Freezing Rain possible today – Wednesday Rain – New Mastodon Account – Dead Webcam

The chilly December continues – watch for freezing rain

There is a lot of blue in the forecast for flurries and snow! There is also a chance for freezing rain so if you notice it raining at all, be careful and watch for ice.

Wednesday accumulation unlikely – but beware.

We’re always hovering around zero these days so take this with a grain of salt (it melts ice too!:))

The UWash model says no snowfall at low elevations from 4AM Wednesday into Thursday morning.

That said, it is very possible we will see some periods of sleet or freezing rain, both of which could easily turn to snow if local conditions are just right to push it over the line. So be aware of that.

Precipitation will begin late morning or early afternoon on Wednesday in most areas.

Strongest precipitation will happen after midnight in the 1-4AM period below.

You could wake up Thursday to a messy situation but it should back off Thursday morning and then clear a little by Thursday evening. There will be a chance of showers or snow all day Thursday.

Mastodon and Twitter

Due to the ongoing turmoil and less than welcoming environment on Twitter, I’ve created a Mastodon account on the Mastodon Canada server. Find me at https://mstdn.ca/@alberniweather. I recommend it, it’s a good service with good people.

I will maintain both Twitter and Mastodon for now though I may start to post only on Mastodon with it being mirrored on Twitter. I still check DMs on Twitter if you need to get in touch.

One nice advantage to Mastodon is it has a specific setting for accounts to automatically and legitimately send messages (bots) which is being used by at least a few other weather services. I am following a weather ‘bot’ from Winnipeg. I tried to do this on Twitter but it eventually blocked the account. I’ve contacted the fellow in Winnipeg and will investigate how to set this up on my server.

Mastodon’s underlying protocol “ActivityPub” also allows things like this webpage/blog to participate in the “Fediverse” of which Mastodon is a part. I’ve installed a plugin on this blog so that when I post, it will post on Mastodon as well, in full. Which is pretty great. So you can follow this blog directly if you sign up on Mastodon, just search for in your Mastodon client: @chrisale@www.alberniweather.ca or look for a Boost/RT of one of posts from the @alberniweather account.

Alberniweather Webcam offline long-term

Unfortunately I have been completely unable to determine the problem with my webcam. It has not been reliable since the summer and has only turned on a fw times in the past couple months. I have a feeling it is a problem with the cabling which I can’t fix easily/safely in this weather. So I apologize for that. It’s a bummer because I love seeing the snow on the webcam! I’ll do my best to try to keep diagnosing it in the next few weeks.

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