One of these years, probably long after I am dead and gone, the MSM is going to do its homework, which should eliminate stories like this. But, really guys, all you have to do is learn to use Google. I hope Varifrank doesn’t sue me for stealing his picture, but who could resist?
Via The Fat Guy
Comments Off on Global warming, early version
Posted in Weather/Climate
Tagged global warning, no ice at north pole
But, alas, it seems your Category Three-ness will be used mainly for making long-period swells for East Coast surfers. So says Alan at Fresh Bilge, and he’s as good an amateur meteorologist as we’re likely to find. The hurricane center also is predicting your northward motion, and Wonder Underground’s Jess Masters sees you affecting Newfoundland. There’s no chance of your visiting the Gulf of Mexico. So we’ll just have to await our own Big Bertha to whip up and head our way. I’m optimistic we’ll get one or more of your cousins by fall.
Comments Off on Bertha, honey, we could use your rain
Posted in Weather/Climate
One of the benefits of summer in the Northern Hemisphere is the appearance of noctilucent clouds, and despite all the heat we’ve had since mid-May, the summer solstice doesn’t kick in until 6:59 p.m. CDT today. SpaceWeather dot com says: "These glow-in-the-dark clouds are a 100+ year old mystery under investigation now by NASA’s AIM spacecraft. Originally confined to arctic latitudes, NLCs have spread in recent years with sightings in the United States as far south as Utah and Colorado." A gallery of photos is here. Wish they’d come to Texas. Maybe they will someday.
Moisture in the upper atmosphere over the Bay of Campeche seems to be slipping into South Central Texas, thanks to a slight westward shift in the ridge that’s made Texas so brutally hot and dry this month. Sprinkles over the rancho a few minutes ago while I was sitting reading on the patio. Alas, it is not expected to linger, nor to bring us much rain, though northwestern parts of the Hill Country, such as Mason and Richland Springs, have had more than an inch, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority. At least it could lower the daily high temperatures ten to fifteen degrees. Maybe.
Comments Off on Blessed rain
Posted in Weather/Climate
Tagged Bay of Campeche, Lower Colorado River Authority, rain, South Central Texas
Started considering this concept the other day while playing catch with Mr. B. He was whining about the heat. I realized that he’s never known anything except air conditioning while I grew up without it. It wasn’t common until the early 1960s when I was in my twenties. Did that help acclimate me to heat? Maybe. But the notion falls apart when I think of the volunteers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them are in their late teens and early twenties. So they were part of the air-conditioning generation, too, and they aren’t getting much, or any, of it over there. Maybe Mr. B. just has to toughen up by growing up. I hope so. Father worries.
Comments Off on The air-conditioning generation
Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mr. Boy, Weather/Climate
Tagged air conditioning
Ten days of a hundred degrees and four of ninety-nine so far this month. The front forty at the rancho is turning brown, despite our best efforts to water it after midnight–which is illegal now that Austin is on mandatory water rationing for things like lawns. Meaning you can water two days a week only. Trying to balance whether the five hundred dollar fine for watering other days would be cheaper than buying new sod and starting over. Probably not.
Comments Off on The heat goes on
Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate
Don’t ask me what it is, I can’t find a single reference to it on any of the weather terminology sites. But the National Weather Service says we have one sitting over us today and it’s drawing in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. So far it’s produced only a little rain, less than half an inch in the past few days, but it has had the virtue of cooling things off a bit, by five or so degrees, anyhow. So welcome Tropical Tap. Don’t be a stranger.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 