Ticker for January 31, 2002

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 31, 2002   January 31, 2002   January 31, 2002   January 31, 2002


Adding Insult To Injury

Yesterday, much of the western two-thirds of Oklahoma felt the costly
and tragic circumstances of the first 24 hours of a major icing event.
Ironically, the maximum temperature of 79 F at Broken Bow and Idabel
was just three degrees short of the 85-year-old statewide record
maximum temperature for the date.


It's Not Over, Even When It's Over

Icing events are just about the worst possible scenario for providers
in the electric utility industry.  It's well known that ice accumulation
can bring down power lines.  What most people don't realize is that
a major icing event strikes in two waves: the icing and the thaw.

It's may take Mother Nature several hours to deposit an inch or two of
ice on a power line.  But when temperatures rise above freezing, the
power line can shed all of that ice in just a few seconds.  When that
happens, the sagging lines can snap back violently and dislodge from
their mounts or even yank poles around.  Some power lines that survive
an icing event don't survive the thaw.