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Post by doctork on Sept 10, 2008 21:32:58 GMT -5
gk = //We met a neighbor who helpfully informed us that we are now losing 21 minutes of daylight a week. how could that be? A week ago we hit 90. // I have been less obsessed about the length of the days or nights, as I get most concerned around December 21 when the days are shortest. But the days are getting very short very quickly here; I will resume my obsessive checking of sunrise/sunset. Here in Bellingham (farthest north city in the lower 48, for any of you who have not been previously subjected to my obsession) our days are 16 hours long in the summer and 8 hours long in the winter, so the swings are very wide. We might be losing 30 minutes a week for all I know. Sunrise/sunset for Bellingham: 6:40/7:32; (12 hours 52 minutes daylight) Sunrise/sunset for Seattle: 6:41/7:31 (12 hours 50 minutes daylight) We are 85 miles north of Seattle. Bellingham will lose 52 minutes of daylight over the next 11 days, or 4.7 minutes per day, or 32.9 minutes per week. Now if a train leaves Chicago traveling at 50 miles per hour.... I should stop this!
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Post by gailkate on Sept 10, 2008 23:24:38 GMT -5
No, you shouldn't stop it, K, you should find a way to relish it. Not that I'm at all a model for you. I do actually love the short days of December. I like shifting our dog walks from morning to late afternoon, coming across the golf course to our little Cape Cod with Chritmas lights outside and the shadows deepening to grey-blue. I feel like a Currier and Ives print complete with horse and sleigh, skaters on a frozen pond, gaslights along the street. But come January, I want things to turn around mighty fast. Cue the high sun and robins.
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Post by doctork on Sept 11, 2008 11:10:11 GMT -5
But gk, in January winter is only 10 days old, having begun on December 21, and there are at least two long months to go.
Christmas season is lovely with all the lights and decorations, but February is the pits. Day after day of snow, ice and cold, and the robins and sun still so far away. It always seems to me the longest month of the year, despite the calendar illusion that February is "short."
Seattle sunrise/sunset: 6:42/7:28 (12 hours 46 minutes daylight) Bellingham sunrise/sunset: 6:41/7:31 (12 hours 50 minutes daylight)
Two minutes shorter for Bellingham, four minutes shorter for Seattle. The math is a little odd, must be partial minutes or something.
I can no longer determine for myself the moment that the entire sun drops below the horizon, as the sun has moved far enough south that it sets behind a hill instead of on the sea horizon. That's the view from my house - and I compare the sunset timing to the cable TV time, which I believe is synched with that atomic clock in Boulder.
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Post by gailkate on Sept 11, 2008 23:18:47 GMT -5
I know it's only 10 days old, but it should still be on the way out. Maybe I wasn't clear - January can progress from lovely winter to early spring, but by February - well, as you say, there shouldn't be a February. March should be spring.
Today was 12 hrs and 44 minutes in St. Paul. I know even without confirmation in the paper, because doing dog clean-up is harder. Even in the morning, chunks of our small yard are in shadow. That's really cruel - having to stoop to discern whether the brown something is a fallen leaf or, well, poop.
But there are no hurricanes. I'm worrying about friends in Texas and thinking I whine too much.
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Post by Thomas Scheuzger on Sept 12, 2008 1:57:13 GMT -5
gk = //We met a neighbor who helpfully informed us that we are now losing 21 minutes of daylight a week. how could that be? A week ago we hit 90. // I have been less obsessed about the length of the days or nights, as I get most concerned around December 21 when the days are shortest. But the days are getting very short very quickly here; I will resume my obsessive checking of sunrise/sunset. Here in Bellingham (farthest north city in the lower 48, for any of you who have not been previously subjected to my obsession) our days are 16 hours long in the summer and 8 hours long in the winter, so the swings are very wide. We might be losing 30 minutes a week for all I know. Sunrise/sunset for Bellingham: 6:40/7:32; (12 hours 52 minutes daylight) Sunrise/sunset for Seattle: 6:41/7:31 (12 hours 50 minutes daylight) We are 85 miles north of Seattle. Bellingham will lose 52 minutes of daylight over the next 11 days, or 4.7 minutes per day, or 32.9 minutes per week. Now if a train leaves Chicago traveling at 50 miles per hour.... I should stop this! Without quantifying, Roseau, MN (Lat/Lon: 48.8° N 95.7° W) is a city a bit further north than Bellingham (Lat/Lon: 48.7° N 122.5° W), but it has less than 50,000 people. Tomorrow there will be 3 min 32 secs shorter than today. Warroad, MN (Lat/Lon: 48.9° N 95.3° W) is another city even further north than Bellingham, but again with less than 50,000 people.
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Post by liriodendron on Sept 12, 2008 4:53:27 GMT -5
All I know is that baseball practice was from 6 - 7:30 last night and by 7:30 you couldn't really see the ball anymore.
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Post by doctork on Sept 13, 2008 0:10:03 GMT -5
Yup Thomas, when the Bellingham powers-that-be make that statement about who is furthest (farthest? where is slb2 to help with that), there's a little asterisk that defines "city" as > 50,000 incorporated population. And hey, I thought the 48th parallel was the official dividing line between the US and Canada out west here. So how can a Minnesota town/city be "norther" than 48 degrees? Today's sunrise/sunset for Seattle & Bellingham: Seattle: 6:43/7:26 (12 hours 43 minutes) Bellingham: 6:43/7:28 (12 hours 45 minutes) So we've lost seven minutes of daylight here in Bellingham since 9/10/08, getting close to that mathestimate of 3.7 minutes per day. Our newspaper does not include seconds along with the minutes. And I presume that by the 20th or 21st we'll have exactly 12 hours daylight in both Seattle and Bellingham, and the Twin cities too? And practically - now when I work 12 noon to 8 pm, it's dark when I leave the office.
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Post by Trusty on Sept 13, 2008 3:26:55 GMT -5
Yup Thomas, when the Bellingham powers-that-be make that statement about who is furthest (farthest? where is slb2 to help with that), there's a little asterisk that defines "city" as > 50,000 incorporated population. And hey, I thought the 48th parallel was the official dividing line between the US and Canada out west here. So how can a Minnesota town/city be "norther" than 48 degrees? MN has a lot of towns more northernly than 48 degrees , but only a couple of settlements in the little blip north of 49 degrees. Penasse seems to be the most northerest.
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Post by gailkate on Sept 13, 2008 9:41:19 GMT -5
I've lived here 27 years and never heard of Penasse. Trusty's link takes you to a new world, the world of "populated places" which apparently means people who live there are so few and far between that you can't quite call it a town? Click on "street map" and you see islands and water. What exactly is Penasse and how did Trusty find it? Is this MN's very own Shagri-la or Brigadoon?
As for weather, I talked to my friend in Houston last night, and she planned to sleep on couch cushions in her inner hallway. It looks as if nothing too terrible happened there, though it's too early to say much. I'd hoped she'd go to another friend in Austin, but the storm was tracking that way, so she decided she could handle wind and rain just as well at home. No telling when I'll get live news from them, as power is out in lots of places. CNN said some power could be out for weeks. Unthinkable in that heat and humidity. My friend said all the rats and snakes were moving away from the water surge, also not a happy thought. Ick.
The shocking news about this hurricane is that it's as big as the whole state of Texas! Could be that we'll all be feeling some effects as it swoops up and then northeast.
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Post by gailkate on Sept 13, 2008 9:44:07 GMT -5
Just heard that it's only 60 miles from Lufkin, which is close to our old friend qhperson. I hope she's safely battened down with all her animals.
Q, are you ok???
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Post by gailkate on Sept 21, 2008 10:18:16 GMT -5
Happy news - qh is okay and has electricity. But she lost a wonderful tree and has a mess to clean up.
My friend in Houston still has no power but the water came on a few days ago, so she's delighted to be clean while reading by flashlight.
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Post by gailkate on Oct 22, 2008 9:55:49 GMT -5
So it's but a month later and this morning I heard what sounded like "blizzards in Kansas and Nebraska." Can that be possible? Oz, are you ok?
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Post by ozski on Oct 22, 2008 11:33:59 GMT -5
Oy gail! No snow yet, that comes later this afternoon. Thirty miles to the west 10-13" is predited and the wind is gusting right at 57 mph right now, so a blizzard is totally possible. In the past 24 hours we have had 4-5" of rain---UNBELIEVEABLE for October, or any other month for that matter! Over 11" of rain this month to date. Ponds and lakes haven't looked this good since '93, but with such a wet spell (we've had a wet summer, too) this close to winter we are thinkin' the snow blower better be in tip top shape! Many roads are underwater and creeks and streams and rivers are in flood stage as of this morning. The farmers are NOT happy campers. Many had cane down before the rain started hindering field work early this month. Corn harvest hasn't had a chance to properlly begin, and if we get too much heavy wet snow the milowill go by the wayside. Bright side: The winter wheat is up and looks mahvelous! Dang wind umbrella broke on the way home from lunch!!! Ain't ya glad ya asked??
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Post by gailkate on Oct 22, 2008 14:23:39 GMT -5
Actually, yes I am. We're having a very blowy day which might be the ripples from your wind. We complained a lot on the dog walk this morning, wondering where we've hidden away the warm hats and mittens. But all those crops are a surprise to me. I would have thought everything was in by now. Cane - as in sugar cane? and corn? winter wheat I understand. When I did my ramble through all the Lttle House books a couple of months ago I was awestruck by The Long Winter. When the blizzards came every 2-3 days, firewood gone and no trains bringing flour, they ended up twisting the stalks into logs and grinding the wheat by hand in a little coffee grinder so they could just barely survive. Make sure you have lots of wood and flour.
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Post by ozski on Oct 22, 2008 18:42:28 GMT -5
gail: Cane as in feed, I guess. That is all I have ever heard it called! The Long Winter...the wind is howling here much as it did in De Smet that winter. Thank heavens for Almanzo and Cap Garland making the ride for the seed wheat so the town folk had something to eat! That took some kahoonas. (Did I spell that right? )
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Post by gailkate on Oct 22, 2008 19:12:29 GMT -5
LOL. I think you're combining 2 words that aren't native to you and me.
kahuna 1886, "Hawaiian priest or minister, expert or wise man," from Hawaiian, where it was applied to priests, doctors, sorcerers, and navigators. In surfer slang, for "a god of surfing," it is attested from 1962 (but big kahuna in same sense is said to date from 1950s).
cojones Eng.pronunciation: kuh-hoh-neys, -neez Definition: courage Etymology: Spanish cojon 'testicle' Usage: slang
Boy, you sure know your Little House stories. That trip to get the wheat was a real lesson to me - horses crashing through the frozen snow and sinking into the tall grass underneath, men having to stomp down a trail and pull the terrified horses out of the hole, staggering on a short way and then going through it all again. Yup, those were cojones.
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Post by ozski on Oct 22, 2008 19:54:32 GMT -5
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Post by BoatBabe on Oct 13, 2016 21:31:43 GMT -5
I just had to bring this one back. Trusty's weather cities on the first page don't work anymore, but the rest of the posts are very fun to read. Thomas even talked with us, as did many people who are no longer here.
So, we've prepared for the first storm, scheduled in tonight. We put the rain-proof (there's no such thing; more like "not so much rain allowed") cover on our dinghy hanging from the davit off the transom. We DO have a bilge pump in the dinghy, but we don't want to see how much water weight the cables will hold before we wake up.
And we battened down the flybridge canvas. And we put an extra midship's line on, and made sure the propane tanks are full for cooking and heating, in case the electricity goes out. We are good. We shall see how the typhoon's effects hit us on Saturday. I think we will be just fine in our warm, snuggley nest.
It definitely is Ducky Weather which we both enjoy: the changing seasons.
How is The Weather in your corner of the world?
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Post by jspnrvr on Oct 14, 2016 7:46:11 GMT -5
Well, it's been 10 hours since you posted. So how is it going? Did everyone manage to sleep through the night without getting thrown out of your bed? We'll check back by later today.
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Post by BoatBabe on Oct 15, 2016 13:22:16 GMT -5
The first storm was wet, Wet, WET but wind gusts topped out at 28 mph. That's noticeable, but really not that bad a deal.
The 100-person cruise ship, "American Spirit," returned from their weekly autumn North Puget Sound cruise a day early. They tie up on the outside of our public pier, so they have sheltered us a bit from the southwest wind.
It's still raining. We're just fine. The typhoon remnant winds will arrive latter today, and the cruise ship is loading new folks on for this week's cruise. They usually leave about 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. I wonder if they will go out today?
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Post by BoatBabe on Oct 18, 2016 8:55:17 GMT -5
In fact, the cruise ship left early, about noon, and headed off to Liberty Bay and Poulsbo, which is inland and protected from the winds and waves of Puget Sound. The typhoon remnants just brushed us, as it stayed further west, out in the ocean, while going north. Our high gust was 32 mph, enough to knock us around, but nothing as forecast. The rain was pretty impressive.
Once again, we surmised that we hardly ever get whacked when there is a big Storm Warning. And we are okay with that.
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Post by jspnrvr on Oct 18, 2016 9:02:30 GMT -5
So good to hear. But still, we make our preparations, don't we? Unfortunately, we're more likely to win the Weather Lotto, than the Good Lotto.
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