"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
30 November 2006The B-wordThe Forecast Discussion on weather.gov is always fascinating, because it's so much more informal than the actual forecast itself; they will explain why they came up with this part of the forecast, or what models they were using to predict it, or the rationale for issuing, say, a warning instead of an advisory. The current FD for the NWS branch in Norman is here. I excerpt the following from the just-before-noon edition:
THE MAJORITY OF OUR EFFORT THIS MORNING WAS TO REFINE OUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING PERIODS. WHAT STANDS OUT MOST IS THE STRONG WIND GUSTS WELL OVER 40 MPH THROUGHOUT NORTH CENTRAL AND WEST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. THIS GREATLY INCREASES THE POTENTIAL FOR WHITE OUT CONDITIONS WHEN HEAVY SNOW IS FALLING. THIS PROMPTED THE UPGRADE TO A BLIZZARD WARNING FOR NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA ... WHERE THE MOST PROLONGED PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE BLIZZARD WARNING ... HOWEVER...THERE ARE PARTS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA ... INCLUDING THE INTERSTATE 40 CORRIDOR FROM CLINTON THROUGH OKLAHOMA CITY ... WHERE NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS MAY OCCUR AT TIMES.
I do dislike that word "blizzard," especially since I no longer have a Dairy Queen nearby. For the first time in recent memory, 42nd and Treadmill shut down early, and I got to play in the road snow, which is always a thrill, in the sense that throwing yourself off a cliff is a thrill for the first 90 percent of the trip. I did follow my normal snow-travel protocol, which involves staying in third gear as much as possible on the freeway and second gear on surface streets. Gwendolyn, bless her little Japanese heart, was unexpectedly sure-footed, and even made it up the rather steep slope of the driveway to Surlywood on the first try with minimal wheelspin, something my last car didn't do so well. Travel time for the normally-18-minute run was only 28 minutes, which I consider a moral victory. Of course, it's going to be worse tomorrow, at least until the sun comes out, and the predicted high is barely above freezing. Posted at 1:30 PM to Soonerland , Weather or NotOur Dairy Queen ran off with the Burger King, in a bout of spring fever brought on by our unseasonably warm weather. Posted by: Mister Snitch! at 9:47 PM on 30 November 2006Indeed. How's little Patty? I do dislike that word "blizzard," especially since I no longer have a Dairy Queen nearby. Naturally the thread is about DQ instead of the weather. Anyway, we don't go to our nearest DQ because they don't have self-serve drink refills. Same reason we tend not to go to Wendy's so much anymore and haven't established a Chick-fil-A habit. But in a nearby little town they have a much older DQ that not only has self-serve drink refills, they've even upgraded the equipment and put it in a more accessible location. Posted by: McGehee at 8:15 AM on 1 December 2006 |