November Banter 2020

[Jebman]

Has anyone checked out the "new" weather maps that will be online on Dec 8?

They are terrible, something straight out of the early days of the Internet. https://preview-radar.weather.gov/

It is almost downright embarrassing. Wow is this the best we can offer in 2020? ouch!

Check out the precip moving over time, wow is that herky jerky or what? It is also incredibly COARSE, kind of like what we had in the mid/late 1990s. NWS - is this the best you can do? We are being presented with much LESS colors for radar too, we will need to learn to interpret weather with a lot less useful information. It's actually pretty embarrassing.

 

Its a DOWNGRADE, a major one.

I might have to find a new hobby, like fishing or something lol

[Maestrobjwa]

Since we're talking about holiday lights...At my house we're a bit inexperienced with the outdoor lights, and have had problems the last couple years with something in the line shorting out. What can prevent this?

[Jebman]

I dont really know what to do to prevent the shorting out probs, but being poor is a good solution.

I am too poor to afford outdoor Christmas lights.

Problem solved - for me lol

[Stormfly]

12 hours ago, WxWatcher007 said:

How often do you actually see this?

 Quite a bit in the old days when homes had one outlet per room, two if you were lucky!  Adding insult to injury these were pre "Merry Midget" days too where C7 bulbs were used indoors.  They got quite toasty particularly the blue bulbs and were the source of ignition on dried out (real) trees.  Speaking of, a dried out tree is a fatal fire hazard.  In homes where the primary escape is through the living room and the bedroom windows are either too high or just not possible to easily escape from.  Death trap set up there.  A 7' tree will be releasing over a megawatt of energy within a minute of ignition temperature.  This kind of energy release raised the temperature of the enclosed space hundreds of degrees in mere seconds.  Surrounding materials reach autoignition temperature before a smoke alarm is activated.  Self extinguishing polymers release toxic fumes making the air which is far too hot for lung ingress already toxic.  I think you get the idea.

Thank goodness times have changed.  LED bulbs have essentially no heat and fake trees are self extinguishing and (for the most part) electrically non conductive.

LEDs tend to have better color too BUT cheap ones that just use half wave rectification (single diode) flicker horribly and don't have high efficacy LED elements so they are dim.  Get a good set (where the white ones actually look like incandescent lamps, not the cold blue look!) and use a switching mode power supply like a laptop uses to produce clean DC and they'll last long and look nice.  Especially outside displays.  Nothing like driving in the country where someone has strung their fence with 60Hz strobing LEDs that practically induce a seizure when passing by!

[WinterWxLuvr]

2 hours ago, Stormfly said:

 Quite a bit in the old days when homes had one outlet per room, two if you were lucky!  Adding insult to injury these were pre "Merry Midget" days too where C7 bulbs were used indoors.  They got quite toasty particularly the blue bulbs and were the source of ignition on dried out (real) trees.  Speaking of, a dried out tree is a fatal fire hazard.  In homes where the primary escape is through the living room and the bedroom windows are either too high or just not possible to easily escape from.  Death trap set up there.  A 7' tree will be releasing over a megawatt of energy within a minute of ignition temperature.  This kind of energy release raised the temperature of the enclosed space hundreds of degrees in mere seconds.  Surrounding materials reach autoignition temperature before a smoke alarm is activated.  Self extinguishing polymers release toxic fumes making the air which is far too hot for lung ingress already toxic.  I think you get the idea.

Thank goodness times have changed.  LED bulbs have essentially no heat and fake trees are self extinguishing and (for the most part) electrically non conductive.

LEDs tend to have better color too BUT cheap ones that just use half wave rectification (single diode) flicker horribly and don't have high efficacy LED elements so they are dim.  Get a good set (where the white ones actually look like incandescent lamps, not the cold blue look!) and use a switching mode power supply like a laptop uses to produce clean DC and they'll last long and look nice.  Especially outside displays.  Nothing like driving in the country where someone has strung their fence with 60Hz strobing LEDs that practically induce a seizure when passing by!

Great post. Anyone who’s ever seen a dry(ish) evergreen ignite would probably never put one in their home. And that last line made me literally laugh at loud

[CAPE]

8 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

Great post. Anyone who’s ever seen a dry(ish) evergreen ignite would probably never put one in their home. And that last line made me literally laugh at loud

Same. Seizure inducing display every year about a mile down the road from me. 

[H2O]

1 hour ago, CAPE said:

Same. Seizure inducing display every year about a mile down the road from me. 

We had one house near us do some sort of flashing, blinking Xmas display with every color imaginable and no thought to how the lights were arranged. It was like looking at an EDM concert 

[WxUSAF]

Dry tinder-like trees is why I cut mine fresh and wait until December to do it. Usually it’s alive through Christmas at least. 

[WxUSAF]

There is some very confused species of cherry tree around me that is partially blooming right now

[Stormfly]

1 hour ago, H2O said:

We had one house near us do some sort of flashing, blinking Xmas display with every color imaginable and no thought to how the lights were arranged. It was like looking at an EDM concert 

It's like music, they feel louder is better.  So they start off on the twinkle kick.  And things go downhill fast from there.  Big reason is LEDs have very fast attack and decay times, meaning they go from dark to full on back to dark in an instant.  Incandescent bulbs have a natural buffer in place as the mass of their filament has to suddenly rise in temperature and cool off.  A good LED driver mimics this so the twinkling is not so harsh.

I have an abnormal sensitivity to flicker/brightness change so 60Hz electromagnetically ballasted fluorescent lamps give me a headache within minutes.  Ditto for those old CRT displays that refreshed at 60Hz.  Even the LCDs that use PWM dimming bother my eyes.  The cheap LED Christmas lights are terrible.  If I look at them for a few seconds and change view or close my eyes I can still see them like an afterimage.  Drives me nuts!  Some car tail lights are like that too and the PWM frequency is just too damn low.  Have no idea why they do this.  I suppose using a faster 100kHz driver which costs perhaps a dollar or two extra is too much.

I do like the new LED streetlights they are installing.  Much better control of light and the faster they get rid of the horribly yellow HPS lamps the better!  Even this far away from (Baltimore) some nights the orange glow to the SW especially in winter is annoying AF!

And why do car dealerships have to leave their lots lit up like a professional ball field all night long?  They are (mostly) using LED now.  They can dim them way down and have local motion sensors brighten them if someone walks on the lot.  Not only saves energy (a lot actually) but gives neighbors a break.  When it's foggy or snowing the amount of scattered light is ridiculous.

[Mrs.J]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:30 AM, CAPE said:

We will be expecting to see something like this 

Anyone on here who puts up even close to what is in this photo, send me directions and will bring the J family by in the family truckster!

[toolsheds]

8 minutes ago, Mrs.J said:

Anyone on here who puts up even close to what is in this photo, send me directions and will bring the J family by in the family truckster!

There is a house near me which puts up over 50 light up Santa statues.  I'll let you know if they do it this year.  Its only about 20 minutes from Frederick. :-)

[fourseasons]

For years southern Fairfax County had a house that put on a show, and it started because it's directly across the street from an assisted living facility and the homeowner wanted to give them some holiday cheer.  A few years ago he won $50,000 on an ABC Christmas lights competition show.  Unfortunately, due to health issues he won't be running it this year. 

 

[yuki neko]

2 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

There is some very confused species of cherry tree around me that is partially blooming right now

It's probably Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis' which produces a sparse fall bloom. 

[WxUSAF]

3 minutes ago, yuki neko said:

It's probably Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis' which produces a sparse fall bloom. 

Thanks!

[H2O]

Just did my outside Xmas lights in shorts and t-shirt. Had two strings only have half the lights light. Thankfully I found that out BEFORE doing the two holly trees. Had backups. Go me. 

[Prestige Worldwide]

62 and sunny at the beach.  Screw it- let’s just stay warm and sunny  I’m liking it 

[RDM]

1 hour ago, Wentzadelphia said:

No one wants it to snow more than me. Trust me. I’ve storm chased snowstorms where I couldn’t afford it but went anyway. Hell I lost a job because of 2015 NE event . Ji will tell you if he recalls, but the 2001 bust sent me into a depression at 14 years old. I’m sick in the head when it comes to snow. 

 I used to feel the same way when I saw negative posts, but I’m just being realistic. The week after this storm? There’s reason to have tempid excitement

The antecedent air is too warm. The first storm would need to head into 50/50 position, but it’s not doing that on the models. Instead it’s lifting to the NW.  We don’t get snowstorms, normally, with a HP off the SE coast like is being shown. We’d need a monster ULL to close off and stall in the perfect spot and even then with this airmass it likely would be too warm. I’m more enthused with the week after this event. I’m still interested in seeing if the far Nw burbs can cash in though...I’m only talking about the city and immediate burbs of course.

Moved this here to avoid cluttering up the main thread.  

With respect, I want it to snow more than anyone!  (joking - we ALL want it to snow more than anyone else).  I'm nearly 60 and still have an insatiable appetite for snow.  My wife of nearly 25 years knows it's coming every season.  The hope, the despair, the sleepless nights hoping...  Just happen to live in the wrong place for it apart from our occasional KU shellacking we all dream about.

FWIW - you must add one thing to your bucket list.  That is to experience one of the dumpings ivo the western facing slopes of the Japanese Alps on Honshu.  The moist flow off the ocean with upslope effect results is unbelievable volumes measured in meters, not feet.  Zao is known for their "Snow Monsters", which are the wind-swept snow-encrusted tops of pine trees barely peeking out of the 60+ feet of snow.  It is a sight that we must all experience at least one time in our lives.  Anything else anywhere is a distant 2nd.  

 

[CAPE]

Yo, the advertised upcoming pattern has some actual warts, y'all. It might not snow! In early December!!!

Just in case this wasn't abundantly clear.

. 

[mappy]

No school Monday or Tuesday for Baltimore county. weeeeeeeeeeeeee

[fourseasons]

5 minutes ago, mappy said:

No school Monday or Tuesday for Baltimore county. weeeeeeeeeeeeee

That must have been a heckuva ransomware attack.

[mappy]

2 minutes ago, fourseasons said:

That must have been a heckuva ransomware attack.

Probably. They haven’t released any details on the extent of the impact. 

[GATECH]

5 hours ago, fourseasons said:

For years southern Fairfax County had a house that put on a show, and it started because it's directly across the street from an assisted living facility and the homeowner wanted to give them some holiday cheer.  A few years ago he won $50,000 on an ABC Christmas lights competition show.  Unfortunately, due to health issues he won't be running it this year. 

 

This house is just around the corner from us, we call it the Collingwood Lights house.  It’s one of the highlights of Christmas.  The owner, Bill Vaughn, was ill last year and had an accident this year.  So 2020!  Bummer, but hope Bill makes a full recovery.  I have always wanted to see the lights with snow, not this year☹️

[Heisy]

1 hour ago, RDM said:

Moved this here to avoid cluttering up the main thread.  

With respect, I want it to snow more than anyone!  (joking - we ALL want it to snow more than anyone else).  I'm nearly 60 and still have an insatiable appetite for snow.  My wife of nearly 25 years knows it's coming every season.  The hope, the despair, the sleepless nights hoping...  Just happen to live in the wrong place for it apart from our occasional KU shellacking we all dream about.

FWIW - you must add one thing to your bucket list.  That is to experience one of the dumpings ivo the western facing slopes of the Japanese Alps on Honshu.  The moist flow off the ocean with upslope effect results is unbelievable volumes measured in meters, not feet.  Zao is known for their "Snow Monsters", which are the wind-swept snow-encrusted tops of pine trees barely peeking out of the 60+ feet of snow.  It is a sight that we must all experience at least one time in our lives.  Anything else anywhere is a distant 2nd.  

 

Yes sir. Maybe one day right? At least something closer that I could chase is Lake effect snow. I went to college SW of Pitt at Cal U. They would get lake effect snow showers, but nothing like lake adjacent locals. I’d love to experience a 2-3 day 3 foot type event. 

[CAPE]

 6 more Ravens added to the Covid-19  list today,  and the Steelers added at least one. Wonder if the NFL will finally postpone the damn game until week 18 now.

[mappy]

Outside cheer 

[nj2va]

1 minute ago, CAPE said:

This might be our first legit chance...until it trends to Toledo.

Let me count the ways this won’t work. 

[CAPE]

9 minutes ago, nj2va said:

Let me count the ways this won’t work. 

Ten+ days out on an op GFS run is number one. 

[RDM]

2 hours ago, Wentzadelphia said:

Yes sir. Maybe one day right? At least something closer that I could chase is Lake effect snow. I went to college SW of Pitt at Cal U. They would get lake effect snow showers, but nothing like lake adjacent locals. I’d love to experience a 2-3 day 3 foot type event. 

We had a 2 day 3 foot event here in 2016 (30" is close enough for me).  I'd like to experience a really good LES in Buffalo.  Compare it to some other events I've had the good fortune of experiencing.  

FWIW - Experienced the aftermath of a 3 day 3 meter event in Sass Fee, Switzerland in...  I think it was 89.  Had to delay the departure of our ski bus from Frankfurt because all the roads were closed at altitude in CH due to avalanche threat.  We departed Fkt around midnight, drove all night and got to the resort about 9 in the morning; only to learn the slopes were closed due to the excessive snowfall, the type of snow and the continued avalanche threat (the type of snow was key as we found out later).  We heard the charges all day from the helicopters and howitzers as they initiated slides in the most avalanche prone areas. 

Got up the next morning with everyone psyched for a great day of powder.  Heading up the lift we saw only a few paths made by the snow cats with people on piste barely moving.  Couldn't figure out what was going on until we got off the lift a the top and saw a lot of the Swiss riding the lift back down with this look of "don't even think about trying to ski" on their faces.  Being a group of undeterred Americans we figured it was just them and there was no way we were going to miss 3 meters of fresh powder.  

In short order we quickly figured out the Swiss were indeed the smart ones.  The sun from the day before had put a nice thick crust on top of the snow.  So much so once you got on top of the crust, you were sliding out of control until something slowed your decent, like a fall.  When you broke through the crust the underlying snow was so light it was like depth hoar.  There was almost no substance to it.  People who fell took 15 mins or more to just get oriented vertical again, if they could do so on their own.  People without powder straps on their skis were in real trouble if their bindings released.  I was on telemark skis, which don't release, so that was a big advantage.  

After about 2 hours of it, many of those in our group and around us had long lost the sense of humor in it.  In some cases, people were freaking out.  The ski patrol initiated a rescue operation with the snow cats in areas where they could go.  In many areas, the light snow made the steeper areas inaccessible even to the snow cats.  

We finally made it down to the next ski lift station and rode the lifts back down to town.  We don't get that kind of light stuff here and heard later from the locals that storm was a fluke.

Japan gets some whopper snowfalls.  If you get a chance to experience one, think you'll be impressed.   

[nj2va]

1 hour ago, CAPE said:

Ten+ days out on an op GFS run is number one. 

You must be new here. 300 hour looks ALWAYS work.