2011 weather thread

[Shanazel]

Currently we have -13 F and plummeting, with light snow wuthering around the house . Prediction:

A wind chill warning remains in effect until noon MST Tuesday.

* Summary and timing... temperatures will range from 12 below to 22 below zero through the morning hours. This combined with wind will create dangerous wind chill values.

* Wind chill values... 30 to 40 degrees below zero.

* Wind... north 10 to 15 mph with locally higher gusts in open areas.

We have two horses in the barn, two more in runs with three sided sheds. One of the outdoor horses has a blankie; the other is a mustang with a coat so thick you can't work your fingers through the hair to the skin. Dogs are in the house. Cats are in front of the woodstove. Looks like winter to me.
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[Mosaic]

Currently Victoria is experiencing a heat wave, 39 degrees Celsius (102.2F)today, 38 yesterday can't remember what the day before that was, but high 30s, but a cool spell is coming so the weather man says, just for a day or 2 then the heat will be back. Up in Northern Queensland they are battening down the hatches for Cat 3 going on 4 Cyclone and they are still trying to recover from the flooding in QLD. Crazy weather in this part of the world.

Forgot to add that parts of Victoria are still on flood warnings as well
~Mosaic

 

[Shanazel]

Talk about being on opposite ends of the weather spectrum!

 

[Mosaic]

Talk about being on opposite ends of the weather spectrum!

I know, the snow the US has been having is quite horrendous and your wind chill factors Brrrrrrr ... I think I'll stay with the heat wave But it would be rather nice to find that place where there is a nice balance, not too hot nor too cold. I have a feeling the chance of that happening in the near or distant future may be a whole lot of wishful thinking!
~Mosaic

 

[Daimona]

Until a couple of weeks ago we had a great winter with both snow and sunwith temperatures below zero (C) for more than six weeks in a row - usually between -10 and -15 (C).
The last two week, it has been 3 - 6 (C) very rainy and rather windy and nearly all the snow is gone (i.e. by the sea, still much snow left if you are higher than 200 m.a.s.l.). In other words: Pretty boring weather at the moment, but there is still hope as I can see something blue behind the skies. Although we had a quite nice snowstorm last Saturday...

 

[SidraK]

-34 degrees C this morning. I had to upgrade to my army surplus winter parka, which does well up to about -45 or so. It's supposed to go up to the -5 or 10 range by the weekend though! :dance:

 

[Shanazel]

We've got a hazy sky and temps holding at -12 F. My daughter just left the house for school wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. I assume she has a coat in her truck and is just trying to rattle Mom's chains, but with her it's hard to tell. I MIGHT make it outside this afternoon to get wood for the stove, but I'm more inclined to huddle under a quilt and sleep.

 

[Mosaic]

We've got a hazy sky and temps holding at -12 F. My daughter just left the house for school wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. I assume she has a coat in her truck and is just trying to rattle Mom's chains, but with her it's hard to tell. I MIGHT make it outside this afternoon to get wood for the stove, but I'm more inclined to huddle under a quilt and sleep.

I'm with you on that one - huddling under a quilt ( maybe 3 or 4) and sleeping! brrrrrr - I am just not into cold weather in any way whatsoever!

For me today, is to be a relatively pleasant 32 C (98.6) with maybe a bit of rain later in the day.
~Mosaic

 

[Shanazel]

Currently -19F (-28C) with low temps of -22 predicted for tonight. A third of the country is getting whammed by major winter storms tonight- even Chicago shut down. A friend who lives in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area says the streets are deserted and the airports are closed. When ice storms and blizzards happen in the southern states, everything grinds to a halt because they don't have the equipment of skills to deal with winter conditions.

How are things in Oz? Has the cyclone come ashore yet?

 

[Darshiva]

Cyclone upgraded to cat 5(that's katrina-sized), touchdown due in 2-3 hours. Yes, again with the friends & family up there I'm worried about. Nothing left to do now but wait.

 

[Imeera]

Its 9C at the moment. Cloudy. Rain predicted tomorrow to Saturday.

 

[Mosaic]

Currently -19F (-28C) with low temps of -22 predicted for tonight. A third of the country is getting whammed by major winter storms tonight- even Chicago shut down. A friend who lives in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area says the streets are deserted and the airports are closed. When ice storms and blizzards happen in the southern states, everything grinds to a halt because they don't have the equipment of skills to deal with winter conditions.

How are things in Oz? Has the cyclone come ashore yet?

Yasi expected to hit around midnight, somewhere between cairns and Inisfail. It is 600km wide. Winds betweens 285 to 300km hr. I have a son, and 2 little grandbabes in Townsville, which is outside the actual impact zone, but within the the tear thing to pieces winds. here is the map of of the area. My son has a safe room below the house with everything there ready - beds, lamp, food/water etc. But it is still a worry.
~Mosaic

 

[Shanazel]

I will say some prayers for them specially, Mosaic. I grew up in hurricane country and remember the fear and dread of hearing the wind whine and seeing the tide rise, but never experienced anything like Yasi.

We're ten degrees above zero today (-12C) and it feels great. My son called from the northern part of the state and said their temps fell to -46F (-44C) last night not counting the wind chill factor. The eastern part of the country is still getting hammered- glad we're on the far edge of the mess.

The ground hog saw his shadow today so looks like six more weeks of winter for us. Of course, in Wyoming only six more weeks of winter would still give us an early spring.

 

[Mosaic]

Thanks Shan, I sat up watching the live streaming news until 1.30am. Electricity is out all along the coast and may be for quite sometime. No reports of loss of life or severe injuries & a baby girl was born early this morning in an evacuation centre, so blessings all round. My son and his family are all OK, they lost there fences and a lovely big old tree in the back garden, some neighbouring houses have lost their roofs and trees are totally denuded or torn rightout of the ground. Steve doesn't know what other parts of the area are like he hasn't been out. They are all exhausted and are catching up on a bit of sleep now. The Cyclone is down to a slow moving cat 3 now, and further inland so still nasty. The sugar, banana etc plantations are devastated. We will know more as the authorities get out and about to check on damage throughout the region.

I am quite relieved that my son & family are all OK. I can breathe again

As for your weather, are you sure you are not living in the arctic? Sounds positively bone breaking cold Brrrrr. I'm shivering just at the thought.

Found the comparison chart of yasi with Katrina (below), quite interesting.
~Mosaic

 

[Shanazel]

Thank you for the update, Mosaic. Your story is being followed eagerly on the biker forum I belong to. A couple of our members live in Oz and have not been heard from recently.

No, it is not the arctic, but it feels like it sometimes when the air comes straight out of Canda at us. When I was a little girl in Texas, we used to get cold air msses from Canada that we called "blue northers." A strong one could drop temps fifty degrees in seconds. My dad used to say "there is nothing between Texas and the North Pole but a barbwire fence- and it's down."

 

[Mosaic]

Your biker friends probably don't have electricity so can't access the internet, they may also be somewhere safe. Hopefully they will be able to post later today. Yasi has dropped to a cat 2, so it is dying thank goodness.

Love your Dad's saying :lol:
~Mosaic

 

[nigma]

Yasi is the biggest cyclone to hit Oz in about 100 years, Mission Beach the hardest hit area and I heard on abc news about 70 houses totally smashed.
No lives lost so far in fact 3 babies born, one in an emergency shelter.
another threat was the king tides at the same time and a tidal surge is still a threat. The other threat is more flooding for parts of Qsld. as the storm water has to go somewhere. Poor queenslanders have had it rough this year.
our food prices will most likely go up too as crops are destroyed.

 

[Ariadne]

So glad the winds are dying Mosaic, that just sounds scary for anyone there.

Here? Temperatures of 11F/-11C expected tonight. This is a freaking desert! Normally it does NOT get this cold!

 

[Mosaic]

So glad the winds are dying Mosaic, that just sounds scary for anyone there.

Here? Temperatures of 11F/-11C expected tonight. This is a freaking desert! Normally it does NOT get this cold!

What State do you live in Ariadne? These snow storms/cold spells sounds so freakish.

Before Christmas I purchased some pants from Sharifwear, but they were way too big, so I returned them, they took an age to get back to them due to the snow storms around New Year. They finally got them and I have been waiting for nearly 3 weeks for them to get back to the store in long Island I believe, so they can send replacements! Seems crazy no one can get into work and go to the post office. I know L Is in not near you, but am just wondering about how far reaching the blizzards are.
~Mosaic

 

[Ariadne]

I live in the SW corner of Utah. We actually have our own seperate climate here. If you do gardening we're a zone 10 if that makes sense.

When I want to explain where I live I usually ask people if they watch the weather channel and ever notice how when a storm clound moves south or north when it hits the corner of Utah it opens up and then closes again leaving this little spot in the middle with no clouds? I live under that spot. The weather literally goes around us usually.