RDM

Indeed - inbound precip is heading SE. Check out the returns over NJ. One level of precip is heading NE and another layer in the same general area is headed West.

A whopping .02" so far today....

Poplar spits easy, but is a very soft wood. It burns hot, but burns fast too. I have a good supply of black locust from several downed trees on our property. Locust is classified as a very hard wood on the scale. About the only think harder we have domestically is pear and osage orange. Tried to split osage orange long ago with my dad's splitter - don't ever try it. The twisted grain makes it nearly impossible to split. Locust burns great - has the highest heat content of any wood in N. America. Splits great too - is why the old timers used locust for split rail fences. And, it won't rot if left unspilt on it's side until you get around to splitting it. Electric log splitters are ok for small stuff, but they have significant limitations compared to gas. Built my log splitter nearly 40 years ago for my senior project in engineering school. Splits wood in both directions with a sliding double wedge to avoid the unproductive return cycle on most hydraulic splitters. Have 25 tons of force on the out stroke and 17 in the return stroke. It will work 4 men to death trying to keep up with it. The axle is off a B-52 APU and the main I-beam is galvanized steel from an electric sub-station (don't ask how I got those components). Still runs great after nearly 40 years.

What a spectacular day! Currently 70/61dp. Trimmed our yard for 2 hours, cut the grass for another hour, then installed a new tranny mount in my 91 Silverado with the garage door open and AC turned off. Sheer bliss!

Yea - suspect you're right. The cells out around Elkins and Clarksburg looked pretty active 30 mins ago and the lightening strikes were pretty strong, but the last several frames make it look like they are losing their punch.

1.78" so far today. Based on Sterling Radar returns from the line ivo of Winchester, there's more inbound.

Got a very quick 1.66" here NW of Vienna. Lawyer's road is closed in two places near our home - typical when we get rain ivo 1.50"/hr or more. Local family lost a son in a flash flood about 10 years ago a few hundred yard from our home. Same culvert is overrun by water with people still driving through. FFCO FD swift water rescue was disputed about 30 mins ago for a white water rescue on Lawyers Rd. Hunter Mill Rd is a zoo with traffic lights out in multiple locations flashing red 4-way. People don't know how to negotiate an intersection with 4way flashing red lights... sigh.

haha - yea, I hear ya. Cut my previous yard for years with a push mower and mowed yards for pocket change when I was a teenager - know what you mean. I mow 1-1/2 acres now. Mowed it with my ole 1962 Gravely walk behind for a while, but it can't compete with a diesel Kubota and 60 inch deck with a cup holder.

Indeed. Just finished cutting the grass. 90/81 here. Fortunate to have a canopy on my tractor to provide some shade.

Unfortunately, according to WTOP earlier this evening a 3rd of the 4 people struck in Lafeyette Park has also passed away and the 4th is in serious condition. Recall as well hearing from my dad growing up to never stand under a tree in a t-storm. Saw what happened to a small herd of cows who sought shelter under a tree on a nearby farm when I was about 6 - a lightening strike killed every one of them.

93/78 here... very soupy out there... (a highly technical term for Yuk)

Well I'll be... That's interesting. The first NWS FFW post at 10:20 did not include FFCO, LOCO, PWCO, and several others. The time stamp for the FFW posting now is still 10:20, so Sterling must have gone back and edited the Watch again to add the extra counties. I'm really not imaging it... too early to drink. Or maybe I should start.

Yea - that NOVA hole is odd - down to Fredericksburg. Everyone else to the N, W & E are in it...

There is one now for most of the area except for FFCO, LOCO and a few other counties in NOVA.

Only managed .22" last night. First line went just N of us, second line just S, then a line bloomed up just east of us and the last line went N again... Feel like Charlie Brown with the football, next time...

We're getting dumped on here NW of Vienna. .46" in less than 15 mins - coming in waves.

.98" in 25 mins.

Yup Yoda - thanks for the check - my bad. I misread the forecast for tomorrow to be the observed for today. My bad. https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=38.9243&lon=-77.3551&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical My Vantage Vue registered 98 though for a few mins. The large azaleas I transplanted IVO the outdoor unit may be creating elevated highs.

Looks like IAD maxed out at 98 today - was there for a couple hours with a HI of 104.

98/74 Here. Toasty outside.

Experienced 100F or more a few times since moving here in 1985. IAD reached 105 on 22 July 2011. Think that was the hottest I've experienced here - live just a few miles from IAD. Lived in India for 3 years in the early 90's. That heat was brutal. Hottest we had there was 122F. Had weeks of 110-118 every year - with humidity that drove the heat index off the chart. Ambient water temperature in roof top storage takes was too hot to take a shower. Had to pump water from back-yard cistern into the roof tanks in order to lower the temp enough to not be tolerable. So ironic in a land with water shortages that we had to waste water to be able to take a shower.

Rgr that on WD-40. Had a lubricant engineer explain the drawbacks of WD-40 once. In particular, WD-40 is hygroscopic - meaning it attracts and retains humidity/water. Not exactly what we want in many applications. That's why after after the petroleum part of WD-40 wears off, evaporates etc, there's often a rusty residue left over. Then we apply more WD-40 and it quickly becomes a point of diminishing returns.

If you're referring to my "random sh*t", it's partially a curse from being an engineer and partially good fortune from growing up with a dad who could fix just about anything. If you were referring to someone else's sh*t regrets for the off-base assumption.

Was thinking some more... (I know, that's dangerous!). One other suggestion that is often overlooked in home inspections. It's about your garage doors. Most garage doors have a long torsion spring that is wrapped around the jack-shaft. The jack-shaft is the long rod that runs across the top of the garage door with a cable on both sides. It is what actually helps lift the weight of the garage door. On a single door there is just one spring and on a double door there are two. Not all springs are the same. They are tailored to the type, size and weight of the garage door (there's several categories of springs) Torsion springs have an enormous amount of stored kinetic energy in them. Don't mess with them unless fully versed on the mechanicals and even then, be extremely careful. On occasion a torsion spring will break. When it does the release of energy is loud and dramatic - like a shotgun blast (sort of). One thing that everyone can do to extend the life of a torsion spring is to lubricate it once a year. A good spray lithium grease is a reasonable option. Garage door companies use a variety of lubricants. The goal is to use a grease that is sufficiently fluid to penetrate in between the coils of the spring, but not so fluid that it drips down on your garage door or your car when you are entering/exiting (WD-40 is not a suggested option). Getting the lubricant down inside the coils of the spring significantly reduces the friction on the surfaces of the coils, which greatly extends the service-cycle lifespan of the springs. Replacing a coil spring is not an extremely expensive endeavor. But it is best left to the pros who can replace a spring in a much shorter amount of time than any of us can. I've done one before out of necessity. But it's a tricky endeavor and one slip-up in the process can result in a trip to the ER, or worse. Hope this helps and hope things are going well getting settled into your new home.

Congrats again. Sounds really cool. I love older homes. They have "character" and no 2 are exactly the same. Keep an eye on the water. It is a powerful force as we all know. Interesting there's no central AC, but you have solar panels. Hope you got some powerful window AC units to handle this heat & humidity. FWIW - my oldest brother in Ohio lives in a house built in 1860. He and his wife are the 3rd owners/occupants since 1860. Yes, only the 3rd in 162 years. Was an estate sale from 3 brothers who were born and died there. An amazing place with an enormous fireplace with wrought iron kettle arm. Did not have central air, nor central heat, nor indoor running water apart from a garden hose through the kitchen window) when my brother moved into the place about 20 years ago. The privy was a 2 hole outhouse, still "ripe" from daily use.