Author Topic: Great Texas Cold Spell  (Read 3164 times)

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Offline Etref

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Great Texas Cold Spell
« on: February 17, 2021, 01:03:35 PM »
Aren’t we glad football season is over with the current weather?
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Offline ElvisLives

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2021, 01:26:04 PM »
Aren’t we glad football season is over with the current weather?

I'll double down on that, since I'm an architect and I'd love to design some indoor stadia! We've done a lot of indoor practice facilities, so it's just a small step away for districts to spring for completely enclosed stadia. We could lose the long-sleeves forever!

Offline Official_21

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2021, 02:41:10 PM »
I bet all the games would have been canceled due to this unprecedented weather event.

Just out of curiosity, can astro/artificial turf freeze? I am assuming it can since it is imitating grass, of course do correct me if I am wrong.

Offline dammitbobby

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2021, 02:44:35 PM »
Second question about turf - if it has ice/sleet on it, how slick does it get?

Offline CosmoKramer

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2021, 02:44:58 PM »
I bet all the games would have been canceled due to this unprecedented weather event.

Just out of curiosity, can astro/artificial turf freeze? I am assuming it can since it is imitating grass, of course do correct me if I am wrong.

If the windmills can freeze, field turf can freeze.  There's still moisture in the turf that freezes. 

Offline CosmoKramer

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2021, 02:45:59 PM »
Second question about turf - if it has ice/sleet on it, how slick does it get?

So basically you're asking how slick is a sheet of ice?  Well...it's a slick as a sheet of ice.

Offline Official_21

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2021, 03:02:09 PM »
There's still moisture in the turf that freezes.
Forgot about that..can't go against the laws of nature/science.

Offline ElvisLives

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2021, 04:24:46 PM »
Let's get technical.
The blades of plastic grass don't have water in them. However, they DO have plasticizers (oils) in them, to keep them flexible. As with any liquid, cold temperatures make them less viscous, and they don't work as well at allowing the host plastic to remain flexible. In really cold temperatures (nothing like we're seeing with our weather) the host plastic can even get to the point of being brittle. But, the blades themselves don't solidify any more than they already are.
Now, in the space between the blades, yes, water is virtually always there, at least held in held in by the fill material, if not in great enough quantities to coat the blades themselves (fill material like rubber, sand, and more recently, wood particles (but I don't expect that to last)).

In the temperatures and with the moisture we've been seeing, and over the extended periods of time we've been experiencing, yes, that water will freeze. The result is a field of icy plastic grass. Yeah, it will be slippery.   



Offline bmtjim

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2021, 05:12:16 AM »
FCS schools are having a season this spring.  Luckily I am on the Gulf Coast this weekend, after north
Texas last Saturday.

Offline AlUpstateNY

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2021, 09:56:03 AM »
Let's get technical.
In the temperatures and with the moisture we've been seeing, and over the extended periods of time we've been experiencing, yes, that water will freeze. The result is a field of icy plastic grass. Yeah, it will be slippery.

There are different types of "cold".  There is "wet" cold, and "dry" cold but the proper (international) term for wet, windy cold near, at or below zero, is simply "F'n" cold.

Offline Etref

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2021, 11:41:46 AM »
There are different types of "cold".  There is "wet" cold, and "dry" cold but the proper (international) term for wet, windy cold near, at or below zero, is simply "F'n" cold.


  :thumbup
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Offline ElvisLives

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2021, 12:19:07 PM »
 8:20 am in Honolulu. Currently 73 F. High of 79. 40% chance of rain. That means about 10% chance of rain on Waikiki Beach.
No. I'm not there. But wishin'.

Offline ncwingman

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2021, 06:03:49 PM »
Let's get technical.

If we're being hyper-technical, while still pliable due to the plasticizers, the turf is indeed a solid under normal conditions and has already frozen.

If the turf would cease being a solid, then we might have an interesting discussion, and I think Texas can probably get hot enough to make the turf melt into a liquid.

Offline ElvisLives

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2021, 09:45:24 PM »
If we're being hyper-technical, while still pliable due to the plasticizers, the turf is indeed a solid under normal conditions and has already frozen.
I don’t think I said anything to the contrary.

If the turf would cease being a solid, then we might have an interesting discussion, and I think Texas can probably get hot enough to make the turf melt into a liquid.
Agreed. There are times and places in Texas that just might get that done.

Offline Official_21

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #14 on: February 19, 2021, 04:48:32 AM »
There are different types of "cold".  There is "wet" cold, and "dry" cold but the proper (international) term for wet, windy cold near, at or below zero, is simply "F'n" cold.
^good

Offline Bigfrizz81

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Re: Great Texas Cold Spell
« Reply #15 on: February 25, 2021, 11:30:56 AM »
I bet all the games would have been canceled due to this unprecedented weather event.

Just out of curiosity, can astro/artificial turf freeze? I am assuming it can since it is imitating grass, of course do correct me if I am wrong.

In MA, during the a "wet" cold the field would be relatively dry to the touch on the surface but as you step down and put pressure on the rubber layer you can see water, especially if their was a lot of rain or thawing. During a "dry" cold the surface is just that. The ground feels harder and it seems easier for the individual blades to be pulled up due to use. We call this time of year "November". Even on really rainy days, I've been on fields that don't really get water logged because they have good drainage systems.