It's winter! (meteorologically)

[takesiteasy]

Yes, cold- but not as cold as I remember as a kid.

One winter day, probably in the late 1960s or early 1970s, I was directed to go pick up my Grandma at her place and bring her over for dinner. I went out to start the family car and the gear shift lever snapped off in my hand- true story. It was in the 30°s below zero, real temperature not wind chill. The steel was so cold it got brittle. Probably had a flaw in the lever, but still.

The coldest I have been is -55°F real temperature, while ice fishing on Lake Mille Lacs. The funny part of that story is that the heater in our fish house was malfunctioning and we couldn't turn it off. So we were basking in 90° inside- had to strip to our skivvies. Quite a transition when we had to go out for nature calls, haha.

The state record is -60°F. That is cold!

We haven't seen temps like that for quite a while.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

The skies have opened, the rain is coming down in buckets. Still, it’s not as cold as Minnesota.

 

[MarkBC]

No precipitation yet here on the east side, but our weeks of air stagnation have sure ended! It's very windy -- big trees swaying, house creaking...big tails of western gray squirrels getting blown around...
And as I write this the electrical power just blinked off -- then back on.

 

[MarkBC]

I mentioned the wind here in Bend, well...
On my way home from lunch downtown the traffic light at the busiest intersection in Bend was out -- completely dead. Surprisingly, drivers hadn't (yet) reverted to barbarism...they were more-or-less self-regulating themselves. (I don't know why cops weren't there to direct...) Of course, it wasn't rush hour... Then down the road I saw the down power pole that probably caused the lack of traffic light power.
And then I got home, drove down my driveway:

While I was out at lunch the top 22 feet of one of my junipers (Juniperus occidentalis) was split off by the wind. The base is 9 inches across. Fortunately, it didn't hit the house, didn't hit the deck -- didn't even block the main part of the driveway.
Just a mangy old juniper, so not a big deal...

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Mark, buy a lottery ticket! You got lucky with the near miss.

I am glad the only damage was to the tree itself, and sorry there was any damage at all...

 

[ski3pin]

Mark, buy a lottery ticket! You got lucky with the near miss.

x2

 

[ski3pin]

I'm more than ready for the daylight to increase!


Winter solstice 2017 in Northern Hemisphere will be at 8:28 AM on

Thursday, December 21

All times are in Pacific Time.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I'm more than ready for the daylight to increase!


Winter solstice 2017 in Northern Hemisphere will be at 8:28 AM on

Thursday, December 21

All times are in Pacific Time.

Wooo hoooo, days will be getting longer!!! Yeeee haw, I’m ready!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Very lucky Marc.
Waiting for that last short day.
Frank

 

[craig333]

Supposed to pick up .1 inches of rain tonight. Too early to start using the D word?

 

[pvstoy]

Marc glad it cleared everything. That tree is not healthy up there. When you have multiple trunks going up, that area can have bugs, rot, etc at that spot.

 

[ski3pin]

Snow plows running on the county road this morning. Not enough for an inaugural run of "Little Red."

I love the smell of diesel in the morning.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Snow plows running on the county road this morning. Not enough for an inaugural run of "Little Red."

I love the smell of diesel in the morning.

The next thing you know is the white Ranger will be gone, and you’ll have 2019 Crew cab Ranger with a diesel in it...

 

[MarkBC]

It's bizarrely warm here in Bend ("Home") and across the Great Basin.

[click]


I guess all the cold is in the East.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Hard to belive the temps at home here (Monterey Ca).
Nice warm temps cool mornings.But no rain. Oh well maybe next week.They say.
Happy New Year all.
The Casas

 

[MarkBC]

Today set a record high temperature for the date: 62°F at the NWS station at the airport in Redmond. That's 22° above average for the date.
(that's Redmond, Oregon -- not the Microsoft town)

 

[Bigfoot Dave]

Ski, it's the hydraulic therapy that makes the smell of diesel(Norwegian aftershave) smell so good! Happy New Year to all, Bigfoot Dave

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Norwegian after shave.Nice.
I'll have to ask my son in law about that.He's Norwegian,(a Viking) one.
Frank

 

[Foy]

We're expecting below-freezing highs for the next several days in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern NC. Should reach mid-20s today, near or slightly below zero by morning New Years' Day, 15 during the day, and 5 on Tuesday morning. The 12 gauge extension cord is plugged into the old diesel as I type this--laid it all out late yesterday evening and plugged her in at 0500.

We're still determined to do our traditional NYD hike. Two years ago it was a hike to Little Lost Cove Creek Falls, temps in the mid-50s. Last year it was to Elk Knob, temps in the low 20s, snow showers, and about a foot of snow on the ground. We haven't decided where tomorrow's hike will be, but it'll probably be a shorter one.

Happy New Year!

Foy

 

[takesiteasy]

This morning's temp was -17°F. Any walk today will be short and close to home.

We will watch some football and wait for it to warm up.



edit- just checked, wind chill is about -36°F. Probably not walking today...