JH closed today - no power in the village??

[TurxSki]

Weird the webcams at JH aren't working. Anyone else have this problem?

Lol. B-b come on...
Czar chasm is the Maoist form of wit...

[powpig]

I was staying out at Flat Creek Tue night during that wind storm and it was absolutely howling. The windows were shaking, I could barely hear the TV and kept expecting the roof to just lift off or hear cars tumbling outside. Never lost power other than momentarily which reset the clocks so I had no idea the extent of the damage til Wed AM. Instead of another great day of skiing, I got to spend 14 hours zig zagging all over the west, navigating road closures, and driving a flooded highway from a broken dam with a DOT escort.

[passholer]

http://www.jhavalanche.org/stations.php
good news
power to weather stations is back up
bad news
is raining at 8400' and getting warmer

[babybear]

Well, have fun in the mud, locals.

usually on the closing w/e while everyone is celebrating, I'm in mourning bc the skiing is still so excellent
we are often still getting good storms, but yes few tourists.

Lol. B-b come on...
Czar chasm is the Maoist form of wit...

oops I thought he was just being yer run of the mill moron

[LongShortLong]

A breeze can take down a mighty structure if it finds a vibration mode.


^^^ I bet it looked like this in the minutes before it fell.

I think the sleet and freezing rain had built up enough on those lines that the added weight played a big role here.

Adding mass to the lines would change natural frequencies. Ice could also jam any damping devices. Either would change the dynamic stability. Long power lines in open areas often have weights or baffles hanging off the line to help control this.

[thebirdhunter]

Well, have fun in the mud, locals.

Best gaper quote of the weekend.

[Parvo]

The wood poles they're installing are temporary. Eventually they need to bury that shit and build a couple raptor nests on poles along the windy mile so this never ever happens again... or put big metal towers back up.

I was told the reason the burly metal poles failed was the power lines acted like a bungee cord... stretching one way to its limit of elasticity during a powerful sustained gust then snapping back. Once the first tower immediately ripped from its base the others went quickly down road one after the other as the power lines snapped back in to place. Just like physics... and the lord jesus christ... tell us would happen.

[rmnpsplitter]

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that you would design the towers to fail before the wires/cables. I would agree this would be a nice opportunity to bury those lines come spring instead of rebuilding towers.

[wyeaster]

so were the lines intact on the broken towers afterward? that would be pretty crazy. hard to believe the towers would fail before the line unless some harmonic vibration jacked forces or again, aliens.

[2bjenny]

The lines look intact driving by, some did come loose from a few of the poles. We were walking to my car in the village lot just as it happened. I'm just glad for this trip extended trip over here I was already staying town. It's crazy.

[wyeaster]

you were there when it happened? jesus. that must have been impressive. or ominous.

[Core Shot]

11 of 15 poles in the ground per Lower Valley Energy as of last night, and these awesome workers are going 24/7 in pissing rain and slop.

Jackson Hole Summit 15 minute data 10450'

Date Time Air Wind Wind Max
Temp Speed Dir Gust
Summit T5 T5 T5
------------------------------------------------
02/09 11:30 28 25 212 31
?????????????
02/07 18:00 23 39 244 65
02/07 17:45 23 37 243 65
02/07 17:30 23 46 236 75
02/07 17:15 23 41 242 68

The world may never know. Maybe Godzilla and Aliens, so the wind data had to be supressed

the rest of the data from Mt Coffin (from the hourly data - I did not see how to get the 15 minute data)
02/07 21:00 95 mph average gusting to 150
02/07 20:00 123 mph average gusting to 183
02/07 19:00 126 mph average gusting to 165
02/07 18:00 124 mph average gusting to 165

PS - the single digit temps on Saturday night could be mighty ugly. Yes, the hotels and managed properties have been drained/winterized/taps running etc., but what about the condo above yours that is owner occupied and the owner is not home and has no clue or is unable to get someone to prep their unit?

[2bjenny]

you were there when it happened? jesus. that must have been impressive. or ominous.

The whole thing is a cluster fuck. Around 3:45 we were still high up in Casper-we had traversed to just below BearTooth and I don't remember any heavy wind. But I guess that's protected. I just remember knee deep untouched powder. After we were in the handle bar for free beers & nachos and had no idea it was raging outside. Walked out and the rain was blowing in sheets side.ways. The wind was blowing hard, but didn't feel that strong. From the time it took to walk from the FS to the 6311 cafe the power went out. When we got to the village entrance, there was a van that looked like it was stuck in a snow bank but there were a few other cars that appeared to be helping so we went on. Turns out that was the shuttle the lines fell on to, but you couldn't see they were down. It was when we were down the road just a little further that you could see the snapped poles.

I should've just headed home to the Idaho side Wednesday. Now I'm stuck until the roads open. Spent Wedsnesday helping friends staying in the village find hotels. They were told someone would help them find lodging. Hotel Terra's version of help was a post-it with a few phone numbers written on it. Local friend took us for an afternoon snow machine trip yesterday. Don't know what we'll do today.

[Core Shot]

The alpenhof tram cam is also frozen from the other evening. Looks like it was windy [emoji12]
http://www.alpenhoflodge.com/about/jh-tramcam/

[skiing-in-jackson]

I've been going out to check on my stuff. I walked some yesterday and took an iPhone pano from the ranch lot looking towards the Southeast. It's pretty quiet out at the Village. Ranch lot pathway goes right under the downed wires.



The wood power poles are going in quickly. There are guys from about 6-7 regional power companies here. I think this is Wasatch Electric. Welders have separated the remaining ground sections from the bent poles. From the way old poles buckled it looks like they weren't that thick. From the size of the wood replacements, I'd think they are stronger than steel.



Guys are catching up cleaning parking lots, the Tram was running on gen power, just odd to see everything covered in snow w/ no people about. The rest period for the mountain will be great. It should close every year from a week and stay open longer a week. We're coming back to a freshly minted mountain.

[yooper]

Well, we're still coming in tomorrow and hoping for the best. Probably Targhee Sunday. Skiing-in-Jackson, I've still got to check out your new shop. Didn't get a chance to get in there in December.....

[yooper]

11 of 15 poles in the ground per Lower Valley Energy as of last night, and these awesome workers are going 24/7 in pissing rain and slop.

The JH website update just said only 4 poles in as of last night?

11 would be way better!! Anyone who can confirm?

[Tye 1on]

The JH website update just said only 4 poles in as of last night?

11 would be way better!! Anyone who can confirm?

Lower Valley Energy posted that they had 11 in as of 9pm last night on their FB page.

[winecabin]

Just a heads up, JH season pass holders can ski for free this weekend here in Aspen due to the closure.

Come on down!

[Parvo]

The JH website update just said only 4 poles in as of last night?

11 would be way better!! Anyone who can confirm?

The JHMR notification I got said "4 more poles last night". The crews are making remarkable progress and it won't be getting any easier once the poles are installed and they string the power lines, test for load, etc. I was told last night the temp wood poles can't possibly carry the lines necessary to power the entire village. But he was a dentist, not a power grid expert.

[Tye 1on]

The JHMR notification I got said "4 more poles last night". The crews are making remarkable progress and it won't be getting any easier once the poles are installed and they string the power lines, test for load, etc. I was told last night the temp wood poles can't possibly carry the lines necessary to power the entire village. But he was a dentist, not a power grid expert.

I'm sure that's likely true on the capacity given that they are big-ass 3-phase transmission lines.

[plugboots]

Why not bury the lines when they permanently fix this? Seems awfully stupid not to.
We are coming March 10 instead, BTW.

Also edit to add to bunny's gaper quote. I have a very fond mammary of skiing on closing day the one time it was sunny.

[Tye 1on]

i'm not sure how to pull the video off Facebook, so some of you Luddites won't be able to access it, but in case you doubted that there is still some rad skiing going on in JH.....Mike D's Yard Park hasn't had any lifts go down...well, or wouldn't have, if they had any lifts...

https://www.facebook.com/17062744328...4799459863939/

[hopefully the link works for some folks?]

[Core Shot]

LATE SATURDAY POWER!!!

wOOOOO hOOOOO!! (I hope)

Jackson, WY (2-10-17 11:50 am) Teton Village/Airport Outage Update (photo of 7am morning briefing)

Current restoration estimate has been moved to late Saturday, barring any unforeseen weather or equipment related issue.

We currently have 11 wooden poles in the ground. We will replace the 17 steel transmission poles with approximately 28 wooden poles. The wooden poles are temporary and we will spend the rest of the winter and spring evaluating how best to replace the transmission system in the summer. We will also remain vigilant and maintain those poles regularly tell the temporary structures are fully replaced.

Weather is continuing to add some complexity to the restoration of power along with the limited work space at the Teton Village site. Our truck deliveries have managed to get through the road closures as we’ve now received emergency equipment and hardware from Arkansas, Denver, Boise and Salt Lake City.

We would like to again extend our thanks to all the local and regional entities who have without hesitation sent tremendous resources to help us, most especially the 5 neighboring utilities: High Plains Power, Idaho Falls Power, Fall River Rural Electric, Bonneville Power, and Wasatch Electric, along with the crews from the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. We truly appreciate the patience, support and understanding of this community we are proud to serve.

[passholer]

This might explain things

Attachment 199429
Attachment 199430

mt. coffin in the grey's has historically been the windiest place in wyo.

this is Yuuuuuuge

sustained 100+ mph for hours. gust to 183 mph!
i wonder why jim woodmency isn't all over this