captpackrat: (Weather - Tornado)
Lots of thunder outside, but it looks like the current line of storms is going to just squeak past us.  There's another cluster of storms about 40 miles away and heading towards us; it might arrive in an hour or so.

The primary threat today is large hail; the risk of tornadoes is relatively small
captpackrat: (Weather - Tornado)
Because one tornado watch isn't enough.

Quite a few nasty looking storms, and all of them passed within a few miles of here, but we got nothing.  A few far off flashes of lightning and a handful of distant rumbles of thunder, but barely even a sprinkle of rain here.

The winds are out of the south, but I don't see anything on the radar in that direction, so it looks like we're safe.  Some heavy stuff to the north of us; there's even a possible vortex signature just beyond the county line north of downtown Omaha.
captpackrat: (Weather - Tornado)
First one of the year!

There's a line of storms that looks like it's going to just squeak past us. Nasty looking thing too.
captpackrat: (Thumper Clover)
With spring comes the return of what I call the Car Alarm Birds.  They have a call that sounds almost exactly like a car alarm:  whooooop whooooop whooooop whooooop   peeew peeew peeew peeew.

March 11th I complained about it snowing.  Two days ago (April 1) it hit (at least) 88°F here.  The grass is mostly green and will probably need to be mowed by next weekend.  I've even seen a few speedwell flowers popping up amid the grass. 

The frogs along the creek are making an incredible racket at night.

I haven't seen any bunnies lately (though something keeps nibbling at the vegetable scraps I put out, and it's not the goats), but my SO says he saw a squirrel running off with a mouse in its mouth.  Weird.
captpackrat: (Weather - Tornado)
Forecast for today:  High temperature in the mid 60s  (17-19°C)

Forecast for tomorrow:  Two inches of snow.

WTF?
captpackrat: (Weather - Dr. George)
According to the National Climatic Data Center, this was the coldest winter in the US in 25 years and the 18th coldest winter since record keeping began in 1895.  It was also the 19th wettest winter on record.

On the other hand, Environment Canada reported that Canada experienced its warmest winter since record keeping began in 1948, 4.0°C (7.2°F) above average.  It was also the driest winter on record, with precipitation 22% below normal.
captpackrat: (This Bites)
The weather is finally starting to warm.  It's up into the 40's and there are patches of bare ground beginning to appear.  It's still well below freezing at night (it got down to about 10°F last night), so things are starting to get rather icy.  The forecast calls for temps to get into the 50's by Monday, but the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting below average temperatures in their 8-14 day and one month outlooks. 

My car has been trapped in the garage for over 3 months now.  There's still a considerable depth of snow in front of the door, so even with these warmer temps, it will likely still be weeks before it's clear, and even longer before the mud dries out enough to actually drive through.
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
I haven't really been outside since the last snow storm, which allegedly dropped just 4 inches.  This morning, I was woken up by my roommate who needed my help opening the gate because someone was here with a snow blower-equipped tractor.

I had no idea the snow drifts had gotten this bad.  The massive drift across the driveway has evolved into a glacier, about 4 feet deep at it's worst, extending completely across the driveway from the house to the barn, and from beyond the gate to the garage.  Fortunately the area around the gate was a mere 1-1/2 to 2 feet deep.

The gate was stuck closed tight as a drum, so I started digging out the side I could reach and digging out the path where the sliding gate slides.  The biggest problem is that the guide wheels were set at ground level; the holes underneath had become packed solid with ice.  Without the guide wheels turning, you have to shove the entire weight of the gate across the metal wheels.  We cleaned up under the wheels as best we could, then it took myself, my SO and our roommate all throwing our weight into the gate to get it open.

That was the first half of the gate, which is enough to get most cars or pickups through, but a big tractor like that needs both halves of the gate opened.  Because the ground slopes upwards on that side, the other half of the gate is a swinging gate.  That meant clearing everything in front of it.  The top foot or so was snow, easy enough to move, but underneath were thick layers of very hard ice which took a lot of work to break up.

Unfortunately, it took so long for us to get the gate open that the guy with the tractor left.  Hopefully he'll be back tomorrow.

The forecast last night called for temperatures as low as -23°F (-30.6°C), but it only got down to -5°F (-20.6°C).  Starting tomorrow the temperatures should return to a more normal winter level, with highs in the 20's instead of below zero.  There's a very slight chance of snow Monday morning, but it shouldn't amount to anything at all.  Hopefully this will be the last of the snow for the year.
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
-17.9°F (-27.7°C) this morning.
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
-13.9°F (-25.5°C) this morning.  Just a few degrees warmer than the coldest temperature I've ever recorded, which was -15.5°F (-26.4°C)  in January 2007.  We had an inch or so of snow this evening.

The forecast for the next week doesn't get above 11°F (-12°C), and we're looking at another chance at a record low Friday morning.  There's a chance of snow every single day through Wednesday.  The snow drift down the middle of the driveway isn't getting any smaller and probably won't for several weeks at least.
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
The NWS is forecasting 8 to 12 inches of snow and winds of 25 to 35 MPH, with higher gusts, so we're gonna have huge snow drifts again.  The drifts from the LAST snow storm two weeks ago are still nearly a foot deep.

The sheep & goats are locked in the barn so they'll stay nice and warm and the front gate is wide open, just in case the guy who plowed our driveway last time comes around again.

Buried

Dec. 9th, 2009 01:18 pm
captpackrat: (Default)
NWS storm report says we got about 12 inches of snow, which appears to be about right. The wind is really strong outside and although it's no longer snowing, the wind is really whipping the existing snow around. There are several drifts across the driveway, including one nearly 28 inches (70 cm) deep!


That's a yard stick sticking out of the snow bank.

I'll take more pictures later; it's much too cold right now. It's about 6°F (-14.3°C) outside right now, with winds gusting to 22 mph (35.4 kph), making for a windchill of -11°F (-24°C).
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
First time I've seen a Blizzard Watch. There's also a Winter Storm Warning. We got about 2 to 2-1/2 inches of snow last night and the forecast calls for another inch tonight, then 11 to 13 inches Tuesday.

Highs Wednesday will be around 9°F with winds gusting to 35 mph. Can you say "wind chill"?

Definitely not going anywhere for a while.

EDIT: Just took a look at the national severe weather map. Holy Moley! Winter weather statements stretching from Los Angeles to Michigan, affecting some 18 different states. That's one heck of a storm.

Uh-oh.

Dec. 6th, 2009 05:03 pm
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
* Snow accumulations: as a result of these two systems... total
accumulations by Wednesday morning is expected to be generally
in the range of 10 to 13 inches.

It's just getting worse.

Snow

Dec. 5th, 2009 11:49 pm
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
Sunday: A chance of snow in the morning, then snow in the afternoon. Snow in the evening. Total accumulation 2 to 4 inches. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Monday: A chance of snow in the evening, then snow likely after midnight. Light snow accumulations.

Tuesday: Snow. Moderate snow accumulations. Snow likely in the evening, then a chance of snow after midnight. Areas of blowing snow. Light snow accumulations.

Wednesday: Areas of blowing snow in the morning.

Thursday: A 20 percent chance of snow.
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
29.1°F (-1.6°C) this morning.
captpackrat: (Cold Weather)
A frost advisory remains in effect from 4 am to 8 am CDT Sunday.

Skies over the region will clear this evening... and with light
winds... temperatures should drop into the lower to mid 30s by
daybreak Sunday. This should allow areas of frost to develop over
much of the area late tonight.


It's barely October and temps are already getting close to freezing.  This was a remarkably cool summer.  I think we only had a handful of days where the temperature got above 90.  According to the Climate Prediction Center, Cooling Degree Days were 21% below average so far this year.
captpackrat: (Weather - Tornado)
There's a small line of thunderstorms about 50 miles to the south of us.  It doesn't look like much on radar, but it's making a very impressive display outside.  It kinda looks like some kind of alien invasion or something.  Even at this distance, you can occasionally make out individual bolts.  The skies here are perfectly clear and the storms are far enough away you can't hear the thunder.

I'm surprised just how far lightning flashes can travel; while picking up our roommate from Omaha Eppley Field the other day, we could clearly see flashes of light from a storm centered around Sioux City, about 100 miles away!
captpackrat: (Sheep)

The pile of wool we sheared off the sheep.  All that wool served her well during the winter, but it must have been miserable the past few weeks.  The temperature the past couple days has been in the mid-90's with really high humidity, so this shearing probably saved her life.



She was totally blissed out from all the attention and the cool air.  She's usually a bit reluctant to allow anyone to touch her, but this time she was totally calm.



It's so warm and humid, the camera lens fogged up the instant I stepped outside.

captpackrat: (Weather - Dr. George)
The previous tornado watch ran out, so they started up a second one.  There was one miserable little storm 100 miles west of us, and it's totally dispersed by now.  We haven't gotten even a drop of rain.   It looks like there might be a tornado a little bit southwest of Des Moines, but that's a good 120 miles away.

The NWS has had a pretty poor record on tornado watches this year.  None of them have been even close and most of them weren't even regular thunderstorms, let alone severe.  I fear people are going to start ignoring the watches if they keep crying wolf.

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