how beautiful!
 

how extraordinarily beautiful! :) !'m glad you got to see that! (I wish i could have seen it!) :hug:

~ waves ~

i like snow
 

It can cause problems sometimes. But so far so good this year... the other day when i went out shopping everything was blanketed - landscape is transformed... scenery was spellbinding the entire 1/2 hour bus ride. So is the view from the windows and the balcony. :)

Of course, i grew up and lived for the most part in snow-less areas... so there is still an element of novelty in it for me, i think. When i came back from fetching mom's script a few nights ago, it was coming down in these big, flat, fluffy, and very light flakes ... all whirling about... it feels magical to me to be in it. i just love walking about in that. Most people here can't wait to get out of it... it has lost its magic for many.

Another advantage i have is... i don't have to drive in it, lol, so i don't have the *groan* reaction about travel that others do. :p And i certainly do not envy those who have to drive on the icy roads, let alone dig themselves, cars, house, driveway, etc out from under heaps of snow/ice/slush... maybe even on a daily basis or more! :eek:

snow-wise, i really am blessed with all the pretty aspects without having to deal with any of the troublesome aspects. :o:)

~ waves ~

Let it snow let it snow let it snow.

That was playing on the radio. Derrick started singing with it. And its
really not gotten to the point were it is to much for us yet.

I really will get to the point its too much for us. I don't care for snow,
because I always fall in it. So my goal is not to fall in it.

Donna:hug:

I like you too Isis. BF:):hug:

Boy, did i ever speak too soon!
 

BOY DID I EVER SPEAK TOO SOON! :eek:

yesterday it started coming down... and kept coming. my parents suggested i not go out since we are not missing anything essential... i wasn't concerned about being out in the snow, but less enthusiastic when they told me reports said they were expecting a temp rise such that it would turn to rain = ice = slush = freezing wet feet (not waterproofed my boots this year :rolleyes:). i was thinking oh well, snow on the way, at worst rain on way back, while today more chance of rain - and definitely ice on the ground. but there was enough "weather" out there to slow down traffic to a crawl, and even though i don't have to drive... the bus can end up taking hours (happened to me before) in these unexpected conditions. And i had to be back to make dinner. :rolleyes: OOPS.

WELL, NOW. Today is even worse for travel. yesterday afternoon we were already at 6 inches i dunno now... it snowed heavily all night. this is rare for our area so there is no preparation (streets not salted) and it causes major problems. they are keeping the schools closed. cars are not allowed into the city until after 10 am - presumably they will have had time to clean the streets by then. i have no idea if our bus to the city will be running or not (most likely yes). but it is still snowing... our whole region got dumped on, lol. :D

they even dispatched a bunch of military personnel to the city apparently to help deal with things... keep order??? :eek::confused: this one is a first.

what's worse (for me), as i did want to go out today, is the temp DOES look like it's gonna come up today... enough above freezing to RAIN. UGH. i *HATE* going around in the *WET RAIN* when it's this kkold! :mad:

wednesday i have to go to my pdoc, regardless, may put off shopping till then. i will still have to navigate black iced sidewalks with piles of dingy, semi-frozen slush. with heavy grocery bags.

ooohhh yeah, i've taken falls doing that before! not in snow... but ice... *SHUDDER*

heheh.

well, snow, ice, whatever... you got company here in the trying not to fall goal ... gimme a five, Donna! ;)

~ waves ~

Hi, Waves,

Maybe the extra personal are for
-help with street cleaning and other essential services
-keep people from coming into the city
-guard against looters if the city is shut done (I've seen that in a city or two here)
-or something else entirely

Cold rain I hear is awful. It makes activity miserable.

Do you have staples for cooking in case you need to stay inside?

Be careful in your trip to the pdoc's on Wed. Maybe something in the weather condition will improve.

M.

Waves,
 

Hi,
Here is a umbrella in case you need it to navigate when the cold rain comes. http://bestsmileys.com/umbrellas/6.gif
M.

Oh Mari! You crack me up!
 

ROFL!!! :D:D:D I want one just like that! with the colors that light up and go around and all! :D:D:D

===================== on a more serious note

i am not sure if i'll be able to navigate to pdoc tomorrow at all. actually the problem is dual: whether i can get there, and whether he can get there.

we do have enough provisions - and a close enough store without going to the city - to be ok until the storms subside.

things were pretty serious here... the military were indeed helping clear the roads as the civil agencies did not have enough people. they salted the streets this morning finally. at least one airport had to close but was due to open again this afteroon. not sure if the other one also closed for a while or not. in any casethey are recommending people cancel travel plans due to the snow/sleet/hail/frozen rain/rain etc that has assaulted the entire region.

the ice on the sidewalks... heh.... that will stay there till February most likely. they don't salt sidewalks.

~ waves ~

I'm sorry the weather is bad Waves.

I have a real history with falling going back to the year I was 13.
THe day classes were to let out for christmas break I fell running/walking
to my bus stop. And went through the day with a ice pack on my
elbow. Got home, and after about 4 hours, ended up at the emergency
room, because my mom decided anyone that laid around, did nothing for
that long needed to be seen. Had a broken elbow.

Then on the day I went back to school after christmas break (Same year)
I fell going across to get the mail, off the school bus. On the only patch
of ice. Lucily the neighbor boy helped me up, I wouldn't have been able
to get up on my own. He also went across and got the mail for me.

Any way I was to go to the doctor the next day. But when my mom say
how much pain I was in. She took me to the emergency room to get a xray
that night. They said, that it didn't look like it was broke but to take it
to the ortho the next day. The next day the ortho looked at it.

And the nurse came she had taken one cast off thinking she was putting it
back on that arm. Anyway she said, its not unusual to put a cast back
on after 3 weeks, mom said, but its not the same arm, is that usual.

It was a identical break.

I've been on crutches, had head trauma's, and other injuries too.

So I plan to stay up standing and not fall as much as possible. First
step was finding my new boots.

Donna

oh my!
 

Dear Donna,

i'm so sorry you had so many bad accidents on ice. :o

i'm sending you "safety vibes" for this season. ;) :hug:

~ waves ~

let's hear it for good boots!
 

Dear Donna,
Yikes.
I hope you stay safe this winter and always.
M.

Dear Waves,
I guess the snow is beautiful as long as one does not need to be out and about. I used to worry about my sis in New England. Every once in a while they have a blizzard that takes out the electricity. Do you have a robust electrical system where you are?

That stinks about the side walks.
How are people supposed to get around? http://bestsmileys.com/office1/16.gif

M.

ummm... sorta. that is, unless it goes out! :p

we don't usually get blizzards, luckily. heavy snow can happen... and it can snow for a good while... that causes the problems. found out last night that 6 major airports were closed, several airlines cancelling flights, ground services couldn't keep up with the ice forming on aircraft, and when at one point they thought they could take off, it started raining which impaired visibility and frosted the ground lights on the runways so that it was unsafe to take off. the rail system was also put on its knees, running at about 50%. people sleeping on the floor in a major national airport... not even given food vouchers or so much as a bottle of water... sounds awful but after hearing some of the whiny interviews my take was:

YA KNOW it's snowing golfballs, pal, and been going for hours and hours.... Hello??? 1 + 1 = 2. Planes don't fly in this weather! :rolleyes: Call the airport before going there!!!

Now, on the other hand, i do feel for tourists national or international, no matter, whose hotel reservations were up and were needing to going home... not like they had anywhere to go. but not to people who chose to go to the airport to leave for their ski trip.... DUHHH. the airports/airlines got more organized for last night.

VERRRRRRRY carefully.

hint: when i worked at a place that involved a 15 min walk as part of the commute, i would wear my heavy hiking boots - the ones with really deep tread - for climbing on glaciers... and then change in the office. if there was a bad ice situation. for normal ice, my normal boots will do, although they are worn now, so i might break out those hiking boots for pdoc today, especially as i will have heavy grocery bags on the way home. :eek:

~ waves ~

wow waves I missed all of your snow stories!!!!!!! yikes!
are you still dealing with ice or have they cleared things up a bit? any snow left?

very unseasonally cool here, suposed to be in the teens for the lows at night by the end of the week! It has been in the 30's at night....I always say that I am a whimp and have nothing to complain about when half the world deals with snow and real cold temperatures.
44 right now and very sunny. :)

L o l
 

Hi Bizi,

yeah well it's kinda funny what happened. of course as i predicted we'd have ice till Feb (happened last year) instead we got a "warm" spell (that is around 40F daytime) so the ice did melt. even though we got some rain there were some dry days so what ice had formed at night got melted off in most places. the city was pretty clean when i got to it...

there is still some snow/slush/ice from before - because it gets piled up in big mounds and those really can't melt in a week with a max of 40 because it's packed and refrozen stuff. so we have ummm... you could say snow "cones" (but they are sooty and nasty - non-commestible!) still around most everywhere. mostly to the side of walking areas, so they are not hazards. neither attractive nor unattractive, but kinda goofy looking if you ask me.

so the current situation is a little ironic... they are - and have for several days - expected more snowstorms. this time they salted roads, sidewalks, you name it!!! but we're STILL WAITING for this long-predicted snow to arrive!!! :D and they keep on predicting it, too. it's like, what, did it get held up at the border patrol or something??? :D

Hey Bizi don't feel bad... when i was in Florida 44 meant mandatory gloves to me. then again i was always an accessory fanatic. looooooved gloves. do you have any gloves?
do people in your area wear them at all?
most of my friends in FL did not wear gloves... i didn't care, i had them, i liked them, so i used them. ;)

(((hugs)))

~ waves ~

yes gloves and scarf! going to rain tomorrow, great it will be cold and damp and windy.....sounds so not inviting!
bizi

Cold Snap Causes Iguanas to Fall From Trees
 

HI,
It's cold here.
I am happy that we have heat.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/weird...rom-Trees.html


Here's a video:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/co...id=VIDLRVNWS02

M.

poor guys!
we saw orange ones in cozemel mexico...very cool!

awwww - poor lizzies!
 

i like iguanas.

i wonder if they survive these falls, or hurt themselves at all. :o:( Maybe they are "tough enough" they are relatively unscathed... it doesn't say.

can you imagine if the cold made us fall out of tall apartment buildings? :eek:

orange iguanas... that's cool Bizi! :)

~ waves ~

supposed to be in the 20's tonight with windchill of 9....9 degrees. the wind is going to be at 20 MPH which is windy!
burrr!!!! but no snow here to shovel you poor people.
bizi

ooo dear bizi
 

that's kkkkkkkkkkOLD!!! :eek: :(

time to snuggle up under several blankets with a hot toddy. ever had hot spiced wine? really good - with cinnamon and ginger and stuff in it?

just what you need about now. i had some in switzerland for new years night one year.... and another time at an outdoor market in london - in january right around new years... again quite cold. that stuff hits the spot.

((( warm hugs )))

~ waves ~

Colder in Florida than Alaska and Greenland
The sharp kink in the jet stream has brought record warm temperatures to a few stations in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest this week, making much of coastal Alaska warmer than Florida. Cold Bay, Alaska, set a record high yesterday of 47°F, after recording a low temperature of 30°F. This made Cold Bay warmer than Pensacola, Florida, which had a high of 47°F and a low of 24°F. In fact, most of Florida--including Jacksonville, Tampa, Melbourne, and Tallahassee--recorded lows at or below the 27°F low recorded in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday. The jet stream kink has also brought temperatures more than 30°F above average to Greenland. The temperature in Narsarsuaq, Greenland at 10am EST today was 46°F, far warmer than most of Florida.

eeep!
 

this is wild!!!!!

i get the feeling more than just iguanas are gonna be in trouble.

the first perhaps obvious thing i'm thinking of is the oranges. but i wonder how many other subtle effects there are on the ecosystems of these places....

:o

~ waves ~

It's 11 degrees here now with windchill of -6... yep, that's a negative... we have about 7 inches of snow calling for 2 to 3 more inches in the next couple of days... But these are normal things around here for this time of year.

burrrr!!!! abbie,
hope you are staying warm!
bizi

regarding Manatees, Iguanas ,and such
 

HI,

I looked it up.
Manatees gather in warm / hot springs or near power plants that turn on heat for them. The manatees need a minimum temp of 61 degrees to survive.


Iguanas can't make it if the temp stays below 40 for two or three days. We have had cool nights near 40 below for what seems like a week but the days have been warmer than that. The iguanas are an invasive species and are cute in an ugly way but are also considered pests.


Sea turtles become immobilized when the temp is 60F. They bob to the surface of the water. They can go into shock and get pneumonia. Some turtles have been rescued and are getting treatment.


Alligators can hibernate in "dens" during cold season. They keep their noses above the water.

I didn't feel like looking up snakes. They seem like a primitive species that can survive with out my attention. ;)

=-=-=

Oranges were picked in most places before the weather came in. Oranges can survive a night or two of cold temps. Most areas were expected to be ok last I heard.

Strawberries, tomatoes, and others, are still threatened, depending on future weather I think.



M.

26 this morning wind chill 11......off I go to start my day...no snow thank goodness. bizi

Dear Bizi,
Stay warm.

M.

El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect
 

Thank you Steve!

(reposting links/info here from the checkin thread...)

Wikipedia has an extensive page on this, with references.
Wikipedia - El Niño-Southern Oscillation

Here are just a few tidbits:
Here's a page from The Franklin Institute Science Museum dating back to the 1997/8 episode of El Niño, that makes an interesting point:
El Niño: Hot Air over Hot Water

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has two brief pages dedicated to El Niño and the complementary La Niña phenomena
NOAA El Niño Page
NOAA La Niña Page

~ waves ~

here it is in pictures
 

also from NOAA -

Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Animation

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...te/sstanim.gif
Weekly averaged sea surface temperatures (SST) in °C for the past twelve weeks.


http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...e/sstaanim.gif

Weekly averaged anomalies in °C for the past twelve weeks.

Note that 30 °C is 86 °F ... pretty warm for surface water out in the Pacific! :o

I'm done with the cold
 

Hi,

I'm losing patience. Past being annoyed.

The electrical grid whimped out and people were without power for two nights in some places.

I'm officially over this weather.
It will be 40s again in the am when I go to work.

Some of my students wore gloves. Yes, gloves -- the ones Waves mentioned. I really wish I had gloves. I only have one glove. Need two two. I've probably been holding on to these for 12 years. How did I recently loose ONE in my mess of boxes?

My boss had black gloves on today. Inside the building!
She looked good and she was probably warm.


M.

The jet stream was also flowing down into Florida,but It's moving back up into the upper part of the United States.

Last night at this time it was 14 degrees in Virginia. Tonight it's 19 degrees warmer in the same time frame.

Mari I think where you are will have a high in the 60's on Thursday.

Where I am,it's prediction is 51 degrees Thursday.

Some of these weather patterns will come back. It's at the coldest time of the year. Mid January is the hump of the cold,and February 2nd is Groundhog day.:wink:

I remember that in the late 90's we had a high temperature of 2 degrees one day. People where freezing.:eek: BF:hug::hug::hug:

Dear Friend,
I am looking forward to Thursday -- but it will still feel below normal for us.
Mari

Florida weather
 

I hope things warm up to par again in Florida soon.

~ waves ~

On Saturday,and Sunday they are calling for more rain,or snow to come up to my state. It's coming in from the south they think. More of that El Nino affect I think. BF:hug::hug::hug:

Now they are calling for a inch of rain this weekend. BF:hug::hug::hug:

Dear Friend,

Rain here on Friday I think -- although not as much.

M.

dreary winter
 

here it just keeps being overcast... blaaaaaaaaaaahhhh.

:Sigh:

the coldest days of winter here are typically the last 3 days of Jan... nearly there... can't wait to be over that hump even if it hasn't been unusually cold.

i feel like hibernating.

~ waves ~

getting bored
 

Hi,
It's 50 degrees tonight and will be colder tomorrow night.
This is cooler than normal for us (STILL!).


I don't know why, but this is wearing me down. Usually the weather is always the same: reasonable temps and dry skies in the winter and hot miserable temp and rain in the summer. Right now, it is mixed up.


M.

I was ready for a much worse snow scenario. I still have my guard up,and wonder if the weather is going to give us another one,two punch.

It's only February,the 15th. It's costing the state money that they cannot afford,and there are going to be potholes to repair. I hope that they don't throw my cars front end out of allignment.

It's been interesting. I'm prepaired for more storms. The challenge is sort of exciting to me. I don't know why. BF:hug::grouphug::hug: