through Monday, February 15th. While Tuesday was still cold, the air definitely didn’t still have that arctic feel to it.
A gradual “warming up” is coming, as the daytime temperatures are expected to rise into the high 30s by Friday and the extended forecast for the beginning of next week calls for the 50s.
The daily highs remained in the double-digit range from Monday to Thursday, February 11, although 14 degrees were as high as then.Vehicles were lined up when the children were brought to school on Tuesday, which was a late start for the Yuma schools. (Pioneer photo)
The high was 5 degrees on February 12th, with an overnight low of zero.
It was getting colder as the high last Saturday was zero and a night low of minus 9. The “high” on Sunday was minus 3 and the night low was minus 23. It warmed up to 7 degrees last Monday, but the night low (Sunday to Monday) was minus 26 degrees – and that without the cold wind. The night low from Monday to Tuesday was minus five before it finally warmed up a bit.
Despite the dangerous cold, life and work went on. For example, the Schramm Feedlot crew had to break ice on 150 tanks three times a day. The riders still had to go out and check the pens for sick cattle and take them to the hospital for treatment. The crew had to bring two pens of fat cattle to the office for shipment on Monday, and the feed still had to deliver a million pounds of feed.
Fortunately, the local schools had Monday off because of Presidents’ Day.
Yuma School District-1 then took advantage of a late start on Tuesday due to the persistently cold conditions.
Some classrooms at Morris Elementary and Yuma Middle Schools had heating issues on Monday. With MES, the boilers froze and with YMS too much air froze the condensation line, so that the float did not work properly. There was also a valve problem in one of the middle school classrooms.
Superintendent Dianna Chrisman reported that the buses held well.
Part of the reason for Tuesday’s late start, Chrisman said, was problems the city faced on Monday.
City administrator Scott Moore told the pioneer that the air brake systems on two plow-equipped trucks kept freezing, which shortened snow removal work on Monday. Everything was operational again on Tuesday.
The city received multiple calls from frozen water pipes in residential buildings. Moore said that each of them ended up with the waterline of the residences, not the line of the city.
The sewage department had frozen an electronic control that the crew had to fix in the freezing temperatures and there was a problem with a heater in one of the buildings.
Yuma did not experience power outages during freezing.
Despite the ongoing Arctic explosion, the region was better off than the rest of the country, with 25 or more states inundated with snow and ice, as well as power outages.
In such a large part of the country facing severe winter conditions, there have been concerns about grid congestion and the possibility of rolling outages.
The city was back on the streets Tuesday after encountering frost problems on Monday. (Pioneer Photo) The city of Yuma published a press release on Monday on the subject of energy saving.
“The City of Yuma urges customers to reduce their electricity and natural gas consumption to reduce the risk of potential blackouts due to extreme cold and increased regional demand.
“Customers are encouraged to lower their thermostats by 3 degrees, disconnect unnecessary devices from the power supply, close chimney flaps and refrain from using large devices as much as possible.
“Our community’s wholesale utility, the Nebraska Municipal Energy Agency (MEAN), is a member of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which monitors the power grid from an area from Oklahoma to the Canadian border. SPP has declared Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA) that will remain in effect until further notice. Due to the widespread and extreme cold, worsened conditions lead to energy shortages in the region and can lead to controlled business interruptions.
“In addition, the extremely high demand is causing wholesale prices for electricity and natural gas to skyrocket. Environmental protection efforts and an immediate reduction in demand in our region are in everyone’s best interests. The city of Yuma appreciates the support our customers have given us to save electricity and natural gas in order to avoid grid interruptions in these extremely cold conditions. “
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