Cassi Creek: Today’s
low, so far, 9.3 °F. We acquired our
snow in several doses yesterday. We went
to bed with perhaps 0.25 inches on the ground and woke up to 2.5 – 3.0 inches
of fairly powdery snow.
There was no newspaper
delivery this morning. The bird feeders
are receiving steady traffic. The
turkeys have been here and have moved to greener pastures (or less white
pastures). Some smallish beast left
tracks on the back deck around dawn.
The
combination of slick roads, bitter cold air temperatures, and brutal wind chill
in the sub-zero range has resulted in many area schools being closed for the
day.
While these
conditions are far less dangerous and persistent than actual Siberian
conditions, using Siberia for comparison calls common images held by many
Americans into play. A generation ago, I
could have used lower Slobovia as a comparison.
However, the days of Dogpatch are no longer frequently written
about. That’s particularly amusing on
this road.
Capp drew Lower Slobovia to represent Russia. Dogpatch USA was initially set in the
Kentucky hills.
There is still a great deal of animosity between the U.S.
and Russia despite the Cold War having ended decades ago. The terrorist threats aimed at disrupting the
Sochi Winter Games is adding to the tension.
We seem to be unable to allow the Russians to provide the security
normally tasked to the host country.
While Russian security forces are often far more vicious and brutal in
nature than those of Western Europe and the U.S., there is no advantage to be
found in demanding that Russia take a less prominent role and allow other
nations to insert ant-terrorist forces onto Russian soil.
These recent
polar air masses have brought about a huge temperature gap between low and high
values. Should this persist into the
spring and summer the storms formed along frontal boundaries may well rival
those of the 2011 season.
This Day in Weather
History
Did you know that...
A Chinook wind can
have a dramatic effect on local weather. On this date in 1943, the temperature
at Spearfish, S.D. rose from -4 degrees to 45 degrees in just two minutes due
to a strong Chinook wind. This represented the most dramatic temperature rise in
world weather records. Later that day, the temperature plunged from 54 degrees
to -4 degrees in just 27 minutes.
The Sochi Winter Games begin in February. The U.S. Department of State has issued
warnings against travel to Russia.
Despite that, many Americans will travel to Sochi. It may not be the wisest thing that they can
do. Our Navy has plans to insert two
warships into the Black Sea to provide stand-by presence in case some act of
terrorism occurs. The Black Sea is a
small body of water surrounded by several nations which dislike the U.S. Once
in the Black Sea, the only exit is too narrow, too busy, and too difficult to
defend.
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