BRRRRR... It’s cold outside!

Even though the mercury dipped down into the mid-teens for several days earlier this week, county residents were not reporting any serious problems associated with weather as of press time.

The official low temperature in Albany on Sunday night was 17 degrees, but a north wind made it feel even more frigid.

The National Weather Service posted that the wind chill in Albany at 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning was 7°F, and soon thereafter KTAB News reported that the “feels-like temperature” in Albany had dropped even lower, to four degrees.

One thing for sure, it was cold enough to negatively impact some of the local fruit production, according to Shackelford County agent Michaela Bradford.

“I have seen some fruit trees that have already bloomed,” Bradford said. “With near record low temperatures this week, I expect that these trees will not have fruit this year due to freeze damage. However, trees and shrubs that were still dormant should not be greatly impacted.”

Some local oil wells were shut down during the cold snap to prevent possible problems due to the extreme temperatures.

“We shut our wells down,” said petroleum geologist and local oil producer Mike Glover. “We pump low gravity crude oil. It doesn’t make much water, but when it gets cold the oil gets so thick that it can blow out a stuffing box.”

Glover said that some operators can produce even in cold weather, but others have trouble because of gas lines freezing up.

“The air valves on the gas lines can sure freeze up,” Glover said. “But you just deal with the weather when you have to. Last year we were drilling a well in four degree weather.”

Almost all oil wells produce at least some saltwater which can freeze depending on the concentration of minerals in the water, the rate of flow, and the pressure.

Before his death years ago, August Schkade would shut down his oil wells on One Mile Hill whenever it dropped to 16°F.

“When it gets that low, the salt water starts freezing up in the pipes,” he  would say.

Temperatures weren’t quite that low this week, but they did remain cold enough to freeze fresh water Sunday evening, Sunday night, and all day long on Monday. 

Thermometers showed 17 degrees again on Monday night before climbing back to more seasonable temperatures on Tuesday afternoon.

Outdoor water troughs developed over an inch of ice that had to be broken for livestock, but county ranchers were reporting that they didn’t need to chop ice in stock tanks. 

Some bird owners had to plug in heat lamps to keep water from freezing in their chicken coops. 

This week’s cold weather is the longest continuous stretch of sub-freezing temperatures in Albany this winter, and it resulted in schedule changes for a couple of outdoor spring sports activities. 

The local golf team’s meet in Graham on Monday was cancelled.

The high school tennis meet at Rose Park in Abilene, originally set for Monday, was postponed until Wednesday.

As of press time on Tuesday afternoon, the City of Albany had not reported any burst water mains due to the cold weather, but those sometimes don’t show up until the ground warms up again.