Odd weather

The last 24 hours has to be the oddest weather pattern I've ever experienced.

I awoke in the middle of the night (Saturday early morning) to heavy rainstorm. No thunder was involved, but it was apparent several rain clouds passed by the region with sporadic heavy downpours.

This morning, after sleeping in till 10:30 a.m., I woke to warm weather, around 40 degrees Fahrenheit (T-shirt weather in Chicago winter), with practically all of the weeks' accumulation of snow melted from last night's storm.

But the rain clouds came and went throughout the day. Reports of flash floods were rampant, so much so I endured cabin fever and watched TV, cooked, read, and baked.

Then around 11 p.m., a series of power outages came and went.

Now at "press time", snow is starting to fall.

What is going on?!

Weather, And under it.

It's getting cold. The space heater's out. But I have a migraine (although that could have resulted from my friend J who called my phone at 4:18 am) that usually exacerbates from the cold snap.

This afternoon, the air was crisp. I loved it. But tonight, I was wrapped up in a soft throw while watching TV in the "basement".

I love Fall. The light coats, choice of closed and open-toed shoes, short and long skirts, hot chocolate, soups, crockpot meals. Tomorrow, Oct 1, in Chicago, we're having a high of mid-50s. Now, if only the migraine goes away, I can truly enjoy it.

Paralyzed by Cold

Hello, here's a warm welcome from the Windy City.
Today is a purported -7 degrees, with a real feel of -17 degrees.
As I got up to close the vents on the rooms we are not using, to maximize heating in other areas of the house, and to minimize wastage, I felt a draft coming from a window near the vent. I pulled the curtains apart and saw this: Frost gathering INSIDE my window.



And ICICLES and frost INSIDE my kitchen window:

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Jeremy: Makes things down here seem downright toasty by comparison. BTW, send me your e-mail address and I'll send you the highest res I have of the pansy-snow picture.

Patrickl: Wow, that sucks. I totally feel your pain. This month in NYC seems to have been one long seesaw between frigid and dry and slightly less frigid but pouring rain. It's not even remotely pretty like snow.

Channing: Wow, that looks rough. I was in Boston last week. We got between 8 - 10 inches of snow my first night there. I was not happy.

There is nothing cute or fun about snow. It is just white, fluffy evilness.

Snowstorm in Lubbock

I'll preface the pics by giving some context, though. Southwest Texas was slammed by some cold spell over the weekend. While in house arrest, I took some pictures. The link is here:

http://spotted.lubbockonline.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=317377

An ominous start to 2006?

Ah, the infamous sandstorm of Lubbock, TX.

I finally got to witness it early New Year's Day.

I had been warned over Christmas by a former resident of Lubbock that when the dust kick up, not even the tighest window could keep out the silt. I hope I never have to experience that. I did, however, bit on some dust. I had to wash out my contacts soon. I could feel the microscopic particle(s).

What I did witness is the spectacular strength of the wind, reported at 53 mph at the National Weather Service Web site. Temperature in the highs of 75 degrees. The wooden fences that line the back yard are rocking, and if I look hard, wisps of dust are kicked around in the air. Even the rare bird or two that dared to venture was struggling against the wind.

Let's hope that the condition does not escalate through the evening. With the low humidity and gusty winds, I fear that some moronic resident would attempt to light up some fireworks. Furthermore, I wonder if this condition is similar in Dallas. Maybe the skyscrapers will tone it down some. Let's hope so, or the Cotton Bowl tomorrow will be insufferable for the players and spectators, M and I among the latter.

Note the dark blue of the shed in the neighbor's yard against the sky. Also note that picture is about one shade darker that current conditions.