Weather Watching

[InfiniteNow]

Reminds me of a hummingbird or a butterfly. :girl_hug: :)

[Michaelangelica]

OK found something to support my "out on a limb" post (82)

This comes from an excellent interview about Gaia and Global warming.

It is good reading ( or listening to, if you prefer)

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2006/1726869.htm#

David Fisher: In fact it's this gas, dimethyl sulfide, that gives the sea its distinct smell. It's produced all over the world by marine algae.

 

Tim Lenton, the DMS production; do you see that as a regulatory Gaian mechanism?

 

Tim Lenton: Very interesting one. So we are talking about, yes, the production of this dimethyl sulfide gas by marine algae and the fact that it contributes to making cloud droplets, and the more of those are the more reflective the clouds are. So I think we've established that this leads to a current cooling of the climate state.

[Michaelangelica]

It is good that someone is trying to protect this knowledge.

I guess there are similar forcasting methods in other indigenous tribes?

Anyone know?

 

http://www.ecoliving.cat.org.au/webcast/front.php3?article_id=32&group=webcast

SYDNEY - When the bearded dragon lizard sits upright and points its head to the sky, it is going to rain the next day. If a flock of currawongs flies overhead you've only got four hours to get the washing off the line.

 

 

If the queen wattle blooms heavily, bull ants abandon their tree nests for mounds of dirt, or meat ants cover nests with tiny, heat-reflecting quartz stones, then bushfires are coming.

Sounds like mumbo-jumbo?

 

Not to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, which hopes to tap into the tens of thousands of years of Aboriginal weather knowledge to help it expand its understanding of the island continent's harsh climate.

 

Aboriginal ideas about the weather can be starkly different.

 

Unlike the conventional European notion of four seasons - summer, autumn, winter and spring - Aborigines in different parts of Australia count as little as two or as many as six, each intimately linked to subtle changes in the local environment.

 

"The bureau comes from a purely Western scientific meteorology perspective. It is something entirely new for a weather bureau to recognise the importance of this other weather knowledge," said bureau forecaster John O'Brien.

 

"Our concepts of meteorological science have a time span of several hundred years, whereas Aboriginal culture based on weather, flora, fauna and climate is tens of thousands of years old," O'Brien told Reuters.

 

The Bureau of Meteorology has launched an "Indigenous Weather" Web site (http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk) mapping Aboriginal weather knowledge and plans to keep on updating it as it documents new indigenous weather calendars.

 

Aboriginal culture is dominated by a creation time called the "Dreaming", which links past and present in a continuum. In it, the weather, land, plants, animals, people, previous generations and supernatural forces are all inter-related.

more at website

[Turtle]

The sky is falling!!!:cup: Well, the water part of it anyway. :) I have emptied 5" of rain from my gauge in the last 2 1/2 days, and 2" of that fell in an 8 hour period today. The worst is yet to come as the rains continue to arrive on the 'pineapple express', which is a weather system driven by the jet stream bringing moisture and warm air up from the Hawaiian region of the Pacific. I haven't been in this house during the Winter, so I don't know whether to expect flooding or not; so far so good though. :)

 

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_110606_news_pineapple_weather_.f4f8491.html

[Turtle]

The sky is falling!!!:dog: Well, the water part of it anyway. :hihi: I have emptied 5" of rain from my gauge in the last 2 1/2 days, and 2" of that fell in an 8 hour period today. The worst is yet to come as the rains continue to arrive on the 'pineapple express', which is a weather system driven by the jet stream bringing moisture and warm air up from the Hawaiian region of the Pacific. I haven't been in this house during the Winter, so I don't know whether to expect flooding or not; so far so good though. :edizzy:

 

Seems we have worked ourselves into a state of official disaster here. It's not but drizzling right now, but another wave is on the way. This is where the rubber meets the road as far as the individual citizens disaster preparedness, as well as the fire, police, engineers, and other organizations called into need.

 

Post #83 of the earthquake thread has some links to illustrate the seismic signature of a deluge; quite interesting. :)

 

I am about 30 miles SSE of the seismometer station June Lake and there is no flooding in my immediate neighborhood. We still have power and other utilities, not that we're likely to run out of water. :beer: Actually, quite the opposite is true in at least 1 Washington town where the flooding has silted the water treatment plant; they now have only 24 hours of water in the reservoir.

That is all. :cup: :pirate:

[Michaelangelica]

Seems we have worked ourselves into a state of official disaster here. It's not but drizzling right now, but another wave is on the way. : :shrug:

Aren't you guys supposed to be out voting for the Democrats?

 

Actually funny wetish stuff fell out of strange grey cotton wool in the sky here yesterday.

 

Some scientists are saying that Australia is going though a 1 in 1,000 year drought.

Not sure how they figure that.

[Turtle]

Aren't you guys supposed to be out voting for the Democrats?

 

Actually funny wetish stuff fell out of strange grey cotton wool in the sky here yesterday.

 

Some scientists are saying that Australia is going though a 1 in 1,000 year drought.

Not sure how they figure that.

 

Voting's over now; only minor weather related problems as far as I have heard though. Not sure how things went as we have local & national choices to make.

Here is the Australia 1,000 year drought story I saw earlier today.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/07/061107055949.t193etet.html

Shall I ship you a few litres I got extry? :shrug: Currently not raining & temp has dropped from 60º F to 43º F.

[justforfun]

My daughter moved to Washington State in September and I moved back to Michigan a month ago; we've been comparing weather information regularly. this morning she said there was snow there and we were enjoying temperatures in the 50s. My brother says Michigan winters are dryer and warmer than they were back in the 70s when I lived there. I'm not complaining, but I was surprised...

[Turtle]

My daughter moved to Washington State in September and I moved back to Michigan a month ago; we've been comparing weather information regularly. this morning she said there was snow there and we were enjoying temperatures in the 50s. ...

 

 

What timing! It is snowing on us right now and forecast to continue through the night. Thermometer is reading 32°F and about 3/4" on the ground already. :)

I have a PDF file of some of the flood damage I mentioned; I'll try and attach it or get a link to it.

PS Rats! :eek: Too big to attach. :naughty: I'll look for another avenue.

[Michaelangelica]

It is snowing on us right now

Where are you

 

This is a nicely written article on lightening

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2006/weather101_thunderstorms.php

Before we get into the mechanics of what makes for a thunderstorm lets look at some interesting facts as supplied by the National Severe Storm Forecast Lab located in my favorite spot on earth- Norman, Oklahoma.

 

* The sun burns at approximately 5000'F. Lightning is often measured at 50,000'F ten times hotter than our sun!

* Lightning doesn't just strike below the cloud it comes out of-

* Cape Canaveral Air Force DStation/Kennedy Space Center has documented anvil lightning traveling 76 NM.

* How far can you see lightning? According to Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center, up to 100-km flashes. (~60 miles)

 

Lightning Causes Forest Fires. Can Forest Fires Cause Lightning? Yes, smoke and carbon micro-particles, when introduced into the upper atmosphere, can become the initiators of static. Sufficient atmospheric static can spark discharge as lightning.

Reports of massive lightning storms in coastal Brasil, Peru and Hawaii have been linked to burning of sugar cane fields.

The late 90's Mexican forest fires resulted in unusual lightning activity in the USA High Plains area (Lyons, et al.)

So too can dust in an enclosed grain elevator create a static discharge. Recent reports (Orville, et al) show the Houston TX petrochemical industry, discharging copious amounts of hydrocarbons into the upper atmosphere, may be responsible for higher-than-normal lightning activity in that area.

 

And from the UK research center there is this about forked lightning.

How fast is 76 NM?

[InfiniteNow]

What timing! It is snowing on us right now and forecast to continue through the night. Thermometer is reading 32°F and about 3/4" on the ground already.

I saw this on the football game last night and thought of both you and Rac. Hope you've enjoyed it... Been a while since I've seen snow in any significant amount. :hihi:

[Turtle]

Where are you

 

In Washington State about 50 miles SE of Mt. St. Helens volcano.

 

What timing! It is snowing on us right now and forecast to continue through the night. Thermometer is reading 32°F and about 3/4" on the ground already.

 

I saw this on the football game last night and thought of both you and Rac. Hope you've enjoyed it... Been a while since I've seen snow in any significant amount.

 

I was surprised to see it on National news today. It stopped where I am not long after I posted the report, but I hear the Cascades got quite a bit. I did enjoy it, but it put my housemates off a bit as they have to commute to work. I haven't heard from Rac about how much he got at his place; he's about 12 miles West of me.

 

While the snow is great news for the Mt. Hood ski resorts, the recent flooding wiped out part of State Hwy. 35 which is a main route for folks West of the mountain to drive up there. They expect to have it open sometime next month. I quit skiing myself quite a number of years ago, but those who still do are amped. :hihi:

 

Here is a link to a National Park Service web site that has some slideshows of flood damge in the region:

http://www.nps.gov/mora/parknews/images-of-the-flood-of-2006.htm

 

Temps reached just above freezing this afternoon and the roads cleared somewhat, but a new round of snow is forecast for this evening. My bird feeder is attracting a bigger than normal crowd this afternoon and I spent a good part of the day watching them. Updates to follow. ;)

 

PS Local news page out of Portland Oregon; just across the Columbia River from me. http://www.kgw.com/

[Michaelangelica]

The drought is having an impact on crops

Drought hits crops

Australia has had its third driest August-November on record, with predictions the drought will last until at least March. This coincides with the latest figures showing a big drop in crop production.

. . .

"I think generally around Ouyen anyway, the majority of people do recognise that this is probably the worst year in farming history at Ouyen

Drought hits crops :: Water

Things are really BAD in southern OZ 600,000 sq K of Victoria are on fire (and it is VERY early in bushfire season). If all the fires link up . . . . . . .?

97% of NSW is drought declared

[Turtle]

Drought hits crops :: Water

Things are really BAD in southern OZ 600,000 sq K of Victoria are on fire (and it is VERY early in bushfire season). If all the fires link up . . . . . . .?

97% of NSW is drought declared

 

Mon dieu! :cup: For your every lack, I have an abundance. Aint wild weather a wonder! If I disappear suddenly it may be due to a power loss as a very large wind storm is descending upon me and a wide region around me. I emptied 2.4" of rain from the gauge from just the last 3 days, and more is coming with the wind. This certainly doesn't bode well for the 3 mountain climbers lost on Mt. Hood for the last 4 days. (I'm about 50 miles from hood)

 

Local News | kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington

 

Hanging on to all my hats,

:rant:

[Turtle]

Our lights have flickered a bit and a whole section of town a few blocks West of me is completely out of power. I'm topping off my deep-cell battery backup; I have 100amp hours of juice if we go too. Winds now gusting 39 mph here, and at 100 mph on the coast they are reporting. The worst is yet to come. :lightning :lightning :weather_rain: :weather_storm:

[Turtle]

Our lights have flickered a bit and a whole section of town a few blocks West of me is completely out of power. I'm topping off my deep-cell battery backup; I have 100amp hours of juice if we go too. Winds now gusting 39 mph here, and at 100 mph on the coast they are reporting. The worst is yet to come. :eek_big: :evil: :eek_big: :shrug:

 

In the last 30 minutes I have had bright sunshine, rain, sleet, and now it is snowing! In Oregon and Washington over 1 million people are without power and 4 people are dead from falling trees due to last night's wind storm. They clocked winds in my village at 79 mph and higher winds along the coast.

 

I haven't lost power, but they say it's not over yet. :D

 

Hunkering down,

Turtle

[Racoon]

In the last 30 minutes I have had bright sunshine, rain, sleet, and now it is snowing! In Oregon and Washington over 1 million people are without power and 4 people are dead from falling trees due to last night's wind storm. They clocked winds in my village at 79 mph and higher winds along the coast.

 

I haven't lost power, but they say it's not over yet. :shrug:

 

Hunkering down,

Turtle :evil:

 

Copy that Turtle.

It went from rain, to snow, to sunshine melting the snow all this morning. :D :eek_big: :eek_big:

Last night was the biggest storm the Portland area has had in 10 years!

 

 

The wind went wild and knocked over a tree onto the powerline only 1 block away! It killed the power to the neighborhood. from the back deck I could see the light show!

 

Candles, a small led light and a battery powered radio kept me thru the night until the PUD guys quickly restored the 'juice of life' this morning.