Category Archives: Weather

Damn cedar fever

Posted on December 5, 2015 | 2 comments

Mr. B set a recent, personal record for sneezing Friday—15 times in two minutes. His eyes were watering and the roof of his mouth itched. Oh, lord, that’s cedar fever most likely. Never bothered him before.

Then this morning I see KVUE weather reporting their daily rooftop air sample on Friday captured the first cedar (actually juniper) pollen of the season. Bit early for the annual Texas curse, but there it is.

Now we’ll have to hope and pray that El Nino delivers the forecast wet winter to help take the pollen out of the air. Otherwise he and I both will be struggling with the stuff before Xmas as well as after when it’s more generally a problem.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather

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Heavy rain

Posted on November 27, 2015 | 8 comments

Another holiday, another flood. Looks like. Heavy rain started around 2 a.m. and has continued off and on. Our goofy gutters are overwhelmed, as usual. I expect to see the back forty’s waterfall materialize before long. Good thing the sandbags are still in place from Halloween. A strong El Nino will prompt that.

At least it will take Mr. B.’s mind off the Luby’s Thanksgiving disaster. Food wasn’t very good. Like a school lunchroom, Mr. B. said, and you can imagine how a high schooler feels about school lunchrooms. Its only virtue was that it was cheap and the pie was good. For Xmas, it will be Threadgill’s for sure.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather

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First frost of the season

Posted on November 21, 2015 | 2 comments

A light freeze for some around Central Texas, tomorrow and Monday mornings, but more likely a frost for us. And with gusty winds it will feel colder. A little early, perhaps, but not bad when you consider the lows will pop right back up into the 60s on Tuesday morning.

Considering all the federal hoo-rah over supposed global warming climate change, I do wish we could get back to warm winters. Haven’t had a real good warm one in several years. But at least this frost is more or less on time and not as early as previous winters.

UPDATE:  Then, on the coldest night since March, the furnace quit. Turned out to be a problem with the thermostat. As Mr. B. said: “Adversity builds character.” Or else it’s just a pain in the arse.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Weather, Weather/Climate

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A rainy winter ahead

Posted on November 13, 2015 | 4 comments

A strong El Nino tends to bring lots of rain to Central Texas, and meteorologists say the latest El Nino is continuing to grow stronger.

“The forecaster consensus remains nearly unchanged, with the expectation that this El Niño could rank among the top three strongest episodes as measured by the 3-month SST departures in the Niño 3.4 region going back to 1950.”

Via KXAN Weather blog

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Posted in Blogosphere, South of the Border, Texana, Weather

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Flood watching again

Posted on June 15, 2015 | 2 comments

This time it’s from storms out of the Gulf and, we are promised, a tropical depression if not a tropical storm by mid-week, arriving on the coast between Corpus and Houston and pushing inland to us with another 4-6 inches of rain.

Meanwhile, TS Hurricane Carlos, off the west coast of Mexico, could be sending even more rain our way before, after or during the arrival of the Gulf one. The west coast ones often do, if they go far enough northwest before curving back east.

All of which means more rising rivers, creeks and streams, flooded low-lying areas, etc. The good part, if we escape any serious repeat damage, is that the wet ground will insure a cooler-than-normal summer. No one around here will miss the hundred-degree days.

UPDATE:  Tropical Storm Bill due to come ashore Tuesday morning between Corpus Christi and Houston and push inland. We’re bound to get at least some of its rain. Hopefully not a lot.

MORE:  Indeed, we wound up on the dry side of Bill as its remnants pushed northwest and then swung to the north. Got some rain at the rancho, maybe an inch. Good result.

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Posted in South of the Border, Texana, Weather

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Adios Sometimes Islands

Posted on June 4, 2015 | 2 comments

sometimes

The runoff from the recent 27 days of rain has slowed to a trickle on Lake Travis. But it was enough in the last few days to cover the Sometimes Islands at 667.63 feet above mean sea level. Say goodbye to the drought, all you global warming believers. Bye, bye.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather

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New storms adding insult to injury

Posted on May 29, 2015 | 1 comment

Raining hard at the Rancho [Thursday night] and the radar at 2:30 a.m. suggests much more to come, if the Balcones Escarpment doesn’t break up the big yellow patch moving east as it sometimes does.

I’ve got the watch, as Mr. B. has school and Mrs. C. has work in the morning. The sandbags and towels are in place and I have a cup of sugar-free apple cider to keep me alert.

The situation already went pear-shaped out on Lake Travis not long ago, where the water has risen 25 feet in the past week as of tonight. This El Nino is a bitch.

UPDATE:  The escarpment broke up most of the storms and by mid-morning Friday the sun was out for the first time in a while. More rain expected on Saturday, however, as El Nino continues strong.

MORE:  By Sunday, the 31st, hardly any more rain had fallen and we were forecast to get a clear week ahead of us for the first time in 27 days.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather

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