Friday, November 17, 2023

Happy Friday

We are barreling toward the holidays, starting next week and going full-tilt until January 2.  Between the week-long Thanksgiving break most schools are on starting Monday, then the various and sundry holiday special events — including December 7, the end of the Medicare enrollment period — the inundation never ends until the last balloon is popped and it’s 2024…and the election campaign takes off.  Can the End Times be far off?  One could only hope.

I have three theatre events coming up: the District 8 Thespians, which is for Miami high school students, on Saturday the 18th.  There hundreds of aspiring actors, directors, designers, and playwrights will gather to share their enthusiasm for the wicked stage.  I’ve already read and adjudicated 31 short plays (up to 30 pages), and the scope is amazing.  Then I will sit in on an evaluation of students applying for scholarships. This will be my first time doing that, so I have some things to learn.  Then a week from now, I’ll be working with my friend and director Jerry on a production of “The Christmas Commercial Conspiracy” for the Miami 1-Acts Festival at the Main Street Players in Miami Lakes. That’s a two-day event; my play is one of eight.  At the same time, theatre students at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, will produce “Any Second Now,” a short play about characters waiting to be cast in plays by anxious and brooding playwrights.

Speaking of anxious and brooding playwrights, I’ve started yet another play: “You, Me, and the Turkey Baster.”  I hope to have something to show for it by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, we brace ourselves for the crush of holiday consumerism — a good sign that Bidenomics is working — and the end of pumpkin spice everything.  And now that the no-named tropical storm has moved off, it’s time for the wildlife to enjoy the sunshine.

“Iguana see clearly now, the rain is gone…”

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Dark And Stormy Night

We had what the National Hurricane Center called a “non-tropical area of low pressure” that dumped about four inches of rain on my part of Palmetto Bay, rattled the windows, and tested my battery back-up on the computer and TV.

Offshore Southeast Coast of United States:

A non-tropical area of low pressure has formed near southern Florida along a frontal boundary. This system is forecast to move quickly northeastward across the Bahamas and offshore of the east coast of the U.S. through the weekend. Although development into a tropical cyclone appears unlikely, this system is expected to continue to produce gusty winds and heavy rains across portions of southern Florida, the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas during the next day or so.

For more information on this system, including gale warnings, see High Seas Forecasts issued by the National Weather Service.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent.
* Formation chance through 7 days…low…10 percent.

This is what it looked like as it moved through yesterday afternoon.

All’s quiet now.

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Stay inside.

Much of the United States felt like a blazing inferno on Wednesday, as record heat attacked the South like a blowtorch, thick smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the Great Lakes region, and triple-digit temperatures threatened to wallop California for the first time this year.

Scientists said climate change helped shape the weather conditions that were causing misery and putting lives at risk from Mexico to Canada. There was no disputing the impact: If it wasn’t way too smoky, it was way too hot.

“Everybody’s saying, ‘We’re used to the heat, but not to this degree,’” said Mayor Victor Treviño of Laredo, Tex., which recorded temperatures of 115 degrees last week, tying its all-time high. There were nine heat-related deaths, Webb County Medical Examiner Corinne Stern told county commissioners Monday, adding that “I think our county was caught a little off-guard.”

If Laredo and elsewhere in the South were caught off-guard by the heat, much of the rest of the country was getting an unexpected dose of horrendous air quality because of dense wildfire smoke rolling in from Canada. Air quality alerts related to the smoke were in effect for parts of some 17 states, covering nearly a third of the U.S. population.

Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis were among the cities with the worst air quality in the world Wednesday, according to IQAir. Unhealthy Code Red and Purple conditions stretched from eastern Iowa across Chicago and the lower Great Lakes region and toward the Appalachian Mountains, according to AirNow.gov.

“Poor air quality due to smoke from Canadian wildfires will continue through” Thursday, the National Weather Service in Chicago wrote on Twitter. “Everyone should avoid prolonged outdoor activities and those w/chronic respiratory issues should stay indoors if possible.”

But climate change is a hoax. Right?

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Tropical Storm Bret

Bret never made it to hurricane status, and based on the current map (6/21/23 at 0200), it will become a tropical depression after crossing the Leewards as a tropical storm.  But it’s just an overture.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Hurricane Bret

I can’t remember posting about a hurricane this early in the season.

I got home just in time yesterday. My flight from DFW landed at 12:40 p.m. and within an hour heavy thunderstorms broke out over South Florida, prompting flash flood warnings and causing the airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to hold flights for two hours.

I’m glad to have made it home in time.

Thursday, June 1, 2023

‘Tis The Season

June 1 means the beginning of the North Atlantic hurricane season.  It runs through November 30.  But weather is funny; it doesn’t really pay attention to the calendar, and there’s a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that will bring a lot of rain to Florida.

The peak of the season is around September 16 — my birthday — but the two are unrelated.

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Keeping Warm

This weather system is no joke.

Concerns about illness or inflation aren’t stopping Americans from hitting the roads and airports this holiday season. But a massive winter storm might.

Forecasters predict an onslaught of heavy snow, ice, flooding and powerful winds from Thursday to Saturday in a broad swath of the country, from the Plains and Midwest to the East Coast. A surge of Arctic air will follow. The Christmas weekend could be the coldest in decades.

The National Weather Service said Wednesday the storm was so large and encompassing that around 190 million people are currently under some type of winter weather advisory.

If you’re planning to fly, check with your airline. If you’re driving, make sure your car can make it. If you’re staying home, stay warm.

I have a friend visiting from Oxford in England.  We’re taking the day to go to the Keys.  Lest you think we’re gloating, we’re going to get a taste of the cold front ourselves: the weather forecast for this weekend in Miami is for lows in the 40’s and wind chill warnings as far south as Orlando.  That’s nothing compared to what’s going to hit the Upper Midwest and Northeast, for the homeless or the less-sheltered, it’s no joke.

Monday, November 7, 2022

Monday, July 18, 2022

Heat Wave

From the New York Times:

In much of the United States, it’s hot out there. Still.

Many parts of the Central Plains and Texas are under heat advisories and warnings this weekend and will be well into the week in what is already a historically — and relentless — hot summer, forecasters with the National Weather Service said.

It might not be as hot as it was in recent weeks, but heat advisories will be in effect for much of the Central and Southern Plains, including the Oklahoma Panhandle, east toward most of Oklahoma and Arkansas, southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the Weather Service. The extensive heat is contributing to droughts in a lot of those areas as well.

Heat warnings are also in effect for Southern California and parts of the Southwest, including Arizona and New Mexico.

Next week, parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas could see their highest summer temperatures to date, with predicted highs reaching 102 to 110 degrees, and the potential for heat indexes to be higher.

On Monday, portions of eastern Colorado, western Kansas and areas all the way up into North Dakota could see temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees, said Stephanie Sipprell, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in the Central Plains.

Although it is normal for temperature highs in the region to reach the 100s in July and August, some cities have either already experienced more 100-degree days than average or are reaching their averages early in the season.

Tulsa, Okla., which has found itself at the center of multiple heat waves, usually endures 10 days of 100-degree highs in the summer. On Friday, the city experienced its 11th 100-degree day of the season, said Pete Snyder, a forecaster for the Weather Service in Oklahoma. Tulsa is predicted to face a few more next week, some reaching 108 degrees.

Little Rock, Ark., has gone through seven days of highs reaching 100 degrees and is bracing for the possibility of six more in the next week. The average number of triple-digit days for the city in the summer is eight, according to Justin Condry, a forecaster for the Weather Service in Arkansas. The state is also enduring a drought, which adds to fire risks and could affect farming.

Farmers specifically feel the impacts of the heat and the drought, which could eventually trickle in to grocery stores,” Mr. Condry said.

The sustained and unrelenting heat also becomes a major issue for urban areas that cannot easily cool down, Mr. Oravec said. “It is harder to cool off at night because the buildings are still radiating heat well after the sun,” he added.

Rest assured that Fox News will find a way to blame this on Joe Biden.

Friday, June 3, 2022

Happy Friday

We’re expecting our first tropical weather of the season this weekend.  That means a lot of rain.

A friend saw my posting about the house where I grew up.  He’s an artist, so he sent along a watercolor he made years ago of the house in autumn with that he calls Maple Street Spinners, “…when the twirling seeds of the tree in your front yard began to fall each year.

Thank you, Michael Ives.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Happy Friday

Well, this went sideways for Trump and his minions:

PHOENIX — After months of delays and blistering criticism, a review of the 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county, ordered up and financed by Republicans, has failed to show that former President Donald J. Trump was cheated of victory, according to draft versions of the report.

In fact, the draft report from the company Cyber Ninjas found just the opposite: It tallied 99 additional votes for President Biden and 261 fewer votes for Mr. Trump in Maricopa County, the fast-growing region that includes Phoenix.

The full review is set to be released on Friday, but draft versions circulating through Arizona political circles were obtained by The New York Times from a Republican and a Democrat.

Late on Thursday night, Maricopa County, whose Republican leaders have derided the review, got a jump on the official release by tweeting out its conclusions.

“The county’s canvass of the 2020 General Election was accurate and the candidates certified as the winners did, in fact, win,” the county said on Twitter. It then criticized the review as “littered with errors and faulty conclusions.”

TL;DR: Biden got more votes than originally reported.

It makes me wonder if they’re going to insist on further audits in Pennsylvania and Texas.

Tropical Update: TS Sam is moving to the northwest, but at this point it doesn’t look like it’s going to come near populated land.

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Friday, August 13, 2021

Happy Friday

The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm and flash flood warning for South Florida until Saturday night thanks to Fred.

The Florida Keys and a swath of Southwest Florida were placed under a tropical storm watch Thursday as weak but very wet Tropical Depression Fred continued to skirt the north coast of Cuba.

Fred, though ragged and “poorly disorganized,” was expected to regain tropical storm strength as it crosses the Florida Straits Friday. But it’s main threat to South Florida this weekend will be heavy rains, with the bulk of it expected Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center, in its 8 p.m. advisory Thursday, said Fred was drenching Cuba and Hispaniola on Thursday and was expected to pass over the Florida Keys sometime Saturday.

Meanwhile, as Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths surge to record numbers, the governor is out in Nevada campaigning. That’s after he backed down from his threat to cut the pay of superintendents and school boards who did not bend to his will. That’s because it’s an empty threat (not to mention illegal). But that’s the way it is with bullies: when confronted, they chicken out and blame someone else.

At least we’re sure of his priorities: he is more interested in running for president than he is in running the state, even if he has to kill people.

Have a nice weekend.

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Tropical Update – Fred

It looks like we’re going to get some heavy weather this weekend thanks to Fred.  At this point, it doesn’t look to develop to a you-know-what, but things change rapidly this time of year.  As of the 5:00 p.m. AST update, it looks like Miami is on the edge of the cone.

Friday, July 16, 2021

Happy Friday

We’re already halfway through July and I’m still catching up on stuff I did — or meant to do — in June.  At school, we’re already having leadership meetings for the new school year.  But this year we’ll have all the students back in the classroom.

As is typical of this time of year in Miami, it’s raining a lot.  Here’s a view of what was coming down earlier this week at school.

But that leads to views like this:

Enjoy your weekend if you have one.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Friday, July 2, 2021

Happy Friday

Last Friday I was reporting in from a hotel room in Valdez, Alaska.  This Friday I’m in a hotel room in Fort Myers, Florida, where I came with a friend to see a play in a theatre that might do a play of his.  We had fun driving over in a rented Camaro convertible, dampened by rain about half the time.  But it was fun to drive a car that lights up like a smartphone and has a more complicated top-down process than a open-heart surgery, including raising the “cargo shield.”  I still love my Mustang.  That’s my friend Craig in the driver’s seat.  Looks good.

Now for the fun stuff. You-know-what season has started, and here comes the first one that is sneaking up on Florida: Tropical Storm Elsa. I am hoping it stays clear of us; we’ve had enough of the rain lately. Feh.

We’ll be heading back home later today.

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