General > General Technical Chat
The 8-Bit Guys house in Texas
JohnnyMalaria:
--- Quote from: Renate on February 23, 2021, 08:28:15 pm ---I concur that there is a sharp contrast between the best of European building practice and the worst of American.
Let's add to that the risk of fire.
It's easy to total an American house in a fire; a concrete European house is not so vulnerable.
Quick, cheap and shoddy is an American standard.
--- End quote ---
That was true in England until 1666. :)
Renate:
--- Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on February 23, 2021, 08:47:05 pm ---That was true in England until 1666. :)
--- End quote ---
I take the precaution of burying my cheese in the back yard.
Zero999:
--- Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on February 23, 2021, 07:55:40 pm ---As a former resident of Melbourn, Cambs., and College Station, TX, and now NC, I can honestly say the climate extremes in the UK are nothing like here. Some once-in-a-lifetime events just cannot be accommodated without changing the entire way properties are built. For example, I don't think any typical house in the US could survive a direct tornado hit. However, most are engineered to withstand at least Cat 1 hurricanes. But as current events in the UK show, flooding is the major issue.
As I stated previously, the mentality to construction is different here compared to the UK (at least).
--- End quote ---
Interesting. What did you do in Cambridge?
Yes, the climate is far less extreme than Texas.
One thing to note is we do go through phases of cold winters and extreme heat in summer. The last three summers all had an an extreme for us, heatwaves with temperatures in the high 30s C and around the turn of last decade, we had a series of cold winters with lows around -15C. Nowhere near as extreme as the US, but I believe a similar phenomenon occurs there too. Changes in sea surface temperatures and solar activity, can cause extreme seasons occur over a short period. I wouldn't be surprised if next winter is similar.
--- Quote from: coppice on February 23, 2021, 08:21:04 pm ---
--- Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on February 23, 2021, 07:55:40 pm ---As a former resident of Melbourn, Cambs., and College Station, TX, and now NC, I can honestly say the climate extremes in the UK are nothing like here. Some once-in-a-lifetime events just cannot be accommodated without changing the entire way properties are built. For example, I don't think any typical house in the US could survive a direct tornado hit. However, most are engineered to withstand at least Cat 1 hurricanes. But as current events in the UK show, flooding is the major issue.
As I stated previously, the mentality to construction is different here compared to the UK (at least).
--- End quote ---
That
That's because Texas exports its heat to the UK, and we are very thankful for it. At least until the Day After Tomorrow. :)
--- End quote ---
That's one of the oldest myths in the book or meteorology. The UK gets very little heat from the Gulf Stream. The reason why Western Europe is colder, than corresponding parallels on the eastern side of North America, is because it's downwind of a large expanse of ocean. Western North America has similar temperatures to equivalent latitudes in Western Europe, because of the westerlies blowing over the warm Pacific. The east coasts of large landmasses are uniquely cold. The nearby sea limits summer warmth and in winter, the wind has blown over a the freezing continent, although it's a little less cold then, than further inland.
For example, we normally think of Canada as a cold country, but the west coast has a similar climate to Northern Europe, with Vancouver and Calais having similar average temperatures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver#Climate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais#Geography_and_climate
Don't believe the scare stories about the Gulf Stream changing its course, plunging Europe into the freezer. It will affect our climate, but as long as the prevailing wind blows from the west and we're next to the Atlantic, we'll be milder than Eastern Canada.
nali:
--- Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on February 23, 2021, 07:55:40 pm ---As a former resident of Melbourn, Cambs.,
--- End quote ---
OT but, part of my old stomping ground as a teenager! My parents were regulars at the Cambridge Motel until it closed.
My Dad was always surprised I could remember the name of Dimos who ran the place... it was too much work to try to explain to him about MOSFETs :D
JohnnyMalaria:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on February 23, 2021, 09:29:10 pm ---Interesting. What did you do in Cambridge?
--- End quote ---
Drove mindlessly up and down the A10 to Ware until I found an escape route to the sun :)
--- Quote from: Zero999 on February 23, 2021, 09:29:10 pm ---That's one of the oldest myths in the book or meteorology. The UK gets very little heat from the Gulf Stream. The reason why Western Europe is colder, than corresponding parallels on the eastern side of North America, is because it's downwind of a large expanse of ocean. Western North America has similar temperatures to equivalent latitudes in Western Europe, because of the westerlies blowing over the warm Pacific. The east coasts of large landmasses are uniquely cold. The nearby sea limits summer warmth and in winter, the wind has blown over a the freezing continent, although it's a little less cold then, than further inland.
--- End quote ---
I have to disagree. Cambridge, for example, is the same latitude as Labrador. Much of the rain in NW Europe is exactly because of the moist air carried by the gulf stream eventually cooling enough to dump the water. Watch the path tropical waves off the west coast of Africa typically take - they head towards the east US and then travel up the coast on the gulf stream only to dump on Europe. The reasons that make NW Europe warmer than the American Atlantic coastal regions at the same latitude are the same as why the Pacific waters are much cooler than the Atlantic equivalents - large clockwise currents in the northern hemisphere.
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