Murphy's Weather

Currently 46 with a S wind of less than 1 mph making no difference so it feels like 46. Dew Point 46, Humidity 100%, Barometer 29.4, Visibility 4 mi, Sunrise 8:06 am, Sunset 6:45 pm. 100% chance of more rain today, high in the lower 50s. W winds 5 – 15 mph with gusts to 25 in the afternoon. Flood Warnings are in place all over the place.

90% chance of overnight rain. Low around 40. W winds 10 – 20 decreasing to 5 – 15 after midnight.

Measured 2.45″ of rain in the gauge since yesterday’s measurement.

Calico Colors

This huge amount of rain we’re getting – better than 3 ¼” so far in the past couple of days, with another day of it coming – has managed to bring down leaves galore. It’s lovely out there on the lawn. Looks a bit like a patchwork quilt.

Of course, now living in an apartment, I’m not in charge of raking and disposing of the colorful bits of nature, so my appreciation for them has grown considerably.

Watching them spiral down in the rain, decorating the grass? A wonder to behold.

This much rain with flood warnings littering the area? Not so much of a wonder as a bother and a worry.

Alas, can’t have it all fun and games, can we?

Currently 50 degrees with a N wind of 8 mph ignoring that, so it feels like the 50 it is. Dew Point 53, Humidity 100%, Barometer 29.82, Visibility 2 mi, Sunrise 8:05 am, Sunset 6:46 pm. Rain today. 1 – 2″ possible. (Measured .75″ overnight) High 57. NNE wind 10 -20 mph.

Rain tonight. Low 47. NNW wind 10 -20 mph with another 1/2″ of rain expected.

A Flood Watch is in effect through Tuesday evening.

Glad I’m Not A Bird.  Granted, birds get to travel a lot more than I do, and they have the chance to view the world in ways I can’t, but at least I can enjoy my breakfast from inside where it’s warm and dry.

These poor, soggy creatures are out there feeding in the rain whether they like it or not. And I’m sure they don’t. Why would they?  I’ve seen them get blown off course and completely miss the feeders when the wind is sharp and steady, but at least today, it’s only the rain they must contend with. The wind is calm but the rain is steady. And I’m sure the rain is plenty enough for them to have to deal with.

On the weather map, showing a huge blob of color indicating rain  funneling up from the gulf coast, seemingly without end, this rain is going to keep on falling here. As the birds are going to have to keep on eating. Rain or no rain.

Currently 68 degrees with a S wind of 8 making no difference, so it feels like 68. Dew Point 55, Humidity 64%, Barometer 29.95, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 8:03 am, Sunset 6:48 pm. Mostly sunny this morning with a 70% chance of rain showers this afternoon. High lower 70s. S winds 5 – 15 mph with gusts to 30.

90% chance of overnight rain showers. Low lower 50s. NW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Okay, so right now, the local weather gurus appear to be anticipating a big bunch of rain ‘cause there is already a Flood Watch in effect from Monday morning through Tuesday – without a single drop of rain having fallen. In fact, our sky is barely showing signs of clouds floating by.  And in our area, that’s a tad tricky as way too often weather systems seem to by-pass us entirely, leaving us wondering why we seem to be in a strange weatherish donut hole.

Anticipation is a good thing -we anticipate Santa’s visit on Christmas, the coming of Spring, a good night’s sleep. We count on looking forward to all sorts of things. Sometimes they materialize, sometimes not so much. If anything our local meteorologists are confident in their ability to decipher weather systems as they meet and mesh and….well, like I mentioned, sometimes miss us. And you have to hand it to them for that. It’s good to be confident. So we’ll see how close they come with this one.

Got my rain gauge at the ready, just in case.

Currently 62 with a S wind of 3 mph ignoring that, so it feels like 62. Dew Point 52, Humidity 70%, Barometer 30.07, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 8:02 am, Sunset 6:49 pm. Some morning clouds, more as the afternoon goes on. High upper 70s. S winds 5 – 10 mph.

Partly cloudy tonight, low upper 50s. S winds 5 – 10 mph.

Sounds as if rain is in our forecast starting tomorrow and lasting a few days, after which the temperature is slated to fall and stay down where it should be. This unseasonable warmth has been nice but we knew it couldn’t last. The coming rain will help bring down more leaves, but the dampness will hold the leaf blowers at bay for awhile at least. Not for long, I imagine.

Shattered Silence

Leaf blowers. A wonderful invention, but couldn’t the creator of said wonder have produced something a tad more on the quiet side?

Sort of like snow blowers in the winter, right? Noise seems to be necessary to get the job done whether lofting leaves into the air or shooting snow into mountains.

And I’m grateful for both, truly I am. And I’d never complain to the wielder of the machine – in the first place, they’d never be able to hear me and in the second place what would be the outcome of my complaint? Leaves left on the driveway, snow on the driveway? Best to keep my thoughts to myself, I reckon.

But my ears simply don’t care for the noise. Even closing all the windows, it’s still overpowering. Alas…

Currently 57 with a WNW wind of 6 mi ignoring that, so it feels like the 57 it is. Dew Point 40, Humidity 53%, Barometer 30.04, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 8:00 am, Sunrise 6:53 pm. Sunny with a high in the mid 60s. W winds 5 – 10 mph.

Clear overnight skies. Low mid 40s. Light winds.

It’s staying warm this month. Not as cool as it usually is by this time of the year. So flowers are staying fresh longer. There are some that a fluctuating temperature doesn’t appear to bother too much. And among those are one of my favorites.

I know I allow my imagination to go wild, but I swear, the other day I was frowned on by a flower. Immediately wondering, was I wearing the wrong shoes? Trotting where feet should not trot? No…I think that was the usual face that particular flower presents to the world. Indignant.

There is something so fascinating about a Pansy. Like I already said, one of my favorites. They wear their emotion right there on their faces. Indignant, unhappy, happy.  Or nothing if you choose not to participate in the game. I can well see they would merely look like a flower for some. But for me? Not so much. Their tiny personalities speak to me and I listen. Or at least I look.  I’m always happy when I see one giving me a face that says I’m okay, they will at least tolerate me among them. Doesn’t happen often. But once in awhile.

And a nice thing about this particular posy? They stand up to cooler weather so they hang around awhile as our seasons shift into the next one in line. Gotta love that.

Currently 52 degrees with a SSW wind of 10 mph putting that down where it feels like 48. Dew Point 42, Humidity 68%, Barometer 30.15, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:59 am, Sunset 6:53 pm. Sunny today with a high of 68. SSW winds 10 – 20 mph.

A few overnight passing clouds, low 51. SW winds 10 – 15 mph.

What a small, strange weather world we live in.

Way back in the ‘olden days’, when the only hint folks had about the weather was the ache in their bones, the strips on caterpillars, squirrels hoarding food, keeping an eagle eye on the clouds, etc. seems so bizarre now. These days we have world-wide weather maps showing us what’s going on at any given moment, with expert meteorologists doing a darn fine job of letting us know what’s coming at us in the next season. And to find out that those forecasts consist of what’s going on with the weather all over the globe, is astonishing. Mind-blowing.

Right now we’re watching former Hurricane Ophelia batter Ireland and head into Scotland, we’re keeping an eye on Super Typhoon taking aim at Japan….all the while we’re seeing the destruction in Puerto Rico from their recent hurricane and the horrendous wildfires due to Santa Ana winds in California…it’s all consuming. Weather knowledge overload sometimes.

It IS a small world, after all.

Currently 52 degrees with a SSW wind of 14 mph bringing that down to feeling like 48. Dew Point 44, Humidity 73%, Barometer 30.14 & falling, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:58 am, Sunset 6:55 pm. Sunny with a few afternoon clouds. High 65. SW winds 15 – 25 mph.

Partly cloudy tonight with a low of 46. SW winds 5 – 10 mph.

One the street where I live there is traffic. A lot. It’s sort of a shortcut from the busy town of Rockford to the even busier city of Grand Rapids, an alternative route cutting miles off from getting to the expressway and in. The sound is a bit muted as it’s way up at the end of a long, winding driveway, but it’s there. It’s especially interesting on a rainy night.

I’ve always loved the sound of traffic and in the middle of the night, when I can’t sleep, it provides endless entertainment for me. If I don’t have rain to listen to, or a snow storm slapping against the window, there is the traffic. Where are all of those people going in the night? To work? Home from work? Home from the closing of a bar? On the way to an airport – what, to pick someone up? To leave on an exotic vacation? Where? On a cruise? Or to fly off to the bedside of a dying relative? Are they on the way to an all-night fast food place for a snack? Or for a craving of a very pregnant wife? Heading in to a medical procedure scheduled at some cruel early morning hour? Is it a doctor or a nurse on the way in to that hospital? That truck…is it carrying groceries to my favorite stores?

Well, as you can see, I never, ever run out of possibilities – could probably run on forever. But when I don’t want to turn on the light and read, or get up and make Sleep Tea, or reach over to grab the Smartphone to play a game or check e-mails or Facebook or Twitter, I can lay there and conjure up stories galore just from the sound of the traffic.

That endless entertainment of the traffic.

Currently 45 degrees with a SSE wind of 3 mph ignoring that, so it feels like 45. Dew Point 42, Humidity 85%, Barometer 30.29, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:56 am, Sunset 6:58 pm. Mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of morning showers, turning sunny in the afternoon. High mid 50s. SW winds 5 – 10 mph with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Mostly clear tonight. Low in the lower 40s. SW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Little splashes of color. Little surprises for the eye.

Opening the blinds this morning I find just the top of one tree bathed in sunlight. Brilliant. Made me smile.

Don’t you love those unexpected bursts of color? A vibrant blue butterfly suddenly flitting past your eyes…a Cardinal zooming in to land in your backyard, that marvelous show of red an immediate cheer-up…driving in the rain and spotting a colorful yellow umbrella guarding someone on the sidewalk…in the spring the sudden explosion of vivid green among the drab colors left over from winter.

Doesn’t take much to cheer me up. Simply offer me an unexpected splurge of color in an otherwise colorless or drab scene and I’m delighted. More than delighted, it sets my imagination aglow and I’m off in a world of words…

What can I say? Color makes me happy.

Currently 57 degrees with an average W wind of 15 mph pulling this down to feeling like 54. Dew Point 55, Humidity 94%, Barometer 29.69 & rising, Visibility 6 mi, Sunrise 7:56 am, Sunset 6:59 pm. Cloudy with a 90% chance of morning rain, High 57. Windy. NW winds 20 – 30 mph gusting to 40 mph. There is a Flood Warning out for many local areas and a High Wind Warning in effect all day long. Measured 2.1″ of rain in the gauge overnight.

Cloudy with a slight chance of overnight rain. Low 41. NW winds 10 – 20 mph decreasing to less than 5 mph.

Wow – Pooh would be impressed – it’s a blustery day. Well, actually I think today might be out of Pooh’s comfort zone. It’s beyond blustery into plain old windy. So windy that I just watched a little bird try to fly up to the seed sock hanging in the back, almost got there when a gust of wind hit him to make him look like a hover craft for a second or two – then I swear I saw his little bird brain decide, “The heck with this. Too much trouble. I’ll come back later. Or tomorrow.” And he flew back off to whence he came.

Should be a lot of leaves come down today, between the rain and the wind. Measured more than 2” of rain overnight – to the tune of Flood Warnings all over the place – to High Wind Alerts in place all day long. The thing is, this fall is not one of our best. Leaves aren’t turning like they should, they’ve mostly decided to hang on forever or they’re falling green. If they’re achieving any color it’s brown for the most part.

A good day to stay inside and putter around. My favorite sort of day, come to think of it.

Currently 59 with a SSW wind of 8 mph pulling that down a notch to feeling like 58. Dew Point 56, Humidity 90%, Barometer 30.13 & rising, Visibility 8 mi, Sunrise 7:53 am, Sunset 7:02 pm. Generally cloudy today with a high around 65. SW winds 10 – 15 mph.

90% chance of overnight rain. Rainfall could amount to more than 1/4″. Low 55. Light and variable winds.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia – don’t recognize that word? Never fear – no pun intended – most don’t. It’s Fear Of Friday The 13^th. Did you know that months with a Friday the 13^th begin on a Sunday? I didn’t until just recently, and don’t really know how that information is going to enrich my life, but at least I have it. For many people, they fully expect misfortunes to abound, some won’t even venture out of their houses on such a dire date. Can’t even crawl out of bed due to rigid fear. Fancy that.

Me? No big deal. The worst thing that ever happened on a Friday the 13^th in our family? My late husband was usually laid off from work on that date. Seriously. Happened 3 times. We came to look upon that date as a time to get ready to apply for unemployment :>) Other than that, it was just another day…never had to be scared of walking under a ladder, or black cats, or meteors falling out of the sky and smacking me on the head…nothing.

So, I’m unlikely to be huddled up in fright this time around either. It’s just another day. A day in which I’m happy to be alive and unhampered by unreasonable fear.