vastateofmind

Post-frontal sunset over an hour ago....winds are definitely verifying the current advisory.

Surely you have an IPA...or two...to make it more bearable.

Went outside the normal Midland variety I've purchased in the past, and picked up the Reecom R-1630 -- I've never had issues with several Midland models, but I went with this model this time because 1) has three separate "sirens" for advisory/watches/warnings, AND, 2) after the initial siren for whichever alert has sounded, the initial announcement on wx radio will play through, and then the radio will resume its previous state at the conclusion of the alert announcement (e.g., in our case, it will turn off). That last is a REALLY nice feature....I think most of the Midland wx radios will continue to play for five additional minutes after an alert siren (regardless of announcement conclusion), and then turn off....which isn't bad, but sometimes I just want to hear the alert announcement and then want the radio to turn off. The Reecom did just that, and I'm pleased with it so far. Back to current events -- as @Kmlwx pointed out a short while ago, the southern end of this line may not pan out as watch-worthy, but it continues to look impressive for MoCo/HoCo. We've had some sunny breaks in the clouds over the past 1.5 hours here....we're currently at 73/59, and winds seemed to have already verified that Wind Advisory that wasn't due to go into effect for a few more hours....but we'll see.

Wondered how bad it got in your neck of the woods....I've heard Ballenger Creek mentioned numerous times over the past hour.

It did indeed. Happy (?) to report my new SAME-equipped wx radio did its thing and alerted to the new severe t-storm watch just issued for immediate metro area. Guess I got that FfxCo SAME code programmed in correctly.

I mean, good to see you driving and all, but how about some shots of the car's exterior, too? It's been many years since I let my Motor Trend and Car & Driver subscriptions lapse....and I haven't seen some "hot" car pics in many years.

This will sound pretty selfish, but I replaced a very old SAME-equipped weather radio this past week with a newer unit, and I'm somewhat hoping we're issued some sort of watch this afternoon, if only to test its performance in a "real-world" situation. It did fine this past Wednesday during the regular weekly NWS test...but I'd like to know how loud we need to keep it for watches/warnings, to ensure it alerts us at night while we're sleeping (if necessary).

As with @CAPE, currently 73 here and it's become fairly breezy. We had a few breaks of sun through the overcast over the past 1.5 hours, but temps haven't recovered any higher than low 70s. Some convection seems to be getting its act together to the west of us...

Yeah, I'm wondering -- about 63 here now, humid out, still full overcast. Hopefully some of those breaks in the sat pic you just posted make it this way. Quick aside question -- finally purchased Radarscope on Friday. Toying with upgrading to the annual subscription for Pro Tier 1, if only for that dual screen display for some hyper-local tracking. I'm probably not enough of hobbyist to justify annual cost of Pro Tier 2. Anyone here do the single or double upgrade to PT1/PT2?

Heard first rumble of thunder of the spring season at 8:36 a.m. this morning. Woke me up (of course). Currently 56 w/ some drizzle.

So, Mrs. V and I went on a brewery crawl in Sterling, VA today to take advantage of the warm weather....despite our backyard grass being about 4" high right now. And now I'll regret not mowing it today, as forecast NOW calls for rain most of day tomorrow. Oh well, at least we got to try a number of new breweries in person, even though our grass and weeds are going into overdrive.

Is that a firepit area in your yard? If so...really, really nice. Also, where is your wetland in relation to what we're looking at here?

Dear LORD....the chickweed around here is acting like bamboo this season. Unreal.

OMG, he is SUCH a handsome guy! We hit up a brewery last night, where there probably almost a dozen different dogs...of course, I had to go around and introduce myself to every one of them. Can't help myself. Our yellow Lab gave me the "I KNOW you been cheatin'" sniffdown when we got home last night.

You can probably guess which Airplane line I liberally steal every time someone in the office starts a sentence with "Surely..." EVERY. DAMN. TIME.

Same. We're paying extra to have it spread this year, too. While we're still (barely) capable of dragging and lugging those bags around to four different beds surrounding our house, we just don't feel it's worth putting ourselves in traction for a few days after completion.

I'm off work today. And I'm TOTALLY going to treat myself to a re-watch of Airplane. In my top 3 funniest movies I've ever seen and it STILL holds up after all these years.

I'm with ya. Actually, I drink it straight-up black nearly all of the time. Every summer in college I worked on a PennDOT road crew and they had an automatic coffee maker in the main garage we started out from each morning....but NEVER any creamer or sugar on hand. THAT'S how I learned to drink coffee, and to drink it straight.

Forgot you were headed west this weekend! Bet it's going to be GORGEOUS up there tomorrow...post some pics!

Currently 74, full sun, sustained winds have picked up considerably over past hour with some good gusts. Feels good out, actually.

They did indeed have Peeps creamer last year...my wife bought it. I don't use the stuff as a rule, but to me it tasted like ID's french vanilla creamer with a shiny yellow Peeps label on it.

I've enjoyed reading more about historical chessmasters over the years, too -- but you'll likely laugh at the genesis of my interest. In freshman year of college, I lived next door in the dorm to a music major who played a wide variety of music, especially from stage musicals. I'm no great fan of musicals (and really dislike opera), but that year my dorm neighbor had one cast album on high rotation, and the repetition did its work on me. It was a then-new musical from lyricist Tim Rice and music from the two dudes from the pop group ABBA called "Chess" -- about a chess championship between American vs. Russian grandmasters, and the woman they BOTH fall in love with (of course). I realize this concept sounds like a yawner on paper, but I'm telling you -- Chess has some of the best rock, pop, classical and other styles of music therein that I've ever heard, on OR off the stage. Most folks are familiar with rap-ish pop song "One Night In Bangkok" from that era....but have no idea it serves as the Act 2 opener from Chess. Lots of productions done around the world over the years, but one of the best is a 2008 semi-staged concert version done with Idina Menzel and Josh Groban (trailer below). You can still catch an occasional rerun on PBS, and I can recommend the DVD as a enjoyable and worthwhile investment, too.

This is great news. Now, since you have an upgraded tool (and obviously the skill!), please do share some springtime pics in the coming weeks. Absolutely love when folks share pics here and in other threads...and not just of beer pours. BTW, as a fellow chess aficionado, I thought you'd appreciate that I treated myself to a Kindle copy of "The Queen's Gambit" today, the source novel that inspired the hit Netflix series. It's on sale on Amazon for $2.99 right now and is well reviewed!

LOL. People in NoVA always mock me, especially living south of the Mason Dixon Line these past few decades, because I've always said "Pee-kin"