More of the Same

That cartoon guy should be sayin' "My Buddy Ed In Florida," not "brother" and we don't have very much snow.  Other than that, the sentiment is apropos because the cold is the story... from the Portales News-Tribune:

National Weather Service meteorologist Annette Mokry said the high in the Portales area Wednesday was 8 degrees, breaking the record for Feb. 2 lowest maximum temperature, 21 degrees, set in 1996.

Mokry said Wednesday night was expected to have a low of 7 degrees below zero, and a wind chill advisory for the Eastern Plains would remain in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday.

We prolly made that low... it was five below when I turned in last night and about the same when I woke up just before 0900 this morning.  I get the print version of the local rag courtesy of the HIE and the weather has been front-page news for the last few days.  This really is extraordinary.

This is more extraordinary, though:

Portales Police Deputy Chief Lonnie Berry also said there hadn’t been many wrecks, but power outages were giving officers a lot of work. When stoplights went out, officers had to direct traffic until temporary measures such as stop signs were put up, and then monitor the intersections.

Both Parker and Berry said their officers check on frail or elderly residents during power outages.

Berry said his department was preparing locations to shelter people in case of power outages Wednesday night.

[...]

Power went off but soon came back on at Portales Junior High and Lindsey-Steiner Elementary schools, he said. The electricity at Brown Early Childhood Center was out for an extended period of time, however.

Fowler said Brown had problems with spikes in power coming into the building before school started on a two-hour delay. Classes were canceled, and Fowler said all students were back with their parents by 11:30 a.m.

Way t'go, Xcel... you asshats.  One wonders how Xcel Energy would handle something like an ice storm or a similar emergency.  There have been more than a few way too damned many power outages in the city over the past several days and it's just been cold; we haven't had an ice storm or any other catastrophic event.  The power situation here is nothing other than ridiculous... we won't mention life threatening.