The Old Farmers’ Almanac relies on studies of the sun’s hot spots, climatology, and meteorology to make predictions of coming temperatures and precipitation. The Farmers are calling for another unusually cold winter in 2022, as the year calls for a weak La Nina, among other patterns.
“For our friends in the southern Great Plains, including Texas and Oklahoma, we are sorry to report that late January may bring some potentially frigid and flaky weather like you experienced last winter. Hopefully it won’t be as robust, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” the Old Farmers’ Almanac reports.
Will Dallas and north Texas be hit by another spate of snow and ice, and will the state’s grid operator, ERCOT, be prepared this year? Only time will tell if the Farmers are correct this year, but many North Texans are getting a jump on winter weather by preparing their homes for another round of winter.
Charlie Sikes of Koala Insulation of Dallas says the summer was extra busy as people who had a rough time with February’s weather followed through on resolutions to ready their homes for more extreme weather. Sikes reported that even through mid-summer, his company was helping people cleanup after the February storms. Many people experienced frozen and broken pipes, resulting in extensive replacement of pipes, sheetrock, carpet, and insulation. Last week’s mid-October cool front reminded many people that time to upgrade their homes is running out, and the Koala Insulation team was busy performing attic inspections all across Dallas, Richardson, Plano, and Rockwall.
Sikes said many homeowners who have lived in Dallas for decades with little to no insulation in their homes finally got fed up and broke down after last winter, resolved to improve their situation. One century-old home in Lancaster’s historic district was upgraded over the summer after the owners reported last winter to be unbearable. The fabric-covered interior walls of the home could not be disturbed, so the Koala Insulation team removed planks on the building’s exterior in order to inject fiberglass insulation in all the walls.
When asked how best to prepare for another cold winter, Sikes offered some essential advice.
1. Test your furnace to make sure it will operate properly in a few weeks when you need it.
2. Take a ruler or measuring tape into the attic and check to see if you have the current building code minimum thickness of 13 inches (referred in the industry as R-38) of insulation.
3. Look around to ensure that any water pipes that are above the insulation in the attic have insulation material around them.
4. Check to make sure that there are no spots in the attic where workers or even rodents have displaced the insulation, leaving an area of less coverage.
Sikes and his team at Koala Insulation of Dallas provide free attic inspections and can tell homeowners within the course of a quick visit, if they have any vulnerabilities that may cause discomfort, high electricity bills, or damage.
