Global warming strikes again...

[Valka D'Ur]

Ah yes, but the North Pole is just there!

The North Pole was claimed many years ago by the Region of Avacal (now the Kingdom of Avacal, an SCA kingdom located in real-world Canada).

In the eastern and central US its c o l d. The west is slightly warm.

Its only December...

If those temperatures were in a more civilized scale (Celsius) those would be nice, warm temperatures in Canada (honestly, 1C really does seem like shirtsleeve weather after a couple of weeks of a cold snap of -25C and colder).

As it is, we're under a weather advisory this weekend. It's currently -26C (-34C with wind chill, and supposed to get down to -40C with wind chill by morning). But next week is supposed to be quite warm, so that will be nice.

I'm well supplied with everything I need to get through a cold snap.

 

[CavLancer]

http://www.livescience.com/57218-polar-vortex-guide.html

Ya, I know the drill. Thing is, its new. In the past we had fronts come down from Valka's house and they would warm and dissipate. That's what I don't see with info about "polar vortex" events, is where they came from. To me, its not generally warmer, its colder, that's the only way these things could survive and keep turning.

 

[CavLancer]

The North Pole was claimed many years ago by the Region of Avacal (now the Kingdom of Avacal, an SCA kingdom located in real-world Canada).


If those temperatures were in a more civilized scale (Celsius) those would be nice, warm temperatures in Canada (honestly, 1C really does seem like shirtsleeve weather after a couple of weeks of a cold snap of -25C and colder).

As it is, we're under a weather advisory this weekend. It's currently -26C (-34C with wind chill, and supposed to get down to -40C with wind chill by morning). But next week is supposed to be quite warm, so that will be nice.

I'm well supplied with everything I need to get through a cold snap.

Ya, good luck with owning the Pole. Putin thinks he owns it too btw. Both wrong, all those starving polar bears will eat both armies.

Glad you have supplies. How do you stay warm if the power goes out?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Ya, good luck with owning the Pole. Putin thinks he owns it too btw. Both wrong, all those starving polar bears will eat both armies.

Glad you have supplies. How do you stay warm if the power goes out?

That's why cats are so useful. Because their body temperature is several degrees higher than a human's body temperature, sleeping with a cat is like having an extra blanket. Of course you have to have them sleeping on you, rather than beside you.

Plus I've got lots of blankets and winter-weight clothes. And this building has its own generator; it has to, since the external doors are operated electronically.

 

[CavLancer]

That's why cats are so useful. Because their body temperature is several degrees higher than a human's body temperature, sleeping with a cat is like having an extra blanket. Of course you have to have them sleeping on you, rather than beside you.

Plus I've got lots of blankets and winter-weight clothes. And this building has its own generator; it has to, since the external doors are operated electronically.

You remember the storms of the 70's Valka? I think it was Buffalo where all the power lines but 1 set succumbed to an ice storm. I recall seeing a video ages ago, I'll see if I can find it. Nope. Anyway the city was cut off, Carter called a state of emergency. Fuel supplies were also running thin, which by the way happened here on Bohol during the 3 week brownout. Generators are nice, but they can't last. Of course Canada is better at these things than the US, having so much more experience.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I remember some cold winters in the '70s, yeah. I've got pictures in my old photo albums where snow was measured in feet, not inches (we really don't have much snow to show for the very cold temperatures this weekend).

I've also been without heat in the house, when I had to wear my winter coat to keep from freezing. Thank goodness I had a cat willing to stay with me for warmth as well.

Actually, the most troublesome blizzard I recall was in 1986, when we got half a winter's worth of snow dumped on us basically overnight, and the city shut down for three days. We were okay, after my dad managed to get some propane from the hardware store. We had camping equipment, so it was easy enough to have hot meals. But with no electricity and the furnace quit as well, it was pretty cold for several days. I just put extra blankets on the bed and my cat and I slept as much as we could. I had just the one cat then - a Siamese who loved to snuggle under the blankets. She tucked all four feet under my chin, cuddled up, and we stayed put except for going down for meals. By the way, this started on May 29 (first year I ever heard of El Nino and what it does to mess up normal weather patterns).

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

How long will Arctic blast last?
You may not have to stay too bundled up for long, as meteorologists expect this blast of Arctic air to go back home soon.

"We're expecting a second lobe of this [polar vortex] event to move through early next week and start to head out by late Monday/Tuesday [Dec. 19–20]," Jackson said. "Following that, more typical patterns of temperature variations are expected to resume. In fact, after this week, patterns favor warmer-than-normal conditions for the eastern half of the country.

 

[CavLancer]

I remember some cold winters in the '70s, yeah. I've got pictures in my old photo albums where snow was measured in feet, not inches (we really don't have much snow to show for the very cold temperatures this weekend).

I've also been without heat in the house, when I had to wear my winter coat to keep from freezing. Thank goodness I had a cat willing to stay with me for warmth as well.

Actually, the most troublesome blizzard I recall was in 1986, when we got half a winter's worth of snow dumped on us basically overnight, and the city shut down for three days. We were okay, after my dad managed to get some propane from the hardware store. We had camping equipment, so it was easy enough to have hot meals. But with no electricity and the furnace quit as well, it was pretty cold for several days. I just put extra blankets on the bed and my cat and I slept as much as we could. I had just the one cat then - a Siamese who loved to snuggle under the blankets. She tucked all four feet under my chin, cuddled up, and we stayed put except for going down for meals. By the way, this started on May 29 (first year I ever heard of El Nino and what it does to mess up normal weather patterns).

I have childhood memories of sidewalks like white canyons, so much snow in the 70s. Lets see, '86. I had sold my house in Jersey and ... nope, that was '88, drove west through the Yellowstone fire. There was one really cold winter in Jersey back then, maybe it was '86. I had a large garage so I could get a running start at the snow in the morning early, before the plows plowed us in, get to work. One of the plans associated with moving to the Oregon coast was to leave the snow behind, and that worked best of all. Sounds like you made it through a difficult year there with your cat and dad. Camping gear and hot meals are really important. Of course now you have a cell phone to contact someone if needs be, yes?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I have childhood memories of sidewalks like white canyons, so much snow in the 70s. Lets see, '86. I had sold my house in Jersey and ... nope, that was '88, drove west through the Yellowstone fire. There was one really cold winter in Jersey back then, maybe it was '86. I had a large garage so I could get a running start at the snow in the morning early, before the plows plowed us in, get to work. One of the plans associated with moving to the Oregon coast was to leave the snow behind, and that worked best of all. Sounds like you made it through a difficult year there with your cat and dad. Camping gear and hot meals are really important. Of course now you have a cell phone to contact someone if needs be, yes?

My dad was a jack-of-all-trades and pretty damn good at most of them, including hunting. He loved camping, so of course he kept all his gear even after we moved into the city.

I actually don't own a cell phone. I just have a basic landline that doesn't have an answering machine or even caller ID (the service is included, though, and since I have a bundle service from my telecommunications provider, if the phone rings and I'm watching TV, the number will flash on my TV screen).

It's under consideration, though, particularly now that the main door of the building I live in is connected to our phones instead of a wall intercom. That way I'd have had my phone beside the bed and wouldn't have had to get up to answer it this morning, only to find that it was a religious doorknocker wanting access to the building.

I don't worry overmuch about natural disasters here. I'm far enough from the river and high enough not to have to worry about flooding. I've got an ample supply of food (both human and cat), a supply of bottled water (for the cats, and for washing when there's an unexpected water shut-off), lots of cat litter, blankets, batteries, and candles to wait out a bad blizzard or cold snap. At least in this weather I don't need to worry about the fridge not working. All I'd need to do would be to just set everything outside on the balcony.

The only concerns I do have are when we have windstorms, or if it's tornado or forest fire season. I get all kinds of crap blown onto my balcony during windstorms and sometimes a power line will go down, but thankfully I've never had to go through a tornado. When there's a forest fire out west or up north, the smoke can drift this way and make it hard to breathe. I remember one summer day a few years ago when I went inside a building to keep an appointment, and in the half hour or so that I was there, a huge cloud of smoke from a forest fire a long(ish) way off came swooping in. I went outside to very poor visibility, and could hardly breathe.

 

[Berzerker]

I've been living in tornado alley for decades and the closest I came to a tornado was in Anaheim Ca

they aint supposed to get tornadoes in SoCal

actually we did have a tornado forming above us here in Topeka, we stood outside on the deck and could feel the updraft as it went over us. It touched down about 3-4 miles later, went right over my buddy's house too. The Anaheim tornado took a few roofs off within a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away.

 

[CavLancer]

Sounds like you are well prepared for such weather as this Valka. If it was me I'd get a cell for emergencies, its such a good tool, and the cell towers tend to survive longer than phone lines. That said by someone who doesn't own one, though my wife does. Have a hand crank radio as well which is great if they spoke English, but my wife can translate. Even with all these preparations I still didn't know, other than a huge typhoon, what caused the 3 week power outage until after it was over. Went and read newspapers even, they never mentioned the downed lines up in Samar, not one word. It ended, got on the web and found out.

Never been through or even seen a tornado. Saw a water spout once, and a water spout went into a community in Jagna which is to our north. Didn't last long but destroyed at least one house. I guess they are basically tornadoes which touch down over water.

Here's a double spout.

Here's a 'fire tornado' in case you don't want to sleep tonight.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Yikes. I've never seen anything like that, not even on TV. But it does remind me of something I read in a Star Trek novel in which there was a catastrophic muck-up of a planet's ecology and weather.

 

[onejayhawk]

Snowspouts are also rare and interesting.

There are smller things called snow devils:

J

 

[onejayhawk]

This is not a fire tornado

The image is inverted. It's enhanced-color of mine tailings flowing into a lake in Spain.

J

 

[CavLancer]

This is not a fire tornado

The image is inverted. It's enhanced-color of mine tailings flowing into a lake in Spain.

J

Dang Jay! That last one looks like a toasty day at the end of the world.

 

[Berzerker]

a lake of fire sounds like a red giant swallowing the world

 

[CavLancer]

I think the trick is in the "enhanced", at least I hope so.

 

[onejayhawk]

I think the trick is in the "enhanced", at least I hope so.

Not really. He is waiting for perfect light and pushing the contrast, but the color is there. This is the article.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/photographer-captures-tornado-fire-river-bed-article-1.1292217

While we are doing cool weather pics.

J

 

[CavLancer]

Beautiful. There was a picture from Iceland of a volcano which was throwing volcanic lightning,..see if I can find it.

Nope, but they have these. Pity, it was my desktop background for a while, and it was incredible.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ice...rIHRAhUDn5QKHUPbA60Q_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=969

 

[Berzerker]

those pics made me think of creation... a theory suggests lightning within the collapsing nebula fused dust grains into small rocks which grew into boulders and eventually planets