It’s Chilly Out There

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Doppler and I went for a walk around a half hour ago. Who stole spring? It’s chilly out there! Aren’t we nearly to June?

The automated weather observer at Meriden/Markham Airport reports 49&#176 with a wind chill of 44&#176.

“I didn’t know we had wind chill in May,” Helaine noted.

Ain’t it the truth! Last May 24th Meriden hit 75&#176.

I’m not sure how chilly it will get, but in their tech discussion the Weather Service office covering Meriden writes:

COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONT. THE BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS INCREASE AND KEEP MORE MIXING CONDITIONS IN PLACE. A SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN MAV/MET BLEND WAS USED FOR LOWS WHICH WILL BE IN THE UPPER 40S.

So, even though they’re forecasting lower temperatures than the computer guidance (MAV/MET), the forecast might not be cold enough! And then there’s the rain, which has been with us on-and-off for the past few days.

A low pressure system just east of Boston is the culprit. It will weaken and temperatures will become more springlike for the weekend. Not tonight.

Doppler and I both say, “No mas!”

When You Grow Up In Apartment 5E

When you grow up in Apartment 5E with a view of parking lots (and the distant Throgs Neck Bridge) you miss a lot. My joke, told often: Until I was 21 I had never seen grass that wasn’t in a baggie.

Call me nature challenged!

Now I live in the woods. I am the guardian of dozens of trees and more traditional grass.

This time of year I look up a lot. With flowering bushes and lots of color it’s easy to miss what’s going on in the trees. Leaves are beginning to come out for the season.

Please tell me I wasn’t the only kid who never looked? I missed so much. I’m glad I look now, because the show is amazing.

The first signs showed in March. Little nubs appeared on tree limbs. Now it’s obvious they’re leaves, but they’re still tiny and often curled tight for their own protection.

Like I said, I look up a lot. I never tire of this show.

more-leafless-tree

new-haven-green-leafless-trees

bare-trees-at-home

I Need Spring Like Crazy

Doppler just went out for her last walk of the night. She’s cute.

Normally, when she’s ready to go outside she’ll climb onto my lap and lick my face. Not this time of day.

We laze on separate sofas, both prone and with Afghans. For a few minutes she’ll stare at me. Then she’ll bark

It’s her signal, the weakest, quietest bark possible. Actually, it’s more dog grunt than bark. It’s Doppler’s equivalent of clearing her throat.

I got her leash and a flashlight. We went out in the chill. Where the hell is spring?

Bridgeport was 10&#176 below average today. Bradley was 18&#176 below! Much of the state never saw 50&#176.

We really need spring after this crazy winter. Bridgeport had over twice as much snow as usual. At Bradley it was around 40% over norm. Here on Mt. Carmel we had over a month of continuous snowcover.

It seemed endless.

Wednesday will be closer to the weather we’re used to in late April. Over the weekend 70&#176 is possible.

Right now I need spring like crazy and I’m not embarrassed to say it!

Now It’s Spring. No, Really.

Helaine just asked if we should open the windows tonight? Yes! Clouds overnight won’t let it fall much below 50&#176 here at the “Maison de Renard.” Showers, should they come, will be beneficial.

Finally it feels like spring. Was today not perfect?

We had low to mid 70&#176s inland with temps around 80&#176 at the shore. The dew point temperature was low. That means comfortable.

It also means highly variable temperatures day-to-night. Without the clouds we’d sleep with closed windows and much chillier temperatures.

Today was a seasonal benchmark day for us too. The flannel sheets have been removed. We’re back to cotton.

Let me say this about flannel sheets. OMG! It’s as if the thermostat was set 10&#176 warmer. Highly recommended.

Here’s where we currently stand. Mother Nature is poised to explode. Within the next week to ten days Connecticut will be blanketed in spring color.

It doesn’t last long. Blossoms will fade. Trees and bushes will revert to green for the summer’s duration.

Take advantage. You have been warned.

So Much I Can Taste It

jepps-brook-after-snowmelt

Doppler and I were out a little while ago. We have a late night routine.

It’s a shame she doesn’t look up. It is a beautiful night. No Moon. Dark. Clear. Brilliant stars.

I can’t imagine anyone with a telescope not observing tonight.

Chilly too. The ground around my house is still snow covered.

This neighborhood is home to dozens of little streams and brooks. They’re running strong and high right now. I can hear Jepps Brook a few hundred yards away. That’s not the norm.

I crave spring so much I can taste it.

But The Last Snow’s Still Here!

Jepps Brook looking west

It’s been three weeks since the last significant snow. It’s unusual for the ground to stay white this long in this section of Connecticut. There’s more coming starting Wednesday morning. Ugh! Brooks, rivers and streams will run high this spring. They’re running high already.

Here’s To Spring

There are lovers of winter reading this. I’m glad you’re here, but I don’t understand you. Why do you embrace the cold? Why do you fight the warmth?

“You can go without a coat.” The words are Helaine’s as I got ready to leave the house this afternoon. You’d think the weatherman wouldn’t need to be reminded. I didn’t! It was still nice to hear.

We are entering my favorite time of the year. It’s coatless season with the Sun’s last rays still visible after 7:00 PM.

We’re warm without being humid. We’re warm with cool nights. We’re warm without worry.

There are lovers of winter reading this. I’m glad you’re here, but I don’t understand you. Why do you embrace the cold? Why do you fight the warmth?

I looked up yesterday and saw the first buds on our trees. They’re growing day-by-day.

Soon bushes, flowers and trees will be bright with color. The colors don’t last as long as spring itself, but the color is what makes this season extra special.

79&#176 in Hartford today, 68&#176 in Bridgeport. Both temperatures were record breakers. It was a good way to usher out winter.

At the moment there’s nothing wrong in the world. Spring weather forgives all sins.

I’m Thinking Spring

It won’t last. Winter is persistent. There are surely storms to come.

I took Doppler for a walk this afternoon. No jacket. Just pajamas. Sorry neighbors.

We’re still nearly two months from the official start of spring and four weeks from the beginning of meteorological spring yet it was spring today! Temperatures are close to 50&#176 on the shore with mid-50&#176s inland.

It won’t last. Winter is persistent. There are surely storms to come.

Today that is the farthest thing from my mind. All I’m thinking about is spring.

I See Signs Of Spring (photos)

There are trees out front including a few flowering trees. They’re flowering!

Today was forecast to reach 70&#176. That’s not going to happen! Clouds are here. A few rainy days will follow. Ugh!

I was feeling pretty down about the whole scenario until I walked past the front door. There are trees out front including a few flowering trees. They’re flowering!

We’ve still got a long way to go before all the leaves are out and spring’s brightest colors appear. This is a good start.

The Reason For More Rain: Me!

Coincidence? I think not. I’m the moral equivalent of having your car washed.

More rain on-the-way for later tonight (I’m writing this Monday at 6:45 pm). On top of that is the chance for thunderstorms. Wind too!

I started to think about the gloom through Tuesday afternoon and realized why it was happening. I have another voiceover audition! I don’t want to say I’m jinxed, but this will be my fourth audition and each one was on a rainy day!

Coincidence? I think not. I’m the moral equivalent of having your car washed.

The Monday/Tuesday rain unfortunately is not the exception. I’ve attached a printout from the GFS model over the next week. Each of those vertical green lines represents rain. Higher lines mean more rain!

It’s April For Heaven’s Sake

It’s not winter but also not summer. It has parts of each and they’re fighting like some sort of global hormonal imbalance.

Spring is the climatic equivalent of being a teenager!

Remember your teen years? Not a kid. Not an adult. Spring is similar. It’s not winter but also not summer. It has parts of each and they’re fighting like some sort of global hormonal imbalance.

We saw low 50s today. It still doesn’t feel like spring! Here’s the 4:00 PM observation from Bradley:

KBDL 021951Z 29012G24KT 260V320 10SM FEW060 BKN080 BKN200 11/M03 A2944 RMK AO2 PK WND 28027/1935 RAB09E20 SLP969 VCSH SE AND W-NW P0000 T01061028

Buried in that mess of digits is “RAB09E20.” It’s saying rain began at 3:09 PM and ended at 3:20. Just a trace fell. It was enough to make the low fifties underachieve.

Spring is a season of unstable airmasses. That’s especially true when it’s mild at groundlevel and cold up in the clouds. Parcels of air rising from the heat of the day become very buoyant which can lead to storminess.

The radar had that unstable look today. There were dozens… maybe hundreds of tiny individual showers between the Great Lakes and New England.

Tomorrow a stronger area of instability will move to the eastern edge of the Great Plains. There’s a chance of severe thunderstorms or even tornadoes from Lake Erie to the Rio Grande!

That system’s here Monday bringing rain and temperatures which will eerily continue rising long after the Sun’s gone down. The thunderstorms probably won’t make it this far east.

The rest of the week is up and down–not quite spring, not quite winter, though still the chance of a smidge of wintry weather. Not a lot. Not on the shoreline. Still, we’re in April for heaven’s sake.

No Spring In This Forecast

What’s happened has happened. What about the future?

Don’t ask!

It’s baseball season. It must be spring, right? Who am I kidding? This is spring like we’re out of the recession! A statistical case can be made, but no one believes either is happening any time soon.

Here are some snow totals from our overnight storm:

LITCHFIELD COUNTY...
NORFOLK 2.6 800 AM 4/01 CO-OP OBSERVER
BAKERSVILLE 2.5 700 AM 4/01 CO-OP OBSERVER
COLEBROOK LAKE 2.0 700 AM 4/01 CO-OP OBSERVER
THOMASTON DAM 1.5 700 AM 4/01 CO-OP OBSERVER

HARTFORD COUNTY...
COLLINSVILLE 1.8 744 AM 4/01 HAM RADIO
1 WNW WINDSOR LOCKS 1.3 700 AM 4/01 BRADLEY AIRPORT
ROCKY HILL 1.0 638 AM 4/01 HAM RADIO

...TOLLAND COUNTY...
TOLLAND 2.3 926 AM 4/01 SPOTTER
COVENTRY 1.5 731 AM 4/01 GENERAL PUBLIC
STAFFORDVILLE 1.0 500 AM 4/01 COOP

...WINDHAM COUNTY...
UNION 2.6 441 AM 4/01 HAM RADIO
EAST KILLINGLY 1.9 708 AM 4/01 SPOTTER
HAMPTON 1.5 700 AM 4/01 COOP

That’s water under the bridge. What’s happened has happened. What about the future?

Don’t ask!

The BUFKIT&#185 graph attached to the entry shows conditions at Bradley Airport over the next week as seen by the GFS model.

Gruesome!

There is only one day forecast above 50&#176! Worse, that ‘warmth’ comes overnight–a sign it’s being advected in as a storm approaches. It’s a strong enough storm that I wouldn’t write off the chance of thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon.

There are no major winter events predicted, but three of the days have a chance for a little sleet or snow. A little sure, but it’s April for heaven’s sake!

My forecast: Spring will continue to suck.

&#185 – BUFKIT displays the timeline right-to-left. The current day is on the right. Next Friday is on the left.

I Love Spring (With Video)

On this beautiful day I picked up my phone (aka my video camera) and headed out for a quick walk through the neighborhood. What had been full of spring color is now nearly totally green and lush.

On this beautiful day I picked up my phone (aka my video camera) and headed out for a quick walk through the neighborhood. What had been full of spring color is now nearly totally green and lush.

Everything in this video was shot within a few hundred yards of my home.