There Be Ice Bergs

I happened to glance out the window on my way by and to my surprise, a "growler" appeared. You can't really see it in the photo, but there's sheet ice attached as big as a sheet of plywood just below the surface.

Here. I blew it up using a photoshop app on the iPhone:

I

I hope your turkey day is going to plan. It's 26* F with a steady 20mph breeze from the West out there. No birds seen today. I think they've all left for warmer climes. 

Snow. Oh no!

A morning mixed snow/freezing rain event left roads treacherous. There's nothing like having a pick-up in your lane spinning out of control due to slush, excess speed and/or inexperience, to get your heart rate into the two hundred BPM range (grin).

Mildewing

How are you doing, Wil?


Glad you asked. I'm mildewing. It has rained a lot here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland since I arrived. Maybe 1 day in 4 is sunny for most of the day. Been far more terrible weather in other places, so I have no right to complain. But I swear I am turning green with mold, my allergies are kicking a storm and there is a least an inch  of pollen on the car every morning. So, there.


My days are mostly spent driving my aunt back and forth to the rehab facility my uncle is ensconced in, making meals, doing dishes and shopping. Other small errands and chores occupy my time. Evenings usually involve fighting with Uncle's computer and watching the tube. Otherwise, lather, rinse, repeat.


All of that excitement is coming to an end as I return to Maine and the various issues facing me there the end of this week. I miss my pooch terribly (this is the first time we've been apart any length of time since he joined the family).


In a nutshell, that is my life. I hope you all are healthy and able to pursue happiness with some semblance of gusto, I am...

Spring Has Come

Spring has come to the Northern latitudes and per usual it is a mix of sun, rain, snow, and mud. Oh, my yes, make that MUD. Big letters. Cold and sticky. The bottom is frozen, too.

It's been a moderate year for frost around here. Probably only 3 to 4 feet depth in this vicinity. While cold enough to crack the dangley bits on the brass moose in Rockport, it never got below -24 or so. That is pretty mild, as winters go in these parts. Still cold enough to freeze my feet off in the trailer despite electric and gas heaters and a head high temperature near 75.
I am very thankful for my friends who took me in these past few months. No frozen feet here-- the floor has radiant heat.

The lake is still ice covered. But, with the forecast predicting average highs in the 40-50 degree range and no subfreezing lows over the next week, it should be mid-month or so when the sound of waves lapping the shores is heard once again. That is a week to ten days early ... average ice-out is between April 26 and May 5.

The camp road has been vacillating between rock hard and soup. The little Nissan has found itself violently tossed between frozen ruts or paddling like an old side-wheeler on the Mississippi.

Too soon to bring the "Flying Pig" back   as it would sink out of sight. Then there is the flooding issue. Given the amount of water in the snowpack, there's a good chance there will be minor flooding along the lake shore this Spring. When it comes to one's home, no flood is truly 'minor' is it?

I am using my so-called "smart phone" to compose this, so I will attempt to edit the entry to add a photo. My computer is moribund still. So no promises of success.

Snow is coming ... all weekend.

It was cold again this morning, about 15°F cold. The trailer floor is bloody miserable, but at head height everything is a copacetic 72°. Looked at the weather forecast and what do I see? Yep, snow. With the exception of Saturday, it is "chance of snow" in the forecast through Monday. Nothing like the localized "snowmageddon" that has befallen Southern Ontario, where 237 had to be rescued from their stranded vehicles along a 140 mile stretch of the Queen's Highway (and, sadly, one motorist froze to death before being found). Still and all, this doesn't give me the warm fuzzies. And it is only going to get much, much worse.

And so it goes, buckaroos...

Hope it doesn't get this bad

There is a flooding watch and a high winds watch posted here for late Sunday through mid-day Tuesday. In addition to the very real liklihood of floods from the rain melting the snowpack, they are now forecasting winds from the southeast at 40 to 50 MPH with gusts to 65 MPH. I just hope it doesn't flip the trailer over - I am broadside to the southeast and there is no way that can change. Here's what I think I might be looking at:



Special Thanks go to Candy Minx, from whose blog I swiped the duck video. You go girl!

Sunny Side of Life

Well, we survived the big blow. In fact, sheltered from the South as we are here at the camp, it was a 36 hour period of rain and falling leaves, accompanied by a very fine mist (virga) between the raindrops. We were very fortunate, compared to the mid-Atlantic states. Just some minor flooding, downed trees and scattered power outages. With the exception of far Northern Maine and Quebec, south of the mouth of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the rain is gone, the Southern winds are now from the Northwest and we are rapidly drying out in the partly sunny, sixty degree breezes. Just checked the road in and we escaped without even having any limbs down! We were sure lucky, no question.

So those of you suffering with floods and closed roads have my sympathy. Things will get better.

We're watching "Misery" on TNT this afternoon. There's the reason I shudder everytime I see Kathy Bates in a movie...

More manana. Have a good Saturday.

Unwelcome Visitor

One Forecaster's projected eye path - Image via AccuWeather.com.
We're inside the blue path projection :(

Overheard at the grocery store:

Woman 1: "Have you got clean panties on?"

Woman 2: "Of course."

Woman 1: "Good thing ... Earl's coming."

We've been hanging on every update to the track and intensity of Hurricane Earl over the past few days. As of this writing, looks like he'll miss us, except for anywheres from 2 to 6 inches of rain. Our fear, here amongst the swamp oaks. birches, alders, old pines and firs, is the potential for severe winds downing trees and tree limbs. Just another of the fears when living in an aluminum tube. So forecasts of heavy rains with relatively easy winds is a true pleasure, given the alternative. Still, vigilance will be maintained until Earl and Gaston have blown by.

Damned Fool Yankee

As I type this it's momentarily cloudy and the inside temp. has just dropped 2°F. in 10 minutes to 73°. The roof-top air conditioner has run steadily for three weeks now. Outside it's currently 95° and 53% humidity. Temperatures have only dropped below 75° once for any length of time in the past 10 days or so. It may be Spring on the calendar for another few days, but it has been in full summer mode in Baton Rouge since before Memorial Day.

What in heck am I doing here when it's a cool, wet, rainy 58 - 68° in Maine? About to go to work hauling FEMA trailers to Dallas. Texas. Where it will be even hotter next week. And for the foreseeable future.

Damned fool Yankee!


Look out, Steph -- here we come.

To everything there is a season

Severe thunderstorm last night brought beaucoup lightning, crashing thunder, downpours and hail. All but the last, I enjoy, so long as I'm not standing outside -- I attract lightning. But hail? Oh my. When you live inside the 25' equivalent of a Bud Light can, hail is like having a paper shredder headed for your latest novel -- the one you wrote in longhand on yellow legal pads and haven't a copy of, yet.

Earlier on in the evening, the weather forecasters let loose with the prognostication that "baseball-sized" hail might accompany the storms. Then, as it got closer, they ratcheted things up with the "T-Word" . Right, tornado. To make matters worse, the discussion of hail became reports of actual "basketball-sized" ice chunks falling over farmland to our southwest. Hmm, I doubted that one -- turns out the forecaster had mistyped and meant to use the well -worn cliche of "baseball-sized" ice chunks. Still, considering that hail falls at near terminal velocity I wouldn't want my aluminum-skinned home coming in contact with it, don'tcha know?

Any way, I got unassed from the lounger, brought the dogs inside and went out and woke my wife, SWMBO. Suffice it to say she was MOST UNHAPPY having her slumber disturbed. Still, damned if you do, damned if you don't -- I err on the side of caution. She'd rip me a new one if she woke up inside the trailer during a major hail event.

The severe weather arrived with, thankfully, just a leading edge of sub-penny sized hail. That onslaught lasted less than 20 seconds and "we escaped unscathed", as they say. Meaning, it might have put some minor dings in the roof but you can't see them. Farther north and east of here, they had some significant damage with trees and wires down and flash floods. We just got a bodacious light show with a subsonic (and sonic) shakeup.

That's the payment extracted for the warm, humid 70° F. day we'd had on Sunday.

Before you get too excited, snowlanders, consider this, headed my way tomorrow night and Wednesday morning ...

Snow returns to Texas & South

Kevin Roth, Lead Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

Feb. 22, 2010 12:30 pm ET

A storm system moves out of the southern Rocky Mountains tonight and passes through southern Texas Tuesday.

As Dax Says, "Just Damn!"

Fine Print: This photo captures my body's reaction perfectly. From the Flickr photostream of professional photographer The Ziegelofen, "Goosebumps". All rights remain with the copyright holder(s). Fair use for illustrative purposes of the subject matter, freaking cold temperatures. Model unknown and presumed to be of an age appropriate to deciding to expose herself to the world via the Internet. Your mileage may vary. Beware of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.




That's Dax Montana for the uninitiated. And his signature saying so applies doubly to the weather today. Awoke to the trailer rocking and a bitter 16° F. Sadly, the forecast low for tonight is in the single digits.

What in the name of the Flying Nun's Panties am I still doing in Maine at these temperatures?

I am having a horrible time getting out of town and the departure date keeps receding with the growth of the glacier in my driveway from running water 24/7 to keep from freezing pipes in the Airstream.

Just Damn!

MEME: Monday Madness - Wicked Weather

Mistress Otto has been experiencing some stormy weather in her neck of the dungeon, hence this week's theme:
“Here are some weather-related questions.... Thank you for playing and have an awesome week!” =)

1. Where you live, what kind of weather (or weather-related tragedy) do you fear the most? Ice storms that knock out the power for more than a few days. Along the coast, hurricanes and full gales are always of concern. Here in the flatlands, a blizzard is nothing to be trifled with, either.
2. What kind of weather do you MOST enjoy? Early autumn weather, temperatures in the mid-sixties, sunny with a mild breeze. I live for those conditions. No bugs, no tourists, no hassles.
3. What kind of weather do you LEAST like to drive in? Torrential downpours – because you just can't see the end of the truck, let alone the rear of the one in front of you...
4. What is the scariest weather-related experience you've had in your lifetime? I “weathered” a tornado in a ditch alongside Interstate 70 one spring afternoon.
5. Share a "weather picture" with us! Sure, here's one for all those folks wilting in this summer's wicked hot conditions – winter in the North Country:

MEME: Monday Madness – Summer's Heat

Since it's summer here in North America, the following questions are all about this season. Have fun and thank you all for playing! =)

1. In your opinion, what is the perfect summer daytime temperature? Same as the perfect anytime temperature, 72° Fahrenheit for a high.
2. What is the perfect nighttime temperature? 50°F. for a nighttime low-- good sleeping weather.
3. Do you plant many flowers around your yard? No. Messing about with gardens was never a favored activity – seasonal allergies make me miserable enough as it is without inviting more of the same. I like flowers so long as someone else plants and tends to them.
4. How much lawn do you have to mow? Do you enjoy mowing lawn? Way too much. Same issues as above, so it's all grown over – I used to end up sick for three days after mowing the lawn. Now, I'd probably end up in the ICU. So no lawns here. Neighbors hate it. But with no outside income, hiring it done by a professional landscaping contractor is out of the question. No neighborhood kids beating down the door, either...
5. Of the summer months, which is your favorite? August.
6. Do you take a long vacation each summer? No. Vacation is out of the question – no money, no play.
7. Is summer your favorite season? If so, why? If not, why not? Nope, Autumn is actually my favorite season. No more bugs, cool enough to wear a shirt or jacket, overnight snow melts in the morning sun light. Dry weather is wonderful on the lungs, even the rainy weather is tolerable if you can curl up next to a woodstove with a good book.

Too Much Of A Good Thing

-14° F. last night. To borrow a phrase from Dax Montana,
Just Damn!

Happy Hogmanay!

A great photo (click the title above)...