Pellice

Not for me. Interesting that there is such variability in human physiology. I spend winters - and particularly this winter - with a very dry and stuffed up and sometimes burning nose. Humidity clears that right up, and humidity plus heat equals my easiest breathing. No way I could stand a desert climate except for visits. Bring on the rainforest! (But I think I am in the minority).

Hard ice glaze from freezing rain on top of maybe an inch and a half of sleet. Maybe the first time I would not have the strength to clear my walkout and car to move it for parking spot clearing. Salting would not help at this depth without some rising temperatures and melting and maybe sun. Nobody going anywhere in this development until that happens.

My recollection is that the guy who "owned" the site got mad about something and took it down suddenly. I remember pleas made to him to let the writers to offload it to someone else or at least download their own data and maps, and one who was friendly with the owner volunteered to approach him personally to beg for a reprieve, which I believe was granted. He would not permit the site itself to change hands. Again if I remember correctly, he left the site up long enough for a new site to be set up and announced. You didn't transfer, you had to sign up for the new site. *Some* of Eastern is still available on the Wayback machine, although I don't entirely understand how to navigate that site. The topmost referenced site under it led to an Indonesian wagering site. But somewhere I was able to pull up some old postings. Plus ça change ... capes Apr 23 2006, 10:03 PM Received a grand total of 3 inches for the event, and with tonights pulsing storms maybe will add a bit more. We desperately needed the rain, I just wish it did not come in a deluge. Not good for the grass seed I planted last week. Hard to believe there are some in here whining about a bust just because the QPF did not come out perfect. Some need to quit model hugging and learn not to take the maps literally. Both the GFS and NAM were pretty good at depicting the slow progression east of the closed low and the rich feed of moisture up the coast. BTW, I thought Mount Holly did an excellent job forecasting this event. Of course, they usually do.

I am watching my development's maintenance crews struggle to clear sidewalks. Snowblowers apparently are not working on this slushy muck, and they are working in pairs with shovels - slowly. They are having to plunge the shovels down and really scrape. And it's getting more difficult as temperatures fall. I think there is a good chance tomorrow that many cars will be iced in by piles left by plows that will be very hard to clear. Because it's night, not many will have done clearing in stages as is normally the case.

I am horrified at the destruction. If California comes out of this without fatalities, it will be a credit to the state and first responders. As for controlling the weather, so far we find ourselves trying to UNDO the effects of our influence on the weather. Climate change is having unforseeen consequences that include large-scale destructive events. Desertification by cutting down forests - and the destruction of Amazonia is affecting the weather as well. I await with fear the waging of war by weather (which will follow the paths of waging war by damming rivers, plowing salt into the soil, setting fires. We do not have the wisdom and the foresight, at least yet to, "control" the weather.

Regarding that February storm last year, had a report on one of the bird alerts that the very northern tip of Sandy Hook, NJ, had a foot of snow while the south end (5 miles south) had much less.

Does our drought pattern appear to be broken or fading? Not the drought itself, but the dry pattern?

Depends on the crop. Nothing will germinate now because of the sun angle, but fall and winter crops will continue to grow, though very slowly, throughout winter. We are now at hardiness zone 7 here in central NJ, but it changes quickly to 6b and 6a as one moves farther north. Here in NJ, spinach, upland cress, most lettuces, and crucifer greens will produce all winter, except in long temperature streaks in the teens and below, and can be harvested by taking outer leaves as they grow. In NY, similar but with reduced variety. And one crop, lambs quarters (goosefoot), a mild, sweet green, will grow much further north in much colder weather. And a determined gardener can make things happen almost anywhere, with a lengthy sun exposure, heat retaining elements (like brick, or crop covers, or plastic enclosures), and protection, even an old sheet, during freezes

Yes, it's the dryness, but it's also the constant cloudless skies. I could never, never live out west. I like brilliant blue skies and sunshine, but, day after day in a semi-desert presents no variety. I also like clouds. I like rain. Too much of any of these begins to get to me. Can we please have our varied weather and changeful skies back? And some rain. You can keep San Diego.

Question on upcoming drop in temperatures on Thursday. With such a dramatic drop from the Wednesday high, why aren't we getting a front from the NW? Particularly with a round of storms preceding it? It looks as though it will be coming from the NE to E. Are fronts dropping from the NE more likely at this time of year?

Not everyone hates humidity. Yes, 90+ humidity is unsuited for much except lemonade or cold beer, a chaise lounge, and a magazine, but it's 76F with 100% humidity, which feels SO GOOD to me. Joints fully mobilized, dry nose cured, and feeling like a cool princess. (with the acknowledgement that the majority here likes it at 65F with a cold, dry airmass).

This is almost a copy of the previous cell.

Should be storming there right now. Not far from you and getting a shower with huge drops.

This guy was in Long Island over last weekend. It will be interesting to see what the NY Rare Birds Committee decides - whether it will be accepted into the state records or not. Flamingoes do not wander like roseate spoonbills do, and it isn't the right time of the year for "post-breeding dispersal." I can't think of any storm with strong enough south winds last week to carry it northwards. The Committee will consider the winds, prior sightings of flamingoes, whether the bird is banded (though some wild Florida birds are also banded), whether any collections have reported one missing, etc. Very exciting!

The Washington Post has produced an interesting article on the increase in winter temperatures that includes an eye-catching map and listings of temperature increases per decade since 1980 for individual cities. Winter is warming almost everywhere. See how it’s changed in your town The Post is behind a paywall, but I think the first few articles are free. The author even gives a detailed account of his methodology which would be of interest to data nerds here. New Brunswick, NJ, has increased nearly 1 degree F per decade, 0.93 F.

I have a question about last Saturday's snow. It was very light and fluffy, but it also seemed to have very high water content, melting immediately if I even lightly touched it. Not sure I could have even gathered it into a snowball before melting. I thought those qualities - the lightness/fluffiness and the high water content - were incompatible, that wet snow was always heavy snow, but clearly that isn't the case. Is this type of snow rare, or was my impression incorrect?

A 2023 book, "The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial," by David Lipsky goes into this exact subject in detail.

It's not just activists vs. "rational people." Many scientists and organizations are working hard to try to mitigate and meld new technologies to lessen and perhaps improve their effects on the life of this planet. For example, the Nature Conservancy and American Bird Conservancy have developed maps for siting wind turbines where they will least effect the migratory corridors of birds and other species. A widening "lights out" campaign is attempting to get bright urban areas to turn down lights on nights of predicted high bird migration. New glass formulations can reduce collisions. All of these cost extra money. Will it be spent

Idly websurfing and came across this site: https://adventuregearinsider.com/snow-gods-and-goddesses-of-winter/ Ullr (who is already known to AMWX, particularly the NE forum, where sacrifices have already been suggested). "A product of Norse mythology, Ullr is known as the God of Snow, Patron Saint of Skiers, the son of Sif and stepson of Thor, the God of Thunder. Cold-loving, bow-wielding Ullr (pronounced Oool-er) is said to be an expert skater, skier and hunter who would glide around the world and cover the land with snow." Khione Khione or Chione was the daughter of Boreas (the god of the north wind) and Oreithyia, the lady of mountain gales. Not much is said of Khione except that she was one of the consorts or mistresses of Poseidon. She lives a lonely life in the mountain tops and has been known to turn people into ice sculptures from time to time. Definitely not a god you want to anger while out on the slopes. From the Orthodox tradition, a patron saint: "Tradition states, the day of St. Dimitar feast (Oct. 26) is said to be the day when the weather breaks and winter begins. According to traditional belief on this day the skies open up, after which we can expect the first snow. Dimitar is the patron saint of winter, cold and snow." However, as you can imagine, there are more saints to pray to for deliverance from winter.

Last night, October 12-13, turned out to be by far the biggest night of bird migration this fall. (Most landbirds migrate at night). Weather conditions - clear sky, light northwest winds, were ideal. Cornell University's Birdcast estimated about 17 million birds crossed New Jersey during the night (alas, that doesn't mean they all land here). The UCAR radar site shows the overnight migration clearly. The first wave of our summer resident birds going south has already passed; these new birds are mostly our winter residents from the north - white-throated sparrows, juncos, yellow-rumped warblers. I saw my first string of migrating wild geese. It's been a fairly good fall migration, enough frontal passages reaching the coast to bring some waves of birds with them. That doesn't always happen, too often there are persistant east-northeast winds.

Aftermaths of hurricanes and tropical storms are intensely followed (literally) by birders checking for seabirds and tropical species somehow displaced by the storms. But flamingoes after Idalia! That was a new one! https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/03/flamingos-all-over-east-coast-post-idalia/70738375007/ gave some anecdotes from stunned birders, and Cornell University's Ornithology Lab had a more technical take on it: https://birdcast.info/news/in-the-pink-american-flamingo-madness-in-late-summer-2023/ Flamingoes are rare and difficult to see even in southernmost Florida, and not typically one of the displaced species. Much speculation about this widespread fallout to come.

Third season gardening. This upcoming hot week hurried me to get seeds in the ground for fall lettuces, spinach, and other greens, plus radishes and sweet turnips. Some I planted last week have sprouted nicely. Barring an early September frost (I remember September 9 one year!) I will have good pickings until December for these, and throughout winter, for a few things like the spinach, upland cress, and (especially) mache lettuce, aka corn salad, which grows all winter and is not one of the bitter greens, but a mild, pleasant, though small-leafed, green. I am trying a couple of varieties of truly cold-weather lettuces this year, from Germany and Austria, according to the seed companies. I have too much shade in my plot to grow a lot of the standard summer vegetables, though cherry tomatoes, pole beans, and cucumbers don't need too much. But in winter, with leaves gone and the sun at a low angle providing a lot of hours on my SE facing garden, there's a lot one can do to prolong the season. It's fun to try various things.

Was just out in the garden for an hour with the accompaniment of near constant thundering - but barely audible. It was at the lowest level of my awareness. At times I thought I was hearing airplanes. Is there some mechanism where a number of different, distant storms can produce this effect (nonstop barely audible thundering), or is a single storm cell capable of generating constant thunder for a long time? There certainly ought to be some Germanic term for this effect! I looked up "growling thunder" in German, which is "grollender Donner," which does give a good impression of the sound.

Yesterday, May 13, was NJ's World Series of Birding, held annually on the second Saturday in May (and now part of a larger "Big Day" of birding observed globally. It was the 40th anniversary of the event, which was begun around the peak of spring bird migration and involves counting every species seen. The total in NJ routinely goes over 200 species. As you can imagine, the event is HEAVILY influenced by weather, and yesterday saw the first good weather system in five years. (2020 saw snow in some areas!) Ideal is overnight southwesterly winds, since most songbirds migrate at night, with a light rain shower right at dawn to bring them down. Warm fronts from the southwest in spring have been very scarce these last years, but this stretch around May 5 has produced in northern Jersey! And more migration weather to come this week!

I was reading a cooking newsletter this morning that featured extracts from Frances Trollope (mother of novelist Anthony Trollope) about her observations on American cooking and dining habits in the late 1820s. It contained a passage about American sleigh-riding, which I thought might interest the snow-lovers in this forum: And I wondered, first, whether any of you have ever experienced an actual horse-drawn sleigh ride, and second, how deep, and what kind, of snow would be required to support a sleigh and horses.