Stormfly

I'm very fortunate I did not get stung. I was greeted by some not so friendly European hornets yesterday while up on my roof. Appears they are in the fireplace flue (we have a pellet stove insert) and found a way to get under the cap and build a nest in a quite voluminous cavity well shielded from outside as they like to do. They key here when encountering scouts is to remain calm and walk away. Especially on a roof! They usually don't get super aggressive unless you're on top of their nest and they feel threatened. This is one reason I don't like dealing with rotted out dead trees. Bad enough dealing with felling and compromised fibers. But nothing gets them coming at you full bore attack mode like a big bore ported power saw that probably feels like a huge earthquake to them! This time of the year nests are really large and can have 1000 (or more) adults ready to sting, squirt venom and bite you! (yes they have super big mandibles and will bite HARD if you handle them) That said, I was working on our east tower, over 50' from the chimney and every time I fired up my Milwaukee impact driver I was greeted by a curious fellow circling around, buzzing nearby. They really do like to annoy (people) like that almost like they're provoking a fight, looking for a reason to summon the Calvary on me which indeed would really piss me off! I don't have a bee suit so I'm leaving them alone and will postpone my work until we have a frost and the queen vacates the nest. Better for me and better for them.

This is exactly why one should never walk in a (severely) flooded basement! It can be said that noises of stress - creaks/groans/moans et-al are cue to haul ass (indeed they are!) but in many cases when you're dealing with tremendous hydrostatic pressure across a large wall below grade it sneaks up so fast you don't have much choice and when it fails one finds themself in a situation that can cost them their life. Not to mention other hazards (natural gas leaks, live electrical circuits to name a few).

I'm sure the thickness of the ice was no problem! I remember helping my grandfather break ice around the pilings on his wharf on Stoney Creek well into April and the ice was still 4" thick! Incredible! I also remember hearing what sounded like thunder as far away as Parkville - outside of the beltway and it was told it was essentially calving! I'm OK with change as in getting colder and LOVE cold as I get older BUT it gets expensive keeping the abode warm too! May have to put in another wood stove and increase the size of the woodpile!

Like the winter of '77 when people were driving their cars on the ice @the inner harbor! YIKE! Cold but no snow. YUCK!

Guilty on both accounts. Relief from constipation is when the floodgates open!

64F with wonderful breeze, anemometer on tower in field recording 34mph peaks. Sounds wonderful having the windows open feeling the breeze, hearing the wind chimes. It's like being constipated for a week and all in a sudden you hear Wagner's Ride of The Valkyries playing on an organ!

It's OK, he actually held his phone in the proper orientation so forgiven!

Nice soaking rain, a few rumbles of thunder. Pretty meh here so far.

This how we do severe in MD. Build up to a huge climax, wind up with drizzle and barely enough breeze to move some leaves off the walkway.

I agree and biggest thing is remove inclement weather "make up" days. Especially now, those can be done virtually.

Meteorological.

What happened to school starting AFTER labor day in MD? If they kept to that schedule this nonsense wouldn't happen. And schools without working AC? Yuck! Granted when we were in school none of the buildings had AC but that was back when we had to walk through a foot of snow to school both ways, uphill.

Speaking of loud, once the cicadas are done the katydids come into full swing. They are numerous and LOUD too! When we did into the lower 50s by Friday they will definitely slow down. This reminds of the transistion with woodpeckers and songbirds of day going into night. Very peaceful!

It really doesn't matter where a hurricane hits. Check your homeowner insurance bills. They will always go up regardless if you've never filed a claim. Look what happened in 2004 and 2005. So much widespread damage and building replacement needed created a global drywall shortage resulting in suppliers getting it from China. And talk about a disaster that was!

Hopefully everyone has ensured their gutters are debris free and the downspouts are free of obstruction. A few minutes of Niagara Falls off the edge is one thing during a gully washer type thunderstorm but persistent training and torrential downpours lasting hours can put a lot of water where you don't need or want it!

The last few nights they have been louder than Brood X at peak here! Usually you can hear individuals. This year it's a constant raucous, quite annoying actually. Annuals and dusk singers have arrived over a week earlier this year as well. Firefly season is over too.

Careful what you wish for. Usually with weather when something you want is coming, it's so much you're crying uncle not long after it started. Pretty much the opposite of money.

Good! Don't need any more rain here. Save the precip for where it counts. (this winter)

Raining kittens and puppies now according to the showerhead on a pole thingy.

I lost all respect for their reporting after they were busted in NJ during Sandy. Someone recorded them and put what you saw if you were there and what was on TWC for viewers side by side. TWC viewers saw a reporter getting pelted by sand tossed by (alleged) 70mph gusts. What (viewers) did NOT see were people out of frame bent over using their hands between their legs like a big ass dog picking up sand and tossing it so the wind picked it up making it look a LOT worse than it was. Then a few years later (Mathew IIRC) the reporter that can barely walk in such treacherous winds [sic] but they forgot about the happy dog owner walking in the background with no difficulty whatsoever, barely TS conditions! Let's face it, their viewership has tanked due to internet, apps, et al. So they have to sensationalize. After all, it's rather boring. Jim Cantore's THUNDERSNOW reaction videos, OTOH, are priceless! And yes, RIP John Hope. He was the voice of authority when it came to tropical. And apologies in advance if this was posted in the Ida thread... This is what 100+ mph winds look like for real!

The camera is probably OK, either the radio signal is too weak or the cell it was connected to lost its backhaul (no data).

I was on a tower using an impact driver and the noise must have attracted them because one landed on my arm and started its woooo-ah noise which was cool but what wasn't cool was the vibrating sensation felt like I was touching or very close to a live RF feed which was quite uncomforting to say the least! A quick shake of my arm and she flew off but still... On the road I'd say the consumption of windscreen washer fluid easily equaled mid winter where the roads are wet from melting snow and the brine mix dries a white film making it hard to see against headlights at night. Cicada juice needs to be removed quickly or it persists through even aggressive scrubs using those filling station wands which are often on hiatus in covid land.

Last time I checked we all live here... Maximum distance from the sun: 94 Million 537 thousand miles Minimum distance from the sun: 91 million 377 thousand miles Mean distance from the sun: 92 million 957 thousand and 200 miles Mean orbital velocity: 66000 miles per hour 0rbital eccentricity: 0.017 Obliquity of the ecliptic: 23 degrees 27 minutes 8.26 seconds Length of the tropical year: equinox equinox 365.24 days Length of the sidereal year: fixed star fixed star 365.26 days Length of the mean solar day: 24 hours and 3 minutes and 56.5555 seconds at mean solar time Length of the mean sidereal day: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds at mean sidereal time Mass: 6600 million million million tons Equatorial diameter: 7927 miles Polar diameter: 7900 miles Oblateness: one 298th Density: 5.41 Mean surface gravitational acceleration of the Rotating earth: 32.174 feet per second per second Escape velocity: 7 miles per second Albedo: 0.39

The same could be said about boats, cars and other inanimate objects. But in that case it's ALWAYS a SHE. And too, SHE canes statistically produce the most damage! Also it seems that these (storms) (nearly) ALWAYS make landfall when it's dark!

Yes it was salmon pink here for about 3 minutes and now it's pouring again!