I was just reading over the weather forecast for today, and I saw something a bit out of the ordinary:

This Afternoon: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Very windy, with a east northeast wind around 80 mph, with gusts as high as 95 mph.

It went on a little further:

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Very windy, with a east wind 90 to 95 mph decreasing to between 80 and 85 mph. Winds could gust as high as 110 mph.

I have to admit, there was a split second when I thought, "Holy crap! I need to go find a bunker to hide in!" That didn't last long though. I ended up calling the NWS forecast office in Indianapolis, and I spoke with a guy named Mike. I explained the situation to him and read a bit of the forecast, to which his response was, "OH MY GOD! That's terribly wrong. I'll go fix that right now."

Within a matter of minutes, it was fixed. Not before I got a screenshot though. Enjoy!

LINK!

The temperature dropped like 50 degrees in only a few hours, and now it's incredibly windy. Now that I have power and internet in the new apartment, the wind is causing the whole block to go dark every so often. How frustrating!

(I stole that from a guy at work.)

The county declared it a "Snow Emergency", meaning the roads and all that were closed. They made this call sometime late this morning, while I was at the office. We still had to work, though. The people that make the internet run still work, because "it snowed" isn't a valid excuse for the internet being down. Honestly, I think we're more important than the postal service.

So anyhow, 5:00PM rolls around, and the streets had hardly been touched. The city of Lafayette has this idea that a 3/4 ton pickup truck with a snow plow on it is going to serve the needs of this metropolitan area. WRONG! I got almost home and found that the road to my house hadn't been plowed. I could have parked a block away, but it would have been in the middle of the street. So rather, I had to drive 2 miles away and park at the Wal-Mart parking lot, and have my roommate come give me a ride. Luckily he had 4 wheel drive.

So here I am, sitting at home with no way to get out. My boss said that if it's still nasty like this in the morning, I need to call the other boss to come pick me up. That should be interesting. I realize that our job is important, but when the weather is this nasty, there should be allowances made, IMO.

So for now, I'm putting on some dry clothes and getting some food. Who knows how long the electricity will last...

Tonight: Periods of snow, mainly after 1am. Low around 23. Blustery, with a east wind 11 to 14 mph increasing to between 21 and 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Tuesday: Periods of snow with areas of blowing snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 25. Blustery, with a east northeast wind between 22 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible.

Tuesday Night: Areas of blowing snow and a chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values between -5 and 5. Blustery, with a north northeast wind between 17 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Wednesday: A chance of flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. Wind chill values between -6 and zero. North northwest wind between 14 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

When I left for work this morning, it was pretty much clear and dry. All the snow that was around was what little was left from the previous storm. During the day, the guys at the office kept walking to the window and looking, but I just stayed where I was. When 5:00 rolled around, I was out the door and headed for my car...in ten inches of snow.

I got to my car, brushed off the door so I could get in, and started it up. I got my snow brush out and cleaned the car off, then proceeded to head home on the same streets I normally do. No dice. I got about half way up one of the hills here in town and my light car wouldn't go any further. I had to turn around and find another route to take. I finally got on some relatively clear streets and got home, but found the driveway in the condition I fully expected.

Knowing my buddy's wife is pregnant, and that he works mid afternoon to early morning, I reached straight for the snow shovel. Half an hour later, the driveway was clear.

I have a feeling it's going to be a little work getting my car out in the morning. I hope the city plows go through sometime tonight, so I can get up at the same time tomorrow that I normally do and dig my car back out. For now though, I'm passing out. Cardio is exhausting.

...will the warmer weather be here?

Tonight: A chance of flurries. Partly cloudy, with a low around -5. Wind chill values between -13 and -22. West northwest wind between 15 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

Monday: A chance of sprinkles and flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. West northwest wind around 10 mph.

I don't know if anyone remembers or not, but...

I HATE SNOW!!!

I finally got the photo gallery online from that last storm... I'll be populating it with pictures as I can, and the gallery will actually include more than just meteorology pictures.

Anyhow, check it out here: LINK!

Stupid work schedule making me get up at stupid 7:00AM to stupid go to stupid work to stupid miss the stupid storm.

Bleh.

There's a "perfect storm", by my definition, heading southeast through the next county over. Since I have to work tomorrow, I can't go out and chase it. Plus, it's getting dark, which makes it kinda hard to see anything other than lightning.

I did get some pictures of a couple storm cells before they passed the area. I'll have to set up a gallery somewhere and post 'em.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY



THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY ILLINOIS WILL

REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH 7 PM MONDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES WILL

AGAIN REACH THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S MONDAY AFTERNOON...WHICH AGAIN...

COMBINED WITH HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS...WILL RESULT IN DANGEROUSLY HIGH

HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 100 TO 105 DURING THE PEAK HEATING HOURS...FROM

AROUND NOON THROUGH EARLY EVENING.

Thank you, NWS.

Things are going to be very uncomfortable at the shop these next few days, thanks to the heat and humidity. This last week it was very warm as well, and we felt every bit of it at the shop.

Hopefully we'll have a breeze to accompany these high temperatures.