Category Archives: Weather +Climate

Weather +Climate

More cold. More often.

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Winter                                      Waning Moon of Long Nights                -13 (low -25)

Well, we did hit -25 again, this time at 6:49 a.m.  The sun seems like an exercise in futility, but even with the high albedo of 100% snow cover, we still get solar gain.

Try to imagine what we’d be like here without the sun.  That’s the reason all those folks spend so much time celebrating nwsc1310the daylight side of the Winter Solstice.  If the sun kept disappearing for longer and longer chunks of time, and the temperature grew more and more severe, then, if  you had little understanding of astronomy and believed the sun’s return depended on the favor of this god or that, you could have come into the time of winter solstice hoping, but not being sure, that the sun would return.

Think how happy you would be with even this weak soup of solar particles.  At least there is light, and, thank Brigit or Apollo or whoever, it seems like there is more light.

More cold.  More often.

Garden, Weather +Climate

Clarifying. Stimulating. Oh, All Right–Damn Cold.

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Winter                             Waning Moon of Long Nights

As Bilbo said, I have been there and back again.  Up here in the land of the midnight hobbit it remains cold, -7 now at noon.  On days when the high is below zero you know for sure you live in a cold part of the world.

I can look out the window of this room though and see beds where daffodils and tulips, iris and dicentra, liguria and lilies lie, apparently dead, but actually taking  a long winter’s sabbatical from photosynthesis.  Their presence, more than anything else, convinces me that the blooms of yesteryear are not figments of a hypothermic crisis, but rather the wonder they are.

The deep cold does not stop life here.  There were many folks at at the grocery store, a normal crowd for a Saturday.  An active snow storm, a severe one, can cause folks to stock up and sit tight, but the cold is part of the territory.  You deal with it, much as I assume the Bedouin do the heat.

Weather +Climate

A Cold Day

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Winter                             Waxing Moon of Long Nights

It has been a cold day, not bitter cold, but temperatures in the teens with below zero lows.  This is a good time to be inside, working on projects like learning Latin, writing a novel, studying Daoism.  All of which, it so happens, I’m doing.  It’s like gardening in the summer, cultivating those things that are appropriate to the season.

Boy, did I have a nap this afternoon.  I hit the bed and went straight to sleep, going hard enough in to have a solid dream or two.  Woke up and I was groggy.  That’s normal for me, by the way.

Garden, Great Work, Politics, Travel, Weather +Climate

With Thoughts of Green, Growing Things Dancing in My Head

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Winter                                Waxing Moon of Long Nights

We’ve warmed up to 0.  Midmorning’s brittle sunshine diffuses in the hazy, partly cloudy sky.  The whippets go outside, pee, turn around and come right back inside.  Rigel, unphased, continues to hunt around the machine shed, staying on the hunt for hours at a time.  Sometimes she comes in after midnight, too.  Vega prefers the comforts of home, a couch, a bone, heated air.

A subtle change has occurred in my inner world.  I have begun to wonder where the seed catalogs are.  I have one in hand but I didn’t like their seeds so I’m waiting for others.  This year’s garden will benefit from last year’s mistakes.  In particular I’m going to make a real effort with leeks, have a better onion crop (sets), plant fewer greens and harvest more regularly (in general), beets, beans, one squash, not many tomatoes since we stocked up this year.  I’ll plant potatoes again, too, but this time I will store them in the basement rather than outside in the garage stairwell.

It is  time, too, to get back to work on legislative matters for the Sierra Club.  I got a call last night from Josh Davis about a meeting of the Club’s political committee next week.  No tours for the time being, just fine with me.  After Sin and Salvation followed by the Louvre, I can use a rest.

In the middle of January I head out to Denver for a week to take in the Stock Show with Jon and Jen and  Ruth and Gabe.  This is a premier event of the western US.  I’m going just to see what it’s like.

Weather +Climate

We wait.

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Winter                                      Waxing Moon of Long Nights

SCATTERED AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 20 INCHES PROBABLE. THIS EVENT MAY BECOME COMPARABLE TO THE HALLOWEEN SNOW STORM OF 1991

Yes, we have the occasional tornado and derecho.   Those are the most damaging and scary weather phenomena that visit us, wrecking their way through country side and towns and cities.  For the most part though, we do not have an equivalent of the hurricane, the fire storm, earthquake or big floods (with the exception of Red River Valley in the far northwestern part of the state).  The only volcanoes we have in the state are long dead.

We have a mid-continental climate, however, and it can throw some impressive weather our way.  These winter storms* that come at us announce themselves days ahead of time.  The National Weather Service and private meteorologists working for newspapers, TV and radio work hard to keep us informed.

Minnesotans look forward to these kind of storms since thriving during difficult winter weather defines us as a state and a people.  We all have winter storm stories, whereas only a few have tornado or derecho stories.  Our snow removal system, a sophisticated example of good government, copes with whatever comes, but a really big storm like the one whose northern border is now just south of the metro area, can overwhelm them for a time, after all there is a financial and logistical limit to how many snowplows you can deploy.

Right now we’re waiting.  I’ve made a lot of leek and potato and chicken noodle soup.  Went to the grocery store yesterday and have plenty of gas for the snowblower.  We have a four wheel drive vehicle with a low 4WD if we need it.

Let it snow.

*.A MAJOR STORM SYSTEM PRODUCING HEAVY SNOW…POTENTIALLY NEAR RECORD IN SOME LOCATIONS…AND HAVING CONSIDERABLE IMPACTS ON HOLIDAY GROUND AND AIR TRAVEL…WILL BEGIN ACROSS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN BY TONIGHT. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS BY THURSDAY MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN TWO AND FIVE INCHES. THE SNOW WILL LAST THROUGH THURSDAY AND CHRISTMAS WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS FORECAST. THESE ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY BE IN EXCESS OF ONE FOOT…WITH 20 INCHES OR MORE IN SOME LOCATIONS.

TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS ARE HIGHLY LIKELY TO EXCEED ONE FOOT OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND FAR WESTERN WISCONSIN…WITH SCATTERED AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 20 INCHES PROBABLE. THIS EVENT MAY BECOME COMPARABLE TO THE HALLOWEEN SNOW STORM OF 1991. GIVEN THE TIMING OF THIS SYSTEM…HOLIDAY ROAD AND AIR TRAVEL WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED.

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT… FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

Weather +Climate

Good Storm Risin’

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Winter                                  Waxing Moon of Long Nights

Winter storms are like great ocean liners.  They move through the ocean of atmosphere with deliberate speed, moving no faster than necessary and sometimes putting into port for awhile before continuing their path.  Right now the WS (Winter Storm) Minnesota Christmas sails toward us, apparently planning a lengthy stay  here, enough time for the sailors to get off and get into trouble.  A small craft warning is in effect, wheeled vehicles will not be able to get out of the way. A good deal of the ship’s cargo  will be offloaded onto  your lawn, driveway or street.

christmas09storm

Santa Buddha may need his most tranquil Self to deliver toys and good will here on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile I’m headed out to the grocery store.  Gonna make soup, hunker down and wait for the storm.

Minnesota, Weather +Climate

Snow Has Come. Will Stay At Least Through Christmas.

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Samhain                                       Waning Wolf  Moon

We’ve had steady snow since about 10:30 a.m.  It began to pick up after dark and we now have a couple of inches or more; the leaves have disappeared.  The rocks have become snowy bulges as the wind whips what snow has fallen from place to place.  The warnings have expanded their scope and increased their estimation of snowfall amounts, here in Anoka County we may see 6-8 inches.

(Armistice Day Blizzard, 1940.  MHS)

Though these numbers may not fit the technical definition of a blizzard, falling/blowing snow with visibilities under 1/4 mile for at least 3 consecutive hours, sustained winds over 35 mph, but if you happen to get on a road filled with blowing  snow, as you well might, the difference will not mean much to you.  Translation, travel will be dangerous tomorrow.  If you  don’t have to go, stay put.

Paul Douglas says he does not see above freezing weather between now and December 25th, so he’s predicting a white Christmas.

The barometer has a steep downward trajectory having fallen .6 of an inch Hg since midnight, very near the mark for bombogenesis which I mentioned in a post early.  This is the equivalent of 20 millibars in just under 24 hours and the definition of bombogenesis is a drop of 24 millibars in 24 hours.  The winds have gusted here already to 24 mph and may go much higher, probably will go up to 35 mph or 40 mph.

Family, Great Work, Weather +Climate, Writing

Let There Be (which) Light?

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Samhain                         Waning Wolf Moon

The snow continues and the wind now gusts around 12 mph.  Accumulation so far is minimal, but NOAA says the storm will pick up energy tonight and continue on through tomorrow afternoon.  Afterward, the temperature will drop below zero at night and remain in the single digits for highs through Tuesday.  This means winter has come on apace.  Average over these same dates is 27-28 with lows in the teens.  Since October our months have been on a sine curve, wonder if that means January will be balmy?  Unlikely, since it’s typically our coldest month, but with the new weather regimen, who knows?

We began a while ago to swap out incandescents for CFLs, though there are still places like stairwells and coat closets where the instant on power of the Edison heritage bulbs still make sense.  We’ll switch to LEDSs when they become affordable and equivalent.  It’s still difficult to find CFLs that really match the brightness of incandescents though halogens work well.  These transition periods are difficult, finding the new tech that performs as well as the old one takes time, sometimes several generations of the new one.  We’re not there yet with efficient lighting.  The LED light shown here retails for $129.00.  Yikes!

Oddly, the post on which I’ve received the most comments was one on the Sunday throat.  Apparently other folks in the US have friends who find the term odd.  Several folks wrote in to say that their family used it.

Thursday is Jon’s 41st birthday.  Wow.  I met when he was 21.  His life has changed a lot since then.  Most notably sobriety, marriage, two kids, home ownership and a good job.  It’s been fun to see him grow.

Minnesota, Weather +Climate

Let It Snow

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Samhain                                    Waning Wolf Moon

The snow began around 10:30 a.m., an hour and a half earlier than predicted.   Though the snow is light right now, the wind has stayed pretty steady around 9 mph, driving the snow at a 60 degree angle to the ground.  The wind has increased the windchill factor to 9 degrees, compared to a 17 degree air temperature.

We have gas, groceries and chew toys for the puppies.  We should be set for a while.  I have my annual physical on December 10th, but the roads should be cleared by then.  If they’re not, I may take the Northstar, but that would leave me stranded in the city until 3 p.m., the first train north.

When a large snow storm approaches, there is a mild hoarding frenzy that occurs.  Cars line up at gas stations, groceries line extend past their usual points.  People do last minute shopping so they can be done before the roads become difficult.  I did see a guy with two snowmobiles on a trailer hopefully gassing up his truck.

Once finished with whatever errands and shopping are necessary, if we can, we hunker down and watch it snow.   Later, some of us will strap on snowshoes or cross-country skis and get out to enjoy the changed countryside.

Right now, Kate and I will take our nap and see what the yard looks like after an hour or so of sleep.

Weather +Climate

Bombogenesis

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Samhain                                       Waning Wolf Moon

The anticipation of a snow storm, especially the first one of the season, still generates wonder.  A force of nature moves slowly toward us, we know it will transform our world, change it to some extent beyond recognition, yet it feels benign, unlike the hook echoes, derechos and tornadoes of summer thunderstorms.

12809goesThe storm continues to lift toward the north.  According to NOAA it will reach us here in the northern suburbs around noon, perhaps a bit later.

(The GOES shot currently posted on the NOAA website.)

While reading Paul Douglas on this storm, I learned a new word, bombogenesis–a low that drops its central pressure by 24mb or more in a 24hr period, essentially 1mb per hour for 24 hours.  Why does this matter?  It intensifies the winds in a storm and is more typical, again according to Paul Douglas, of  Nor’easters.  The air rushes in toward the suddenly lower pressure in the middle of the storm.

I have to put up my Just Needs Snow sign and my snow depth gauge, then head out to Costco.  Oh, boy.