Interest on deposits

6:25PM

Rain started here about 6:20PM. Doesn't look very long lived.

As I mention on the front page of the site, the Red-Winged Blackbirds are back. These are the birds that most like to perch on my rain collector. The birds put their "depositor" over my "collector" and, quite effectively, clog it with their doo doo. I just got soaked while running out to remove the collector so I could clean it. This will be a regular maintenance item from here on out.

Some fellow station keepers have some humane ideas to deter the birds from perching. I'll be looking into those.

Beating the rain

That's me on today's weather movie, between 10am-noon, driving my lawn tractor while spreading crabgrass control and some fertilizer. I nearly froze to death, but I wanted to get the stuff down ahead of this rain which rolled in mid-afternoon.

Timing is crucial with this crabgrass stuff. The weed seeds are already on the soil. With just a few warm days, the seeds will germinate. You have to get the chemical down before germination or it's useless. I hope we timed it right.

Be sure to click on Links/Meterologists-Local. There are links there to Tom Will's and John Belski's blogs which really give a valuable insight into local conditions. Here's an interesting entry from Tom Will's blog for today:

"The average high temperature for Louisville hit 50 degrees today! Meteorological winter is December, January and February. But, in the past 2-3 decades, data has shown that 'spring' has been arriving anywhere from a few days to two weeks EARLIER than during the first half of the 20th century. So, it looks like our Spring is here, at least statistically!"

Spring approaches

In case you're wondering who to thank for the warmer weather and the obvious approach of spring - thank me! Let me explain. You know the old theory of wash your car to make it rain? Same thing at work here. You see, when we were without power for a few days after those really nasty spring thunderstorms a couple of years ago, I decided to buy a generator. My mother razzed me about it. "You'll spend all that money and I'll bet we'll never have that kind of power failure again." My answer, "Great! Then it will be worth EVERY PENNY!"

Back to spring. Just a few days ago, with wind chills in the single digits and snow on the ground, I purchased:

A heated birdbath

And three cans of Prestone Spray De-Icer

Winter's back has been broken. Spring is almost here.

Severe will be here (soon)

We're still a little way out from severe weather time (even though thunderstorms are predicted for this weekend.) It will, however, be here soon. I've added a link under "Forecasts/Severe" that will show the National Severe Storms Forecast Center map out of Norman, Oklahoma. Our plans here are to add a lightning detector within a few weeks. (Happy Birthday to me!!)

Also added tonight, a left panel display on "evapotranspiration".

Bird count

We had a lot of fun watching/counting birds during yesterday's little snow event. We learned that identifying birds correctly is pretty hard to do. I'm sure we'll get better at it. We also learned that "Woodrow" is NOT a Downy Woodpecker, he's a Red Bellied Woodpecker.

The end?

Well, we got two inches from the clipper system. Picture at right was taken at 6PM. Radar is showing we might get a little more, but this looks like the end of it. Spent the morning in front of the fire. Then, out with daughter Bethany for lunch at the Red Pepper in Lagrange during the peak of the snow. Back to watch birds for the Backyard Bird Count this afternoon. Good day!

Ready for snow?

After a perfectly clear day, one of the last frames from today's weather movie shows the clouds from the leading edge of the clipper system that's expected to bring us some snow this weekend.

Reading charts is hard work

I was not surprised to see some poltical pundits popping off during our resent cold/snow snap that "global warming seminars are cancelled because of snow." Their job, of course, is to entertain. Very seldom do they enlighten.

Ice and irony

Our drizzle switched over to ice around 8:00 yesterday evening. As we were leaving the neighborhood this morning we saw a green pickup in the ditch. It looked like they lost it when they were taking the curve to go down Smith Lane. Then we came upon another accident being cleared on Highway 53 in front of the veterinarian's office. This one looked like it had been a head-on. Ice + not adjusting driving to fit conditions = wreck. I'm always amazed at how some drivers try to drive on weather affected roads as if the roads were dry.

Anytime there's ice, I think of my old friend, Hugh Finn, who died while taking his kids to school. It was March but there was black ice that morning. A driver lost it and hit Hugh's car. Ironically, when I was working the morning shift at WAVE, it would be Hugh who would call me if the weather was bad to wake me up an hour earlier than he knew I arose. I remember vividly hearing Hugh say "Allen, it's getting icy out there. You'd better be careful and leave early!" He was a good man with a wonderful family.

Hugh's death became a national story. I don't want to go into it here, but you can Google his name and read all about it if you wish.

Breaking winter's back

It's been a pretty dreary day, but our sunset was a reminder that we live in a beautiful place. Spring isn't too far away. "February breaks the back of winter."

Freeze those seeds

The final design for a "doomsday" vault that will house seeds from all known varieties of food crops has been unveiled by the Norwegian government.

Woodrow the woodpecker

Caught our little buddy in the Weathercam heading for the feeding trough!

How gloomy is Seattle?

This made me laugh, especially since my oldest daughter lives there.

Samples:

"The weather is more mellow than gloomy, in my opinion."

"Seattle is definitely not gloomy. Its one of the most exciting and livable cities on the westcoast with so much to offer. Come here during the summer or springtime and you most likely will not want to leave."

"Don't move here. Everything everyone said above is a lie, it's cloudy 9 days out of 10 and for 8 months a year is constant drizzle. If you like sun you will become depressed in no time. We don't want you here, so go away."

Contour maps

I've added contour maps. Some are on the front page. The rest are on the left menu. I'm working on a way to animate some of them.