SouthboundYank

TY, good sir. We had several good spates of soaking rain late this morning and early afternoon....heard it slamming the roof pretty good on a couple occasions and had to look up to confirm it was indeed raining that hard. Also....think I'm going to bypass getting another simple rain gauge and instead invest in one of those higher-end weather stations that some of our nearby forum neighbors have purchased over the past year or two, with integrated precip measurement. It's time...

Our resident social/morale chairperson in our office randomly decided to set an offsite get-together that's had to be rescheduled for the past month for next Thursday. St. Patrick's Day. UGH. I avoid every bar, pub, eatery on that day more than any other during the year...sure, it was cute and fun to swill green beer and drunkenly lisp in an Irish brogue on SPD....when I was 25 years younger. As the token and curmedeonly GenX'er on the team I've bitched vociferously about the timing, but it's falling on deaf ears. OK zoomer.

41, with first puddles in backyard that I've seen in over a month, and with no working rain gauge at the moment, I'll ride on @H2O's coattails above for a close-enough measurement. The worst kind of weather. Upshot is that those neon green patches of new grass growth in the yards will be soaking up this stuff today and putting it to good use.

Indeed. I already see the trees dancing a good bit through the front windows, and sun only just came up. EDIT: Aaaaand, @H2O channels Carnac the Magnificent this morning... DCZ001-MDZ004>006-008-011-013-014-016>018-503>508-VAZ036>040- 050>057-501-502-505-506-071630- /O.EXB.KLWX.WI.Y.0008.220307T1600Z-220308T0600Z/ District of Columbia-Frederick MD-Carroll-Northern Baltimore- Cecil-Southern Baltimore-Prince Georges-Anne Arundel-Charles- St. Marys-Calvert-Northwest Montgomery- Central and Southeast Montgomery-Northwest Howard- Central and Southeast Howard-Northwest Harford-Southeast Harford- Nelson-Albemarle-Greene-Madison-Rappahannock-Orange-Culpeper- Prince William/Manassas/Manassas Park-Fairfax- Arlington/Falls Church/Alexandria-Stafford-Spotsylvania- King George-Northern Fauquier-Southern Fauquier-Western Loudoun- Eastern Loudoun- Including the cities of Washington, Frederick, Ballenger Creek, Eldersburg, Westminster, Reisterstown, Cockeysville, Elkton, Baltimore, Bowie, Suitland-Silver Hill, Clinton, College Park, Greenbelt, Laurel, Camp Springs, Glen Burnie, Annapolis, Severn, South Gate, Severna Park, Arnold, Odenton, St. Charles, Waldorf, Lexington Park, California, Chesapeake Beach, Huntingtown, Dunkirk, North Beach, Lusby, Prince Frederick, Germantown, Damascus, Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, Lisbon, Columbia, Ellicott City, Jarrettsville, Aberdeen, Lovingston, Charlottesville, Stanardsville, Madison, Orange, Gordonsville, Culpeper, Dale City, Manassas, Woodbridge, Lake Ridge, Montclair, Reston, Herndon, Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, McLean, Franconia, Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Falmouth, Fredericksburg, Dahlgren, Warrenton, Turnbull, Purcellville, Leesburg, Ashburn, and Sterling 317 AM EST Mon Mar 7 2022 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 AM EST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph expected shifting to northwest this evening. * WHERE...Portions of The District of Columbia, central, north central, northeast, northern and southern Maryland and central, northern and northwest Virginia. * WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 1 AM EST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.

And from Mt. Holly's disco this AM... Heading through this afternoon low pressure moves eastward through upstate NY pushing a cold front into the area from the north and west by late day. There will be an area of rain and showers with this feature and it will begin to enter our north/west zones from Berks County N/E through the Lehigh Valley into the southern Poconos by mid afternoon. It should then reach the urban corridor by the 5 to 7 PM time frame. There won`t be very much instability but the concern we have is that with wind speeds to 50 knots or so within the lowest couple thousand feet, these could get mixed to the surface in an embedded line of heavier showers that will likely develop right near the front within the broader area of rain/showers. Not every place will experience these winds but the threat is high enough that the Storm Prediction Center has placed areas near and N/W of the urban corridor in a SLIGHT risk for severe storms because of this threat. Worth noting though, these instances of embedded damaging winds that may occur may be associated with little to no thunder and lightning. However since this will be convectively driven, it will be handled with Severe Thunderstorm Warnings if this materializes. Finally, the Weather Prediction Center maintains much of the region near and N/W of the urban corridor in a Marginal Risk for excessive rainfall but I think the threat with this will be mostly urban and poor drainage type flooding since the system will be progressive.

Same temp here with sun up for almost an hour. UGGGHHHHHHH....

Yea, verily, let it be so. Sooner, if possible. We need some of the pressure taken off of "our" Hilltop Weggy's...

I've quit 5-6 social media platforms over the past several years because of the overabundance of: "Look how perfect MY life is!" posts, designed to run up the poster's like/love reaction count, when YOU and OTHER friends know that their "perfect" life is just a manufactured electronic construct, and "SIGH, I'm feeling so (fill in name of dramatic, emo mindset)..." posts, where zero additional context is given, but where you're clearly supposed to enable the poster by asking what's wrong. Social media is like manna from heaven for life's attention whores. And to Bob's separate point, we ditched cable TV a few years ago and never looked back...we've managed to tailor (and enjoy far more) the handful of hours we now reserve for TV.

From your keyboard to God's ears. Currently 37.

True to the popular "March blows" theme around here, yesterday was supposed to be around 60 and sunny....and ended up being overcast (until 4 p.m., of course) with highs only in the low 50s here. I guess I shouldn't bitch, since we've generally been busting high on temps over the past couple of weeks. Today set for low 60s...and with clear skies and sun right now, hoping we hit or exceed that.

I feel guilty for "willing" spring to start earlier. Like I'm letting so many other sub members down if I'm not rooting for at least one more snow.

Oh, I'm interested, and downloaded your higher res version for my desktop pics folder on my numerous laptops! Thx again for sharing. The iPhone 13 line (as well as most recent Google Pixel generation phones) are SO capable of capturing the more challenging lighting situations like this. In fact, it just hit me what your pic reminded me of -- a 1988(!) album cover for a Windham Hill new age instrumental collection called "Winters Solstice II." I'd argue that yours is even better.

Rebounded to 59...clear skies, getting breezy again. I'll take it.

DUDE. That's breathtaking. THAT'S award-winning photography right there, at least in my book.

Great snow pics. And if nothing else, we can actually SEE why you might actually BE a Revolutionary War re-enactor...

My appreciation for Russian composers -- particularly Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and especially Rimsky-Korsakov -- grew exponentially when I played French horn in MS and HS concert band (and even when I got sucked into the wind section in HS orchestra!) and our directors back in the day most often chose from the catalogs of those three composers. Mussorgsky's Pictures still moves me. One of the most challenging, but my all-time favorite, pieces I remember playing was Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture in HS orchestra -- to this day, I liken it to a classical "Stairway to Heaven." Our HS orchestra back then was about the size of the CMU orchestra playing the piece below, and like them, we blew the roof off of the auditorium.

LOL. I should've added in my previous post that I've gone back and forth between iOS and Android for the past decade, had several iPhones in that time, and while I certainly don't hate iOS...I do prefer Android for a variety of reasons. I'll grant that Apple makes good, solid hardware and does a great job supporting that hardware via iOS for 1-3 years longer than Google/Samsung does on comparable Android hardware (Samsung's getting better). However, iOS can't touch Android when it comes to notifications, customization and being able to choose from a variety of default apps. I'm also deep in the Google application stack, and there's no way Apple can beat the integration between Google apps, Android and even Google Assistant (which makes Siri look like a rube).

Would be interested to see you post some wx (or any) pics you've got from the G22 Ultra. I upgraded to the Pixel 6 Pro at launch last October and have been pretty impressed with the upgraded camera rig there, but have followed the development of the G22 Ultra, too, and it sounds like an impressive phone. While I personally haven't experienced any issues with the Pixel 6 line, Google sure has stumbled a number of times squashing out bugs in its monthly updates on the newest models. Interesting sidebar -- I tried out the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 for a week before I settled on the P6 Pro last fall. The Flip 3 was hands down THE coolest phone I ever used. Absolutely loved the form factor, and I found myself using the outer screen to process notifications WAY more, without having to turn on/enable the primary screen all the time. I never mind reducing screen time. Anyway, the Flip 3 had a very average camera system (certainly not up to S22 Ultra or P6 Pro calibre) plus the battery barely got me through a day. And I'm done living with battery anxiety on any cell phone...so back it went. But if Sammy finds a way to improve battery life and camera quality on that Z Flip series, I'll back in a heartbeat.

Yep, feeling same...and the current 77 degree temp isn't helping. As I've mentioned before, I won't bitch about this winter since I got nearly a foot back on 1/3/22. In any event, I've already missed a fair amount of crocus appearances in neighboring yards....and the daffodils are starting to push up everywhere I look.

Damn...it's 77. Have only had full sun for about an hour.

This isn't just a "like" -- this is a "love."

Interestingly enough, I've discovered a few straggler cicada nymph emergence holes around the base of our oak tree. I know they're fresh because last year's emergence holes have all been filled in with countless mowings and leaf mulchings since last spring. I checked the tree trunk but didn't see any nymphs. Our current soil temps are ~55 degrees and the base of that tree gets full sun all day, but still....always surprising to see the handful of late-comers. "Hey...where IS everybody?!?"

Yep, we were easily getting gusts to 40-50 mph in the 10 p.m. to midnight time range last night. But as @87storms mentioned, they were balmy gusts...felt nice out doing the last dog walk of the night.