We had rainy weather and only 46 °F (8 °C) today, but the blossoms that have arrived with spring, are beautiful.
Sunday/ very big, very pink
Tuesday/ stop with the ‘springing forward’
So on Tuesday, with almost no warning and no debate, the Senate unanimously passed legislation to do away with the biannual springing forward and falling back that most Americans have come to despise, in favor of making daylight saving time permanent. The bill’s fate in the House was not immediately clear, but if the legislation were to pass there and be signed by President Biden, it would take effect in November 2023.
– From the New York Times
Most Americans (not residents of Hawaii and Arizona) lost an hour of sleep on Saturday night due to the adjustment to Daylight Saving Time. I have several clocks in the house that have to be adjusted manually. Every time I adjusted a clock, I thought: ‘This is stupid’. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Wednesday/ early bird
Mr Robin was undeterred by the cold —foraging for worms and hopping onto the fence as I walked by.
Happy Twosday
Today is two-twenty-two-twenty-twenty-two. 🤗
There was a frosting of snow on the ground here in the city this morning.
Temperatures will dip down to twenty-two °F (-6 °C) overnight.
Sunday/ gray skies
Here’s the view of Interstate 5 and the city skyline from Melrose Ave and Thomas St tonight.
Friday/ winter is not over yet
There will be rain tomorrow, snow in the mountains, and freezing temperatures next week.
[Cartoon from Look magazine, 1954]
Monday/ a little rain
It’s been a ‘dry’ February so far, here in the city.
Only ¼ in. has been recorded, and February gets almost 4 on average.
There was a little rain today— of the kind that does not make the ground wet under the big trees.
Saturday/ foggy & forty-four
ACT I SCENE I A desert place.
[Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches]
First Witch: When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch: When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
Third Witch: That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch: Where the place?
Second Witch: Upon the heath.
Third Witch: There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch: I come, graymalkin*!
Second Witch: Paddock* calls.
Third Witch: Anon!
All: Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
[Exeunt]
From ‘Macbeth’ (1606) by William Shakespeare
*Graymalkin is an affectionate name for a gray cat. During the Renaissance it was believed that Satan sent witches malicious spirits to help them carry out their evil deeds. These ‘familiars’ or ‘imps’ would appear in animal form. The familiar of the First Witch takes the form of a cat and the familiar of the Second Witch takes the form of a paddock, a toad. The familiar of the Third Witch is not mentioned in the first act but later in the play, it takes the form of a harpy, a nasty creature in Greek mythology with the head and body of a woman and the talons of a bird. -information from Shakespeare Online.
For those in warmer climes, let me tell you: 44 °F (7 °C) feels positively balmy when you’ve recently felt the bite of 19 °F (minus 7 °C).
Fog is made of tiny condensed water droplets suspended in humid air that had been cooled to its dewpoint: the temperature at which it can no longer hold all of the water vapor it contains.
Sunday/ a soaking rain
We are out of the freezing temperatures, and it started to rain steadily this afternoon.
That should take care of the remaining snow & ice on the streets and on the sidewalks.
I am making my Sunday night grocery run, and there ‘s the Amazon Fresh store, on the left. I will make a left turn, park in the empty parking garage, and shop in the empty store. (All right, not completely empty. There will be 5 or 6 other people, besides me).
Thursday/ a little more snow
Early on Thursday there was a little more white powder on the ground, that had sifted down in the wee hours of the morning.
The good news is that on Saturday we will hit a high of 37°F (3°C), and on Sunday a ‘toasty’ 43°F (6°C). That should liquefy a lot of the crystalline H₂O on the ground and on the streets.
Monday/ it’s very chilly
Seattle had 6 in. (15.2 cm) of snow as the sun came up this morning, and that was it, for now.
The sun was out in full force this morning for an hour or so.
The snow on my roof melted and was quickly made into icicles.
The high for the day was only 25 °F (-4 °C).
Sunday/ a White Christmas– a day late
I measured 3.5 in (9 cm) of snow on the rail along the deck in my backyard at about 1 pm today.
We might get another 3 inches the next day or two, I think.
Nice to have a Jeep to drive in the snow. Uncle Ike’s pot shop is open, as is the Hopvine bar, which is where the two guys on the right were headed. I guess they wanted to get out of the house.
I spotted a snow plow truck last night, spewing salt onto some of the arterial roads to keep them clear as long as possible. I suspect that no longer works with 3+ inches of snow and freezing temperatures.
Friday/ frigid weather on the way
The forecasters say we will stay below freezing for a stretch of 3 or 4 days starting on Sunday— the coldest we have had in 10 years or so.
Volunteer Park and its greenhouse, around 3 pm on Friday afternoon.
Thursday/ snow in the forecast
We will not have a White Christmas* here in the city of Seattle.
It is almost certain that it will be a white Boxing Day, though.
(The day after Christmas, celebrated in Canada but not in the US).
*Defined as at least one inch of snow on the ground, at 4 am on Christmas Day.
[Webcam image from U.S. National Park Service].
Sunday/ total destruction
From the New York Times:
At least 90 people were killed by tornadoes across at least six states Friday night and early Saturday morning.
The tornadoes were part of a weather system that was wreaking havoc in many parts of the country and hit Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
In Kentucky, one tornado stayed on the ground for more than 200 miles.
[From the New York Times]
Saturday/ the days are short and wet
It has been a soggy, soggy rain season so far.
Since Oct. 1, some 15 in. of precipitation had been measured at Seattle-Tacoma Airport.
Average for this time of year is 9.37 in. and the record is 16.6 in.
Those time references are Zulu Time.
21Z = 1 pm Pacific Standard Time (PST);
06Z = 10 pm PST.
Would it not be simpler if the entire world switched to Zulu Time? Zulu Time was called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) before 1972: the time at the zero meridian in Greenwich, London. Today it is also called Coordinated Universal Time or Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).
[Graphic from NOAA Weather Prediction Center]
Monday/ the rain has stopped
The heavy rains of the last few days has stopped, but there is extensive flooding in Whatcom County (in the far northwest, against the Canadian border).
Interstate 5 is also closed overnight near Bellingham due to a mudslide.
Untitled picture of Hannegan Road, between Bellingham and Lynden (posted on the website of KGMI News). Looking at Google maps, I believe that the water is from Tenmile Creek nearby, that is flooding.
P.S. I’m not sure where this motorist is coming from, but it’s very dangerous to drive into or through running water, and even more so in the dark.
Friday/ the river in the sky
It has been a soggy week.
The rain gauge at Sea-Tac airport has already logged more than 5 inches of rain for the month of November.
There is a 12-hour break in the rain right now, but more on the way for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Most of the rivers here are under a flood watch until Tuesday afternoon.
*Precipitable water is the depth of water in a column of the atmosphere, available for precipitation. Tropical air masses hold a lot of PW.
[Text and graph posted by National Weather Service Seattle @NWSSeattle on Twitter]
Sunday/ a bomb cyclone
A very large ‘bomb cyclone’ storm system in the northeast Pacific Ocean generated an atmospheric river of rain that hit northern California today. Most of the West Coast had storm winds and rain as well.
There are reports of flooding and mudslides from California, but the good news is that the storm has brought the 2021 wildfire season to an end.
With those 30-50 ft swells, I hope there were no containerships in the area. One near Vancouver Island had lost 40 containers overboard, a day or two ago, even before the storm was around.
[Still from Accuweather video clip]
Sunday/ it feels like fall
It was only 56 °F (13 °C) when I went out for a walk at 6 pm today.
Still not scarf & glove weather, though. I’d say those are for 45°F (7°C) and below.
