Well This Is Some BS

Woke up this morning and:

Snow on April 10.

After no snow for weeks we get this.

Yuck.

Just Michigan winter's standard way of saying: Didja miss me? I ain't gone yet!

First Heating Day Of Fall 2024

Turned the heat on yesterday evening as 61 degrees was a tad chilly.

 I had resisted turning it on up until now.  Certainly more comfortable, but a sign winter is coming.

Well That Was Interesting

So, DTE had let the management at the office building where I work that if the heat gets high enough, with resulting electrical demand, guess whose building gets the electric service shut down?

Yep, the one I'm trying to do work in.

Maybe additional reliable power generation should be put online rather than closing power plants and building rather quixotic and unreliable renewables, eh?

Happily they did not cut power during a meeting and no one got stuck in the elevator. But, as the temperature kept going up, as a protective measure I decided to work from home after my last in-person meeting in the afternoon.

Just as well that I did, as within an hour after I got home, the sky opened up hard with a really impressive thunderstorm that rattled windows and knocked out traffic lights all along the route I would have taken home. 

Power got knocked at home three times, but happily it did come back on.

That DTE addresses these issues by doing deliberate brownouts instead of working to generate power to meet demand as part of their and the Democrats running this state's greenie approach to things is rather pathetic and a lack of reliable power is going to be a major problem for this state.

Hopefully The Last Snow Storm of The Season

While it has been declared to be officially Spring, the weather in Michigan decided to call that a lie and declare that instead it was Third Winter.

Over three inches of snow in the morning and its continuing to fall now and it's accumulating quite nicely.

The roads are a shambles with hundreds of car accidents reported in southeastern Michigan due to the conditions, and roads have been closed due to accidents.

It's a great day to work from home.

Time For 3rd Winter

All that wind on Saturday was from a cold front blowing right on in.  

It has brought much lower temperatures and some snow with it.

Yep, we have snow in the air and enough to accumulate on the ground both yesterday and today.  

Yes right now it is below freezing and snowing here right now.  Not a lot, but enough to remind us it is still winter in Michigan even with the respite of the lovely t-shirt weather the last couple weeks.

That's weather in Michigan for you.

Thanks, Phil

Puxsutawny Phill did not see his shadow today.

That Was A Lot Of Rain

Got caught in quite a storm last night driving home from jitsu. Lots and lots of lightning and thunder and massive amounts of water coming down.

There was so much water on the road that when driving I didn't just leave a wake, I was producing waves on both sides of the car that were reaching the windows. Indeed, the water would slow the car down considerably in spots.

It was worse around jitsu, as they are doing road construction and likely have the sewer grates covered to prevent dirt coming in, so there was a lot more water on the road around there. 

Made it home safely, driving carefully and no major issues. 

The storm was certainly more enjoyable from indoors, though I got soaked twice - first going from jitsu to my car just a few yards away (needed the shower anyways) and then car to home (probably needed the second shower as well) .

This morning along the roadway there's a nice pond, complete with ducks, where there had only been a ditch before.

That's a lot of water dropping in a very short time.

So much so the storm from two nights ago fouled traffic at Detroit Metro Airport, due to both pumps failing, and again, road work with covered sewer grates leading to flooded out highway tunnels and lower areas on the highway, not to mention the sheer volume of water.

Didn't lose power but lots of other people certainly did, and Ingham County got to sadly experience a tornado, which is never a good thing.  

Update:  It's now confirmed that three tornadoes touched down in the state during this storm, ranging in power from EF0 to EF1, causing at least one death and a lot of property damage.

Cloudy and low IFR out today, which puts the kibbosh on a planned flight.

METAR FU = Hazy With A Smell Of Wood Smoke

Those fires in Canada have brought a dense haze and a smell of a campfire that permeates the air around here.

Sky conditions in the area are IFR or low IFR, and it is the first time I've seen the METAR abbreviation code FU used.

No it doesn't stand for "FU you're not flying today", but it might as well mean that.

FU actually is an abbreviation that means smoke, from the French fumée.

We ReGreta To Inform You

News of your impending demise has yet again been overstated:

Yet another prediction of doom has failed to come to pass yet again. The enviros and those pushing for control of the economy and our lives under the guise of "Climate Change" really need to push their time-frames farther out and make less easily falsifiable predictions of doom.

So, congrats on yet again not being wiped out.

But if they didn't push immediate predictions of doom, it wouldn't be as scary would it?

After all impending doom is better and more scary when it is impending:

A physicist is giving a lecture and explaining that he has calculated that in 4 and 1/2 billion years the sun will exhaust itself of fuel and burn out, and all life at we know it in the solar system will end.

Upset, a man in the audience yells out, "Is there anything we can do professor? Can we form any congressional committees, or donate money for research?"

The physicist responds, "Sir, why are you so upset? This won't happen for 4 and a half billion years?"

"Oh, thank goodness," says the man. "I thought you said it would happen in 4 and a half million years, so there's still time!"

It Wouldn’t Be Michigan Without

Snow in April.

Yesterday was beautiful, sunny and nice with temperatures up in the 80s.

So, of course,  today it snowed. Yes, really. 

Happily it’s not sticking around and piling up but it’s still making it a messy drive and an ugly grey day.

 

It's been snowing on and off all day, no accumulation until now, with a pittance sticking around for a bit, but not much. 

If You Need A Picture To Explain The Differences In Your Warning Terms

You probably need to use better words to explain it for dangerous hazards.

We're currently under a Tornado Watch - or is it a Tornado Warning? 

People are regularly confused by this.

What is the difference and can you explain it without looking it up?

Pictures of Tacos are cute, but if you have to refer to Tacos to explain the difference, then perhaps the terms Watch and Warning are too confusing. We need to probably choose better and more meaningful words that are not so similar as to be confused, especially for something more important than that.

I still think intuitively a watch is worse than a warning as a watch implies you can see it.  After all, watch means: "To look or observe attentively or carefully; be closely observant." That implies there's something to observe, like a tornado. 

While a warning by contrast, is a "A statement telling of or an indication providing evidence of impending danger, difficulty, or misfortune.'

That seems rather backwards from how the words are being used in regards to tornadoes?

Well, That Was Unusual

So it is snowing and coming down pretty good and they've called for 6-10 inches.  Schools closed early and the snow came right after.

 

Dogs wanted outside, they went out and suddenly there was a very bright flash, which made us wonder what the heck happened.  

Quite a few seconds later we got an answer as there was a roar of thunder.  Both dogs came ripping back to the door to come inside.

Yes, we're currently having a thunderstorm inside a snowstorm. 

Snow is falling, and lighting and thunder has now started really picking up.  It's still snowing and Jett is really not happy with the thunderstorm.

March may have came in like a lamb, but within the first three days has shifted to lion mode.

Update: The storm knocked out our power. Great.

Snow Far, Snow Not So Good

So snow has been going since early morning slow and steady, and hasn't stopped yet and indeed just picked up the pace.

Schools are closed, roads are a mess and working from home is the way to go today.

We may indeed hit the forecast 4-6 inches at this rate.

Update:  We exceed the 6 inch estimate and they're claiming we got 8.

Not Flying - All Fogged Out

Was going to do some flying today and while the weather by the house had cleared up nicely by the time I left, at the airport it was a different story.

 Fog and zero-zero visibility.  About as Low IFR as you can get.

That's looking south from the north hangars along taxiway Delta.   Runway 27R/9L at the end of taxiway Kilo is not visible, nor is the parallel runway, nor is the tower on the south end.

Under Part 61, which is the rules I fly under, I could legally takeoff in these conditions.

Legal, but dumb.

Dumb, because you can't legally land in zero/zero and if you have an issue at or shortly after takeoff your options are rather limited.

While I both want and need to get some IFR practice in, this was not the day to do it.

Zero/Zero is substantially below by personal minimums for IFR, so, no flying for me this morning.

Snow On Tax Day

It's mid-April and we're supposed to get 3 inches of snow today, and it has begun.

The Detroit Free Press: Snowfall of up to 3 inches expected on Monday in metro Detroit.

We could really use some Global Warming right now.

Probably Not Flying Today

Yesterday a front moved in with winds gusting well over 45 kts.  Windy as all get out, trees whipping around etc.  Buddy of mine that is a lot more experienced than I am who had a flight planned to Boston yesterday wisely cancelled and drove his family instead.  Very good call.

Today, when I'm scheduled to be flying, winds are forecast at 23-35 kts at 240 with rain, making for a 17.5 crosswind factor at a minimum.  

Winds are currently going 12-22 kts at 220 and if it stayed at 220 and then increases to the forecast 35kts it would make for a 26.8 crosswind factor. That's a lot, and while I've done that before with an instructor, it's really not a lot of fun at all.

The book gives the Piper Archer a maximum demonstrated crosswind factor of 17.

Would I personally fly in these current and forecast conditions?  NO.  They are beyond my personal limits.

Does that make me a tad too cautious and conservative?  Perhaps.

Do I care?:  Also, NO.

After all, whose tail is going to be in the plane?  Mine.

In short,  unless we get a dramatic change in the opposite of forecast directions, this is going to be a Simulator lesson.

Go Home Huff Po, You're Drunk, Or Stoned, Or Both

Progressive media gets all sorts of strange sometimes.

The proggies' obsession with the chimera of Climate Change can take them to some really bad places. 

For example this article from the HuffPost with its hopeful sounding headline and serious article that they decided was worth running with:

Could A Small Nuclear War Reverse Global Warming?

Blink.  

This is rather insane, and almost as helpful as the Biden administration's update to a nuclear war survival guidelines to add Covid avoidance advice after a nuclear bomb blast.

A quick tip:  Both Covid and Global Warming will be, if they are not already, of extremely low actual concern after an actual nuclear war. 

Let's also note that Global Cooling so helpfully recounted in the article as a likely outcome of a nuclear war, was roundly stated to be a bad thing (and a reason for Western unilateral disarmament as pushed by the Progressive Left back then).  Remmeber the projected horros of Nuclear Winter?

This lasted until the Left jumped on the Global Warming band wagon, which has since been reformulated as unfalsifiable Climate Change to sell better.

Not sure what they're smokin' and drinkin' at the Huff Po but it's rather potent and packed with progressive fantasies.

The Only Time Slow Is Smooth And Smooth Is Fast Is True

Is when you're driving home in a snowstorm like the one we're having now.  

Snow coming down hard with highly restricted visibility and there's ice underneath the snow from it raining yesterday. 

Try to drive fast in that and you'll be in for a surprise. Drive slow, smooth and steady and you'll get where you're going faster than trying to go fast, so long as the idiots on the road trying to go fast don't mess it up for you.

Otherwise, slow and smooth is still slow; smooth is still smooth, ;and fast is still fast.

Snowmageddon Or Snow-meh-geddon Approaches

Schools are already cancelled in the area.

The kids are happy as it is their first snow day in two years - Don't be in a hurry to blame global warming - last year was remote only so no snow days were to be had.

So far, it is raining and melting some of the snow currently on the ground,  but it's expected to turn to freezing rain then snow by 10am with 12-16 inches expected to fall in our area. 

That's a lot of snow, and could set a new record for this time of year.

So we're all tucked in here at the house.  We already have all necessary French Toast and Hot Chocolate making supplies on hand.

I'm currently medically prohibited from doing so, but both the snow blower and shovels are at the ready for everyone else to use.  I guess I'll just have to direct the snow clearing activities from within the house and keep the hot chocky flowing.

We will see if the Court Zoom hearing with the pro pers still goes forward later today.

Passover 2020: And We Just Had Hail

Out of a clear blue sky, we just had a sudden cloud formation with . . . hail.

Not kidding, a whole bunch of actual hail. In April.

I swear, if a bunch of frogs, or a herd of locusts come through next, or a nearby river turns to blood, we're holding some extra seders, stat.