WICHITA FALLS MAN
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01-24-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning. The weather adventure continues. As I write this, it is 12 degrees outside. The high today will reach 13 degrees! This is a little more “winter” than I was wishing for back during the summer. If the ERCOT grid doesn’t fail us, we should be okay. More moisture is on the way, but at this temperature, it won’t be very moist. This is good, I suppose, as it won’t ice-coat the powerlines, putting them at risk for breaking. Temperatures in the “teens” and now electricity are not a good combination. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:45 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Freezing rain and sleet before 3pm, then snow showers and sleet between 3pm and 4pm, then snow showers and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain after 4pm. The sleet could be heavy at times. High near 13. Wind chill values as low as -7. North wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than one inch possible. Tonight: Snow showers and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain before midnight, then snow showers, possibly mixed with sleet between midnight and 3am, then snow showers after 3am. Low around 10. Wind chill values as low as -5. North wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
--- 7:40 AM - I contacted a station at Little Gator Creek Wildlife Area (US-6316) in Florida on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 10:30 AM - I made a Morse code contact this morning, now it’s CB Radio time. As expected, there are strong signals across the entire band. I just wish the skip-shooters would stay off Channel 19. Truckers, and others, need a clear channel during this winter storm.
--- 12:15 PM - Amateur (ham) Radio Winter Field Day began at 10:00 AM local time. I’m listening to contacts down in the CW (Morse code) portion of the 20-meter band. The required information exchange needed to constitute a valid contact is a little more involved than in the Parks on the Air® program, but not by much. I’m not participating, just listening.
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01-23-2026 - 5:45 AM - Good Morning. It's Friday, and the bad weather adventure begins. I'm sure we can survive the weekend as long as we drip those faucets and the ERCOT grid doesn't let us down. Minus 2 degrees is too cold to be without power for more than a few minutes. May I suggest getting a generator? You don't need a "whole house" unit. Even the small units can run a gas furnace and a few lights. You can alternate every half hour or so between the furnace and refrigerator if your generator won't handle both. For me, the peace of mind of just having one standing by is worth the cost. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:00 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Rain likely before 3pm, then sleet between 3pm and 4pm, then freezing rain and sleet after 4pm. Temperature falling to around 28 by 5pm. Northeast wind 9 to 14 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Total daytime sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight: Sleet before 7pm, then sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain. The sleet could be heavy at times. Low around 13. North northeast wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible. New sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
--- 6:15 AM - CO5 Mitch "Miscount" Murray tells me those outside positions at the Allred Unit will not be pleasant this weekend. Offender movement around the unit doesn’t stop due to cold weather, and passage through gates must be controlled. It’s the gates that keep disturbances confined to the area of origin, and not spreading across the unit. Mitch says he remembers the heat being out in 7-Building where he was working the desk on a frozen day. He said he froze even while wearing long underwear, overalls, a heavy jacket, an Elmer Fudd hat, and gloves. The electric heaters in the towers might not be as effective as one might wish during “zero-degree” weather. At least a windstorm isn’t forecast, so the towers won't do their little "rocking" thing.
--- 6:30 AM - The WFISD school buses are out and about, getting those kids to school. I'm a little surprised that the district didn’t cancel school for today and Monday. Tune in to the action on your scanner radio at 152.360 MHz.
--- 8:30 AM - At the Iron Horse Pub - Reputation | A Tribute to Taylor Swift, Friday January 23, Doors 8:30 PM, Start 9:30 PM, 615 Ohio Street.
--- 12:45 PM - I heard that the Wichita Falls Public Library was ejecting people earlier than expected today. Someone must have received an updated weather report, gotten on the public Address system, and given the un-ass the building order! Okay, I was told the announcement was quite professional. I would have used the un-ass command.
--- 3:00 PM - There are a handful of Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® stations working CW (Morse code), but I seem to have worked most of them. Those that I haven't worked are just too weak right now. I'll check back later.
--- 7:15 PM - There is a lot of chatter on the local simplex and repeater frequencies this evening. Everyone is home due to the weather. I didn’t check whether the Local Group was on CB Radio Channel 23 because I was busy with a few “winterizing” chores.