This video is not new but it sure is fun to watch-especially full screen. This video was taken about two years ago as the train plow ran from Bethune to Stratton, Colorado. Don't Forget....full screen!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Lighthouse Goes Icehouse
It looks like Mr. Freeze has been at work in the old Batman TV series when you see what has happened to a lighthouse on Lake Erie. Wind, freezing cold, waves, and lake spray have transformed the lighthouse into an icehouse. Holy fresh water ice castle Batman!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A Break From the Snow
After working hand-in-hand with Mother Nature I like to decompress a bit. I found myself laughing at something from BBC One that I fumbled into on Youtube. Sit back, relax and enjoy the foolishness.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
MetroDoom...
The Minneapolis area saw 17 inches of snow with the same storm that brought Cincinnati 2"-4" of snow. The inflatable, teflon coated fiberglass roof on the metrodome could not take the weight of the snow. The game between the Vikings and the Giants has been moved to Detroit and will be played Monday night.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Syracuse gets Hammered...
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Helloooo Syracuse! Syracuse, New York has just seen a 4-day snowfall total of 42.3" That's just shy of the city's all-time 4-day snowfall record of 44.6" set in 1966 beginning on January 29th.
When a cold air mass moves over a warm body of water, like one of the Great Lakes, the bottom layer of the cold air mass is warmed and water is evaporated into that layer. The warmer and moist layer is lighter than the arctic airmass and rises through the cold air. As it does so, the parcel of air cools and moisture condenses into clouds. If enough moisture is available snow will begin to fall. The clouds and snow get pushed ashore by the winds. Friction of the land slows the winds and allows more snow to fall, and if winds move uphill onshore snowfall rates can be greatly enhanced. Here are a few diagrams from the University of Illinois.
Occasionally, winds will blow from NNW to SSE over Lake Michigan as an Arctic air mass plunges into the United States. If the winds are strong enough and the temperature contrast between Lake Michigan and the air mass is wide enough we can see lake-enhanced snow in Cincinnati
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Quite the Formula
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
We toss around the term "wind chill" without hesitation during cold spells like the one we are seeing right now. If you sit and think about it for just a second wind chill is a pretty complicated indicator. How cold does the temperature combined with the wind feel on your face? At what temperature, wind speed, and exposure time will frostbite occur? The first index used by the United States and Canada was based on research done by Antarctica explorers Siple and Passel in 1945. In 2001 the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research decided that the index set forth in 1945 needed revising because it underestimated the time to freezing and overestimated the chilling effect of the wind. A group called the Joint Action Group for Temperature Indices or JAG/TI was organized by the U.S. and Canadian governments to upgrade and standardize the Wind Chill Index. Human trials were conducted in Toronto, Canada. Twelve volunteers were placed in a chilled wind tunnel with thermal transducers on their faces to measure heat flow from the cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin while walking 3 mph on a treadmill. Each was exposed to varying wind speeds and temperatures. A new wind chill formula was created using the information obtained along with advances in science, technology, and computer modeling to provide a more accurate formula for computing the Wind Chill Index. And, for the first time the new Wind Chill Chart includes a frostbite indicator showing where temperature, wind speed , and exposure time will produce frostbite on humans.
This new Wind Chill Index now being used by the U. S. and Canada does the following according the the National Weather Service:
-Calculates wind speed at an average height of five feet, typical height of an adult human face, based on readings from the national standard height of 33 feet, typical height of an anemometer
-Is based on a human face model
-Incorporates heat transfer theory, heat loss from the body to its surroundings, during cold and breezy/windy days
-Lowers the calm wind threshold to 3 mph
-Uses a consistent standard for skin tissue resistance
-Assumes no impact from the sun (i.e., clear night sky).
The following is the current Wind Chill formula:
where and are measured in °F, and in mph
The graph below indicates the difference between the old and new Wind Chill indicies.
We toss around the term "wind chill" without hesitation during cold spells like the one we are seeing right now. If you sit and think about it for just a second wind chill is a pretty complicated indicator. How cold does the temperature combined with the wind feel on your face? At what temperature, wind speed, and exposure time will frostbite occur? The first index used by the United States and Canada was based on research done by Antarctica explorers Siple and Passel in 1945. In 2001 the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research decided that the index set forth in 1945 needed revising because it underestimated the time to freezing and overestimated the chilling effect of the wind. A group called the Joint Action Group for Temperature Indices or JAG/TI was organized by the U.S. and Canadian governments to upgrade and standardize the Wind Chill Index. Human trials were conducted in Toronto, Canada. Twelve volunteers were placed in a chilled wind tunnel with thermal transducers on their faces to measure heat flow from the cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin while walking 3 mph on a treadmill. Each was exposed to varying wind speeds and temperatures. A new wind chill formula was created using the information obtained along with advances in science, technology, and computer modeling to provide a more accurate formula for computing the Wind Chill Index. And, for the first time the new Wind Chill Chart includes a frostbite indicator showing where temperature, wind speed , and exposure time will produce frostbite on humans.
-Calculates wind speed at an average height of five feet, typical height of an adult human face, based on readings from the national standard height of 33 feet, typical height of an anemometer
-Is based on a human face model
-Incorporates heat transfer theory, heat loss from the body to its surroundings, during cold and breezy/windy days
-Lowers the calm wind threshold to 3 mph
-Uses a consistent standard for skin tissue resistance
-Assumes no impact from the sun (i.e., clear night sky).
The following is the current Wind Chill formula:
where and are measured in °F, and in mph
The graph below indicates the difference between the old and new Wind Chill indicies.
Thanks to National Weather Service
Monday, December 6, 2010
A Great Timeout....
Monday, December 6th, 2010
Last Friday myself and my much better half ventured from Cincinnati to Penn State University for an NCAA Championship first round volleyball match between the three-time defending national champions Nittany Lions and the Purple Eagles from Niagara University of New York. Round trip the drive is about 15 hours from Cincinnati to watch a match that lasts about an hour and a half. My daughter is my vested interest, she is a proud junior Purple Eagle volleyball player. There are many proud Purple Eagles, even more now.
Last Friday myself and my much better half ventured from Cincinnati to Penn State University for an NCAA Championship first round volleyball match between the three-time defending national champions Nittany Lions and the Purple Eagles from Niagara University of New York. Round trip the drive is about 15 hours from Cincinnati to watch a match that lasts about an hour and a half. My daughter is my vested interest, she is a proud junior Purple Eagle volleyball player. There are many proud Purple Eagles, even more now.
Here is a little background. Two years ago the Niagara volleyball team was the youngest NCAA Division 1 team of any NCAA sport. Their average age as a team was just over 18 years. The team struggled going 6-23 on the season in a small D1 conference. Despite the struggle, every player on the roster returned, the team had developed a family atmosphere under Head Coach Susan Clements and Assistant Coach Kara Hellman. The Eagles went 23-8 last year. It was the biggest turn-around by any NCAA volleyball team. Still very young, the Eagles won the MAAC Championship and headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time in Niagara's history. They were ousted quickly in the first round by a very strong Michigan team. The match was brief and uneventful. The Eagles were determined to return to the NCAA tournament.
This year the Purple Eagles won the MAAC conference with a 17-1 record, won the MAAC championship, and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Their draw was three time defending national champion Penn State! Penn State's front line goes 6'5", 6'4", and 6'3". That's height in feet and inches. The Eagles measure in at 6'1", 6'0, and about 5'10". While Niagara has an enrollment of about 3700, Penn State sees about 44,000 kids enroll. Most thought the match was destined to be a short affair.
One of goals of the Purple Eagles was simple-keep a game in the match close enough to make Penn State call a timeout. That means you have to play with Penn State, point for point, eventually making them nervous enough to call a timeout. It happened in the second game of the 3 game sweep. The score was close early on. Purple Eagle fans snapped pictures of the scoreboard with Niagara leading 4-2 and 8-6. It looked, however, as though Penn State was going to pull away when the score went to 18-14 in favor of the Nittany Lions. The Purple Eagles scored 4 straight and then it happened. Legendary Penn State coach Russ Rose, clipboard in hand, motioned to the ref for a timeout. From 6-23 two years earlier in a small D1 conference to a Penn State timeout in the NCAA tournament. Purple Eagle fans danced, laughed, slapped hands and enjoyed a timeout like they had never before. 
The Purple Eagle women athletes had accomplished one more goal. In terms of volleyball and programs and development and maturity and effort this was a big one, a very big one. Somehow, someway, this group mustered enough grit and determination, while knowing the mismatch that exisited, to concentrate on and succeed at the task at hand. That's hard to do. I have seen many individual athletes develop over time but watching an entire team develop is an absolute thrill.
Penn State went on to win the game and eventually the match. I saw the Penn State players go their seperate ways as they left the arena. The Purple Eagles went to dinner, together.
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