Category Archives: weather

rainy night.

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“it was a rainy night. it was the myth of a rainy night.”
― jack kerouac, on the road
oh, how i love rainy nights.

The University of Michigan Bentley Library

 a rainy night on campus. 1909

Photo credit: Daines & Nickels (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

 

undecided.

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march arrives and mother nature sits undecided

 

 

“the seasons change their manner,

as the year had found some months asleep and leapt them over.”

-william shakespeare

 

 

 

ann arbor, mi, usa – march 2023 – mlive photo credit

thunder ice.

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*the thunder ice cometh. 

 

“thou art all ice. thy kindness freezes.”

-william shakespeare

 

*Yes, Thunder Ice is a real thing. 

Thundersnow is so last year.

This week in the U.S. there have been a few reports of “thunder ice” or “thunder-freezing rain.” It’s basically a thunderstorm during freezing rain or sleet.

“It’s not something we see very often, but it does happen from time to time and that’s what we experienced across the country,” said Chris Bowman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It’s fairly unusual,” he said. “You get pretty heavy rainfall rates and obviously with temperatures below freezing it happens.”

How does all of this happen? Convection — upward motion of air — helps produce thunderstorms. But it’s fairly rare to have convection within a winter storm. Thunder and lightning are much more common in warm-season thunderstorms. When there’s strong enough convection, along with plenty of moisture available, a winter storm can produce thundersnow. And when there’s a layer of warm air above a colder surface layer, freezing rain and sleet falls while the thunder is booming – thunder ice. 

unbroken unity.

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nothing like the feel of

walking on a lake of solid ice

remembering how it felt

swimming in its warm water

pure magic

“in the arctic, the inuit say water and land are the same;

they’re an unbroken unity.

in the winter, you travel on the ice because it’s the linkage and the easiest way,

and in the summer, you move around on the water.”

*-john ralston saul

 

 

*John Ralston Saul (born 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. His work is known for being thought-provoking and ahead of its time, leading him to be called a “prophet” by Time and to be included in Utne Reader’s list of the world’s leading thinkers and visionaries.

high tide.

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after

a lot, a lot, a lot

of rain

the river rose high

up and over

paths washed out

nice to intersect

where the land met the water

with this very happy dad

following his wife and son

in kayaks 

making their way

through what was very recently

a grassy playground

on island park

 paddling through to the river

“ever think you’d find yourself paddling here?”

“no, but i’m so, so happy that i am!”

 

 

“celebrate the success of others. high tide floats all ships.”

-susan elizabeth phillips

the heat is on.

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(similar to a typical group I saw running into target today)

 

just a few days to go before christmas

it’s sunny and almost 50 degrees 

in the lower peninsula of michigan

 out come

the shorts, the sandals, the sunglasses, the smiles

the coats stay behind

close your eyes

feels almost like summer

we are a hardy lot. 

“heat is heat.”
-lailah gifty akita

find the safe spot.

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after enjoying a day that finally hit a balmy 60 degrees (above zero!)

when home and relaxing at last

the tornado sirens started blasting

tv news was covering the local map live

updating the movement of the storm minute by minute

texts from the sheriffs buzzed saying to take cover.

because i live in an old cottage with no basement to be found

 i went to my safe room (aka the bathroom) to hang out for a while

luckily, my natural survival instincts kicked in

and i took the following items with me to ride out the weather:

phone, laptop. chargers, flashlight, book, hot tea,

and for some unexplained reason –

an uncooked spaghetti squash.

i then decided that i might as well just take a lavender bath

enjoy my book and tea

and let the chips/cottage fall as they may

no worries.

balance was quickly restored

when the weather soon passed us by

and best of all

my spaghetti squash was still intact.

 

“there is a safe spot within every tornado. my job is to find it.”

-david copperfield

 

 

 

image credit: lush uk

hint.

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“Hint of spring showing up in upcoming weather pattern”

above is quote from our online paper

at this point in the year

i was really hoping for something more than just a hint. 

seems like a burlesque version of a weather forecast to me

all optimistic style and not much substance.

after giving examples and explaining their reasons,

the article wrapped up with:

“This isn’t a permanent pattern change to feeling like spring. After the weekend we have temperatures dropping back to feeling like winter. If you add 10 to 20 degrees on, it won’t be too cold. It might remind you of spring. Time is on your side if you need spring. Just keep hanging in there.”

 

“one can never produce anything as terrible and impressive

as one can awesomely hint about.”

h. p. lovecraft

 

 

 

 

 

credits: m. torregrossa, mlive