The Smarmy Carny

I found a web page with a list of dozens of meteorological statuses that raised plenty of questions. What's the difference between "ice pellets" and "hail", because they're both listed on there separately. And how do you have a "heavy drizzle" — isn't that an oxymoron or at least an "oxymeteorologist"? Also frightening is that they had "volcanic ash" as a weather condition. Yikes.

• Hail: D Hail itself is fine, really. It's kind of funny to have little ice chunks falling on you. Hail gets a low rating, however, because weathermen are always hyping it up and comparing it to different sized objects. Golf ball sized hail! Baseball sized hail! Softball sized hail! BASKETBALL SIZED HAIL! Hush up, weatherman. We don't need that.
• Rain: B- I don't mind the rain, especially when you've given up trying to keep dry. It's funny to watch people running to their car in the morning when it rains. Just 20 minutes earlier, they were in the shower, subjecting themselves to even worse weather conditions.
• Snow: C+ This grade is a balance between a high grade and a low grade. I have lots of fun playing with my kids in the snow, so it gets a high grade. Driving in snow is lousy and deserves a failing grade. So we'll compromise.
• Sun: B The sun is overrated. It only takes one 2nd degree sunburn to teach you that lesson. I'd prefer any of the other weather types here to an extremely sunny day with a UV Index of 10+. That said, sunny weather doesn't wreak havoc with flooding or snow damage or other stuff like that. It just melts delicious ice cream. One more reason to be anti-sun!
• Thunderstorms: D Thunderstorms will always get a low grade, unless something changes where I don't have to unplug all my favorite machines in the house.
• Wind: A I enjoy nice, breezy days. The problem with my favorite weather is that it's almost always followed by rain.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? Which types of weather do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?

This post has been re-posted at Random Fodder, Novac's personal blog.

The windmill farm

Yesterday, I decided to drive a little out of my way to visit the windmill farm and finally fulfill this goal. Unfortunately, it was a bit rainy, but there was also plenty of wind.
To the best of my recollection, this farm had 10 windmills — three on one side of the road and seven on the other.
The trip was nice, though I imagine that a picnic-type adventure in a couple months would have been more enjoyable.

See more progress on: visit a windmill farm

Q: April showers bring May flowers, but what do May flowers bring?
A: Pilgrims!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Unfortunately, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yet again, thus predicting another six weeks of winter.

Sadly, this is usually the case. Currently the score is Shadow: 96, No Shadow: 14

Here's Phil's pronouncement from this morning:

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Around the country there are many imitators of me.

In Harrisburg there is Gus who appears on TV
working for the lottery.

Then all around town,
Cute groundhog statues abound.
They all look like me, I found.

Today on the Knob as I'm doing my job,
I don't like this likeness of me.

It's my shadow I see. Six more weeks of mild winter there will be.

In other news, Dunkirk Dave also saw his shadow, but in the Buffalo area, I think that means six more months of winter.

If you want to hear the "That's right, woodchuck chuckers, it's GROUNDHOG DAY!" audio clip, head over to The Movie Quote Quiz's Groundhog Day page.

This post has been re-posted at Random Fodder, Novac's personal blog.

Snowmen: 0, Heat: 2

Of course, the one winter I resolve to build an igloo, we have the warmest January since 1932!
Temperatures finally fell below 32 degrees for a couple days and we got some snow . . . enough to build a couple snowmen. Two days later, this is all that's left of them. If snowfall doesn't pick up in February and March, I might just have to hope for an extremely snowy November and December.

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Running out

Today, I headed to Lake Erie for a Polar Bear Swim for charity.
The air temperature? A balmy 35° F.

I have read some things that mention the fact that the water temperature is often warmer than the air temperature. I assure you that today, this was not the case. The water was literally breathtaking. After completely submerging myself, I wanted to give out a large roar, but it took a good 10 seconds to catch my breath. Even getting out of the water wasn't really that cold an experience — except for the water in my shoes beginning to freeze!

I definitely think this was worth doing. I'm glad I added it to my list of 43 Things, or else I never would have taken the time!

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This post has been re-posted at Random Fodder, Novac's personal blog.