Category Archives: Weather/Climate

Vanishing lake

Posted on December 23, 2006 | Comments Off on Vanishing lake

VanishingLake.JPG

Anderson Mill marina at Lake Travis where the water is forty feet lower than it should be due to a long drought. That’s the lowest the lake-reservoir has been since 1964. The marina is half its normal size because half the boats and their docks have been moved into deeper water closer to the main basin. All that brown land and white rock on the left and brown vegetation and white rock in the foreground normally is underwater. Meanwhile, the drought gets more savage by the week, despite the El Nino that’s supposed to bring us beaucoup rain this winter. Hasn’t yet, although an inch or so is predicted with the passage of a cold front tonight. 

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles, Weather/Climate

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James Kim’s tragic choice

Posted on December 8, 2006 | Comments Off on James Kim’s tragic choice

After a week stranded in their car in a snowy Oregon woods with his wife and their daughters, an infant and a toddler, James Kim tried to save them by going for help. Their maps suggested it was a short hike to a nearby village. But they were farther away than they thought, the maps didn’t show how rough the wooded terrain would be, and the 35-year-old San Francisco technology editor apparently got lost before dying of hypothermia. Two days after he left them, his family was rescued, thanks to signals from cell phones they had left on. His body wasn’t found for two more days. You have to admire their resourcefulness, reported here and here, and his heroic decision to seek the help that hadn’t come. But the irony that, all along, food and shelter was only a few miles away, stings.

UPDATE  This sad story produced many suggestions across the blogosphere for emergency gear, to be stored in the car all the time, to the extent that’s practical, Advice is here and, best of all, on this commemorative site.

Via Instapundit

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Posted in Obituaries, Scribbles, Weather/Climate

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Extreme weather

Posted on December 3, 2006 | Comments Off on Extreme weather

KVET/KASE/KFMK radio meteorologist Troy Kimmel, Jr., an Aggie who also teaches at the University of Texas, has compiled a new historical look (74 pages in pdf) at extreme weather for the Austin Metro Area, i.e. Travis Williamson and Hays counties. Worth a look if you live in the area or are just curious about Central Texas weather.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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Freeze prep

Posted on November 30, 2006 | Comments Off on Freeze prep

Well, the freeze covers are on the four outdoor faucets, and I’ll snip off all the antique roses in bloom before dark, because the temp is forecast to drop below freezing after dark and eventually down to 24 degrees with winds gusting to 25 mph. A hard freeze of about eight hours altogether. Then lighter freezes are expected tomorrow night through Sunday night and that will probably be the end of the freezes for a while. Unusual to have four in a row this early in the winter in Central Texas. But people farther north have it worse, with snow and ice, as well. Including a rare blizzard in Oklahoma, making travel nearly impossible.

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Posted in Antique Roses, Rancho Roly Poly, Weather/Climate

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Freezing by Friday?

Posted on November 29, 2006 | Comments Off on Freezing by Friday?

Definitely in the Hill Country, but possibly across the Central Texas region as well. Troy Kimmel explains:

"A strong arctic cold front.. preceded by scattered to numerous rain showers and thunderstorms.. will move through our local area between midnight Wednesday night and daybreak Thursday morning…Temperatures are expected to fall to near or slightly below freezing Thursday night but, at this time, I think precipitation should taper off before any freezing and/or frozen precipitation can develop locally."

UPDATE  Kimmel and other local meteorologists are calling for the storms to begin early, possibly as early as this afternoon. Might be sooner. The western horizon is already a leaden color, we’ve had a shower at the Rancho and the wind is picking up. 

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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Dry November

Posted on November 23, 2006 | Comments Off on Dry November

Meteorologist Bob Rose of the Lower Colorado River Authority offers some thoughts on the dry spell.

"Weather conditions have been unusually dry this month, with most areas so far reporting little to no rain. The outlook for rain the next few days looks bleak and it’s possible we may end the month with no additional rain. So far this month, Austin Mabry has reported 0.04 inches [the 10th driest on record], [and] Austin-Bergstrom 0.05 inches…the 3rd driest on record…" 

"Most climate experts are puzzled as to why the pattern across Texas and the southern US has recently turned so dry and why the expected wet signal from El Nino has failed to develop. [They] do expect a change in the overall pattern beginning in December, with most calling for a trend toward increased precipitation. The current situation does point out that most El Nino’s are different from each other, with each one producing different results across Texas."

Bob says other El Nino winters have started dry and ended with plenty of rain–notably 1987-88, 1991-92, and 1997-98. So flash floods could be just around the corner.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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Thanksgiving wonders

Posted on November 21, 2006 | Comments Off on Thanksgiving wonders

Glories, ice haloes, and the opposition effect. Amusing atmospheric optics while traveling over the holiday at eight miles high–including craning your neck up against the window to see the beginning of the black.

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space, Weather/Climate

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