The Weather Outside …
… Sucks … again.
I’m waiting for the THIRD cold front in TWO days to pass through. Not as bad as the Arcticalypse locally, but Houston, Texas and Fairbanks, Alaska are due to have pretty much the same forecast today – temperatures in the thirties and freezing rain. The Weather Underground notes that Alaska Bucks Freezing Temperature Trend, Is Warmer Than Lower 48.
The same Pacific high pressure ridge that is preventing the West Coast from getting any rain is pushing warmer ocean air into Alaska. Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost settlement in the US just saw its first sunrise in two months, but will be warmer than St Louis, Missouri in a few days.
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Stella voiced genuine surprise when I told her that the weather in Fairbanks was not that different from the weather here in Houston.
Meanwhile, the temp is dropping really quickly here; it’s 38°F right now (7:15pm Central), and if the minimal drizzle outside isn’t freezing yet, it will be by midnight. What was the name of that nearby town in all the Cat Who novels? “Brrr”?
The real test comes tonight: if both cats sleep with us (and therefore with each other, which they hate to do), we’ll have independent confirmation that it’s really cold!
Today never got above 0 degrees here in good old Northern Minnesota. Tomorrow? 29 degrees. And then guess what…… That’s right, back down to single digits on Saturday.
During the full winter that I spent in Fairbanks it didn’t get above zero from November to March, and now they are having rain in January.
It is indeed Brrr, the home of the bearburger, Steve, and my indoor cats are like yours, they don’t like togetherness, so when it happens they are really cold and out of options.
Well, Barrow is going to have a heatwave, so you might want to consider moving, Rook. All of the lakes help to maintain the cold, and there isn’t much between you and the North Pole that would hold off the wind.
Update: I just read that Minnesota is on track for the coldest winter in 33 years, Rook, so you have a right to complain as you are Alaska’a heatsink. The same report mentioned that Lake Erie is almost totally frozen over, and it has been a while since that happened. It’s tough to think about the fact that it is colder outside than in your refrigerator.
I do agree that the large variation from day to day is a major pain. Thirty degrees makes a big difference in what you wear, and how cars work, or don’t. I still remember the circulating heater, oil dipstick heater, battery plate heater, and interior heater that you had to install in cars to ‘winterize’ them. Sorry, but I don’t want to do that again.
This morning at about 8:30AM, Houston started out at 31°F… and has since dropped to 28°. Overpasses are iced. More precip is forecast. Houston drivers are (understandably) not equipped to drive on ice, sleet, snow etc.; it just doesn’t happen here more than once in a few years. Preparing for that in Houston would be like Rook’s preparing for 105°F/100% humidity in his neighborhood.
And Stella’s workplace is one of a few major institutions here that refused to shut down. No, she doesn’t work for a medical treatment facility; the decision not to close was insane. She’s on her way now, and I admit I’m scared.
Studded snow tires [which are illegal in a lot of places] or chains are the only ways of moving in ice, and they aren’t all that good. Anyone driving a pickup with an empty bed is an automatic accident on ice. You don’t try to drive, because you can’t do it safely.
The only way to make it worse would be a coating on wet snow on top.
I saw that Stella made it home, and I’m glad to see it. Stay warm.