Tag Weather

Seven Days

Michael Leave a comment

There are seven days until Spring!  Yes, we know it snowed overnight.  Yes, we know the temperature fell to about eight degrees this morning.  Yes, we know that the northern half of the United States still looks like it’s in the Ice Age.  The good news is that we really still are in the most recent Ice Age and regardless of what it looks like outside, Spring will be here in seven days!  Hey, forgive us if we want to be a little fanatical about it.  You try hanging out in a freezer for five months and not go a little stir crazy.

Even with the new snow and single digit air temperatures there are signs that Spring really is coming.  Locally we actually had a day with the air temperatures higher than sixty degrees!  Now that we are finally getting some warmer days along with the colder nights, sap is running to make our real maple syrup.  Trees are budding out.  Crocuses are starting to push their way through where the soil isn’t completely frozen.  Stores have given up on St. Patrick’s Day decorations and expanded the Easter displays.  Daylight Saving Time is in place in the places that observe Daylight Saving Time.  And non-fat people are starting to wear shorts.  (Ok, so most of them are Mr. Machos trying to prove that they still have the legs of a high school football star – they don’t – but it’s still a sign of Spring.)

What will you do to see that Spring is welcome at your place next week?  We have a few suggestions.

  • Open a window, open a door, let some fresh air in the house.  It might be cold fresh air but you’ll feel fresher for it.
  • Buy some fresh flowers. (No, fresh is not necessarily going to be the theme.  It’s just a coincidence.)  Find a vase, a ribbon, and a place of honor and see Spring bloom before you.
  • Women, buy new espadrilles.  Men, new boat shoes.  When the Spring rains come do your imitation of Debbie Reynolds and/or Gene Kelley and put those new shoes to work.
  • Buy a hat.  Both of you.
  • Put the top down, open the sun roof, or crank down the windows on your way to work tomorrow.  Don’t worry if it’s still not the warmest day of the year so far.  We’ve gone topless in snow squalls and lived to tell about it.
  • Go fly a kite.
  • Make this year’s resolutions.
  • Grow something from seed.  Flower, herb, veggie.  When you are harvesting it later this year you’ll remember that you started it all yourself.
  • Eat something outside.  It could be a full meal of yours that you have prepared.  It could be from a food truck that you wonder how they prepared that in there.  It could be a hot dog on a stick.  Get outside and let your memory recall all of last year’s al fresco moments while you get ready for this year’s.

That should take about a week and before you know it you’ll be getting ready for summer.  But that’s a post for a different day.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

You’re Making That Up!

Michael Leave a comment

There is no question about it, this winter has been everything a winter can be.  Cold, snow, ice, wind, frozen fog.  Frozen Fog?  Yep, this winter has been everything a winter can be.  Cold, snow, ice, wind, and new made up weather terms to keep you tuned into the local news station because their predictions are more dire (or maybe more ridiculous) than the competition.

Everybody over the age of 1 can remember when winter was just cold.  Summer is hot, fall is windy, spring is rainy, and winter is cold.  It’s a pattern.  We’ve had temperatures in single digits for days in a row and we managed to have them without a Polar Vortex.  Let’s consider the Polar Vortex.  Not only are they making up weather, they’re not doing it well.  As far as we can recall (and we checked a dictionary to make sure) a vortex involves spinning, whirling, or twisting, like a whirlpool.  During our encounters with the Polar Vortex, the only spinning we saw was the spinning of tires on icy roadways.

When it wasn’t cold enough for a Polar Vortex we had an “Anomalous Jet Stream.”  We think they meant that the jet stream, which has something to do with the boundary between Caribbean Island Weather and Cold Canadian Weather, dipped closer to St. Thomas than to St. Lawrence.  We suppose “anomalous” works, it meaning out of the normal way of things.  Couldn’t they have just said that cold weather will push further south than usual?

Yesterday’s headline read “Winter Turns Into Category 5.” Clearly it was a slow news day.  The article went on to say that a Category 5 Winter is the most severe winter than one can experience.  Really?  We’re used to things like hurricanes being category this or that.  Big single events that have clearly defined features of severity.  If there is a Buick flying through the air, the wind responsible is pretty severe.  How do you measure several months of weather?  We’ve had winters with more snow, colder temperatures, and a greater variety of precipitation – ice, hail, sleet, and so on.  What happens if the next 3 weeks of winter turn out to be clear and sunny with temperatures in the upper 70’s.  Does it suddenly become a Category 2 Winter?

Our favorite new weather we heard came in a forecast last week.  Frozen Fog.  As it was, the weather person got that wrong and the following overnight and morning had no fog, frozen or otherwise, so we didn’t get to experience Frozen Fog firsthand.  We were looking forward to that.  It conjured up the picture of a sheet of ice suspended over the earth that would crack and shatter as we plowed through it with our cars on the way to work.  Perhaps before the winter is over we’ll finally get our opportunity to break the Fog Barrier.

Yep, there is no question about it.  This winter has been everything a winter can be.  Cold, snow, ice, wind.  Why can’t everybody leave it at that?  You didn’t see the Groundhog making up weather.  Six more weeks of winter he said.  Period.  No Frozen Fog for Phil.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Winter Rules

Michael 2 Comments

Golf may have the most famous set of winter rules of any year round sport.  Not many people understand them but when one hears “Winter Rules” one almost always thinks of golf.  However, when we think of winter rules we think of our set of rules – fashion rules.

We’ve done fashion rules before.  (See The Real Reality Summer Wardrobe Rules for Real People (July 30, 2012), Dressed for Success (Oct. 11, 2012), Summer Fashion, Summer Rules (June 27, 2013) or type “rules” into the search bar.)  We’ve never delved into winter fashion rules.  It’s because it gets so cold around here we’re just happy to get from Point A to Point B with little concern of how others are dressed to make the trip.  Until this year.

This year has been one of the coldest and one of the snowiest winters we’ve seen.  Yet somehow people have managed to crush the fashion rules barrier like never before.  We’ve threatened to have cards printed that say “Leggings are not substitutes for pants” to pass out to the most egregious violators.   But that’s only the tip of the iceberg.  (Pardon the seasonal pun.)

There is a good place to start.  Let’s poll the ladies who are reading this.  Fast forward six weeks.  Would you wear nothing but a blouse and pantyhose to work?  That isn’t too far off the mark when a woman yanks on her stretchy leggings (black, brown, white, or (shudder) patterned) and then tops it off with a top that falls just about at her waist.  She’ll pull on a pair of furry boots, drop a rhinestone pendant hanging to about her navel and calls it office appropriate for below freezing temperature weather.

There is a subset of the female winter rules violator who concentrates on footwear.  For cold, snowy days we’re fine with boots.  We’re fine with leather shoes.  We’re fine with athletic footwear that will keep one’s feet dry and warm.  We’re not fine with ballet flats, open toes shoes, backless shoes, or clogs with holes all over them particularly when whomever is wearing such poor choices has the nerve to complain that somebody should do something about all the snow and slush in the parking lot because now her feet are cold and wet.  Somebody had the chance to do something.  The shoe selection committee!

Men aren’t getting off easy here either.  For some reason, men seem to think that single digit air temperature means it’s finally cold enough to wear that windbreaker that they bought last spring unsure of actually when windbreaker weather is.  This is not the same man who wears his ever present hoodie everywhere – inside, outside, at the desk, to meetings, to lunch with clients, and at the dinner table at home.  Usually he has to always wear his hoodie because it takes his concentration away from his legs being so cold because he is wearing shorts.   Inside, outside, at the desk, to meetings, to lunch with clients, and at the dinner table at home.  And most probably running shoes without socks.  You can tell they are running shoes because he is always running from a car to a building.

So now that we’ve exposed the violators – well they’ve exposed themselves – what are the rules to go with these violations.  Rule #1 – don’t do that.  Rule #2 – don’t do that tomorrow either.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Sorry, We’re Closed

Michael Leave a comment

There’s another cold spell coming.  This morning’s local newscast had the crawl across the bottom of all the schools and activities delayed or closed because of the snow and cold.  And tomorrow it gets colder.

In our part of the world, two hour delays are very popular for schools.  We don’t recall having delays when we were in school.  Either you went or you didn’t.  We don’t recall buses either.  We walked to school.  Through the snow.  Uphill.  Both ways.  (Actually He of We had to cross a little valley between home and school so he really did get to walk uphill both ways.  Just in case you were wondering.)

We suppose schools use delays so the day still counts as one of the 180 school days our state requires while giving a break to those waiting for a bus.  It’s a good idea when there is snow.  Those two hours give the road crews a chance to get the streets in shape for the school bus.  And when the temperature pre-sun-up is in the teens they give the air a chance to warm up post-sun-up so the children aren’t quite as cold.  We’re somewhat confused though as to exactly the benefit of a two hour delay when at 7:00 it’s 3 degrees and at 9:00 it’s 5 degrees.  Seems they might want to rethink that.

But we didn’t intend to write to about school delays this morning.  It’s those other things.  The closings.  And not schools.  Among the school delays and closings there are always other closings.  Day care centers, adult activity groups, even Meals on Wheels.  These confuse us even more.  Shouldn’t these services be the first ones to make certain they are up and running when it’s single digit air temperatures with wind chills below zero?

If the Meals and Wheels don’t get through because of the cold do we want our older neighbors navigating their own ways to the local diners for lunch in that same cold?  We understand many of these services are themselves manned by older volunteers but they also have paid staff to direct and control activities.  Perhaps these should be the days those staff members take control.

There are always fire departments that march across the crawl and say “closed.”  We know that’s not true.  We’ve seen the news stories about fire fighters fighting fires in artic conditions.  Exactly what’s closed when a fire department is closed?

When a day care center closes because of inclement weather where do the children go?  Most of them stay home.  They stay home with the parent who should be at work but can’t be because there is no place to put the child.  Of course there is always the chance that anyone can call off unexpectedly due to illness but when a string of cold, snowy days stretches across most of a week, the ones left alone at work grumble a lot.  The question has to be asked, if the day care center is just the ticket for dual working parent families when it’s 70 degrees and sunny, why is it not when it’s 7 degrees and falling?

We realize that when the weather gets bad it gets bad for everybody.  Yet there are some essential services we seem to be missing as essential.  Helping neighbors and fulfilling obligations should be at the top of somebody’s list.  Just saying no isn’t the answer.  On the other hand, there are certainly those who serve better when absent from work than present.  But hey, we can’t all be bosses!

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Forgotten West Virginia

Michael Leave a comment

The post Hurricane Sandy news yesterday was that power would finally be restored to most of those in New York and New Jersey who had been without electricity for two weeks.  Nobody said anything about West Virginia.

At the height of the storm, whatever weather you were facing, wherever you were, was the most important news of the time.  As your weather crisis passed, whether it was weather, weather related, or just interesting, you turned your attention to the New Jersey New York Sandy Aftermath or whatever clever title your favorite news outlet wanted to give to the disaster.  The country was riveted to their televisions watching how New York City was recovering from the storm. Except some in West Virginia.

With all the sympathy and support, assistance and aid due the residents of New York and New Jersey, please don’t forget the already forgotten in West Virginia.  Thousands there are still without power, phone, water, and roads.  In West Virginia the storm story wasn’t water, it was snow.  Snow measured in feet was dumped on the Northeast counties of West Virginia in the mountains near the Pennsylvania border.  As the snow fell so did trees and electric poles and with them power. 

There the power wasn’t just for heating and cooling and refrigeration and lights.  There many of the houses’ water supplies are from wells and power is needed to run the pumps to bring water to the house for drinking, bathing, washing, and flushing.

As the snow and the trees and the poles fell on West Virginia, a lot of that fell on the roads.  Many are still impassable which is why many are still without and will continue to be without electricity, school, work, and trips to the store.   Local officials project it will take up to six months to clear the roads, the roads they were attempting to clear from a previous wind storm before Sandy hit.

Wherever disasters hit, decency follows.  Many of the residents were able to help themselves and their neighbors clearing roads with their own tractors and being able to get to those who needed the most help.  When those with the power (political, not electric) couldn’t get to those who needed to get to someplace warm, or to get to medical aid, or to get to their prescription refills, the neighbors did.  When electricity or natural gas wasn’t available with which to cook and heat, neighbors delivered propane tanks and stoves to those who then could and did.  

That some can dig their way out to help others is a remarkable story someone should tell.  If someone can get there.  While Homeland Security officials toured the devastated areas in New York and New Jersey, they attended a briefing in West Virginia’s capital a couple hundred miles away. 

Don’t take away from the efforts to restore normalcy to the coast.  And don’t forget to give to the efforts to do the same in the mountains.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

Proper Attire Required

Michael Leave a comment

Around our parts it’s been a mild winter.  Not much snow, some pretty cold nights but always rebounding during the day.  At then, on February 2, Punxsutawney Phil called for 6 more weeks of winter.  “Six more?” people questioned, “We haven’t seen 6 yet.”

Be careful who you tick off.  Since then we’ve had lows in the teens, wind chills on the other side of zero, and snow enough to break out the snow-blower without fear of ridicule form the neighborhood distributor of testosterone.

There’s something about cold weather that we don’t understand.  It seems to encourage some people to dress as inappropriately as one possibly can.  Everybody in a cold weather climate has managed to run across the one mucho-macho sort who feels that cold weather is no reason for him to deviate from his usual wardrobe of shorts and work boots.  But we’re not talking about him.  Truth be told, we’d prefer not to even think about him.  No, there are others out there who have had the logic portion of their brains suffer from an unexpected frost.

Last Friday night we were waiting for a table at a local restaurant.  Regular readers know we don’t wait long for food.  If we’re told it will be anything longer than a 15 minute wait we consider how much we really want to eat from that menu that evening.  So the fact that we were waiting for a table tells you that we weren’t there long.  Yet in the few minutes that we were standing off to the side of the hostess stand we saw a couple come in that bore watching.  For frostbite.  One-half of the two was wearing a sweatshirt.  The other half, just a shirt shirt.  Did we mention that the outdoor temperature displayed on our dash was 26 degrees, that the snow was wet and cold when it fell, and that where there was not salt there was ice when we parked in the same lot they just came in from? 

The next morning after the temperature dropped another 10 degrees and the sky dropped another 2 inches of snow we were driving through the parking lot of one of the nearby shopping centers and had stopped at a crosswalk while a young man walked by wearing an open hoodie.  Six storefronts down at another crosswalk we paused while another man crossed the other way wearing a football jersey while holding hands with a pre-school version of himself who was wearing a leather jacket bearing the same football team’s logo.  Inside the stores we saw as many wind breakers, sweaters, and an occasional scarf over a light jacket as we did hats, gloves, and toasty wool coats.   This all came after we dropped off She of We’s car for service where a young lady sat in the customer’s lounge wearing only a short raincoat.

Perhaps we unnecessarily marvel at the way some people dress.  Yes, it was only 16 degrees but that was outside.  Inside the stores and restaurants and garages the temperatures were in a well-controlled 68 to 72 degree range.  Yes, outside the snow had fallen and some squalls continued to pass through.  But that was outside.  All of the merchants’ roofs were intact, their insides were dry, and not even fake snow covered any displays. 

And it’s not like we walk to many stores any more.  We don’t ride in open carriages or on run in on horseback.  We get to them in our heated cars with our temperature specific climate systems sitting in our heated seats and holding onto our heated steering wheels.  But boy we still feel bad when we see the abandoned car on the side of the road with its flashers blinking on and off, and hope they didn’t have to wait long for help in this weather.

And if they did, we hope they weren’t cold while they waited.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?