Potential exists for snowstorm for Atlanta and points north to Kentucky come Tuesday

While there is a lot of uncertainty, and my gut feeling tells me that this will be an Alabama/Mississippi event, there still exists a good possibility of an Atlanta snowstorm next week. Now, there will almost certainly be a storm, but the track is uncertain. Ironically, the most likely place to get hit hard is Kentucky, where they are still dealing with lots of ice and snow, and power could take two weeks to get restored.

Cold air is in place, but possibly not enough cold air to keep it all as snow. The snow pack currently goes down to about Knoxville, but also covers NW Mississippi, most of Arkansas, and NE Texas.

Keep you posted...

Ice and snow from Texas to Maine, but not for Atlanta

The "Ice Storm of 2009" is continuing, but it's a very tricky storm and varies wildly depending on where folks live. Just around the southern Tennessee border, the temperature went from 71 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to 37 in Jackson, Tennessee...about an hour's drive.

Yesterday there were winter storm warnings up from just north of Laredo, Texas, on the Mexican border, to Caribou, Maine. The main icing was occurring from Tulsa and Jonesboro, Arkansas up through Lexington, Kentucky. Paducah, where Jim Cantore is stationed, is getting hit particularly hard.

The good news is that this should all be over in the Bluegrass/Midwest by about 1 PM today. That's a pretty long storm though...about 36 hours worth of freezing rain, sleet and snow!

For the Bluegrass, apparently the saving grace was that there was a huge ice storm in 2003, which broke all the smaller branches, which means there are less power outages now. However, in Danville & Berea, Kentucky, most of the power is out, and in Jessamine County, they are requesting water conservation because the water pumps are out.

In Atlanta it's been holding in the high 50's for about 48 hours, but it'll get cold tonight again, and get back to more normal weather after that. The ryegrass is not looking especially awesome because it has been so cold, but that and the pansies seem to be coming back nicely, at least for now.

In other news, as of yesterday it is only 4 weeks until Mardi Gras, and come Monday we can sign up for Keeneland reservations (for April 18).

Christmas decorations are down...sort of

Yesterday being 12th Night and all I got down all the decorations, and they are either in the guest room or sitting on the garage floor. Now just time to check the lights and pack everything away. Our house seems so much bigger now than it did before! Now it's time to move on to Mardi Gras!

The weather has been crazy, warm and alternating downpours and sun. I hope we get some snow at some point soon!

Speaking of snow, we're off to Keystone next Friday (as if we didn't get enough fun already in Kentucky over Christmas and Murrells Inlet after New Year's!). Even though I don't officially get off on MLK Day, we're taking it anyway and skiing for three days up there.

It's getting to be that time of year....

This weekend is a big weekend, as I'll be putting out the Christmas lights. Tuesday before we leave, I'll put the candles in the windows (because I'll FINALLY be done washing all of our windows, which I've done a few a day of since the beginning of November!). The traditional "Grand Illumination" day for me is November 27, but this year that is Thanksgiving and we'll be in Williamsburg, so I'll turn everything on Sunday, November 30. This year I'm still doing the candles, the foundation plantings and the archway in the back, but instead of doing all three front trees, I'm going to try to do a fountain effect on the middle tree right at the corner of the two streets we live on. This weekend I'm off to Lowes in Austell to stock up on any new extension cords and replacement lights I may need (since I have a gift card to use). Hopefully at the end it will all look like Monument Avenue in Richmond!

I think Hurricane Season is about done. We had Paloma a few weeks ago which caused havoc in the Cayman Islands and Cuba. The election is over and CNN is now just downright depressing (plus their hologram thing on election night was downright creepy).

It's off to Williamsburg next week, and then we're having a Lexington Christmas. Bowl season does not look promising for UVa, as we still need to win a game just to be eligible, and then most likely we'll be shipped off to Boise!

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!

Unusual almost hurricane heading towards Maine

Well this is unusual. A strong tropical storm, currently located due east of Palm Beach County, Florida and due south of Portland, Maine, is gaining in strength, and could become a Category 2 hurricane before it hits land as a Category 1 or strong tropical storm. Will the Weather Channel cover this one?

Currently the storm is supposed to hit sometime between Sunday midday and Sunday night. This could be anywhere from the Rhode Island/Massachusetts line all the way up to Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, the most likely path takes it to the Nova Scotia/Maine line late Sunday. The current forecast for Lubec, Maine, which is right on the international border, calls for gusty winds and temps in the 60's on Sunday...not exactly classical hurricane weather!

For previous reference, the strongest hurricane to hit Maine was a Category 2 storm back in 1869 that struck right around the international border (but officially in Canada), and Hurricane Gloria, which struck Connecticut but was still a 1 going through Maine.

Also, everyone is gearing up for the HUGE Alabama/Georgia game tomorrow. We are leaving around 8:30 or so and hoping to get there by 10. The game is at 7:45 PM (yeah, that's how WE do it in the South). However, with the gas shortage, no one is sure how they are going to get to/from the game. As for us, we are making sure our tank is completely full before leaving Atlanta, and then hoping to make it there/back on 1 tank.

No gas, no water, and a tanking economy...awesome day huh?

Gas shortages and no tropical systems yet

Well I finally had to buy gas today considering my gas light came on. I went to 5 different gas stations and found some at a station on Moreland Avenue in East Atlanta for the bargain basement price of $4.69/gallon. The rest of the stations were completely out. Apparently the problem is centered in metro Atlanta as most of the rest of the country seems to be okay.

In addition, no tropical systems have formed, however the system down by Puerto Rico still has a good chance, and there is a new system that may be tropical or subtropical just off the coast of North Carolina. We'll wait some more.