Archive for the ‘Weather’ Category

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Summer winding down

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

There’s barely a week left in the kids’ summer vacation. The mornings and evenings are considerably darker than they were just a month ago. Though it is still quite hot, I can feel the summer slipping away and fall approaching.

I look towards this fall with a bit more curiosity than those before. Not sure why, really. There’s no specific event that attracts me, I guess it’s just the concept of a season where it’s actually pleasant to be outside. It’s true that I’m starting a new job soon, and while that certainly is exciting there’s more to the season I guess.

Maybe we will get a hurricane or tropical storm or two. And I’m looking forward to how the kids adapt to their new classes. Regardless of what takes place, I’m looking to close out our year on the best note possible. I don’t exactly know what that entails but I look forward to finding out.

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Our weather ain’t got nothing on Moscow’s

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Raleigh’s temperature is expected to reach 92 degrees Fahrenheit today, with a steady breeze moderating that a bit. While that’s warm, it’s a far cry from the weather Russia’s dealing with right now. Central Russia is experiencing an unprecedented heat wave, with temperatures up to 108 degrees. For a country more accustomed to extreme winters, this is a catastrophe. Wheat crops are withering, peat bog wildfires are raging, and people are dropping like flies because air conditioning is uncommon.

To make matters worse, the peat bog fires have made the air unhealthy in Moscow. So either Russians sweat it out indoors in buildings with no air conditioning, or they open the windows and breathe heavily-polluted air. Not much of a choice!
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Record-breaking hailstone

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Hailstone from Vivian, SD storm


The largest hailstone ever recorded in the US fell in South Dakota on July 23rd. It weighed almost two pounds! NOAA scientists estimate the updraft required to keep it aloft exceeded 160 MPH!

During the late afternoon and early evening hours of 23 July 2010, thunderstorms developed over portions of central South Dakota. Several storms quickly became severe in an environment favorable for supercell thunderstorms. In particular, one very strong supercell thunderstorm moved southeastward across portions of Stanley, Jones, and Lyman counties. One of the hardest hit locations was the community of Vivian, South Dakota, where extremely large hail, destructive winds to 80 mph, and a brief tornado were reported.

A record setting hailstone was ultimately discovered in Vivian, measuring 8.0 inches in diameter, 18.625 inches in circumference, and weighing in at an amazing 1.9375 pounds!! This hailstone broke the previous United States hail size record for diameter (7.0 inches – 22 June 2003 in Aurora, NE) and weight (1.67 pounds – 3 September 1970 in Coffeyvile, KS).

via July 23rd Extreme Hail Event.

(h/t Mike Moss at WRAL)

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June was hottest ever for Raleigh – Durham

Friday, July 9th, 2010

The National Weather Service says June 2010 is the hottest on record for Raleigh. Let’s hope the rest of our summer isn’t like the miserably-hot summer of 2007.

…WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD FOR RALEIGH AND GREENSBORO…
…RALEIGH-DURHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…

June 2010 at the Raleigh-Durham international airport was the warmest on record as long as records have been kept at the airport going back to 1944. June 2010 was also the warmest on record for the entire Raleigh area with records going back to 1887.

The monthly average temperature for June 2010 was 81.5 degrees breaking the previous record of 80.7 degrees set in June 2008. The top 5 warmest years on record for the Raleigh area dating back to 1887 are as follows:

81.5 degrees – 2010
80.8 degrees – 2008
80.4 degrees – 1943
80.0 degrees – 1952
79.2 degrees – 1939
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Back from Virginia

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

We arrived home from Virginia yesterday afternoon after spending some fun time with Kelly’s parents. Kelly took the kids up in the middle of last week, with me joining them Saturday morning. I took the train up to Fredericksburg, where Kelly met me for some food and sightseeing in town before we headed west to Warrenton. The Oskar Blues Gordon beer at the Capital Ale House was quite tasty!

Sunday, we participated in the Leesburg Independence Day parade, with the kids on bikes and dog in tow. Rocket’s tender paws didn’t enjoy the blazing asphalt we encountered on that hot day but the rest of us had fun.

Monday was spent underground at Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia. It was quite a respite from the heat wave, where temperatures have been in the mid-to-upper 90s.

Good to be home now, though I’m already looking forward to the next holiday!

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Hot weather slows us down

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

We took a family train ride to Durham today, then rode our bikes around the city for two hours. It was fun but, boy, were we all soaked with sweat by the time we had lunch. After our ride we drove over to Ridge Road Pool but didn’t even get out of the car before the thunder cleared the pool. Then we didn’t even get cooled off by the thunderstorm because it never got near us. Thanks for nothing, storm!

I was planning to get in another ride Sunday morning with my neighbor and brother but the heat index Sunday will be 102 degrees. No thanks! I think I’ll pace myself during outdoor time tomorrow.

During breakfast I found my mind wandering in an effort to escape the heat. I daydreamed of what it must be like in the San Juan Islands right now. Then I made the mistake of checking the forecast.

High of 67 degrees today. Arrghh! I so wish we could afford to jet up there again for another week of cool weather and gorgeous scenery. It was almost cruel to think about.

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Lightning strike

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

We had a massive, city-shaking lightning bolt strike somewhere within a few hundred yards of our house at 3 AM this morning. I fully expected to smell smoke after that one.

The storm rolled up quietly in the night and as I dozed I figured it was a typical summer storm, where there’d be a few low-amp bolts and that would be it. There wasn’t even much rain falling. Instead, I suddenly saw a series of connected flashes as the feeders probed the earth. Then the flashes merged into one hugely bright flash, followed by immediate thunder that sent my already-skittish dog running for cover.

The kids and I spent 15 minutes hunting for the lightning’s unwitting conductor this morning but we haven’t found it yet. Something must have gotten cooked by that bolt! Thank goodness I disconnected that yet-ungrounded satellite dish I was playing around with yesterday!

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Sweltering day

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

It was a traditional sweltering late-spring day in Raleigh today. The temperature reached 96 degrees today, and with a 70 degree dewpoint it was miserably hot and humid. Fortunately there was a steady breeze all day, which made Hallie’s outdoor birthday party at Mordecai Mini Park bearable for all.

After the party I felt as if it was already 5 o’clock. The heat drained the energy from me! All I wanted to do this afternoon was take a long nap in the cool of the house but my dad wanted to get some commentary from me and Kelly about our late friend, Gerry. So we drove over there and visited, spending some time talking on camera about Gerry. Kelly did her part and left for her supper club and the kids and I enjoyed spending more time with my parents.

Now it’s a little after 9 PM and I think I’m not going to be awake much longer! I understand tomorrow will be cooler, which is good because I’m not a big fan of days like today!

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Five inches of rain

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

The MT.Net weather station has recorded five inches of rain over the past month! Amazing to think about, considering the state was considered abnormally dry just last month.

I checked the weather radar last night before bed and saw nothing but orange and red surrounding us. Not long afterward that orange blanket covered us, dumping at least another inch of rain on us.

This recent deluge caps off a week or so of sunny (and somewhat hot) weather. I wonder how often we’ll see more deluges like the kind we had last night.

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Perfect weather for a fun weekend

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

We had perfect weather for a weekend full of fun. Storms rumbled through late Thursday night that washed the insane amounts of pollen away, leaving the weekend with crystal-clear air.

Watching Great Blue Herons at Crabtree Creek.

We followed up yesterday’s great day with more fun stuff today. Once again, the house windows were open to let in nature and we ate a somewhat-chilly-but-fun pancake breakfast on our screened porch. Then in the late morning we finally got motivated to do some bike riding on the greenways. We started at Atlantic Avenue and rode to Lassiter Mill Falls again, taking some time to practice skimming stones on the water.
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