Texas: Surviving the winter temperatures and snow in Amarillo

As yet another wintry cold blast comes our way, I thought I’d show you how we are surviving the cold temperatures and snow.

Most people who RV full-time go to places where the weather is a bit warmer. To be honest, we had no idea when we moved here for Bob’s job that it would get so cold.

Propane

One of the most important preparations was to make sure we could stay warm. We leased a 100 gallon propane tank monthly, and refills are done on demand. In the background, we’ve also got on onboard propane tank, which is our emergency backup. Refilling the onboard tank at the RV park requires moving the RV, so it’s easier to lease the bigger tank.

The 100 gallon propane tank we leased.

We also have a space heater that takes the small BBQ sized propane bottles, just in case.

Compartment heaters

Due to the below freezing temperatures we’ve been dealing with, we decided to heat the water and battery areas with compartment heaters. We ordered one before summer ended, and got the second one during a Black Friday sale.

The RV and marine compartment heater.

Both heaters are installed on quick release brackets, so when we are traveling or driving the RV, we can remove them for safety purposes.

Water

One of the biggest issues during the cold temperatures is freezing water. If it’s cold enough to snow, it’s cold enough to freeze.

Before the first snow came, we wrapped our water pipe and switched out our hose for a frost-free hose.

The water pipe before wrapping with the frost-free hose already plugged in on the top.
The heat wrap around the water pipe.
Reflective wrap around the water pipe. The plug coming out of the wrap plugs into the electric pole.
Frost-free hose and heat wrap plugged into electric pole.
No such thing as overkill when it comes to not freezing the water.

If you drive around the RV park, any extended stay resident has a similar setup. For the overnight RVers who come into the RV park, they either have the supplies, or they fill their water tank and shut off the water pipe.

This is what the electric pole and water pipe look like in the snow.

This week

We’ll survive the polar vortex coming our way, and even some potential snow. We plan to be around to RV for a long time.

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