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Castle Weather Report

By The Armorer on December 27, 2008 | | Comments (33)
Ice-covered tiki-torch next to the Hot Tub of Argghhh!

Given the whingeing emanating from the Pacific Northwest as BCR and Barb suffer the slings and arrows of water in a solid form while living in an area emotionally, governmentally and attitudinally ill-equipped for it, I thought I would offer up a little window into the entertaining variability of a mid-continental semi-arid climate, such as where the Castle sits.

The Great Plains are known for great variability in weather, as the great open spaces, capped to the north with arctic air and fed from the south with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, can deliver us interesting weather when the patterns are favorable for collisions of cold air from the north running up over into warm, moist air from the south.  We get the semi-arid status from the fact that more often than not, our air masses come to us after having passed over the Rockies to the west, shedding what moisture they had left from crossing the desert of the Basin and Range to clear the peaks of the mountains.

Yesterday, the winds were from the south, pumping us full of comfortable, very moist air.  Enough so that I was out in shorts and bare feet, draining, cleaning and re-filling the Hot Tub of Argghhh!

Then the cold air came through during the wee hours of morning.  We woke up to a  Thunder Hail Ice Storm, with a 40-degree shift in temperature.

Fun!

But, in truth, around here we *like* having seasons.  This is the view to the west today.

Looking west from the Deck of Argghhh!

About six weeks ago, it looked like this.

Looking west from the Deck of Argghhh! in the fall.

They're both pretty in their way.  And, even better, we don't have to rake the leaves. 

Oh, and Ry showed up last night to spend a few days Serfing at Castle Argghhh!  Gotta love that kind of reader!

Update- Given Fuzzybee's need for color, I offer this magic from Photoshop!


See Fuzzy?  The color is always there.  You just have to look closely and let yourself see it!

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33 Comments

By Attila on December 27, 2008 12:56 PM
Not to be pedantic, but usually it's the warm, moist air that slides up over the arctic air mass. Otherwise, you have a temperature inversion (great for freezing rain--bad for those in it). Where we are the temps have been in the teens and the ice has downed power lines a lot. I love my 60KW generator. Oh, yesss...my precioussss.
 
By BillT on December 27, 2008 2:13 PM
So, did the red shed get carried away in a Kansas breeze, or did the Hayroll from Hell eat it?
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 2:48 PM
Dusty - that's a d-oh! and my Meteorology 101 Prof is embarassed, even if he is dead.

Yes, we likes our generator too, though it's not as cool as yours.

Bill - that's a horse trailer.  It was out doing horsey things this morning and returned about 1 hour after the picture was taken.
 
By Fishmugger on December 27, 2008 2:55 PM
It's been winter for only a week and we've had just about all of that we need. Whom or what do we petition to declare victory over global warming? What government agency is in charge of this? Do I write my congressman? Get in touch with NOAA, NASA, DOA, the Weather Channel, Al Roker? Please don't tell me I have to go speak with the UN General Assembly.

Since the season began, we've had 6 snow falls, 3 ice storms and then WINTER started with 2 more snow falls and an ice storm. This is New Jersey, if I wanted to live in Canada I would have dodged the draft.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 3:03 PM
Oh - and the landscape pic today *is* in color, it's not a sepia-toned Photoshop job...
 
By FbL on December 27, 2008 3:21 PM
Oh - and the landscape pic today *is* in color, it's not a sepia-toned Photoshop job...

...which is one reason I no longer live in Indiana, haha--couldn't tell the ground from the sky in winter, and I found that very depressing.  :P
 
By bad cat robot on December 27, 2008 3:38 PM
What's funny is as the snow recedes (thanks to the Snow Eating Fog(tm)) it reveals that *my* grass is still green.  Neener!
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 4:10 PM
Ah, I lurves it.  If I was going to live BCRs way, I'd want to be up in the mountains.  Or at least have a cabin I could use on weekends.  In the winter.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 4:15 PM
It's snowing now, too.  Wheeee!
 
By Attila of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 4:41 PM
...which is one reason I no longer live in Indiana

I hear ya, woman, I hear ya...as I patiently wait for a lottery win that allows me to un-a$$ The Land of Corn and Soybeans. Or take those winnings, buy the acreage next to the house and build a runway/hangar complex for my new Diamond for periodic escapes to civilization.

Not.

 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 5:19 PM
www.fototime.com/4811C2790AF50D6/orig.jpg...which is one reason I no longer live in Indiana, haha--couldn't tell the ground from the sky in winter, and I found that very depressing. :P

Well, Fuzzybee - via the magic that is Photoshop, does this help?
 
By Rod Thorsen on December 27, 2008 7:20 PM
Hmmm, so you're saying it's cold out?  Hmmm.  Seems like a nice May or Sept day from here in Fairbanks.
 
By Argent on December 27, 2008 8:27 PM
Better the white than the brown we get of cripsy plantage.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 27, 2008 8:28 PM
I have family in Fairbanks.  You guys win for winter.
 
By Parrothead Jeff on December 27, 2008 9:45 PM
It's not all joyful bliss here in Vegas, either LOL!

http://parrotheadjeff.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/vegassnow08_24_450.jpg

That was just a week and a half ago.  Not saying we have it bad here - no thunder/ice/hailstorms, but not shorts and flip-flop weather, either.

Now, about that global warming - I accellerate it how?

 
By Josh on December 27, 2008 10:02 PM
Fairbanks may win for pure harshness of winter...but I lived in Cleveland once, and that place wins for LONGEST winter.  The weirdest thing about it was that the cold, dry air would blow over Lake Erie and completely blanket the area in solid cloud cover...you could literally go for MONTHS on end without actually seeing the sun.  I got used to the idea that the sky isn't necessarily blue, it's usually pale grey.  As a result, it basically turned September-April into one unending, dim, cold season.  Even snow didn't give you any hint of what time of year it was, because it could snow in September or April or January or any time in between.

I may have been born in Boston but I think I was built for the tropics.
 
By HomefrontSix on December 27, 2008 10:50 PM
Ah, yes...Fairbanks' winters. Gotta love them. Most annoying thing about them wasn't the dark or the cold. It was the "spring". When the sunlight has returned and your brain says it's time to *finally* go outside and play! And you step outside and it's still -12 f'ing degrees. Too cold to do anything other than turn around and go back inside.

Makes you want to kill someone. Which explains why March and April have the highest suicide and homicide rates in the Interior...

And to think, we want to go BACK...
 
By Rod Thorsen on December 27, 2008 11:28 PM
Best thing I ever did for myself was move up here.  As a former Canadian (tho, once subject of the Crown, always subject of the Crown) and a recovering Kalifornian, the sixteen hour workdays for weeks on end during the fire season makes for a nice summer. 

The winters make for a nice break.  Check on the crawlspace temperatures, read, crawlspace temps?, tv, crawlspace temps?, plow driveway, crawlspace temps?, make trash run/pick up provisions (always combine trips), crawlspace temps?, play with collect dolls action figures, crawlspace temps?, mess with the livestock, crawlspace temps?, websurf, crawlspace temps?, haul wood, crawlspace temps?, when are the water, propane, fuel deliveries?, crawlspace temps?, check on return to work date, check again, always enjoy the northern lights, and remember that "Momma Moose" will never respect you as much as you better respect her.

Best trade I ever made.

 
By Josh on December 27, 2008 11:31 PM
Why does it matter how cold it is in your crawlspace?
 
By Rod Thorsen on December 27, 2008 11:42 PM
You do not want your water or sewage to freeze up.  Most annoying.
 
By Oldloadr on December 28, 2008 12:21 AM

I know what you all mean about old man winter: it's been getting down to 59F here in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi...   ;)  The locals were wearing fleece lined desert cammi parkas.  I told them, 'I hope your leaders never decided to invade Canada, you wouldn't last a day."

 
By Josh on December 28, 2008 12:37 AM
Oldloadr - You should see how bad the locals around here are.  South Florida is full of people who think you need a full fur coat or a down parka for 70F, it's unbelievable.
 
By FbL on December 28, 2008 1:46 AM
Yes, that helps.  Thanks John!  Until I saw the improved version, I was getting flashbacks to Indiana.  :P

And Josh, that sounds an awful lot like Indiana--at least the months without seeing sun part.  *shudder*
 
By BillT on December 28, 2008 1:57 AM
The company bought us all Gore-Tex™ parkas for Christmas. But it's only cold enough to wear 'em after about 2100, and, by then, there's no place to go.

I've got mine hanging over my window as a glass-catcher in case the dirtbags get lucky.

 
By Grimmy on December 28, 2008 10:57 AM
It is killer cold where I'm at. When I go outside in the early morning, I have to wear a long sleeve shirt or the skin on my arms gets all bumpy. That's frost bite, right?
 
By Oldloadr on December 28, 2008 12:37 PM
Josh - I remember when I was a single airman stationed at Eglin AFB (Florida Panhandle).  In the winter, we would put on our heaviest coats to go down to the beach to watch the Canadian chicks frolicking in the surf in their bikinis.  It's all a matter of aclimation...
 
By Oldloadr on December 28, 2008 12:42 PM
BillT - I always wondered why they didn't put plexiglass in those prefab hooches.  I know some may worry about molten plastic, but if a round is close enough to melt the plexiglass, that's probably the least of your worries.  I always made sure my bunk was not in line with the window.
 
By HomefrontSix on December 28, 2008 1:21 PM
Grimmy ~ I've heard about that condition. Seem to recall experiencing it a few times, though not in recent memory...


It's raining like gangbusters here today but it's still 80*. Heh.
 
By Spanky on December 28, 2008 2:15 PM
A little off topic here but you have some nice " fire lanes "  there at  the castle. Just happen to notice a nice clear perimeter also.
 
By Justthisguy on December 28, 2008 2:20 PM
Sometimes I think that the real reason humans learned to talk was not to discuss the best hunting strategies, nor to share info on locations of the best roots and fruits, nor even to warn about big cats coming to eat people. No, I think we learned to talk so as to be able to complain about the weather.
 
By BillT on December 28, 2008 2:50 PM
Oldloadr -- except for the window, base supports and doorframe, the whole *hootch* is plastic. The walls are held to the stringers with 5/8" barbed buttons, which is kind of chucklesome.

You're right about the melting plexi -- it'd take a nape strike to set it afire.
 
By MAJ Arkay on December 29, 2008 1:49 PM

It's winter in Northern Virginia -- we're only in the 50s today.  Snort.

Castle Argghhh and its environs are beautiful, John.  Love the countryside.  But I'll take my retirement in the Texas Hill Country, where we wear two shirts this time of year--a tee shirt and a long-sleeved denim or flannel one.  Heh.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 29, 2008 8:55 PM
Major A - I spent two years in the Hill Country when I was at Fort Sam.  It is very nice, and I could live there if I had to.