Wintertime...and the livin' is freezy

OK... My title for this seasonal (meteorological winter) topic is a little weak, but I blame it on the fact that where I am now is not wintery at all.




It's got me disoriented.

Fort Sagebrush has about 2” now, and it’s slicker than greased owl *** in Haines. I bet the freeway is shut down.

Happy winter Mr. BC! Please remind us what 76 degrees feels like.

It rained last night. This morning, the first day of winter, was a bit below freezing and turned the wet areas into skating rinks. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee on our morning walk.

ski3pin said:

Happy winter Mr. BC! Please remind us what 76 degrees feels like.
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Well, Mr. 3pin...76°...its more of a state of mind, than a feeling.

What's disorienting is that just a couple of mornings ago near Savannah, GA, I woke up to a chilly 33°. And yet, this afternoon when I got to my new campground I had to resist the impulse to turn on the air conditioner in the trailer!

Winter in the Deep South is like: 1) weather from the north (ultimately from Canada) it'll be cold and dry. 2) Weather from the south (from the Gulf of Mexico) it'll be warm and humid. And huge changes can happen overnight.

First white bean soup of the winter, protected by none other than Albert Alligator.

ski3pin said:

I believe the rubberlegs squeaked through yesterday.

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Indeed, we heard about an upcoming storm in the Cascades, 12-36" worth, while south of Salt Lake City. That much snow usually closes the highways in Washington due to avalanche control. We hemmed and hawed which way to go. The storm looked like it would hit from the Siskiyous to the North Cascades of Washington. There's so many mountains to go over, and so many road options, all which take a lot longer. Which pass should we do? How fast can we get there? We called a friend for advice as it's hard to find options on a tiny phone, but finally decided we'd do an all-night drive home on the "directissimo" route.

Fortunately, the storm was delayed (perhaps due to Congress? ha!) and we were able to get a full night's sleep, and sneak over the Cascades with minor flurries and get home a few hours before snowmagedden went bonkers. I never checked today to see if there was such a big dumping. Wonder if it did?

Our last week or two in Utah was pretty cold. Lots of frost and ice in the camper, and our heat failed. I'm glad Wander the West has plenty of advice about sail switches, and we got it working again. Thank you, Wander the Westers!!

It strarted raining here last night and a warm rain continues today.

No need for studded boots. (The biggest challenge is keeping salt and sugar from clumping: dew point 63°F.)
Not complaining -- it's good weather for reading... possibly outside, under the trailer awning.

Wandering Sagebrush said:

First white bean soup of the winter, protected by none other than Albert Alligator.

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That soup sure looks yummy.
Great time on these cold nights for a good soup.
Frank

Happy Wintering Mr Mark BC - I'm still waiting for that beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic pic....?

"What the heck, Mark?!"
Hold on...this is weather-related, in a nerdy-science way.
I had some of these salted almonds in a bowl yesterday. I ate them and left the bowl on my camper counter. All that remained in the bowl were a few bits of almond skin -- and grains of salt.

This morning I observed droplets of liquid, presumably water, on the bottom of the bowl. Salt was gone.


Yep, the weather -- nearly-100% humidity and warm here in southern Georgia overnight, made a big driving force for the slightly-negative O of the H2O in the air to get intimate with the positive Na of the NaCl in the bowl -- and their buddy opposites to do the same. The very-salty droplets continued to attract more water from the air -- a big party! ...because that's the way water is.

Science is cool!

Thanks Mark.Yes Science is cool.
Frank

While science is cool, humidity in the SouthEast is not.

However, I do envy your swamp explorations this time of year, especially, the abundance of waterfowl/

Paul

California has its issues but trade our weather for the humidity of the South? No thanks! Of all the people I know who've talked about leaving only one actually pulled the trigger.

Careful out there…



0:00 PST on 12-10-2023


Event:

Winter Weather Advisory

Alert:

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM MST /6 PM
PST/ THIS EVENING TO 11 AM MST /10 AM PST/ SUNDAY...

* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches
in the valleys and 3 to 6 inches in the mountains, except up to
a foot in the Elkhorns and Wallowas. Snow may mix with or
change to freezing rain in the valleys of Baker County Sunday
morning. Light ice accumulations are possible.

* WHERE...In Idaho, Upper Weiser River zone. In Oregon, Baker
County zone.

* WHEN...From 7 PM MST /6 PM PST/ this evening to 11 AM MST /10
AM PST/ Sunday.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult.

Instructions:

Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1.

Target Area:


Baker County

"Snow may mix with or change to freezing rain in the valleys of Baker County Sunday morning."

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ice skates?

Winter finally arrived here with the first significant snowfall. We received 6" of heavy wet snow overnight. A little over an hour of cleanup, Lil' Red burned diesel, Julie burned oat meal, and most the work is done. Snow bombs are releasing from the trees and it continues to snow lightly.

and from the current Weather Service forecast discussion -

Ensembles and clusters indicate another relatively cold
trough will dig south from the Gulf of Alaska into NorCal Saturday
and Sunday with more widespread Valley rain and mountain snow
and even lower snow levels than the current system down to
2,500-3,500 feet. Hazardous mountain travel is again likely with
this system with preliminary snow amounts from 10-16 inches above
5,000 feet. With this system from I-80 through south of Hwy. 50,
probabilities for 12 inches or more are 60-80% and 30-60% chance
to see 18 inches or more. The current path of the system looks to
keep impacts for the Valley at a minimum with only 0.10-0.25"
expected through the Valley Saturday and Sunday.

Winter storm warning starts early Saturday morning. Here's our current point forecast -



Saturday
Snow showers, mainly after 10am. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 36. South wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.


Saturday Night
Snow showers, mainly before 10pm. The snow could be heavy at times. Widespread frost after 4am. Low around 21. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.


Sunday
Widespread frost before 7am, then widespread frost after 1pm. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 35.


Sunday Night
Widespread frost before 10pm. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 22.


Monday
Widespread frost before 3pm, then areas of frost after 4pm. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 39.


Monday Night
A slight chance of showers after 4am. Widespread frost before 2am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 29.


Tuesday
A chance of showers, mainly after 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 37.


Tuesday Night
A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28.


Wednesday
A chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 33.


Wednesday Night
A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.


Thursday
A chance of snow showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 33.