The first major non-ice storm of 2023 just went over us and I have to say I was quite impressed. According to WFAA we had 80 MPH straight-line winds, lots of donder and blitzen, large hail in some areas, and a couple of tornadoes around the Metroplex (but none in Plano—yay for TI Skunkworks!). It’s now headed towards Arkansas and points east, and part of it is going to head north and dump a buttload of snow on the northern states from what the weather report is saying.

Of course, the sirens sounded pretty much continuously for about fifteen minutes while the light show went on outside. The power flickered a number of times, which apparently was the last straw for the UPS in my office that powers my writing desk because the battery went poof. Lyndon dug out a massive surge suppressor for me and I have everything plugged into that for now (I’m more concerned about everything being on a surge suppressor than a UPS. If we lose power and the desktop shuts down over night, oh well). There are a couple of places in the area where I can pick up a replacement battery so I’ll see about doing that over the weekend.

I am also sincerely grateful that we still have power, since apparently a lot of local friends don’t). The fence seems to be okay from what I can see and I’ll do a roof inspection tomorrow once it’s light.