weather The Weather.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

And in the meantime everything will be a skating rink. Please be careful on the roads!

Indeed. Even walking was tricky last night. I could feel loss of traction when I went out to my car to go home. Fortunately my work crew is all working from home Friday; it's good that we can.

[Don Edwards 548]

12 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

We are currently getting three to six inches. That's nothing, right? Nobody has snow tires. They've never heard of snow chains, the stores don't sell them. You can't hardly buy a snow shovel.

It's good that snow shovels are hard to find. They kill about 100 people a year in the US. They are horribly designed - about the only good thing about them is the straight bottom edge, which is exactly what a snowplow should have. But they have no other features of a snowplow, and they are too big for most people to safely use as shovels - particularly considering how many of the people who'd be using them rarely do anything else similarly strenuous.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 hour ago, Don Edwards said:

It's good that snow shovels are hard to find. They kill about 100 people a year in the US. They are horribly designed - about the only good thing about them is the straight bottom edge, which is exactly what a snowplow should have. But they have no other features of a snowplow, and they are too big for most people to safely use as shovels - particularly considering how many of the people who'd be using them rarely do anything else similarly strenuous.

True, and to be fair, it melts fast here, it's not like we're going to trudge through hip high snow for the next couple of months. 's a matter of fact, last night is already melted on the roads, and those are partially dry; there will be ice tonight, it will be hidden and treacherous, but the roads should not be over all icy. The grassy areas still have some snow cone balls scattered on them, and the shaded cars are still covered. Pretty good, it's officially just below 40 F.

It's sunnier than normal. The cold weather is weird like that, precipitates out the humidity and reduces the haze.

[mlooney 3,417]

We have a 70% chance of snow of under 1 inch, which I would normally ignore, but I'm taking Explorer the cat to the vet to be fixed in the morning so I really can't do that. 

 

[mlooney 3,417]

9 hours ago, mlooney said:

We have a 70% chance of snow of under 1 inch, which I would normally ignore, but I'm taking Explorer the cat to the vet to be fixed in the morning so I really can't do that. 

 

And we got a light dusting of snow.  Great weather to take a cat to the vet in.¹  With out a car.

¹Not really great weather.

[Scotty 1,061]

Snow day here, got about 5-6 inches, had to shovel out the parking spaces anyway though but it wasn't too heavy.  Mostly just blowing snow right now.

[mlooney 3,417]

40 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Snow day here, got about 5-6 inches, had to shovel out the parking spaces anyway though but it wasn't too heavy.  Mostly just blowing snow right now.

The were saying "Warmer than yesterday, but 50% chance of snow.  Now it's saying "Much warmer than yesterday" and 20% chance of precipitation, with a chance of "wet snow" tonight.  I'm suspecting that even if does snow, it's going t melt off and just make it muddy.  Some how the idea of snow when it is just below freezing, followed by a day of 55 deg F doesn't add up to a winter wonderland.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

We were warm enough for fruit trees to bud and then freeze at night. Happens every year. Probably why North Carolina is not known for it's great peaches.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

North Carolina is not known for it's great peaches.

Everyone knows that Aleutian Island Peaches are the best anywhere

[Darth Fluffy 302]

12 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Everyone knows that Aleutian Island Peaches are the best anywhere

I've had friends that have been stationed on Shemya. There is a huge space watch phased array radar there. Shemya is essentially a featureless rock in the ocean, with some buildings on it. There are tunnels between the buildings because the wind is biting cold and it is strong, they don''t want people being blow off the island.

There is a tradition that when you get reassigned and leave Shemya, you take a rock, take a piece of it with you. The hope is that it will eventually disappear.

If they are known for their peaches, they are canned peaches.

[ijuin 572]

Shemya (and nearby Attu) is literally as remote as you can get and still be within the United States. My father was stationed there for a tour during the Vietnam War. He said that during one windstorm, a bus that had rolled over onto its side was blown clear across the airfield.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

3 hours ago, ijuin said:

Shemya (and nearby Attu) is literally as remote as you can get and still be within the United States. My father was stationed there for a tour during the Vietnam War. He said that during one windstorm, a bus that had rolled over onto its side was blown clear across the airfield.

I've heard similar stories. I hope he brought his rock home.

He mus have been USAF. Was he a radar tech?

[ijuin 572]

6 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I've heard similar stories. I hope he brought his rock home.

He mus have been USAF. Was he a radar tech?

Nope, US Army. He was one of the guys monitoring Soviet unencrypted radio traffic.

[mlooney 3,417]

7 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I've heard similar stories. I hope he brought his rock home.

He mus have been USAF. Was he a radar tech?

 

47 minutes ago, ijuin said:

Nope, US Army. He was one of the guys monitoring Soviet unencrypted radio traffic.

My grandfather was in the US Army Air Force in WWII stationed in that part of the world.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

8 hours ago, mlooney said:

My grandfather was in the US Army Air Force in WWII stationed in that part of the world.

I would like to thank him, you and all of your families for their service. I appreciate that they are all a part of why I grew up free in a free country.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

9 hours ago, mlooney said:

 

My grandfather was in the US Army Air Force in WWII stationed in that part of the world.

Shemya is almost off the edge.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

9 hours ago, mlooney said:

 

My grandfather was in the US Army Air Force in WWII stationed in that part of the world.

Minor historical note; the US was invaded by Japan in WW II, he may have taken part in that defense.

[mlooney 3,417]

10 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Minor historical note; the US was invaded by Japan in WW II, he may have taken part in that defense.

Oh, no question about that.  He was in Alaska flying as a crew chief of B-26 (later B-25) before Dec 7 1941.  Stayed there until VJ day.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

15 hours ago, mlooney said:

Oh, no question about that.  He was in Alaska flying as a crew chief of B-26 (later B-25) before Dec 7 1941.  Stayed there until VJ day.

Huh. My dad was in the Caribbean, vectoring planes to North Africa, and later Europe. Also Army Air Corp.

[mlooney 3,417]

We are having a thunder storm. I have a cat more or less attempting to crawl under the covers to get away from it She really doesn't like thunder.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

We hit 70 F again. By late afternoon it was cool enough to need a jacket.

[ijuin 572]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

We are having a thunder storm. I have a cat more or less attempting to crawl under the covers to get away from it She really doesn't like thunder.

Aww, I hope that your presence will help calm her.

[mlooney 3,417]

5 hours ago, ijuin said:

Aww, I hope that your presence will help calm her.

Seems to have.  She stayed right next to my head until the storm left, then she slept between my knees, her normal spot.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

30 minutes ago, mlooney said:

Seems to have.  She stayed right next to my head until the storm left, then she slept between my knees, her normal spot.

So, after the storm, she was cat-atonic?

[mlooney 3,417]

37 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

So, after the storm, she was cat-atonic?

/me takes name, adds it to The List

She wasn't any more than normal.