I've been using the bird bath in the yard as a measure of the snow:
And here's the street sign by our house:
And a couple of videos:
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wishing for the rain they promised!
Well, it's been snowing since at least 2 AM this morning and it just continues to come down like crazy. We shoveled the driveway and the walk AGAIN because the weather forecasters universally said it would be raining by mid-day. NOT!
I've been using the bird bath in the yard as a measure of the snow:
And here's the street sign by our house:
And a couple of videos:
I've been using the bird bath in the yard as a measure of the snow:
And here's the street sign by our house:
And a couple of videos:
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
More winter wonderland!
Wow, this deep freeze is getting old, but still has it's pretty moments! My boss picked me up and took me to work yesterday and I snapped these pictures outside my office. The trees surround a small creek that runs along side the building and the rock chairs are part of a sitting area next to the creek.
This shows how deep the snow got around our house, check out the bird bath!
And woohoo!! The driveway is clear for the first time since last Wednesday, and we can actually get my car out of the garage! Ralph's car on the other hand may be there for a long, long while.
Victory!
This shows how deep the snow got around our house, check out the bird bath!
And woohoo!! The driveway is clear for the first time since last Wednesday, and we can actually get my car out of the garage! Ralph's car on the other hand may be there for a long, long while.
Victory!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Oh, the weather outside is frightful...Part 2
Another great one from the National Weather Service:
Issued by The National Weather Service
Issued by The National Weather Service
Seattle/Tacoma, WA
12:07 pm PST, Sat., Dec. 20, 2008
... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 AM PST SUNDAY...
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 AM PST SUNDAY.
A MAJOR WINTER STORM IS ON TAP FOR LATER TODAY INTO SUNDAY. HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE COAST AND THEN SPREAD INTO THE INTERIOR OF WESTERN WASHINGTON EARLY THIS EVENING. HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR ON THE KITSAP PENINSULA... ALONG HOOD CANAL... AND FROM OLYMPIA AND CHEHALIS WEST TO THE CENTRAL COAST NEAR OCEAN SHORES. 10 TO 18 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED CLOSE TO THE HOOD CANAL. OTHER LOCATIONS WITHIN THIS AREA SHOULD GET 5 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW.
ALONG THE I-5 CORRIDOR NORTH OF TACOMA... INCLUDING SEATTLE AND EVERETT... STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL OF 4 TO 8 INCHES IS EXPECTED. IN GENERAL... LIGHTER AMOUNTS WILL OCCUR NEAR THE CASCADE FOOTHILLS WITH HEAVIER AMOUNTS FARTHER WEST ALONG THE SHORES OF PUGET SOUND. SOME PARTS OF EASTERN KING COUNTY... WHERE WIND IS A BIG THREAT... WILL RECEIVE 1 INCH OR LESS OF SNOWFALL. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED BETWEEN 7 PM TONIGHT AND 4 AM SUNDAY MORNING.
LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING... FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY AND THE LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY. IF MORE PRECIPITATION OCCURS IN THE FORM OF FREEZING RAIN THAN SNOW... THEN AN ICE STORM WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITH ICE ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH. THIS IS NOT A CERTAINTY BUT SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND. ICE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF CAUSING POWER LINES AND LARGE TREE BRANCHES TO SNAP AND CAUSE MAJOR TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.
Sheesh. Who would have ever thought I'd be hoping and praying for RAIN!Happy Birthday to Ralph
Yep, today's his day, turning 61! Wow.
We were having some friends come to dinner, but because of all the cold and snowy weather they've canceled. So we are just tucking in and having his favorite for dinner...ham!
As I was out walking Beau this morning I took a few more pictures of the snowy landscape around here, trying to preserve a bit of it before tonights new round of snow and wind (yippee) arrive. They say we could get as much as a foot of snow tonight into tomorrow. Woohoo. Are we having fun yet?
Our bird bath:
A poor iced over rhody by the clubhouse:
Another icy plant:
And icicles (we rarely ever have icicles!) on the clubhouse:
Brrrrrr!
We were having some friends come to dinner, but because of all the cold and snowy weather they've canceled. So we are just tucking in and having his favorite for dinner...ham!
As I was out walking Beau this morning I took a few more pictures of the snowy landscape around here, trying to preserve a bit of it before tonights new round of snow and wind (yippee) arrive. They say we could get as much as a foot of snow tonight into tomorrow. Woohoo. Are we having fun yet?
Our bird bath:
A poor iced over rhody by the clubhouse:
Another icy plant:
And icicles (we rarely ever have icicles!) on the clubhouse:
Brrrrrr!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Weather update
Well, the weather service got this right. It's been COLD, really cold. Dipping into the teens overnight. Pipe freezing cold. Thankfully not ours, but we let the faucets drip a bit overnight and kept the cabinet doors open to let the heat from the house in. Some of our neighbors had frozen pipes and it's not fun at all so we don't want to go there.
And the weather service kept their promise about snow as well, we must have at least 6 inches on the ground here tonight and it was no fun driving home this afternoon. My boss let me take a bunch of stuff home early and let me work from home so I could get here before it got colder, icier and dark. Gotta love him!! This is what it looked like when I turned to close the garage door:
It was very icy on the side streets and even the freeway. People had plowed up snow from the traffic lanes as they drove by and/or changed lanes, so it was very difficult for my little car to get over the piles and onto the freeway. A guy finally stopped where there was a little break so I could get on the road. Very slow going all the way home, but the toughest time I had was in our driveway! Slight little incline but I slowed down too much in order to make the turn from the street and as I straightened out the snow built up a bit in front of my tires or something because I could not make it into the garage! I tried four times, backing up and trying to get a bit of a run at it (but not too much, didn't want to sail right through to the patio out back!) before I finally made it.
There was about four inches of snow that accumulated on my car since I parked it at work this morning and I wanted to get all of that off before I headed home. So I spent several minutes in the parking lot scraping off as much snow as I possibly could off my windows, trunk and hood. Glad I did or we'd have a huge mess in the garage right now!
The snow looks pretty, but not when you have to get out in it!
Our side yard looking toward the clubhouse:
and our bird feeders:
More snow is predicted for tomorrow, then a really chilly two days (13 degrees) predicted and then snow again on Sunday. They say we'll not break freezing until after the first of the year. This is VERY unusual weather for us, we just don't normally get this cold or have this much snow all at once. Hopefully it will get it out of its system and be done with it!!
Ralph broke out the flannel sheets and put them on the bed and we've been very thankful that our new house is super energy efficient. We've been warm and cozy, but our furnace has been running a lot more during the day. Still not much at night thankfully, it will sometimes kick on for a little bit around 5 am or so but that's about it. I'm still betting that our bill this month will still be a doozy though not just because of this cold snap but also because of the Christmas lights out in our in the yard.
Which reminds me to get out and take some neighborhood pictures because there are some very nice light displays around here. It's just forcing myself to get out in the cold after work. Not tonight!! I've had enough snow excitement for one day.
And the weather service kept their promise about snow as well, we must have at least 6 inches on the ground here tonight and it was no fun driving home this afternoon. My boss let me take a bunch of stuff home early and let me work from home so I could get here before it got colder, icier and dark. Gotta love him!! This is what it looked like when I turned to close the garage door:
It was very icy on the side streets and even the freeway. People had plowed up snow from the traffic lanes as they drove by and/or changed lanes, so it was very difficult for my little car to get over the piles and onto the freeway. A guy finally stopped where there was a little break so I could get on the road. Very slow going all the way home, but the toughest time I had was in our driveway! Slight little incline but I slowed down too much in order to make the turn from the street and as I straightened out the snow built up a bit in front of my tires or something because I could not make it into the garage! I tried four times, backing up and trying to get a bit of a run at it (but not too much, didn't want to sail right through to the patio out back!) before I finally made it.
There was about four inches of snow that accumulated on my car since I parked it at work this morning and I wanted to get all of that off before I headed home. So I spent several minutes in the parking lot scraping off as much snow as I possibly could off my windows, trunk and hood. Glad I did or we'd have a huge mess in the garage right now!
The snow looks pretty, but not when you have to get out in it!
Our side yard looking toward the clubhouse:
and our bird feeders:
More snow is predicted for tomorrow, then a really chilly two days (13 degrees) predicted and then snow again on Sunday. They say we'll not break freezing until after the first of the year. This is VERY unusual weather for us, we just don't normally get this cold or have this much snow all at once. Hopefully it will get it out of its system and be done with it!!
Ralph broke out the flannel sheets and put them on the bed and we've been very thankful that our new house is super energy efficient. We've been warm and cozy, but our furnace has been running a lot more during the day. Still not much at night thankfully, it will sometimes kick on for a little bit around 5 am or so but that's about it. I'm still betting that our bill this month will still be a doozy though not just because of this cold snap but also because of the Christmas lights out in our in the yard.
Which reminds me to get out and take some neighborhood pictures because there are some very nice light displays around here. It's just forcing myself to get out in the cold after work. Not tonight!! I've had enough snow excitement for one day.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Oh, the weather outside is frightful...
How's this for a bulletin from the weather service?
Issued by The National Weather Service
Seattle/Tacoma, WA
3:14 pm PST, Sat., Dec. 13, 2008
... THE LONGEST STREAK OF COLD WEATHER SINCE DECEMBER 1990 IS ON THE WAY...
WHILE THE POSSIBILITY OF LOWLAND SNOW SHOWERS IS IN THE FORECAST AT TIMES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS... IT IS THE FRIGIDLY COLD TEMPERATURES EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT WEEK THAT COULD HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON WESTERN WASHINGTON.
AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL STREAM INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT AND SUNDAY... IN THE WAKE OF AN ARCTIC FRONT MOVING SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL BELOW FREEZING ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT WITH MANY SPOTS DIPPING INTO THE LOWER TO MID 20S. MOST OF THE REGION WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING ON SUNDAY WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS ONLY IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. IN ADDITION WINDY CONDITIONS WILL ACCOMPANY THE ARRIVAL OF THE ARCTIC AIR MASS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY... ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH INTERIOR OF WESTERN WASHINGTON.
SNOW SHOWERS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY COULD PRODUCE LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES... CREATING SLIPPERY ROADS AND SIDEWALKS. ROADWAYS AND OTHER SURFACES THAT ARE ALREADY WET WILL QUICKLY BECOME ICY AND DANGEROUS. THE FRIGID WEATHER COULD BURST OUTDOOR PIPES AND ENDANGER PETS AS WELL. WIND CHILL IS ANOTHER THING THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED. IN THE NORTHWEST INTERIOR THE COMBINATION OF SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CREATE APPARENT TEMPERATURES NEAR ZERO DEGREES FAHRENHEIT... LOW ENOUGH TO CAUSE FROSTBITE TO EXPOSED SKIN.
TEMPERATURES WILL DROP FURTHER ON MONDAY... AS VERY COLD AIR CONTINUES TO FUNNEL THROUGH THE FRASER RIVER VALLEY OF SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON. BY MONDAY... DAYTIME HIGHS WILL GENERALLY REACH ONLY THE 20S WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS IN THE TEENS OR LOWER. THE COLD AIR MASS WILL SIT OVER THE REGION FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK... WITH MOST ALL OF WESTERN WASHINGTON REMAINING NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING EVEN DURING THE DAYTIME. THIS WILL LIKELY BE THE MOST PROLONGED STREAK OF SUB-FREEZING WEATHER SINCE DECEMBER 1990.
IN ADDITION... A WEATHER SYSTEM ON WEDNESDAY COULD INTERACT WITH THE STUBBORN COLD AIR MASS TO PRODUCE A RENEWED THREAT OF ACCUMULATING SNOW ACROSS THE WESTERN WASHINGTON LOWLANDS.
OVER THE MOUNTAINS... TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE TEENS AND SINGLE DIGITS TONIGHT AND REMAIN VERY COLD FOR MUCH OF THE WEEK AHEAD. WIND CHILL VALUES OF 20 BELOW ZERO CAN BE EXPECTED AT TIMES ... WHICH WOULD CAUSE FROSTBITE TO EXPOSED SKIN IN ONLY ABOUT 15 MINUTES.
PLEASE BE PREPARED FOR AN UNUSUALLY PROLONGED AND INTENSE PERIOD OF COLD WINTER WEATHER.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Crab
Every once in a while Anthony's has an all you can eat Dungeness crab feed and it's going on right now. Guess what Ralph had for dinner when we met some friends for dinner there last night?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Nick is 5!
Arrrrgggghhhh! Nick had a fabulous pirate party for his 5th birthday. Loads of fun. Greg had hidden treasure all over the yard and broke the kids up into teams, gave them compasses and taught them how to use them, gave them a treasure map and helped them read the map and use the compass to find their treasure. The kids had a blast.
The whole house was decorated in the pirate theme, notice the skeleton pirate over Nick's shoulder and the shrunken head hanging from the chandelier!
Greg even made a shipwreck in the back yard with a smoking cannon no less. Pretty cool dad!
Striking a pirate pose!
Nick taking his shot at the pinata:
and the kids grabbing up the goodies:
Grandpa Ralph saw this pirate ship and had to have it for Nick, it is so cool. Nick loved it too!
Dad helped him get the packaging off...
Yep, think he likes it.
The whole house was decorated in the pirate theme, notice the skeleton pirate over Nick's shoulder and the shrunken head hanging from the chandelier!
Greg even made a shipwreck in the back yard with a smoking cannon no less. Pretty cool dad!
Striking a pirate pose!
Nick taking his shot at the pinata:
and the kids grabbing up the goodies:
Grandpa Ralph saw this pirate ship and had to have it for Nick, it is so cool. Nick loved it too!
Dad helped him get the packaging off...
Yep, think he likes it.
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