The rain *is* coming… and other weather news.

So it’s really been a fairly boring start to 2010 so far. Especially considering what we went last year, this year just seems downright normal! (It actually feels pretty normal to me, this is what I remember winters being like growing up).

But, do not despair last week the models were saying we’d get a whole bunch of rain starting around tomorrow and Friday, and it looks like that forecast was right. Not only does the short-medium forecast say it’s going to rain starting Friday and through until next Tuesday… but it’s going to rain quite a lot. 200mm between now and then.

Looks like there is a possibility for some wind around Saturday or Sunday, but it doesn’t look like anything major, maybe up to 40-50kph.

Weather around the world… specifically… anywhere between the Rockies and Russia, is pretty interesting right now. Central and Eastern North America are in a deep freeze. Tampa Bay, Florida set a 99 year record yesterday. They got down to -2C on the 5th… breaking the record of 0C set in 1911.

Records are falling for snowfall and temperatures everywhere from England, to Norway (Every, single City in Norway is below zero right now!), to Beijing.

Why? The Arctic Oscillation is its strongest “negative” phase since records began in 1950. This is causing the related North Atlantic Oscillation to be strongly negative as well, which affects the jetstream that keeps North East North America and most of Western Europe warm in the winter. There is a good description here of what a negative NAO does here.

Oh.. and getting back to Floria… go use the Wundermap… to see current temperatures in Florida and Alaska. It’s the same temperature in Tampa this morning as it is in Anchorage!

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10 thoughts on “The rain *is* coming… and other weather news.

  1. I see our northerly winds are bringing some dry air with them… it is kinda nice outside at 6c and not be bone chilling damp at the same time.

  2. BRING IT ON! Finally, my station is up and running, and things seem to be hanging in there nicely. Just need some wet stuff to “test” the rain gauge. 😉

    We’ve been holding 8c here the past couple days. I see it’s coming down now, so maybe something’s on the way.

    Cheers!

  3. Chris: Yes, I did. I took the phone cord I’d bought and reversed one end. That did the trick. Then I built a 100ft extension for it, with the jack in the house by the console. It’s humming along nicely now. And of course, the cord from Davis arrived yesterday, AFTER I’d gotten everything up and running. 🙂

  4. I see our cloud cover just vaporized, and it got cold quickly. Still fairly dry air.
    Was just outside. Brrrr is now in order! 😉

  5. Actually, Chris, I didn’t use a crimper. I just cut the end off about 6 inches back and resoldered the wires, with the end reversed. Worked like a charm. And the 100ft extension, I took a 50ft male->female and inserted another 50ft of cable. So far so good, and probably cheaper than purchasing the Davis cables too.;-)

  6. Mike: I can *guarantee* it would be cheaper than the Davis cables 🙂

    Tazz. I may just take you up on that offer one day. I’m generally unhappy with having the rain/temp gauge up on the roof. I’d much rather them down nearer the ground probably on our clothesline post or something like that.

    But that would all require a major re-wiring. Something for the dog days of summer me-thinks. 🙂

  7. Chris, if you can split it, the wind sensor can use a standard male->female telephone extension, up to 540′. I’m using a 50ft extension on mine, and it’s working fine.

    We finally started getting moisture today, 1.4mm so far, according to the new station.

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