Football, Elections and Weather

In terms of football, the Texas Longhorns are #1 in the country yet again. They have a big matchup in Lubbock this weekend against Texas Tech, who I am still upset at for ripping my heart out on New Year's Day this year. Gameday will also be there.

UVa had a huge win this weekend, on the road in Atlanta, beating nerds from Georgia Tech by a touchdown. We are in the "also receiving votes" tally now, and could move up if we beat our homecoming opponent, Miami (who schedules these things??!). If you remember, last year we beat Miami 48-0 in the last game ever to be played in the Orange Bowl. Right now we're riding a 4 game win streak and in sole possession of 1st place in the Coastal Division of the ACC.

The election is also next Tuesday, and despite everyone's best efforts, it looks like we won't be putting two Mavericks in the White House, and instead voting in a Socalist. Tonight Barack had a sickening self-serving ad that ran for 30 minutes on the major networks plus some cable channels just before the World Series game 5 (which was postponed from Monday because of rain, snow, wind & cold) resumed in the 6th inning. Well, us Republicans can at least emulate the Democrats in critizing every move Obama makes. I thought about going to the polls early, however with so many people voting early, it appears that election day actually won't be that bad (let's hope!).

Finally, it's gotten really cold all of the sudden here in Atlanta (and the rest of the east). I don't know if we've officially had our first freeze, but temperatures have been in the 30's on multiple occasions, and with the winds, the days haven't been much better. The orange & blue pansies are in, and the grass is growing quite well, and will be cut for the first time on Saturday once I get my mower back (and I got my 10 week exemption which lasts through Christmas to water that grass!). Kentucky had some flurries, and some parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have actually gotten some decent snow!

Off to Maine tomorrow

Tomorrow we're traveling 1200 miles up the east coast....this would be a 20 hour drive through most of the east coast major cities, but fortunately we're flying, connecting through Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky up there and coming back through New York's John F. Kennedy, which I've never been to before. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, however it might be cold for Atlanta standards, and I think I'll bring my polar fleece vest. Saturday it's supposed to be in the 70's, with 50's at night and 60's on Sunday...it doesn't even hardly get down into the 60's here at night!

There is no tropical development to speak of, even in the long-range forecast. This is not unusual for June though. Things don't heat up until late July and August.

I think I am FINALLY recovered from my trip to Charlottesville. It was one of those conferences where we partied hard, went to meetings all day Saturday, partied hard again, then waited at the bar when our flight was 3 hours delayed because we had nothing better to do and because we had all of our bags with us.

The drought is beginning to worsen again. In Mid-may they allowed us to starting hand-watering 3 times per week at 25 minutes per day. This has helped some but not much, and my yard is starting to show the dry patches where it is stressed. Officially at the airport we've received .24" of rain this MONTH, as opposed to Jacksonville which got 4" yesterday AFTERNOON. We're offically in D2 drought stage which doesn't seem that bad, but D3 is as close as Gwinnett County and getting closer, and D4 is as close as the Upstate of South Carolina and getting closer (the D4 stage didn't even exist until a few weeks ago in the South after we had some good rains).

Wimbledon is on this weekend and next. A week from Sunday is when I get to eat strawberries and homemade Devonshire cream...yum. I missed the 1st few days thinking it started next week. Oh well.

Also next Friday, being July 4, is Peachtree Road Race day! Hopefully it won't be TOO warm. Typically it's around 71 or 72 at race time, and it looks like that will hold true this year too. It's not like we're going to get any rain (haha). I hope that they have the mist-ers hooked up to the fire hydrants, however when we had the last drought in the early 2000's, those were turned off. Also this year because of the drought the course won't make it's traditional finish on 10th Street in Piedmont Park, but instead will take 10th to Piedmont and finish at Ponce de Leon, then they'll hoard us over to the Civic Center (which is named after someone I cannot pronounce!). Fortunately this means we can park one car at my sister's apartment near Lenox Mall and one at my office downtown and avoid the smelly people on MARTA!

Snow somewhat of a bust and basketball

We did get some snow on Saturday, not nearly as much as Columbus, who got 20" or Cincinnati, which got 10"+, but still snow nonetheless. However it did not stick to anything, and there was no traffic problems. Alabama got accumulating snow, but it quickly melted. Jackson got some real snow, and Memphis got 6"+. Now it's back to the 60's (hopefully for good), and some sun.

The ACC tournament also starts this weekend. We play Georgia Tech on Thursday night at 7PM EDT (thank you Daylight Savings) on ESPN2HD. We then HOPEFULLY play Duke on Friday night.

Finally, Saturday Night Live has been hilarious lately with its parodies of the Election, esp. this week with the "3 AM Call".

Crazy, crazy weather

1) The Dallas Metroplex had the coldest May & June ever...probably had a little something to do with the fact it poured down rain every day those two months!

2) The smog has been miserable in Atlanta lately, with code reds just about every day this week. Sitting on a floor near the top of the Bank of America tower yesterday, you could hardly see the other downtown highrises because of the yellowish haze.

3) Speaking of smog, it's because of the heat. It stopped raining again, and the temperatures are hovering around 100. Atlanta has not hit 100 yet, and has not done so since Summer 2000, but the heat indexes have been in the 100-110 range, as evidenced by the heat advisory yesterday and today (and tomorrow). In fact 24 of 48 continental states are under heat advisories. That's 50% for you math majors.

4) One place that's hot is the Southern Hills Country Club, where they're playing the PGA Tournament. The forecast for the rest of the tournament calls for highs right around 100 with indexes of about 110. By the way however, if I had to move to Oklahoma, I'd definitely move to Tulsa (& NOT OKC!).

5) Again speaking of heat, we're headed to Sandestin, Florida tomorrow in Walton County...I cannot wait!!!

6) Speaking of the beach, nothing going on in hurricane land...will this year be another dud?

7) The Beijing Olympics starts 1 year from today. Today in Tiananmen Square they are having a big celebration. The Olympics start at 8:08.08 AM on Friday Atlanta time. They are exactly 12 hours ahead of us in the summer since they don't do daylight savings time.

8) The show Greek on ABC Family is REALLY cheesy, but really good. I want to go to a Mt. Vesuvius party!!!

Freeze warning in NW Georgia/Bad Traffic on I-20

A Freeze Warning exists from midnight tonight to 8 AM tomorrow (Friday) from LaGrange to Douglasville to Dahlonega (although that map is a bit misleading because it really does not include Inside the Perimeter or most of Cobb County). This weekend should be even worse, with temperatures at night through at least Easter morning in the 20's...should make those sunrise services eye-opening to say the least! This is why you don't put your summer plants out until after April 15 (the date of the average last freeze). I knew the recent warm weather would fool people into planting (which it did).

Speaking of gardening, I braided & folded over all the spent daffodils, which makes things look a lot better and makes the pansies look bigger now that all that foliage is hidden. I'm going to cut the grass tonight...even though it's only been 4 days, it looks ragged and long. I still need to clip the hedges for the first time this year and also power-wash the sidewalks/driveway. There is always a ton to do in April.

I-20 was a mess today. Q100 had a promotion where people getting to the park before 9 would get in free. Apparently EVERYONE showed up, and the park was at capacity by 5:45, when the gates opened at 5:30. Some people where there as early as 3:30 and some not getting there until 4:45 did not even get in! Yikes.

Finally, The Masters starts today, with live coverage from 4-7 on USA network, and then they're showing an encore of that coverage from 8-11. It won't be in HD, but it'll still be pretty!

UPDATE: A Freeze Watch has been issued for the top 2/3 of Georgia (obviously including Atlanta) for Friday night and Saturday night. This means temperatures could flirt with or break the records, which are generally in the high 20's. One forecast I saw shows 25 on Saturday night!

Another chance for wintry weather in North Georgia

Well, it looks like a better shot this time...the cold air is in place (it was a high of about 37 yesterday and a low of 16), and the moisture is coming in from the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday night & Thursday. It looks like an area starting just north of Macon will get freezing rain, and the north Georgia Mountains might get some snow. The next update will probably be early afternoon. The statements from the National Weather Service however are already talking about issuing Winter Weather Watches & Warnings, but nothing yet.

I got nothin....

Literally nothing is going on. Stuff at work is slow, no home improvement projects, no races to train for, and the weather is bad (they call this partly cloudy????!!).

Yesterday statiscally was the most depressing day of the year, based on factors such as credit card debt from Christmas coming due, Christmas memories starting to fade, bad weather, and people breaking new years resolutions. What I say is that we either need some snow, or it needs to be spring. 43 and drizzle doesn't cut it for me for wintertime.

I know a lot of people are also still in mourning about the Saints losing. Once again, I care very little about the Super Bowl. I guess though I will go w/Peyton & the Colts, since it would be good for him to win a Super Bowl. What sticks out in my mind though is a conversation on Monday Night Football in November when they said there is no way possible that the Colts could get into the game w/just Peyton (and his bad playoffs record), and there was no way possible the Bears could get into the game with Rex Grossman. haha.

Our dog chewed a little bit of an expensive (but small) Oriental rug today while he was alone...anyone know a good rug repair guy??

Also, thinking about my next new car...Saab 9-7X, Volvo XC-90, Pathfinder LE, 4Runner Limited, or Jeep Grand Cherokee. I'm leaning towards the Volvo, assuming I can get an '06 or '07 (once the '08's come out) for a good price.

Sorta kinda ice storm & freezing fog

The Advisories continue for most of northeast & north central Georgia, until 10 AM for Cherokee, Pickens & Gilmer Counties, and 2 PM for counties Gwinnett, Rockdale, Forsyth & east.

The area today to get frozen patches on the roads are in an area east of here at least until early afternoon, while the more favorable area to get frozen stuff is east of here. The current winter weather statement for City of Atlanta and the west and south metro area lasts until 4 PM...tbd if we get another after that.

NEXT STORM: Sunday afternoon there is a good chance of snow north of a Rome to Canton to Gainesville line...we shall see if this moves closer to us. At least the cold air is in place now so that if we do get some winter weather it is more likely to stick.

CURRENTLY: as of 8:30 AM, it's 32 with freezing rain & freezing fog. It feels like 24.

Westlake goes back to school today after 2 days off on a 2 hour delay. Another round of snow/ice is supposed to hit there tomorrow or Saturday (the same stuff we may get).

9:45 AM UPDATE: The freezing temperatures/weather is roughly north of here, including metro Atlanta.

3 PM UPDATE: I was going to link to an article about the fact we may get 1-2" of snow in the north suburbs, but as soon as I was to do that, weather forecasters have no downplayed the threat & saying we're just going to get cold rain...I sure hope they are wrong.

Also, Southlake Carroll, who we lost to in the Super 5A Football state championships last month, got ranked #1 team of the year...that's not so bad!

Ice Storm Update

Winter Weather Advisories have been posted from Midnight tonight until at least 10 AM Thursday as close to us as Gwinnett, Rockdale & Forsyth Counties. The forecasters are still predicting the line of anything bad will be north of here. Fulton County/City of Atlanta is still under a Special Weather Statement about the issue that lasts until 4:15 today. It should be interesting. Temperatures were down at 31 but have warmed up to 32 so far. A high probably around 43 before it starts going down again. The key is to get the really cold air in 1st, then the rain b/c the rain will warm the air up.

Also, there may be a referendum (at least according to Sonny, who was on the Bert Show which would allow cities and counties to vote whether to have wine & beer sales in grocery stores & covnenient stores on Sundays. Bert said that 80% of Atlantans were behind it...what he neglected to mention was that only 50% of Georgians live in Atlanta, and most of those "Georgians" are probably not behind it...Beer sales in places like Seminole County???? never!

Finally, the Bert Show joint-hosted a "Unity" party with V-103 (The People's Station) to try to stop an apparently peculiar Atlanta tradition of clubs with white nights & black nights. Unfortunately for them, only blacks showed up to the Unity party...why is it that Atlanta seems to be one of the few places with such blatant self-segregation?? Strange.

More weather updates as the day progresses...

11 AM UPDATE: The Advisories have been extended south & east to cover NW suburbs of Savannah, north suburbs of Charleston, Augusta & Columbia.

3 PM UPDATE: Same old, same old. Apparently sleet is supposed to start around 9 PM tonight and temperatures are going to be below freezing from about 3 AM to 9 AM. This will give bridges & overpasses a chance to get a nice icy coating (no work?). It should warm up to the high 30's by the afternoon though. The far NE Georgia mountains (Elbert, Franklin & Hart counties, around where I-85 comes from South Carolina). The Advisory area is still the same, and Atlanta proper is still not in it, but the eastern suburbs are. Any more updates will be posted.

Atlanta Ice Storm coming Thursday???

According to the National Weather Service out of Peachtree City, the area north of a LaGrange to Milledgeville line could see an ice storm starting Wednesday night & persisting into Thursday. There is a wedge of cold air building, and what this always means for Atlanta is COLD weather, and potentially bad icing. The last time we had ice, this wedge was in place. The current advisory lasts until 4 PM EST today, but I'm sure they'll be new ones as the day progresses.

Westlake High in Austin is also closed due to a closely related ice storm. As usual they were one of the last ones to put up their name on the list.

More updates through the day....

3:30 PM EST UPDATE:
The line of bad weather for Wednesday night/Thursday has moved south (see here). It sounds like something may be brewing, but the forecasters are being guarded and not wanting to cause panic. We shall see...this update lasts until 4 AM. If anything develops before then, more updates...until then, let's hope for no work on Thursday!

Winter Storm from Texas to Georgia & Florida?

This Winter Storm (or Winter Blitz as The Weather Channel likes to call it) is packing quite a punch. Austin & San Antonio are under Winter Storm Warnings & Houston could be next. The storm could hit as far south as the North Shore of New Orleans metro & just north of Mobile. It is unclear at this point whether Atlanta will get anything, and no watches, warnings or statements have been issued so far (the closest ones being just south of Montgomery, Alabama (Crenshaw County/Panola, Alabama to be exact, about 194 miles from me in NW Atlanta). The statement for south Alabama & NW Florida Panhandle says that: TRENDS THAT WOULD BRING ON ANY EXTENSION OF THE RAIN INTO PERIODS OF SUBFREEZING TEMPERATURES COULD CHANGE THE SITUATION SIGNIFICANTLY. IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN...EXTERIOR DECKS...OUTSIDE STAIRS...AND ELEVATED ROADWAYS ON BRIDGES OR OVERPASSES COULD GET A FEW PATCHES OF ICE THAT WOULD MAKE DRIVING...WORKING...OR WALKING OUTDOORS HADARDOUS. RESIDENTS OF THE CENTRAL GULF COAST SHOULD...AS ALWAYS...STAY ABREAST OF THE LATEST FORECASTS FOR ANY CHANGES THAT MAY AFFECT PLANS AND ACTIVITIES FOR EARLY WEDNESDAY.

In other news, I'm addicted to My Space...I need to stop trying to find everyone I've ever met...haha.

Tornado Warning for Fulton County until 11 AM EST

Tornado warning for Fulton (mainly southern Fulton) until 11 AM, as police officers have seen a funnel cloud just west of Newnan (Coweta County to our south). Could be a rough day....remember in elementary school when you got to go into the girl's bathroom for a tornado drill & crouch into the fetal position?

Now one is posted for Sweetwater Creek State Park & Lithia Springs in Douglas County until 11...yikes