winterwx21

And NYC ended up with a .59 total. Not bad.

Glad we got our decent half inch soaking. It was bone dry so we really needed it. Next chance of rain looks to be thursday, although not a significant event. Right now is looks like showers and maybe around a quarter of an inch.

And radar looks pretty good. Heavier echoes are making it pretty far north in eastern PA. Looks like it's gonna be a good half inch to three quarters of an inch soaking for the NYC area.

12z Euro looks good for a decent soaking. It gives NYC about .75, similar to RGEM, and gets the half inch line well up into northern NJ. GFS is probably too far south with the rain amounts. The other models are in agreement on a good half inch to 1 inch soaking.

I just read that upon further examination by US vaccine advisors, the amount of blood clots linked to the J&J vaccine increased to 15. All of them women, and 13 of the 15 under 50 years old. I assume they will resume the J&J vaccine with a warning for the blood clot risk to younger women.

Although 12z NAM came north with the heavier rain amounts, compared to last night's run. It gives NYC close to an inch. RGEM also gives NYC a good three quarters of an inch. Hopefully GFS is off with the heavier amounts staying south. We could use a good soaking.

My allergies are bothering me a bit more today (windy days make it worse), but nothing terrible. My allergies are always at their worst when the tree pollen first comes out in mid to late March, and then it calms down for April. I guess it's an initial major overreaction to the pollen by my immune system, but then it adjusts and the allergies aren't quite as bad. Every year in mid-late March I have one night where I'm up all night because the allergies are so incredibly bad. There's some kind of tree pollen here that seems to come out all at once and hits me like a ton of bricks for one night as my immune system goes nuts with the reaction. This year it was a little bit later than usual on the 28th. Maybe it was a little delayed because we had a cold February, but I was up all night with the constant sneezing and runny nose. Not even one hour of sleep. Thankfully that happens for only 1 night and then it calms down a little. Now for April and May my allergies are moderate with more sneezing and congestion than usual, but nothing too bad.

Just a light shower. Frustrating. I'm going outside now to water the broccoli and lettuce plants.

Yeah got very windy here too as the storm missed slightly to the northwest. 30 to 40mph gusts, but not even a sprinkle. I see a pretty good storm is going into central Middlesex county now. As almost always happens, storms miss just to the north and just to south for this area. I don't know why the broken part of the line goes over northern Middlesex County so often. Looks as if I'm gonna have to go out and water this afternoon.

I can see on radar that this storm is gonna miss me a few miles to the north. Very frustrating how often this happens for this area. So often storms miss northern Middlesex County just a few miles to the north and a few miles to the south. Strange how often this happens.

I see on radar some convection is starting to fire in eastern PA. The models aren't as impressed with rain amounts as they were the last couple days, but I'm hoping for a nice downpour for the vegetable garden this afternoon. It has really dried out the last week. If not this afternoon then obviously we'll have to wait for the soaking rain saturday night into sunday, but radar in eastern PA is starting to look promising for the possibility of a storm early this afternoon.

Yeah, lots of articles have come out on this because it's a major new study. I will post one more, because in this article doctors explain the reasons why the exercise greatly reduces severe Covid risk. Like what happens to the lungs when you exercise, and why that helps you fight off respiratory diseases... https://www.shape.com/fitness/tips/study-regular-exercise-lowered-risk-of-severe-covid-19 This study is getting a lot of attention because is shows such a strong association between activity level and severe Covid risk. Here is a quote from one of the study's authors... "What surprised me the most from this study was the strength of the association between inactivity and poor outcomes from Covid-19," said study co-author Deborah Rohm Young. "Even after we included variables such as obesity and smoking in the analysis, we still saw inactivity was strongly associated with much higher odds of hospitalization, ICU admission and death, compared with moderate physical activity or any activity at all," she added. And study author Dr. Robert Sallis added this... "I continue to believe that exercise is medicine that everyone should take, especially in this era of Covid-19."

Don't know if you saw this, but I posted it earlier today... https://www.miragenews.com/shot-of-exercise-can-prevent-covid-19s-deadly-543704/ This study really shows the connection between physical activity level and severe Covid risk. I've posted other studies in the past too, like one where they looked at fitness level of people that did treadmill stress tests and risk of of hospitalization. The evidence that higher fitness level greatly reduces severe Covid risk is really strong. The new study that I just posted above says that physical fitness is the greatest severe Covid risk factor besides being old and organ transplant. I think the problem is you are misunderstanding what severe Covid outcome means. These athletes that are stuck in bed because of being sick as a dog are not having severe outcomes. As rough as it is, it's a heck of a lot better than being in a hospital fighting for your life. While great fitness does not always prevent athletes from getting very sick, it does almost always prevent them from having the severe outcome of having to be in the hospital to be saved or even dying. This is a very good thing, and shows the importance of fitness to prevent things like lungs and heart failing. Also realize that while some athletes get pretty sick, there are tons of athletes that get mild to no symptoms. The virus has been much less severe for athletes than the general population. So you are dead wrong when you claim that healthy people are impacted as severely. The statistics overwhelmingly prove that you are wrong about that. A higher percentage of obese people will die from Covid, but very few healthy athletes will. Exercise is VERY important to reduce risk.

LOL, you are right about that. And I do apologize if I go overboard with that. I'll try to tone it down a little, lol. But I do think it's important to get the message out about how much improved fitness reduces severe Covid risk. So many people don't seem to realize the major connection between fitness level and Covid risk. I've posted studies that have shown it. I've seen many doctors comment that it has absolutely driven them crazy that health authorities didn't get the message out early in this pandemic about how risk can be reduced through improved health (diet/exercise). Just like a lot of lives would have been saved had we not had some overly conservative republicans (Trump of course being the biggest problem) discouraging mask use, a lot of lives also would have been saved had health authorities gotten the message out early about how to reduce risk by getting into better shape. Those 2 things have been the biggest problems during this pandemic. Really a shame ... we never should have had this many hospitalizations and deaths. You are right that I can't be sure my body would handle it as easily if I caught one of the worst variants. I think my odds of getting severe Covid where I would have to go to the hospital would still be extremely low (but not zero), but with a bad variant I'm sure odds would be higher that I could get pretty sick like we've seen with a bunch of athletes on the Canucks hockey team. I've leaned against vaccination, but it is something I will still consider. Vaccination is a no brainer for people with any kind of condition that puts them at higher risk (which is the majority of the adult population in this country), but it's a more difficult decision for athletes. Many athletes don't feel this way, but there are also many that would rather rely on the natural protection of fitness than put something unnatural into their body. But it is something I will consider in the next few weeks.

I don't go as far as thinking I'm completely immune from getting severely ill from Covid, even though Covid had very little impact on me when I had it. My severe Covid risk is extremely low, just a tiny fraction of 1%. Low enough that I don't have to live in fear. But that doesn't mean still don't be smart. I wear the KN95 masks when I go places and never do anything dumb like go to a party. Having a very tiny risk is not having a zero risk. No one is completely immune. I realize that. But it definitely makes me feel better that my risk is extremely low due to all the exercise I do. If I was out of shape, I would be terrified of the virus and would have gotten the vaccine as quickly as possible. But right now I'm still not even eligible for the vaccine because they haven't opened it up yet for the lowest risk group here in NJ. That changes next week. I will still consider the mRNA vaccine. As you know, I am very worried about possible severe allergic reaction since I have a history of that and we've seen severe allergic reactions to the mRNA vaccines. I am going to make an appointment with my allergist to talk about it. I read that being tested to see if you're allergic to the vaccine is something that is coming out soon. One thing to remember is that athletes getting very sick, like you're talking about, doesn't mean that they're having SEVERE outcomes. There's a difference between being sick as a dog in bed, and being in a hospital struggling to breathe and fighting for your life. Exercise is proven to greatly reduce severe Covid outcomes like being hospitalized and dying. But you can still get sick as a dog if you're an elite athlete. That's rough, but it's a heck of a lot better than being at risk of dying. So even these athletes that are getting very sick are still seeing the benefit of being in great shape. If they were not in great shape, they might have needed hospitalization instead. Of course there are also lots of athletes that get mild or no symptoms. I've noticed that many people are in denial about how much Covid risk is increased by being out of shape and decreased by getting into shape. I can provide quotes from many doctors and health experts that say it has been driving them crazy that getting into better shape through diet/exercise wasn't put into the guidelines early in the pandemic. I think that was one of the big failures during this pandemic and has cost a lot of people their lives. So I think it's important to get this type of information out, like the new study that I just posted.

I don't know anything about Quinton Hughes, but there will always be exceptions. Exercise greatly reduces severe Covid risk, but it doesn't eliminate it. Your attitude is downright puzzling. Greatly reducing risk isn't important, just because there will still be some cases of severe Covid among people that exercise? Is that what you're trying to imply? You'd much rather have very low risk than high risk, wouldn't you?? I would hope so.

I've been criticized by a few people here that think I go too far with talk about how much exercise can help to prevent severe Covid, but here is a brand new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that provides powerful evidence. In this study they compared people that were physically inactive to people that got a lot of physical activity, and the people that were inactive developed severe Covid and died at much higher rates. In fact, physical inactivity was actually seen as the greatest risk factor for severe Covid outcomes other than advanced age and organ transplant. Even higher than all the other CDC listed risk factors like obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Here is a good quote from Professor Jim Sallis, one of the study's authors... "Getting vaccinated and following public health safety guidelines such as social distancing and mask use remain critical for reducing risk of transmission. But we recommend public health authorities inform all populations that engaging in regular physical activity may be the single most important action individuals can take to prevent severe Covid -19 and its complications, including death. We also recommend clinicians encourage their patients to be physically active, especially those who have other risk factors." Here is the article and study... https://www.miragenews.com/shot-of-exercise-can-prevent-covid-19s-deadly-543704/ So no, I am not exaggerating when I talk about how important exercise is in preventing severe Covid. It's a powerful tool and is absolutely critical. This pandemic would not have been anywhere near as bad as it has been, had most people gotten the recommended amount of physical activity rather than being sedentary. It's very sad. And of course I am not saying exercise instead of getting vaccinated. It's important for most people to get vaccinated. But only a small percentage of the world is vaccinated, and it's going to take a long time to get the majority vaccinated. There will also be plenty of people that decide to not get vaccinated, for different reasons. So this is very important information. Getting into shape is critical in preventing severe Covid. We would not have had this type of pandemic had people just been physically active.

Exactly. Several days ago I talked about how every other Covid thread on Americanwx eventually got taken down because people were not being civil. There are a couple people here that get very nasty with people that they disagree with. They really need to calm down and try to keep it civil, or else this thread will go too and there will be no place to talk about Covid on this site. Most people here are great and are respectful no matter how much they disagree. It's just a select few that are putting this thread in jeopardy. I don't understand why some people feel the need to get nasty just because they disagree. Everyone has different opinions and there's nothing wrong with that. I hope the few people that are putting this thread in jeopardy will try to be more civil.

After all my talk of of how important it is to eat healthy and exercise, I'm leaving now to go to The Cheesecake Factory to eat dinner and dessert. LOL. But yes, you can cheat once a week or so as long as you eat healthy most of the time. I'm not a believer in being overly strict with diet ... you have to enjoy some unhealthy foods from time to time! Everyone have a swell night.

Eating healthy and exercising does help stave off many medical diseases ... that is medical fact. Even Covid. I posted a new study here yesterday that showed that people that were normal body weight and had high levels of good HDL cholesterol caught Covid at lower rates than people that were obese and had type 2 diabetes. I certainly am not suggesting that most people should not get the Covid vaccine. Covid is here and majority of people in this country are at high risk (heck 70% of people are overweight/obese). It's very important for most people to get vaccinated. I'm just saying that for people that have to wait to get vaccinated or plan to not get vaccinated, getting into better shape is critical to reduce risk. The first Covid wave last spring was an unexpected shock, but if people had put in effort to get into better shape over the summer there certainly would have been many less deaths during the Covid wave during the Fall/Winter. We know for a fact that being obese is the #1 Covid death risk factor, other than being elderly. People that eat healthy and exercise get severely ill and die from Covid at much lower rates, so it's an important thing to do. Of course it's important for many other things as well, like preventing heart disease.

The NFL has already said that players will not be mandated to get the vaccine. So what Buffalo is doing is very unfair. They should at least give the option of providing a negative test for fans that are not vaccinated.

I'm surprised they're not allowing the option of being tested. Of course some states are banning vaccine passports completely, but for ones that will allow them most of the talk for big venues is that they'll give the option of providing a negative test. This with the Buffalo Bills doesn't seem fair at all because there are people that can't be vaccinated for medical reasons. It's ridiculous if they don't allow the negative test option. Terrible that people will be excluded. Talk about discrimination. Hopefully they will not go this far for the venues that I go to, Citi Field and Madison Square Garden. So far all indications are that they will continue to allow the negative test option for those venues. If that changes, I might be forced to get vaccinated. Although I am still considering vaccination anyway, despite all my talk here that I would be concerned about taking the tiny risk of vaccination causing some kind of reaction. I could get the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine and tell them they have to watch me for a half hour rather than the 15 minutes, since I have a history of bad allergic reactions. I might do this if it looks as if there's gonna be discrimination against non vaccinated people, but I am ok with large venues requiring vaccination as long as they also allow the negative test option. Let me also say that I find it pretty funny that Bills QB Josh Allen says he might not want a vaccine and doesn't believe in any kind of vaccine mandate, yet a vaccine mandate is going to be in place for Bills fans. I'm sure he's not too happy about this.

It's the same type of vaccine as the Astrezenaca vaccine, and quite a few people have died from blood clots from that vaccine. Again, the Britain's health regular says don't take the vaccine if you're under 30. You're saying he doesn't know what he's talking about? Again The J & J is the exact same type of vaccine, so there is the same concern. It's being stopped in this country right now because of health experts. I guess you think you know more than these health experts that are concerned about the vaccine.

I never said vaccines are more dangerous than the virus. I realize the virus kills hundreds of thousands of people, and the vaccines are safe overall and save lots of lives. The vaccines are a great thing. So many people are at higher risk of dying from Covid. I've said over and over that the majority of people should take vaccines. I just think for the smaller percentage of people that are in great shape and are at low Covid risk, not wanting to take the vaccine can be considered a reasonable decision. There are people that are at such low Covid risk that it's not something worth worrying about. Just like when you go driving down the highway, there is a very tiny chance you'll die in an accident. But the chance is so low you don't worry about it. But there are lots of people that are at higher Covid risk and need to worry, so these vaccines are a great thing.

BTW you were asking about how much having a strong cardiovascular system can protect against Covid. A couple months ago I posted a study that looked at people that did treadmill stress tests and later tested positive for Covid. Each level of better fitness on the treadmill resulted in a lower hospitalization rate. Fitness level really matters when it comes to Covid risk. That's why of all the athletes in college and pro sports that have tested positive, it's incredibly rare that these athletes end up in the hospital. Look. Other countries stopped the vaccine at times. The Britain health regulator has recommended people under 30 not take this type of vaccine, and now some US health officials are saying pause. This is not just me making stuff up. These are health experts. There is legitimate concern about this type of vaccine. Enough that healthy young people should consider the risk. The other type of vaccines seem much safer, thankfully. I've said enough on this subject. Everyone have a good day.