Category Archives: weather

Molly, weather

The Day That Was

3 Comments

Today was a day of meetings and odd phone calls. In between trying to keep the sifting powder snow off the walk so people could make it in to the meeting and having it continue to sift back in and getting a whole spate of wrong number calls that wouldn’t believe that I was not named Steve, it was an interesting day. I’m considering offering snow gliders at the curb and changing my name to Steve. What do you think?

On top of that, it is currently about 1 degree with a slight breeze outside. Just cool enough that Molly the wonder dog is only laying on her back in the snow with her legs akimbo for 15 minutes at a time rather than hours. It always amazes me that she will lay there in the cold with her fur flying in the wind and give me this look that says “What? Me come in? No way.” Sort of like the way she likes to use her nose to make big snow mounds so that she can lay on them and survey the snow for signs of action. I suspect some of that is from the Husky that is mixed in with her Border Collie.

Now that Molly has deigned to come in, she is laying at my feet and snoring as I write. I envy my dog’s life at times. Getting fed, drinks on demand, a doorman to let her in and out, and the ability to drop off to sleep at any time. When does my life get that good? Maybe when I look this good?

sports, weather

Here We Go Again

4 Comments

After being tolerable for a few days, the cold is returning with a vengeance. The temperature has been dropping at more than 10 degrees an hour, the wind whipping at 25 mph, and snow trying to come down rather than blow around. It was in the 40s today, but it is now below 10heading for subzero. Let’s hear it for the return of the cold! Tomorrow is scheduled for highs in the 5-10 degree range with winds to 40 mph. Late winter on the high plains. Nothing like it for variability.

In other news, another Super Bowl has come and gone. I can remember the original game – it was viewed by many of us as a self promo akin to the Billy Jean King/ Bobby Riggs tennis matches that would come later. Now it has grown into a behemoth that takes over the land of TV and sports for a day. Who’d a thunk it?

Somehow I find the Super Bowl a bit anticlimactic unless one of my favorite teams is in it. Needless to say, neither Pittsburgh or Green Bay fall into that category. But I did like the way Green Bay played and was a bit surprised at the apparent nerves shown by Pittsburgh. We had the MIL over and ate burgers and chips and commented on the ads – which in my opinion were not as creative this year. Oh well. Time to go into full football withdrawal. What will I watch with no more football on?

prairie, travel, weather

A Potpourri of Posting Wonder

1 Comment

You’ve probably noticed how unreliable my posting habits have become. Or maybe not? No excuses, just too many other things on my plate at the moment.

I had a meeting last Friday in Greeley which is about 100 miles to the west of here. Getting there for the 8am start time entailed being on the road before the sun had risen. Between here and Greeley, there is about 60 miles of the Pawnee National Grassland - prairie grassland and sage brush preserved in it’s original form. Of course that also means that there is close to an 80 mile stretch where there are no services as well. None of that probably enthuses you, but as a prairie native it does me. It has been a while since I was driving westward as the sun rose behind me amidst the thousands of acres of prairie. It is so flat around here that you can see for 20 miles in all directions (which always made me wonder how western writers could talk of indians sneaking up on people out here).

(The view in spring. Picture from coloradorvcampgrounds.net)

As the sun rose, the landscape went from black to shades of gray and then to patches of glorious molten red. The sage brush and the antelope herds suddenly became clear and then the light increased to the point where color appeared. And in my mind was the thought that this is the way man was meant to live. (If you can’t tell by now, I am a born and bred flat-land prairie lover.)

The other thing that was spectacular about the day was that it was in the 60s by noon with only a light 15 mph breeze. Basically it was as if spring had arrived early. It was close to 70 at 5 pm. Fast forward 72 hours and it was about 6 degrees at the same time of day. Monday night it got down to 23 below zero and at 10am Tuesday as I headed off to a meeting, it was still 14 below with wind chills in the -35 range. Made the 50 yards from my truck to the door of the meeting place an interesting journey (The nose piece on my glasses froze to my nose in that short span. Of course the first thing you do when you walk inside and your glasses steam over is reach up and remove … Ouch.). The temperature eventually got close to -1 for a high, but the wind chill never did get above -20. So last night the temps were in the -17 to -19 range and the wind chills were in the -30 to -40 range. Pretty typical late January weather here. (It could be worse. L called last night and by 8:30pm it was already -22 in the mountains with wind chills lower than -44. She said it made the walk from the garage to the door somewhat painful to exposed skin.)

Here’s hoping the weather people have it right and tomorrow makes it above 20 degrees. We could use some warmth and the people (Hi Mom) with frozen pipes would like it to not blow so much. (Mom’s pipes have thawed since we have gotten up to 10 degrees today and the wind shifted direction.)

P.S. I think we are becoming less and less like our pioneer blood lines. Maybe we are becoming a nation of wusses. I cannot remember ever having school cancelled because of the cold as a kid. Now they cancel for temps in the -20 range? I suspect that some ancestors are rolling over in their graves. (My great grandparents homesteaded out here, …) Heck, I can remember being sent outdoors at recess to play in weather that was -20 or worse. It was standard that all girls kept extra pants and tights at school to put on under their dresses. Now I seldom see that kind of weather preparedness. Like I said – we are wussing out. What do you think?

music, weather

When Last We …

3 Comments

When last we spoke, I was preparing to be a pallbearer in the cold. It was indeed cold and the wind was whistling. You could tell the foreigners because they tried withstanding the grave side service in nothing heavier than a suit coat. They were shaking pretty hard by the end since the wind chill was -25 degrees or lower.

Of course then started a warming trend that saw temperatures reaching the upper 50s Sunday and Monday. A lot of the snow melted and the ice could be chipped off. Today started nice but then the temperature dropped 30 degrees and it started snowing. So it is once more snow covered and the temperatures are headed into single digits again. Nothing like the variability of the weather out here on the high plains of Colorado.

Leaving the weather aside, I have been enjoying the outdoors while the weather was nice rather than writing here. (Sounds like a good excuse doesn’t it?)

The other day I was reflecting on how varied my musical tastes are. Everything from Katy Perry to Iron Butterfly to… In fact the only music I really can’t stand is some Rap music and a lot of the old cater-wauling country and western. So what forms of music can you not tolerate?

cold, eagle, weather

Random Thoughts

4 Comments

It’s 3pm and the thermometer has finally hit a blazing 10 degrees, but the wind chill has never gotten above -5. This morning at 9am it was still -10 degrees with a wind chill around -25. What you might call a slight cold spell typical of January. Looks a bit like this:

The bad part about the cold is the timing.  I am a pallbearer at a funeral tomorrow and the indoor part of the service will be no problem, but the cemetery is out on the plains with no shelter from the wind and the cold. He was a military veteran, so the graveside part of the service may run on for a bit by the time the secular and military services conclude. I’m just hoping it is above 5 degrees by that time and that the services proceed apace.

On a completely unrelated note, there are bald eagles gathering in the area for the winter this year. A rarity somewhat symptomatic of climate change and of improved fishing at the reservoir.. They are out by the reservoir as is their wont, munching fish, sitting in cottonwood trees, etc. At least 20 adult and younger eagles are hanging about. Earlier (before the snow and cold) they looked like this:

(Photo by Jessica Elbert and TheDenverChannel.com)

Now it is a bit colder and snowier and they look a bit cooler:

A sight I never thought I’d see in this area. It’s good that the eagles are recovering.