torrefy

torrefy \TAWR-uh-fahy\ , verb;
1. To subject to fire or intense heat.
2. In pharmacology, to dry or parch drugs with heat.
3. To roast, as metallic ores.

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Torrefy this area any more and hell won't have nuthin' on us.

Storm on 282

Rain squall crossing Hwy 282, north of Pampa.

Odd little storm; it popped up suddenly and with great severity, the local radar showing a small mass of yellow and red around a knot of orange. I once read that the avg. thunderstorm is only ten square miles and this one looked to be of average size but intense. We got a bit of rain, but most of it pushed on off to the east of town.

Weather or Not

These quizzes have any validity to them, this one made me smile because "Sunny" was my mom's nickname in my MSN Group and the few forums in which she participated.

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You Are Sunny

You are an upbeat, positive person who refuses to get too down in the dumps. You realize that life is short, and you know you're going to try to have as much fun as possible! You try to laugh, play, and love every day. You believe that happiness is a choice. You take your responsibilities seriously, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself in the process.

Are You Sunny, Cloudy, or Stormy?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

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On a related weather note, it sure has been unseasonably cool lately. The recent rains have had a lot to do with it, but the highs lately haven't been above the high 80's and today's high will be 85.

Pampa Tornado

A "bump" - originally posted July '07

It was fifteen years ago today than an F4 tornado devastated part of Pampa

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Persistent Posting Problems

I've been getting an error msg. when trying to post over this last weekend and earlier today. The Blogger Status page said this:

We're aware of isolated access issues in certain regions within the US. We're investigating this now and will follow-up as soon as we have more information to share

Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

It's now got this additional update:

Update, 12:30 PST: This is now fixed.

Cool, not that I was agonizing over it. MSN Groups taught me patience, along with quite a bit of other stuff, some about HTML and a lot about people.

Blogger has so little downtime, I can't remember ever being more than a little bit perturbed with it. I came close earlier when replying to a post and got the error msg., but what I typed went through. I've almost gotten out of the habit of copying any post before I hit send like we had to in Groups. I participate in a few forums that use the IntenseDebate software and they've been buggy at times, so I was still copying my text just in case.

Nice day here, starting to warm up some. I really need to get out and mow later.

Still, before I send: Ctrl-A, then Ctrl-C.

waxing

waxing\WAK-sing\ , verb;
1. To increase in extent, quantity, intensity or power.
2. (Of the moon) to increase in the extent of its illuminated portion before the full moon.
3. To grow or become.

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The moon has been waxing full over the last couple of weeks and we're now in a full moon. I might need to howl tonight. (Correction, the full moon is Saturday night, my birthday as it happens. I probably won't howl, though.)

The way I tell if the moon is waxing or waning is to see how the moon's "shape" corresponds to the letters "D - O - C" If the moon looks like a filled in "D", then the moon is waxing or coming full. When it looks like the letter "C", then the moon is waning.

(If someone tells you it's waning, they might not be talking about the moon. It could very well be Elmer Fudd caught in a thunderstorm)

The procedure is reversed if you're in the Southern Hemisphere; the letters are "C-O-D". This is better explained at Moon Phases - Names and images of the 8 phases of the moon

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I wanted to include a moon widget, but the darned thing takes over the entire post and "wraps itself" around my comments. I signed up at the site to get the code, but then had to jump through hoops to find it. I also wanted to nab the code for the image (and not javascript) version, but it never let me sign in. Oh well. Life's too short to waste time on such crapola.

The old reliable Wunderground still offers up all sorts of stickies for your blog or website, including this moon graphic:

Sudden Weather

According to the radar, this line of storms that just popped up is heading nearly due north, which would put it to the west of me (white dot) Most disturbing is the pink part of the storm near the very end of it with what might be a hook from rotation.

I can hear the thunder and feel the gusts of wind which are coming from the front. If the storm decides to head just a little bit to the east, it might mean some severe weather for my vicinity.

It's getting closer and I may very well shut down this computer, even unplug the TV. Sometimes these storms are not only dangerous, but a major PITA.

Before I close, I want to add that I can feel the pressure as it increased, and now it's fallen a substantial amt. (not sure where the barometer is) It's gotten cooler and is very dark outside and very still, much diff. than earlier. More thunder rolls across the sky...

Storm Chasing with the Taylors!

With Reed and Chris in Mississippi having the Dominator outfitted with scientific instrumentation, Joel headed out with his storm chasing dad Jimmy to document the moderate and high risk set-ups. On May 18 they observed several tornadoes in the Texas Panhandle, near Dumas and Stinnett. The next day was a high risk, and they caught a rain-wrapped wedge near Loyal, Oklahoma!

Dominator Air Cannon Test

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Looks like they'll work fine, if they're extremely close to a tornado. One parachute looked to me as though it was high enough to be caught up in wind, not so sure about a couple of 'em.

It seems to me as though they need some sort of spring loaded gadget to open the parachute, one that wouldn't trip with the G-force of going up, but rather trip on the way down. Perhaps something like an half -sized umbrella mechanism that could lock in place, seems like that would make an excellent sail. The trigger could be something like a ball bearing in a long narrow race, much like an umbrella handle; when the ball bearing, forced to the top of the race during the force of the ejection, fell down - from gravity - it would trigger the spring that would cause the mini-umbrella/parasail to fully open.

Not sure on the physics of my ball bearing gizmo, but it also seems to me that since you're shifting mass in the projectile to the top of the parachute device, you'd also gain some momentum, perhaps even some altitude in the parachute shot. It wouldn't have to be a great deal of mass, just an oz. or so would help and not hurt.

Probably been better to have diagrammed it. Just got inspired after watching the vid.

Tornado Watch

Tornado Watch for Gray County, TX

Amarillo Radar Base Reflectivity

Goodnight Tornado

Had this up with a CNN video the other day but thought it might be conflicting w/ the other vids. The problem wasn't that, but one of my own. My YT issues have been fixed.

(well, except for posting too many videos on "one page".)



I've got the posting column set at 500, think it is, and I use vids that are 480 wide w/ the YT code. These tornadovideos.net offerings are usually 560 wide and on up, so I altered this one, hope it renders OK to everyone.

BTW, this Goodnight is not the same as the city downstate; it's a ghost town and parts of the classic movie Hud were filmed there and is also not far from the Groom Cross.

Waterlogged

It's been raining for two days:



And no let-up in sight:



Supposed to rain Sunday, too, then Monday has a chance of rain, then more storms are in the forecast.

The last time we got this much rain it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.

Spring Has Sprung

Finally! After a cold, snowy weekend, today is beautiful.



But, as Texas Panhandle weather often does, it will change to the extreme. Tomorrow will be another lovely day, but then comes rain and more cold weather.

In Less Than Three Hours

It will be spring...on the calendar, anyway, but spring-like weather won't make an appearance just yet in the Texas Panhandle.

Here's the current weather for Pampa and also for a few of my online friends:



As you can see, it's the coldest here and it's going to get colder.

Here's a screenshot of the current Amarillo radar:



The storm is moving in off the Rockies, straight for the Texas Panhandle.

I guess a little snow will be OK; better than springtime tornadoes, I'd have to say.

Last second freeze protection

Oklahoma Tornadoes

TornadoVideos.net storm chasers captured three tornadoes in west-central Oklahoma on March 8, 2010, including the damaging Hammon tornado! Follow along with these and other chasers Live at www.TornadoVideos.net



This isn't too far away and I've roughnecked/drilled in that area.

The Blizzard of '71

From Texas on the Potomac:

Today in Texas History: Massive blizzard hits panhandle

On this date in 1971, a massive blizzard that left 6 to 26 inches of snow hit the Texas Panhandle. The blizzard lasted until February 22.

Three people were killed in the storm, which also caused the disappearance of 15,000 cattle in Amarillo. Property losses and damages totaled $3.1 million.

The blizzard had winds of up to 60 miles per hour and left snow drifts as tall as 12 feet. The paralyzing storm was the worst of its kind since a blizzard that lasted from March 22-25, 1957.

The same storm hit western Oklahoma hard. The blizzard produced the state's record snowfall total of 36 inches in the small town of Buffalo.

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I remember this weather event very well. I was a sophomore in h.s. and had that summer bought 18 sows and two boars (pigs), plus had mine and my sister's show pigs to look after. When the storm blew in I was running low on feed and the highways were snowed under so I couldn't get to town to purchase more. The pens were just behind our house and the drifts got so deep, I eventually couldn't even make it out to check on the hogs.

The storm finally blew itself out, and I made my way out to the pens to see if any of the animals had survived. Among my herd was one mean Duroc sow that I had had to separate from the rest by putting her in our fenced garden spot. Before the storm hit, I had made her a shelter from some hay bales, but the snow had collapsed the make-shift shelter and the pig was nowhere to be seen. I figured she had died in the snow and I'd find her when the snow melted.

I was climbing over the garden fence to get to the pens and stepped on a mound of snow when the "mound" squealed and moved under my feet. It was the mean sow and she didn't like being disturbed from her warm snow cave!

Taking heart, I checked on the other animals, but couldn't see or hear them from where they were under the snow that had drifted to a depth of at least ten feet over their pens. I struggled back through the snow and got a shovel and my sister came with me to help dig them out. As I said, the snow was very deep and I dug down as far as I could, then held my sister by her ankles as she dug the rest of the way down to the shelter.

I knew exactly when my sister broke through the last foot of snow because a miasma of horrid, foul corruption - several day's worth of pig manure - came wafting up through the hole we had dug. Screaming at me to pull her out, my sister got the brunt of the smell.

Long story short, all the pigs had survived, but my sister's show animal had frostbitten ears and most of both ears on the pig had to be cut off. It made the hog look funny, but my sister's pig still managed to win grand champion at the county livestock show a month later.

There was still the matter of food for the animals: my dad suggested I take buckets and go over to a seed wheat grainery a quarter mile away and "borrow" some of the farmer's seed. I trudged through waist-deep snow, making several trips until I simply couldn't make another trip.  We soaked the wheat in a 55 gallon drum in our heated garage and after a day, it was soft enough for the pigs to eat.  They loved it.

After the highways were cleared and I could get to town to get food for the animals, I didn't have to feed them the grain. There was a few gallons of wheat left in the barrel and it had soured into a stinking mess and my pop insisted I get it out of the garage. Instead of simply discarding it, Dad told me I should feed it to the pigs.

Again, not to ramble on with this boring story, the hogs got drunk off the fermented grain and I watched and laughed as they squealed and spun around in circles. The next day they all looked miserable and I suppose they had hangovers!

Déjà vu All Over Again

Issued by The National Weather Service
Amarillo, TX
3:46 pm CST, Sat., Feb. 6, 2010

... WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON...

A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.

* TIMING: FREEZING DRIZZLE CAN BE EXPECTED SUNDAY MORNING WHICH SHOULD TRANSITION TO A MIXTURE OF LIGHT RAIN... LIGHT FREEZING RAIN... SLEET OR SNOW BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE PRECIPITATION IS THEN EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT. THE SNOW SHOULD END BY MONDAY EVENING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 3 TO 5 INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE... WITH AROUND 5 TO 7 INCHES EXPECTED ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLES. AT THIS TIME... THE TRACK OF THIS WINTER SYSTEM WILL PLACE THE HEAVIEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE... AND THE NORTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE.

* OTHER IMPACTS: LIGHT FREEZING RAIN... FREEZING DRIZZLE OR SLEET MAY OCCUR PRIOR TO THE SNOW DEVELOPING SUNDAY NIGHT. ANY ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN LIGHT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW... SLEET... OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

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Radar ain't showin' nuthin'. Looking off to the west, there's some weather just past the mountains in N. Mexico, some precip comin' up from the gulf that's now south of Dallas, maybe those two systems are gonna meet right here. Hope not, they've said this same thing four times in the last month, but they were right twice.

I've got some problems with my Weather Channel Firefox add-on; it keeps popping up the "tool tip" warning even when my mouse isn't hovering over the icons. I might have to check out another weather add-on, but other than this latest glitch, I've really enjoyed having it. It must be something to do with the latest Firefox update - I've had quite a number of updates since then.

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Sussed out the Firefox "bug". It was a setting I had enabled, to give me weather updates every ten minutes. Duh. Yep, they kept popping up, every ten minutes, just like I had it set. Double Duh.

See the "Idiot" post above.

Rainy Mood

I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me I can hear music as well as a chorus singing in bits of the loop. I know there's some birds singing, but I don't think I've ever heard birds singing in the rain. (maybe it's the genekelly bird?)

I hope it's not those voices in my head.

Rainy Mood

Singin' in the Rain

Big Bad Blizzard

You Are a Blizzard

You are both dangerous but beautiful. People both welcome you and fear you. You can cause a lot of trouble and even destruction. Some would argue that you're worth it though! You tend to overtake people and change everything. You aren't subtle, but you are sometimes hard to see through. There is a quiet and stillness that you sometimes bring. Some find you to be quite peaceful.

What Kind of Storm Are You?

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

gelid

gelid \JEL-id\ , adjective;
1. Extremely cold; icy.

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My online friends Alison and Chester would say a picture is worth a thousand words.

16,000 word's worth