Weather and Snow Storms

[Uncle Al]

I would like to extend my best wishes that all Cafe' members who live
in the Snow Ravaged areas of the U.S., and Europe, remain safe and
warm. If any of you must travel, please be careful

Today our high temperature was 34*F and the low was 18*F.
The 34*F temperature is our normal low temperature for this time
of year. Tomorrow the high is to be around 36*F which is well below
normal in North Texas for this time of year.

Thank goodness, the ICE did not stay long in the Dallas/Ft.Worth
Metro area. Roads are dry - so far.

If you have a fireplace, I hope you have a large supply of wood because
if the electricity goes out due to the storms you still have a way of keeping
warm. Even with gas heat, I still need electricity to ignite the burner
and control the blower in the furnace.

Anyway, Keep Safe and Warm as our best wishes are coming your way

Uncle Al
In Frigid North Texas

[Kirbstone]

As a child I was informed in geography classes that Ireland 'enjoyed' one of the most temperate maritime climates considering its latitude. Normal average temp. variations between Winter (40 degrees F.) and Summer (62 deg. F.) was deemed to be small, so in general we had mild wet winters and cool damp summers.

This Winter so far has provided us with lows of minus 18 Celsius to (today) +12degrees C....That is minus 1 degree F. to plus 52 deg. F.....a range of more than 50 deg. F in just a couple of weeks. It's no wonder the minor roads here now have potholes all over them. That's what needs care after dark here, when they fill with water and can't be seen. They are of course, lethal for poor cyclists.

[Mugs-n-such]

Thanks to Uncle Al for the warning. I was a bit amused when I went to Wal-Mart the first night after the snow and the manager said one worker called in because it was a national disaster. It was a bit tricky and dangerous driving, admittedly, but I wouldn't quite call that a national disaster, at least not in Wichita. To Kirbstone: I read about a case where a bicyclist hit a pot hole and was in a coma as a result of falling off the bike and hitting her head. So yeah, potholes can be quite dangerous, as you say, especially for cyclists.

[DALederle]

Okay! What kind of potholes do you get in your area.
In Chicago they report potholes big enough to swallow Volkswagons. I haven't actually seen one of those so I take that with a grain of salt. But I used to write a "Pothole Report" for a small town newspaper when I was a reporter. Keep in mind that I was an objective, honest reporter and not just a talking head. I did research and followed it up and tried hard to find and publish both sides of a story as fairly as possible (wouldn't that be nice in the media today?). But we did have (always have) some pretty big and dangerous potholes.
One radio caller I heard, the other day, had a solution for sluggish pothole repairs by your local communities. Plant a tree in a pothole! A saplings, of course, not a full size tree. This seems to get a lot of attention. For one thing the sight of the tree acts as a warning sign for motorist and others. For another the crews have to get it out before it takes root and causes even more damage. Seems to work well according to the caller. LOL
That is the biggest problem with potholes. Public works depts. are often slow to get around to filling them. So here is one way to get them going.
We had about 4" yesterday but some of it's begun to melt in the sunshine. Which is what causes potholes. Oh, Joy!
But it's getting cold again today, with overnight in the single digits F. And when that freezes it mmeans more or bigger pothole. Don't you just love the winter?
I'm in favor of global warming! Bring it on!

Dennis A. Lederle
Grok?

[crfriend]

According to the weather boffins we've received about two feet of snow already, and it's still coming down -- sometimes sideways due to the wind. I'm pretty much finished digging out the worst of my driveway and front walk and only have the cars left to do and the fireplug that's in our side-yard.

Interestingly, I was able to move more snow more quickly using a shovel than my next-door neighbour who was using a petrol-powered snow-blower. Not bad for a bloke in his second half-century of lif^W existence. And no, I'm not wearing a skirt; the wind is just too much and it'd be up around my neck.

I am so ready for Spring!