Weather Check

Airport is closed, major freeways closed, reporting drifts of eight feet and swells in Lake Michigan of 20 feet.  The blizzard of the young century.  Gives me a good chance to catch up on Jon Stewart and the Oscar-nominated movies. 

My brother is a teacher in Austin Texas and he told me they cancelled school today because it is too cold. No snow, no ice, just cold. Apparently the power grid there can't handle everyone running their heat at the same time so there have been rolling blackouts throughout the city. I gotta admit, I LOL'd. 

Thanks for the concern folks. I'm ok here in Brisbane, but the folks up around Mission Beach and Tully copped a big hit. I used to live on the beachfront outside Townsville but the possibilities of tsunamis and cyclones was far too great so I sold out.This cyclone would have had an impact on where I used to live.

Apparently the power grid there can't handle everyone running their heat at the same time so there have been rolling blackouts throughout the city.

...except where it's REALLY important.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/sports/nfl/super_bowl/020211-Why-Cowboys-Stadium-Never-Lost-Power-during-Rolling-Blackouts

DALLAS - Despite scheduled rolling blackouts across North Texas to relieve maxed-out power grids on Wednesday, electricity kept flowing at energy-hogging Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

According to Oncor electric delivery representative Megan Wright, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have asked for an exemption for the facility. The agencies said cutting power to the stadium ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl game would present a security risk, Wright said.

The Jerry Jones-owned stadium relies on a fully-automated intelligent power grid that keeps electricity flowing to its scoreboard and world's largest high-definition video screen.

Oncor said a team of 45 engineers and contractors worked for more than three years to produce the most advanced and extensive electrical infrastructure for the 3 million-square-foot complex.

The domed facility, often informally referred to as "Jerry World," is globally the largest of its kind and uses more power than most medium-sized cities, Oncor said.

It's been raining fireworks non-stop for over 20 hours now (after a 2 day run up with gaps between explosions).  The momentary lulls are just the closer sites reloading, but there's been an absolutely continuous sound of firecrackers.

Assuming I can only here these things for a radius of 1 KM (as big as Chinese firecrackers are compared to the ones they sell in the US, I think it's a larger radius), I can't even hazard a guess about how many container loads of firecrackers I've heard.

Add in the rockets exploding above (or even with ) my 4th floor window and I'd say Shock and Awe has been achieved.

At least it's helping to warm the whole city up another degree or two.

At least 80 mls of rain last night here near Melbourne...and it's still raining. This is the long arm of the Queensland cyclone touching us down South.

Gerge, glad you're down on the safe side. Well, mostly glad, anyway.

Meanwhile, the deep freeze goes on in Oklahoma, with significant fresh snow today and more coming Sunday. The fun is wearing out. I haven't been out in about a week, and most of Tulsa remains shut down anyway.

Meanwhile, the deep freeze goes on in Oklahoma, with significant fresh snow today and more coming Sunday. The fun is wearing out. I haven't been out in about a week, and most of Tulsa remains shut down anyway.

Just be glad the walls aren't closing in and the voices in your head aren't telling you to eat the neighbors, yet.

Curl up in front of the TV and watch something pleasant, like The Shining.

Gerge, glad you're down on the safe side. Well, mostly glad, anyway.

I'm reasonably glad you are mostly glad. Build a snowman.

No, I'm never going outside again.

Today was our first day (barely) above freezing, and I thought it might be safe to go to Mass. Bad idea: I never even made it to my truck. The street proved to be glare ice, and the minute I stepped into it I fell and bonked my head HARD on it. I'm hoping I'm not concussed...I seem to be OK.

Coming right up: another plunge in temperatures, snow in the forecast.

I'm running low on food...

A prolonged freeze in Oklahoma, icy roads in Dallas, there are news reports of zoo animals freezing to death in northern Mexico. WTF up with dat?

Yeah my mom is a teacher in Dallas and they had the whole entire week off for snow days. People in Dallas go nuts when it snows or there are icy roads. They just can't handle it.

Here in Beijing it is supposed to reach 11C today. The 10 day forecast doesn't show a single day below 5C. I am cautiously optimistic that we might be in for an early Spring!

Perhaps spring has arrived in Dongguan. We're into the days when one takes off clothes to go outside where it's warm and bundles up inside where it's still a chilly 15. Lotsa difference between 9 (like it was in January) and 15 though, let me tell you.

It fricken snowed yesterday, only an inch but still, sheesh

My students this week are saying that this sudden drop back to winter weather is due to the Japanese earthquake and how the affected island's supposed shift has altered the weather.

My friend in Kunming just told me it snowed there last night. First time I can remember where Kunming was actually colder than Beijing. The high here today is 11C.