Spring is here !

[Sinned]

I think that whatever the calendar says that spring is here. My eldest son's partner has a guide dog and she saves the hairs for us as we put them out in feeders for the birds to get as they want. Yesterday I saw two little sparrows toing and froing with bunches of hair in their beaks. The weather did warm up but has gone all cold again with lots of sunshine.

[couyalair]

Cold with sunshine, that what we had for a day or two, but high pressure and no wind meant that France has been coughing under the worst blanket of pollution on record. The autorités finally décidéd to act, and cars were allowed out in the Paris region only if they had an odd-number registry plate. But they were afraid of being unpopular (elections next week!), and backed down after only one day. So back to normal -- one person per car, jammed traffic, grey air and long queues at the chemist's.
Really looking forward to getting back to the windy Spanish coast again, even though the vegetation here is waking up and showing its splendor.
Martin

[crfriend]

Today, low 13, high22, cloudy maybe rain.

And that's in Celsius, mind!

Here, it's -15C with a projected high, if last night's forecast remains current (my primary ISP won't let me see the National Weather Service and my backup has been dead for almost a week) the high will be about -3C. Spring my backside.

[skirtingtoday]

Yes spring is here - there is even some blossom appearing on the trees, with temperatures up to 11-12deg C.

Except that we might have some snow this weekend with a high of 4deg C - and that is the first main golf competition of this year. Typical!

[skirted_in_SF]

. . . (my primary ISP won't let me see the National Weather Service and my backup has been dead for almost a week) the high will be about -3C. Spring my backside.

Try Weatherunderground.com. They have weather readings from local weather enthusiasts along with forecasts like the NWS. I use them because they have a participant about a mile from my brother's house in Washington state and another less than a mile from my apartment.
If your ISP blocks the NWS, this URL should really freak them out.

[Kilted_John]

Carl,

Here ya go... Not sure how close this is for you, but...

http://classic.wunderground.com/US/MA/Worcester.html

-J

[Big and Bashful]

I don't understand, why would an ISP block a weather service? Sometimes I am glad I live on the side of the pond which is cold, damp and has a lot of people who speak in strange tongues! The UK might have many problems, but at least I can get a free weather forecast on line. If I need to get somebody else to tell me the weather is going to be wet and unpleasant. Sometimes they are wrong though, even predicting Sun occasionaly.

[crfriend]

I don't understand, why would an ISP block a weather service?

I am sure it's not deliberate, but rather that it's a screwed-up proxy someplace -- a case of too many moving parts. It works about 95% of the time, but seems to have a "criticality detector" built in (which means that it'll only screw up when one *really* needs it). I have backup methodologies in place (including (gasp) a radio, a thermometer on the back porch, and a window) so it's not like I'm particularly desperate.

John -- That's close enough to do. The Worcester Aerodrome is some 12 miles to my southwest, and the Sterling one some 6 or so north but there's not a weather station there (at least one that reports in). I've got a pal in Milford who has a private station that reports in and that's another backup. Thanks, though!

The UK might have many problems, but at least I can get a free weather forecast on line. If I need to get somebody else to tell me the weather is going to be wet and unpleasant. Sometimes they are wrong though, even predicting Sun occasionaly.

That's pretty much the case here during winter, save that one can add "cold" to the mix -- even if the sun is shining. Spring was supposed to have arrived yesterday, but I haven't seen much evidence of it yet.

[crfriend]

Here's the sort of "spring" we've had so far:

GPS-downlead.jpg

That's the downlead from the GPS antenna on my rooftop mast. It's not there to tell me where I am, as I already know that, it's to tell me -- and all my computers -- when it is. Yes, it's a ridiculously complex, expensive, and accurate clock; the long-term stability of my primary time-server measured in offset from UTC is measured in nanoseconds, and as the machine that interprets the data is affected by temperature, I can infer the temperature in the room based on some of the timing data.

Needless to say, that BNC barrel-connector -- even coated with vinyl tape -- was no match for that amount of ice and the thing stopped working mandating I switch to a backup antenna. I was not amused, but at least the backup got me running again.

[Kirbstone]

Just to cheer you up Carl I've posted some Daffodils. As our weather remains pretty chilly they'll be out for a long time.

Daffs by lake Rs.jpg

Today we competed in our first non-cancelled event of the Rowing Year. Our Dublin Head was a 5Km row under the bridges upstream & upwind too into a stiff Westerly. The afternoon temp. was a giddy 7 deg. Centipede, so we wrapped up well until the 'off'.

Before the start a big rain squall came through and our experienced cox'n hove us to right under the new bridge, Rosie Hackett, whose (concrete) cleavage and bare curvacious bottom we got to study at close quarters for about ten minutes! Curiously we were alone and presumably most of the other crews got pretty wet.
Our great efforts were foiled, however as we had a serious clash during the event with a young ladies' crew approaching a bridge which lost us precious seconds.

It was all great fun for this old codger, anyway.

Tom

[dillon]

Went to the beach for a bit yesterday as I wanted a bit of sun on my legs which were getting rather pale and pasty; pre-tanning, I suppose, before the trip to Spain. Despite it being the warmest day in a long time, the wind was still chilly, especially when passing clouds obscured the sun, so I didn't last but a couple hours there. Wore my camo skirt which was dropped (once I found a spot in the dunes to unfold my chair and read for a while another of the Chronicles) in favor of short-shorts to expose my legs better. Walking back I had on thigh-high legwarmers, trying to keep from shivering while hunting shells on my trudge. I had conversation with a few passers-by, which is not unusual, though more yesterday than I would typically engage. Not sure if the clothing had anything to do with their talkativeness, since it seemed to me to be one of the sillier looks I have sported on the sand, or if perhaps the larger number of walkers simply made for a higher probability of engagement. Needless to say, I was the only one not wearing typical garb.

[beachlion]

Tomorrow 1" - 3" of snow in eastern Pennsylvania. But there are already some traces of spring. But I'm less optimistic with frost well into the next week.

P1011736q.jpg

[Kirbstone]

Brrh it must be very cold in E. Penn.

Our crocuses came & went and now the daffs are everywhere. This little bunch are tiny little ones my wifie cultivated in a special group down by our boating lake. Today I notice the first fronds of green on the weeping willow behind the boathouse, also the magnolia is partly out......

Special daffs by lake, Mar. 14.jpg

We're still prone to frosts some nights, but not most, so I can jump into my steed & head off in the mornings without preamble. great.

Tom

[skirted_in_SF]

Don't want to burst your bubble Kirbstone, but my neighbor's early daffodils were out a couple of days after New Years here (no, they weren't greenhouse grown). They're long gone now and the tulips that were out around the corner a couple of weeks ago have been blown to bits by the wind. The photos of deciduous magnolias that I use as wallpaper were taken in our local arboretum in January.

[Kirbstone]

In a sheltered place in our garden we have a small clump of early flowering daffs which never fail to produce a few blooms in Dec./Jan. What IS interesting is that we are above the 53rd parallel here, not your balmy 38th!! To get down there (Spain, S. Italy, Greece, S. Turkey) we have to fly a few hours!

We're only just starting the early tulips here and as always the wind is a problem.

Tom.