Monday, December 27, 2010

More snow pictures

Here are some more pictures from Christmas Vacation

Mike,Peggy, and John trudging thru the snow


Not a good day for golf


I love these snow coated Christmas trees.


Claire and Laura snowshoeing
It was 17 degrees this morning at Mike's Weather World. Warmer weather and rain is expected later in the week and then cold again this weekend.



Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

We are back from Steamboat in time for Christmas. We were on the northern edge of what was being called a storm of Epic proportions. We had a good 2 feet of snow where we stayed, while at least 3 feet fell up on the mountain. Southwest Colorado got up to 8 feet of snow.

This photo was taken by the girls while skiing. This is the top of the gondola.

Here is a shot by John of a creek while snowshoeing.

Family photo looking east from the continential divide whild snowmobiling in Rabbit Ears Pass. They had picked up over 3 feet of new snow.



Frosted Christmas Tree
I'll post more pictures later





Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

Homemade Chocolate Souffle
Funny, I don't remember seeing this on Thanksgiving. UUmmmmmm.
Thanksgiving weather turned out to be wonderful in my opinion. It started out way to warm...in fact, Mike's Weather World topped out a 74 degrees at 11:00. By the time we sat down to eat at 12:30 it had fallen into the upper 40s. By dark it was in the upper 30s. Laura reported light sleet around 9:00. It definitely felt like Thanksgiving.
To top it off....Nick dropped by for his bi-annual visit to Mike's Weather World. He spends summer in Colorado and Winter near the beach. Hmmmm....I think I would do just the opposite.
More rain is on the way this week and then more cold.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Cooler...Maybe Colder Weather Coming

First decent snow of the season in Steamboat....Ahhhhhhh.

Amarillo TX had its first snow of the season -- 3 inches, including some thundersnow.

Hopefully we have seen the last of the 80 degree days. I woke up this morning to true November weather - Cloudy, windy and 47 degrees. Feels great. Here is a link to changes coming in the next couple of weeks.








Sunday, November 7, 2010

First Freeze


OK....So it didn't get THIS cold....but we did have the first official freeze in Chenal Valley with a low of 28. Plenty of frost on the ground. The neighborhood slave labor force led by us spread a dump truck load of mulch in the front beds of Avignon.
We are still a foot behind in rainfall, only picking up an inch earlier in the week. November is in full swing with a return to normal time and wetter weather.
Stay warm and dry till next time.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

¿Winter?

I just don't like what I'm seeing here...I just don't like it at all. Being the contrian that I am, maybe this means a surprisingly cold and snowy winter.


We will just have to wait and see.
We did manage to get almost 2/3 od an inch of rain last Monday. It's still WAY too hot for this time of year. No sign of a frost on the horizon. We do have rain in the forecast for late in the weekend and into next week.
Other items to keep in mind.--- It's still hurricane season and Richard is still churning around near the Yucatan. With all the dry weather fire is a threat. Red Flag warning are up for today in parts of the state.
Finally, the earthquakes continue to rumble ever so slightly near Greenbrier. Most have been in the 2.0 to 2.6 range this week.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Strange Liquid from the Sky

What???? The sun disappeared...dark clouds moved in along with thunder and lightening...and then this strange wet stuff started falling out of the sky. I remember from the past that it is called -- Rain.



We did manage to get about three-tenths of an inch....and it is cooler--in the upper 60's. Maybe fall will arrive soon.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Whole lot a shakin goin on

What's next...locusts???? We have near drought conditions in central Arkansas....several wildfires have caused some evacuations....and now earthquakes. Don't be confused...we're not talking about the New Madrid fault. This one is less than 40 miles North of Mike's Weather World. In the past week we have had more than 50 small quakes near Guy, just outside of Greenbrier in Falulkner County. It's not that unusual....back in 1982 the nearby town of Enola experienced swarms of minor tremors for several months. But today's 4.0 was the biggest in a long time.



Now if we could just get some rain. It's been about a month.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Hello Again


I'm back and I'll try to stay more current with this blog. I have been very busy at work. Let's talk weather records for a moment. Saturday marked another record, actually two records. We set a daily record high with 92 degrees. In addition, it marked the 116th day this year with a high of 90 degrees or higher. That breaks the old record set in 1995 and 1954. We have had a couple of cool spells. In Fact Mike's Weather World hit 39 last Tuesday morning. The big news is the draught. We haven't had a significant rain since the 11th of September. We are still a ways away from a record. That stands at 39 consecutive days without a drop. Ironic that last year was the wettest ever with more than 80 inches, and now we are moving into drought conditions.
A couple of my faithful readers have commented to me in the past few days that I haven't updated my blog in a long time....so I will try to do better.
One other note. Since Thursday more than 20 small earthquakes have been reported about 40 miles north of here. Most have been around 2.0......but on did register 3.0. Something to watch.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Fall Arrives this week...At least on the Calender

Remember when we used to see clouds like this???? Can't remember actually. Unseasonably hot weather continues with very very little rain. El Dorado hit 99 one day last week and we topped 97. At least the nights are getting longer and overnight lows are touching the 60's. Maybe we will see a break before long. Even the hurricanes are staying way to our south or east.

Monday, September 6, 2010

A Cool Labor Day...And Maybe Some Rain

Topical Storm Hermine has formed in the western Gulf of Mexico and is headed for south Texas. This storm will bring much needed rain to Texas and since it is moving west of us it should increase our chances for rain this week.


No complaints about the Labor Day weekend. It's been dry and cool. For the first time since I don't know when the lows were in the 50s. Highs topped in the 80s. Not a cloud in the sky. Back to work tomorrow.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Nothing New

Too hot to write.....Heat Wave continues.....Fall seems months away.....maybe I'll retire in Alaska.


We did have a nice thunderstorm Thursday afternoon that brought us 2.15 inches of rain. We had a sprinkle yesterday afternoon along with thunder and clouds....that kept the temperature in the upper 70's for awhile. Not much of a chance of rain at all for the next week.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Waiting for Relief


I thought we could wait out this heat wave....but I'm not sure. Abandon hope ye who enter the mid-south. Someone told me the other day that they were getting used to the 100 degree days. Not me. It did rain here yesterday.....two one-hundredths of an inch. Temp dropped from 100 to 98 and then back to 100.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Full Bread Dog


Before I get to the weather just a side note on Weasley. A couple of weeks ago the Wease made his semi-annual visit to the vet. The fat boy tipped the scales at a record 51 pounds. So, it was suggested he be put on a diet --- A cup and a half of food rather than two cups. This has not gone over very well. He wolfs down his food quickly and then stands at the pantry door wanting more. He begs more than usual. He has been getting into everything looking for a snack. He has also improved his leaping ability. Twice in the past two weeks he has managed to lunge to the middle of the counter and snatch a full loaf of bread. He carefully pulls off the twisty tie and proceeds to devour the entire loaf. Following the latest attack Weasley was obviously miserable with a bloated belly. No begging for the rest of that day.
Let's talk weather. 13 days so far this Summer with 100 degrees or higher. It's been worse:
1954 43 days
1980 42 days
So I guess it could be worse. By the way....all-time high for Little Rock was 112 set on July 31st 1986. The Weather Service Office in North Little Rock recorded 111 on August 30th, 2000.
What will Winter bring.....right now they say warm and dry.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

It's Too Damn Hot


Oh Boy.......another hot day with several more to come. We officially hit 102 yesterday and the same if forecast for the next several days. I guess the silver lining is that yesterday's high was 10 degrees shy of the all-time record high for Little Rock of 112 set on July 31, 1986. I remember that day well. I also remember the summer of 1980 when we had highs of 100 or more for 43 days. You know it's going to be a scorcher when you get up in the morning and the low was only 80.
The worst part of this is that there is no real relief in sight. Keep an eye on the tropics and maybe something will pop up.
Wish I was still in Colorado.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Long Journey Ends


We just couldn't stand another day of the hot, humid weather of Arkansas....so we packed up and headed in search of cooler climes.
In a nutshell.....Santa Fe was OK for one day.... Spectacular enchanted loop near Taos...A wonderful step back in time aboard the Durango and Santa Fe Narrow Gage....a puckering drive over the million dollar highway.....Aspen--nothing special.....Steamboat as grand as always....mountain hiking - we're too old....and fly fishing - a new hobby.
Looks like we had about 2 3/4 inches of rain during the week or so that we were gone. Weasley spent time at the Chenal Pet Palace while we ate a great meal at a restaurant at the Palace Hotel. Can't say it's good to be back....but we are back.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

The 4th

Happy 4th of July. It's not expected to be as hot this weekend...but it's still too hot for me.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Hot!!!

Way to tease us.......lots of thunder.....so much lightning.....and NO rain. Now the hot weather will really set in. Look for highs this week in the upper 90's to near 100. If we reach the century mark it will be the first triple-digit temp since the summer of 08.

And don't you just love it......Somebody got their life back.


Try too stay cool. By the way we can thank Laura for the lightning pics.

Friday, June 11, 2010

100 Year Flood

A Blackhawk helicopter searches for survivors and victims of Friday morning's disastrous flood in southern Montgomery County along the Little Missouri and Caddo Rivers. The last official count I saw was 16 dead and dozens missing. It may take a few days to get a accurate tally. Six or Seven inches of rain fell in just a few hours time inundating the remote Albert Pike campground in the Ouachita National Forest.
This shot shows the devastation caused by the powerful flood waters.
Here is the USGS site for a river gauge at Langley just down stream from the campground. Notice how the water rose from 3 feet to 23 feet in such a short period of time.
First time in weeks that the national news has led with something other than the Gulf oil spill.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Several things

First, I noticed that it was -3 this morning in Canberra (that's about 28)...but then found out Claire is back in the Sidney area for her final exam. Then she is off to the Great Barrier Reef area where it apparently is always warm. I think she will then be ready to return to the states and prepare for her Harry Potter World experience with Laura.

Thanks Kelly for this info on solar activity. This is something we will have to discuss more in the weeks ahead.

Rain in the forecast for us....1 to 3 inches thru tomorrow. I'll take all the rain I can this Summer.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Dust

I just happened to be surfing this afternoon and came across a couple of interesting satellite photos. This one is from May 27th and clearly shows dust flying off the desert in Egypt and circling over the Mediterranean Sea
Two days later you can see on this composite that dust traveled all the way across the Atlantic and brushed along the coast of South America.
No dust here...yet...but plenty of hot weather. I agree with Pam that it is going to be a long - hot - Summer. Time for a refreshing trip to the beach. I hear there are a lot of values along the Redneck Rivera.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Summer gets underway

Today - May 31st - is the anniversary of the worst flood in the history of the United States killing more than 2200 people in Johnstown, PA. Other floods covered larger areas like the 1937 floods on the Mississippi which killed 1100 and left 600,000 homeless. And of course many hurricanes over the years have caused extensive flooding.


Speaking of hurricanes....the Atlantic season officially begins tomorrow, June 1st. Accuweather has a good page for following this year's storms.


Memorial Day was very warm and muggy. We had various spells of thunder and some rain. More storms my pop up later in the week.


Take note of the pic below. I stole this one from Claire's Twitter. This photo was from Hobart, Tasmania where she also got the chance of view Tasmanian Devils. She showed us on of those pics this morning while Skyping from Melbourne.

Want to bet who would win a fight between this guy and Weasley????

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

More rain...here and there

We had a nice severe thunderstorm late Tuesday afternoon with small hail, close lightning, and just over two inches of rain. That means no watering again for a few days. I think I've only run the sprinkler three times this year. Let's hope for another cool and wet Summer. The past few days have been extremely humid. I'm almost ready for Fall.


Speaking of rain.....word from down under is rain, rain and more rain. Claire did manage to get out of the rain and Skype with us yesterday. Last I heard she was headed for the nearby Blue Mountains. She flies to Tasmania this weekend. Here's the link to the official sight for the Bureau of Meteorology.


Lot's of TV shows coming to an end. Law and Order went out with a whimper Monday night after 20 years. I'll miss that one. 24 finished it 8th and final day.......but don't tell me how it ended.....I might not get to watch it till the weekend.


Oh yeah...the photo above was tweeted from Manly Walk near Sidney. You can see the city in the background.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Back with you

Don't you just hate elections. I was so glad when last Tuesday rolled around and it would be safe to answer the phone again. Something has to be done about the robo dialers used by candidates. I bet we averaged 7 to 8 a day during the primary campaign. The runoff in the Democratic Senate race will probably bring a return of the auto calls. We even got calls from Clinton and Obama. Nothing quite like getting home from work and asking if anyone called...and the answer is "Barack called for you". November is still a long way off....but look for lots of turnover.

One child is airborne right now on her way to Australia. My next update will take a look at weather down under.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Tornado Season

A sure sign that Spring is in full swing....killer tornadoes over the weekend in Mississippi and the return of the hummingbirds to Chenal. We lucked out here with no severe storms. We did get 1.75 inches of rain which washed the rest of the pollen out of the trees.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Beware of the Ash Clouds

Amazing...absolutely amazing. It's been a long time (if ever) that an volcanic ash cloud has caused so much disruption. Thousands of flights have been cancelled across Europe and between here and there. Here's a link to a story at Accuweather that shows the ash will be around for awhile.

I don't know if it is enough ash or the right chemical mixture to have an impact on temperatures. We'll look into that on a later posting. Let's hope for more global cooling. Nothing pleases me more than for Jack Frost to be nipping at Al Gore's butt.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

AaaaChooo


I enjoy the temperatures in Spring, but boy do I hate the pollen. Earlier in the week the pollen count here peaked at a nine year high. Everyone I've talked to has complained and complained about how bad their allergies are this year. Accuweather has information on why. I know personally that I had a continuous headache last weekend and the first of the week. After Wednesday's rain the headache went away. With mostly dry weather forecast for the next few days I'm afraid the symptoms will return. Even Zyrtec didn't help. The Weather Channel also has some good information on our local pollen situation.
The best news so far this Spring is the lack of severe weather in the region. But...it's still early.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Spring

I know, real creative. Not much going on right now in the weather as we move into Springs. I'm still getting adjusted to daylight savings time. What a stupid idea to move it up to March. Hopefully we will see days like above for the next couple of weeks.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Surprise for Dallas

Pam woke to a surprising 5 inches of snow this morning. You can check her blog site for more photos.

Word from John is 9 to 10 inches in parts of Fayetteville with snow still falling. He'll be sending photos later.

Very interesting storm with snow falling from Northwest Arkansas all the way down the western edge of the state to Texarkana.....but nothing east of that. Even Harrison is getting just rain this morning. If you look at the radar you can see the very distinct comma of the wrap-around snow.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Return to Winter

I know we won't see anything like this shot on my drive home last month.....but some area may see Winter weather on more time this season. As of Friday night the NWS is hedging their bet for central Arkansas and just mentioning a turnover to snow Sunday night. Extreme northwest Arkansas (Benton County) could see 5 or 6 inches.....Fayetteville 1 to 2 inches. Pam is forecasting maybe a half inch tomorrow evening. We'll watch for photos. Kelly looks clear at this time with just a cold rain. Springs storms like this are very hard to predict. A slight movement to the north or the south can mean rain only to heavy snow. The calender says Spring, so I'm ready for warmth.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A Variety of Weather

We've had a variety of weather since my last posting. Top of the list was the outbreak of tornadoes Thursday evening. Above is a photo of the tornado that moved thru Saline County. As that storm moved into Pulaski County the funnel lifted back up into the clouds and sailed well above Chenal Valley. We did get a bit of hail in some areas. I knew there was a slight chance of severe weather, but no one expected a handful of damaging tornadoes. Here's a link to the NWS's recap.



On another topic have you taken a look at the newly improved Accuweather site. I especially like the way you can see the month at a glance showing what has been and what is forecast for the next 15 days. I expect we will be in for a good deal of severe weather this spring. The experts are also predicting a rough hurricane season.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Ready for Spring

You know I love snow as much more than most people....but I am also a man for all seasons. March is here and after the cold, cold Winter I now ready for Spring. Of course, with Spring comes severe weather. I'm not sure if there is a correlation between severe storms and El Nino.


Winter is still trying to hang on. There were flurries in the state this morning and north Alabama and Georgia were getting snow this afternoon.


I've been very busy but will try to post again when I can.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

A Taste Of Spring

The past few days have given us a taste of early Spring. Temps up in the low 60s are teasing us for what's to come. We will shift back to below normal weather this week. The slight chances of snow will move south of us Tuesday with Pam and Kelly possible seeing a flake or two.


Time for an earthquake update. Here's the link to the USGS site. The map below shows that we've had some clusters north of Little Rock in the past week. When you go to the USGS site you can zoom in and get details.


The outbreak up north of hear is reminding me of the Enola swarm back in the early 80s. More on that and other Arkansas earthquakes at this site.







Sunday, February 14, 2010

Arctic Oscillation

We all know about El Nino....but combine that with what's called Arctic Oscillation and you get the kind of winter we're having. Here's a link to Accuweather's Joe Lundberg's blog. In that blog he has a link to some Arctic Oscillation charts and forecasts. As CCR said: "Looks like we're in for nasty weather".


Even as of this posting it's in the upper 40's at Mike Weather World....but cold air is moving in more rapidly than forecast and I would not be surprised to see a few flakes of snow by dark. East and Southeast Arkansas might get up to an inch. Another storm is brewing for late in the week, but too soon to pinpoint how cold and what type of precip.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Snow In All 50 States

Thank to Claire for reminding me that today in one of those rare days in weather history in this country. Snow is on the ground in all 50 states. Here is a storm report from the NWS in Mobile that covers NW Florida. When you go to it just scroll down and you'll find some storm reports of snow in FL. I remember this happening back one time in the late 70's when we had three bad winters in a row.


Below is a photo from Kelly. I also borrowed her photo for the top of the blog. She reported 2.25 inches of snow.


Pam was the winner in this storm. DFW airport got over a foot of snow breaking 24 hour snowfall records. Pam ended up with some 6 to 8 inches of snow in her yard.
We drew a blank this time. Didn't even see a flake. We do still have 2 to 3 on the ground on northern exposures. I heard one of the idiots on TV this morning read a question from a viewer wondering if this was the most snow Little Rock had seen ever.......Not even close. When I have some time I will dig out some weather records for a few places in Arkansas. Just a few days before Claire was born we had a foot of snow. Still, It has been a decent winter so far. More rain and snow in the forecast for Sunday.





Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wow ! ... What a Winter

This is what 40 inches of snow looks like. This is our Cousin's house in northern Delaware close to the PA state line. They had 30 inches over the weekend...6 more overnight...and even more during the day. As you all know I am a BIG lover of snow - but even this is too much for me. Apparently this storm was the straw that broke the camel's back. Notice the photo above taken from the street (I think it's a street) there is a For Sale sign. There's moving to Texas where not everything is always bigger, just better.
Looking at Ben and Terry's pictures I'm almost ashamed to publish this shot of the back of our house from yesterday. Just 4 inches.

A very interesting result from this storm. As I told you in an earlier post we had about 5 inches when it turned to heavy rain. When the precip stopped and the wind picked up and dropped temperatures well below freezing the pine trees bent over and developed icicles. Here's a couple of pics and you can notice they look like claws coming out of the end of the limbs. Some were up to a foot long. It doesn't take much to entertain me!






More snow is in the forecast. Most should fall south of us. The say we may see an inch or so, but time will tell. This next system will probably bring a couple of inches to Pam and Kelly. I'm sure they will let me know.
One final thought....does anyone know where Al Gore is? Maybe he's hibernating somewhere waiting for all this global warming to melt.