Grump Central Archive: Week of 7 February 2021
Saturday, 13 February 2021
Just about anything that can fall from the sky is supposed to start falling on us this afternoon and continue through Tuesday. With the highs around freezing and lows in the 20s, the crap will make a bad situation worse, and it'll be with us for a while. Stay safe out there, please.
Friday, 12 February 2021
Hey, just what we need: more snow, another three on top of the five that was still on the ground. Then there's the snowstorm coming tomorrow, the ice storm on Sunday, and the snow/sleet mix on Tuesday. Maybe someone will be able to make it up here by July...
Thursday, 11 February 2021
Yesterday's gripe about weather prognostication resulted in a number of emails. Well, what was the outcome of the predictions by the two major players I cited? The National Weather Service nailed it—including the chance of more snow—whereas The Weather Channel was about as useful as the Farmers' Almanac. I was tempted to start a running tally to look for trends, but that seemed too much like work, so it's on to another grumpy topic.
A couple of days ago, Amazon made their second attempt to deliver an order that was supposed to have arrived before all of this snow but didn't, and they sent an email indicating it wasn't possible due to road conditions. So I updated the delivery instructions to have them drop it off at a neighbor located on the paved/plowed part of the driveway. But I may as well have just sent up smoke signals, because the information failed to reach the truck driver, who got stuck in the middle of my part of the driveway while making the third delivery attempt. As "punishment," I had the driver carry my stuff (which included a 40-pound box of kitty litter) through the snow all the way up to the house. Which, to his credit, he agreed to do.
In other news, I've gotten back into modeling... a little... for now. No guarantees I'll stick with it, however.
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
So the rain predicted for yesterday just evaporated. It was in the forecast all the way up to the night before, then poof. So much for a shot at clearing my driveway. It seems weather forecasting is becoming less accurate, instead of more. Let's compare, shall we?
|
The Weather Channel |
National Weather Service |
Today |
cloudy, 36/25 |
partly sunny, 33/24 |
Tomorrow |
cloudy, 34/19 |
50% chance of snow, 32/31 |
Friday |
cloudy, 27/16 |
30% chance of snow, 29/17 |
Saturday |
30% chance of snow, 28/27 |
cloudy, 30/22 |
They're not even close. How can anyone make plans with nonsense like this? May as well use the Farmers' Almanac. Let's have a look at their forecast for February 6-15: "Rainy periods, mild." And their Annual Weather Summary: "Winter temperatures will be above normal, on average, with the coldest periods in mid-December and early and mid-January. Precipitation will be near normal, with mostly below-normal snowfall. The snowiest periods will occur in mid-December and early March." And they claim an accuracy rate of 80%. Um, yeah, right. What do they use, a Ouija Board?
Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Since the daytime high was in the mid-20s, the remnants of the ice storm never went away—the forest glittered all day. And my wood stove crackled all day as well. Tomorrow's storm is now predicted as mostly rain, thankfully, but the temps to follow are frigid, making for hazardous driving conditions, so be safe out there. Then a three-day snowstorm is on the way beginning Thursday, with lows in the low teens, plus yet another storm right behind that. It may be July before my driveway is clear...
Monday, 8 February 2021
Wow, I can't recall seeing snow come down as hard as it did yesterday—it looked as though it was being dumped from a giant front-loader up in the sky. And again, it's a good thing I'm well stocked on everything I need, because it'll probably be a week before anyone will be able to make it up my driveway.
Sunday, 7 February 2021
Well, there goes my plan to have lunch out with three friends tomorrow. This storm isn't supposed to last as long as the previous one, but the half-foot of snow it's predicted to dump will be sticking around for a while, what with highs not getting above freezing and single-digit lows some nights for the foreseeable future. Not to mention the possibility of two more storms before next weekend. I'm very glad I got a load of firewood when I did. Meanwhile, Amazon tried to make a delivery yesterday and couldn't make it up the driveway. I have to wonder how long it'll be before anyone can. Good thing I'm well-stocked on food...