February 2021 Arctic blast crippled the South

[John E Davies]

Just a reminder for those Southern Ollie owners and soon-to-be ones. There were a lot of RVs that suffered severe damage then through lack of awareness and bad preparations. One Ollie owner in Oklahoma had his trailer completely freeze up, he posted a frantic thread about it, but I never heard the results, if it destroyed his tanks or not. If somebody can post that link, I think it would be a good warning for the rest of us. Don’t let that be you…. Once the drains freeze, you can no longer empty pipes and tanks! This shows that event, not the current forecast!

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2021_North_American_cold_wave

It is going to be below zero here tonight, but at least here in NE WA we expect that sort of chill. It’s 48 degrees in the RV bay.

Stay warm.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[John E Davies]

Found the thread, it was -18 degrees there when he posted.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/5185-extreme-weather/

Read and weep, I never did hear how this ended.

I like to think of winter cold as the temperature differential (the “delta T”). The difference is what drives the heat loss through walls, roof and air leaks. On a 30 degree day with a 70 degree inside temp, the house or trailer has a 40 degree delta T. Normal heating systems can handle that easily. When the delta T gets to 70 or 100, that is when stuff starts to break and freeze. Especially if the home or RV was not built for it. Or the owner did not take steps to prevent it…

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Toojennifer]

I think that was us.  We were living in the trailer during house remodel.  
 

Tanks were fine but we do have tank heaters.  We had lost our tankless water heater when we were out of town and the contractors knocked the trailer plug out.  I think a faucet and the toilet valve thing.  That was round one.

Then during the really cold weather I went to my sisters and my husband stayed in the trailer with bunks pulled up, every possible type of heater going (we were trying to keep house from freezing as well), propane freezing up so water lines frozen etc. it finally thawed.  I’m not getting all that exact but my husband could sure fill you in on any damages.  It was rough though.
 

 

[John E Davies]

BTT, stay safe.

On February 11-20, 2021, a historical winter event occurred that set many records, including being the first billion-dollar weather disaster of that year. A deep freeze impacted parts of the continental United States (CONUS), remarkably engulfing the entire state of Texas.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Mike and Carol]

5 hours ago, John E Davies said:

On February 11-20, 2021, a historical winter event occurred that set many records, including being the first billion-dollar weather disaster of that year. A deep freeze impacted parts of the continental United States (CONUS), remarkably engulfing the entire state of Texas.

Yes, we got down to single digits way down here in San Antonio during that deep freeze.

[mountainoliver]

We also were caught up in the Texas deep freeze that year. We were traveling through Texas and had stopped for a week or so to help Mike and Carol with an Oliver project. On the morning that we were to leave the San Antonio area I woke up to find that I had a retina detachment. A long story short, after emergency surgery Mike and Carol insisted that we stay in their home for several weeks, canceling their own camping plans until I was able to travel. We moved to a campground about 45 minutes or so north of San Antonio in the hill country. I still couldn’t travel due to the gas bubble in my eye so needed to stay close to the San Antonio area for another month and had to cancel the rest of our annual western trip. The deep freeze hit Texas about a week after we got settled in our campsite. During the deep freeze the Oliver protected us from the ice, snow, single digit temperatures, and constant 20-30 mph winds. We didn’t have cell service, WiFi, or television for a week or so. We were able to share our water with some of our neighbors as well. All of the other stick built campers, including the campground experienced frozen plumbing. When we heard that there was freezing weather and snow on the way, we filled our fresh water tank and put away our water hose. We were able to go to a grocery store and load up with non perishable food and some bottled water in preparation. The entire community and little town that was close to us (as well as every other town in Texas) was shut down for over a week due to freezing. Fortunately the National Guard was able to get through and bring in water to the area. Interesting experience but I hope we don’t have to go through that again anytime soon!

[Mike and Carol]

5 hours ago, mountainoliver said:

On the morning that we were to leave the San Antonio area I woke up to find that I had a retina detachment. A long story short, after emergency surgery Mike and Carol insisted that we stay in their home for several weeks, canceling their own camping plans until I was able to travel.

It was a great bonding experience having you both here!  We were glad you had not headed on to AZ before your retina detached.  Do you feel like tackling another project? 🤣🤣Mike

[mountainoliver]

Sure Mike, unfortunately we are home for at least another couple of months. We have room in our driveway for several Olivers so come on by!

[SNY SD UP]

On 4/19/2022 at 6:40 PM, Toojennifer said:

I think that was us.  We were living in the trailer during house remodel.  
 

Tanks were fine but we do have tank heaters.  We had lost our tankless water heater when we were out of town and the contractors knocked the trailer plug out.  I think a faucet and the toilet valve thing.  That was round one.

Then during the really cold weather I went to my sisters and my husband stayed in the trailer with bunks pulled up, every possible type of heater going (we were trying to keep house from freezing as well), propane freezing up so water lines frozen etc. it finally thawed.  I’m not getting all that exact but my husband could sure fill you in on any damages.  It was rough though.
 

 

We can’t seem to come up with a name.

How about FROSTY...