Monsoon's Weather Update for Tuesday, 20 May 2008
My friends,
I’d like to begin by saying Happy Birthday to our trusty companion Sasha, who was born on this day a number of years ago (a lady is never asked to reveal her age).
(And, so she doesn’t feel left out, hello to her younger sister Ruthie too.)
Below is the weather forecast; I will send an update if it appears this weekend’s weather will be substantively different from what I’ve indicated here.
Weather narrative: Rainy and cool today; there’s a chance of a shower or two tomorrow, but it shouldn’t be a washout. Then things really get nice for the long Memorial Day weekend: as of now, Friday through Monday look fantastic.
Next week looks to be rather pleasant as well for the most part, but rain will return by the end of the week. Next weekend is looking wet and dreary, unfortunately.
Beyond the forecast: Looking for a warm-up into early June. Specifically, June 2nd (Mifflin’s graduation) looks to be in the 80s with the chance of afternoon or evening thunderstorms. (At least there’s no need for lining up outside the Intermediate School prior to commencement this year, which will be held in the Sovereign Center.)
Monsoon's Weather Forecast and Imagine Day update for Wednesday, 14 May 2008
My friends,
Imagine Day is an annual event at Governor Mifflin undertaken by the Imagine Project, formed by students in the wake of the Columbine shootings in 1999. The culmination of a week’s worth of events, Imagine Day is an afternoon’s worth of activities involving the entire student body. In the athletic stadium, students can enjoy outdoor activities, watch the performances of student bands, and socialize with their peers in an informal (but supervised) environment. In previous years, Imagine Week has included workshops and other elaborate activities designed to have students interact across their typical peer groups and learn about other cultures and perspectives.
Imagine Day is scheduled for Friday afternoon; rain date is Monday afternoon. To try and help the members of the Imagine Project make a decision about whether or not to postpone the concert, I present the following detailed forecast, with updates to come as they are necessary.
Following the Imagine predictions are forecasts for the rest of the coming two-week period.
Friday, 5/16: breezy and cool with intermittent rain, heavy at times. High 60, low 47.
11am 56 degrees, rain or drizzle; chilly NNE winds 18-12 mph
12pm 58 degrees, showers; chilly NNE winds 8-12 mph
1pm 59 degrees, steady rain, chance of t-storm; chilly N winds 10-15 mph
2pm 60 degrees, steady rain, chance of t-storm; chilly NNW winds 10-15 mph
3pm 60 degrees, steady rain, chance of t-storm; chilly NNW winds 15-20 mph
Monday, 5/19: partly cloudy and breezy. High 66, low 47.
11am 59 degrees, mostly cloudy, light winds; a quick shower?
12pm 61 degrees, partly cloudy, light winds
1pm 63 degrees, partly cloudy, light winds
2pm 64 degrees, partly cloudy, light winds
3pm 66 degrees, partly to mostly cloudy, light winds
Other days…
Wednesday, 5/14: sunny and gorgeous; clouding up later with a thunderstorm possible late. High 82, low 54.
Thursday, 5/15: partly to mostly cloudy and less warm. High 75, low 52.
Friday, 5/16: see above.
Saturday, 5/17: breezy, pleasant, and partly cloudy. High 67, low 49.
Sunday, 5/18: partly to mostly cloudy and windy with a shower or two possible. High 66, low 47.
Monday, 5/19: see above.
Tuesday, 5/20: mostly cloudy. High 65, low 47.
Wednesday, 5/21: mostly sunny and somewhat warmer. High 72, low 51.
Thursday, 5/22: clouds and sun. High 71, low 53.
Friday, 5/23: partly cloudy and pleasant. High 70, low 52.
Next weekend: Memorial Day weekend looks to be rather cool with plenty of clouds but little chance of a shower until Monday. Highs will be in the upper 60s; lows in the mid to upper 40s.
Beyond: The last few days of May look wet and cool before an early-June warm-up.
Monsoon's Weather Update for Wednesday, 7 May 2008
A quick weather update from Monsoon…
But first: congratulations to Senator Barack Obama for his double-digit win in the North Carolina primary and his two-point loss in Indiana; the overall gains he posted in the popular vote and delegate count; and moving us closer to ending this contentious primary battle, knocking Hillary Clinton out of the race once and for all, and allowing the party to focus on defeating McCain in November. (For my previous election coverage, type "Obama" in the weblog's search field on the upper right of the screen.)
Wednesday 5/7: unseasonably warm and mostly sunny with increasing cloud late; a shower or thunderstorm could move through late. High 82, low 56.
Thursday 5/8: partly to mostly cloudy with a shower or two in the afternoon; more frequent showers are likely in the evening. High 77, low 53.
Friday 5/9: overcast, breezy and rather cool with scattered showers throughout the morning and afternoon; tapering to showers in the evening. High 63, low 48.
Saturday 5/10: mostly sunny, breezy and gorgeous. High 69, low 44.
Sunday 5/11: mostly cloudy with evening showers likely. High 64, low 49.
Monday 5/12: chilly with rain and strong winds. High 58, low 43.
Tuesday 5/13: mostly cloudy but clearing late. High 64, low 45.
Wednesday 5/14: clear to partly cloudy and pleasant. High 70, low 48.
Thursday 5/15: overcast with perhaps a shower. High 66, low 46.
Friday 5/16: sunny to partly cloudy, cool and breezy. High 62, low 45.
Next weekend: rainy with highs in the low to mid 60s and lows in the upper 40s.
Beyond: warmer and generally pleasant with highs ascending into the 70s.
Ba-rack, rockin’ it!
A Monsoon Weather Alert for Sunday, 27 April 2008
A strong cold front is moving through, bringing with it moderate to strong winds and some potentially significant precipitation. Rain will begin overnight Sunday and intensify Monday morning and afternoon. Total rainfall amounts could reach an inch or an inch and a quarter. Precipitation may include strong to severe thunderstorms—which would include hail and damaging winds—anytime from late morning through the late afternoon. It all tapers off by the early evening, but clouds will persist into early Tuesday. Monday’s high will reach only the low 60s; overnight low will be in the mid to upper 40s. Tuesday will be markedly cooler with the high reaching only 56; the low Tuesday night will plummet all the way down near freezing.
(Happy Birthday Monday to Harper Lee; Tuesday to Duke Ellington and Eve Plumb!)
The last day of April will be sunny and cool with the slight possibility of showers late. High 58, low 38. (Happy Birthday to Willie Nelson and Kirsten Dunst!)
Thursday and Friday, the first two days of May, look partly to mostly cloudy and a bit warmer with highs in the mid to upper 60s and lows in the mid to upper 40s. (Happy Birthday Thursday to Chuck Bednarik and Joseph Heller; Friday to Christine Baranski and The Rock!)
Next weekend will be warmer still with highs reaching into the low 70s, but there is the potential for some showers and thunderstorms on Sunday.
Next week cools off a bit and will hover around seasonal averages, with highs mainly in the mid 60s and lows in the mid to upper 40s.
MonsoonMonsoon's Weather Update for Thursday, 24 April 2008
The weather :
Weather narrative: Unseasonably warm and dry weather will continue the next couple of days as high pressure stalls over the region. Things will get a bit more turbulent as a slow-moving cold front works through southeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend. There is a small chance of showers or thunderstorms Saturday night and Sunday, but the better chance for rainfall of any note is Monday into Tuesday.
This second cold front will usher in cooler temperatures, with highs staying in the 50s, for the middle of next week. Things get seasonably milder by the end of the week with temperatures rebounding into the upper 60s. Next weekend looks sensational, and beyond that we’re looking into the upper 70s and perhaps 80s the following week.
Good news for Mifflin teachers, though: the newly-installed air conditioning is working reasonably well for most of us, or so it seems. So the days of dreading high temperatures during the school year may be behind us!
Beyond the forecast table: Warmer still with highs in the 80s; rain is possible the 7th or 8th.
Monsoon
Monsoon Martin's Weather Update for Friday, 18 April 2008
My friends,
If you’ll permit me, I have a couple of odds and ends before I bring you the weather.
First, I have an exciting announcement: After six long, pointless seasons, I have officially kicked my “American Idol” habit! I wasn’t “feelin’ it” (as Randy might say) as the season began, but typically became more interested when the field was narrowed down to 12 in previous seasons. But this year, I haven’t watched more than an hour of the show altogether, and the feeling is wonderful. I have missed some truly awful guest stars and song styles: the Dolly Parton songbook, “inspirational” music, and Mariah Carey’s oeuvre come to mind most readily. At long last, I can honestly say that I have absolutely no stake in who wins this thing, no simmering hatreds of overly perky contestants, no hotly contested, cheating-wracked Idol pool with my (current or former) colleagues. I am free!
And yet, I have not quite emerged unscathed from the morass of televised “reality” show competitions. No, I haven’t become hooked on the gleefully vile, gyrating humpanalia “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila 2” or the cloying ego-fest “Oprah’s Big Give.”
It’s almost worse.
Back in February I heard that a man who substitute teaches in our building once in a while was going to be on a reality show called “Your Mama Don’t Dance.” The premise of the show is that young, professional dancers must partner up with their parents (female dancers with their fathers, male dancers with their moms) and perform a series of routines, week after week. Doug Croner of Gilbertsville—the aforementioned substitute teacher—would be paired up with his daughter, Noelle.
Let me try to state in the briefest terms what this insipid Lifetime network show, airing Friday nights at 9pm, is all about.
First, it is hosted by the almost unbelievably smarmy and cheesy Ian Ziering (pretentiously pronounced EYE-in ZHEER-ing) of “Beverly Hills 90210” “fame.”
Each pair prepares a dance based on the week’s theme—it might be cowboy music, it might be hip-hop dance, it might be showtunes; it will be ridiculous—and is shown in a short taped package rehearsing the routine. Then the pair perform the routine and are rated on a scale of 100 by three judges—choreographer (and former J-Lo beau) Cris Judd, the inexplicably well-known Vitamin C, and the wildly eccentric and inscrutable dancer extraordinaire, Ben Vereen. The scores are invariably inflated, the feedback stunningly incoherent. The two pairs with the lowest scores at the end of each show land in the bottom two; call-in votes determine which pair will survive to next week and which will go home.
On the first episode, Noelle and Doug, horrifically clad in sequined costumes, danced the most cringe-inducing, inappropriately seductive routine (remember, they’re father and daughter) to Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” which was highlighted on the snarky weekend wrap-ups “Talk Soup” (on E!) and “Best Week Ever” (on VH1). We were hooked. (I say “we” because I have involved Wendi in my sickness, and I am not sorry.)
[A note here: I tried and tried to find a clip online of this performance, but could not. For this I am sorry. It really defies description, so if you can ever find it, you won’t soon forget it.]
In subsequent weeks, the performances have only become more disturbing, and somehow Noelle and Doug have made it through week after week. Two weeks ago they performed a hip-hop routine (go to the video entitled “Bottom Pair – Episode 6” if you dare) that surely made Jam-Master Jay spin like a top in his grave—and it wasn’t even the most offensive or “urban” stereotype-laden performance of the night.
In my defense, I typically only watch until Noelle and Doug are on—which, for some reason, happens to be very near the end of each episode. I watch with a mixture of revulsion and bemusement, schadenfreude and an unshakable sense of the coming apocalypse, ultimately rooting against them so I could stop watching this infernal show.
And yet, that strategy has never paid off, as they’ve now made it to the last show, and I’m still tethered to it.
Anywho, this deeply sucky show mercifully has its finale tonight at 9pm, during which the final three pairs (including Noelle and Doug) will perform, and the several hundred people watching live on TV will vote for the winner.
Thanks for allowing me that confession. And now…
Weather narrative: The temperature got into the low 80s in most places within the forecast area (Reading, central and southern Berks County, central and northern Lancaster County) yesterday, and I think we’ll get at least that warm again today and perhaps even again on Saturday.
On Sunday, a front comes through that will cool things off and kick up some breezes; it may bring a few showers, but I don’t think we’ll have significant rainfall. Behind that, we’ll start next week with temperatures that are still higher than normal, but more moderate and pleasant than the highs we’re seeing right now. (“Normal” conditions in our region for this time of year are highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s.)
Things get somewhat cooler by the end of next week, with highs only getting into the low 60s and windy conditions making it feel like the 40s or 50s. High temperatures will dip into the 50s in the last several days of April, with the chance of significant rainfall on those days.
Beyond the forecast: As we head into May, things will cool off a bit, as the WeatherTable trend bears out. By the second week in May, though, highs should perk back up into the 60s and perhaps even 70s, for those of you who like that sort of thing.
Monsoon
Monsoon's Weather Update for Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Friends,
Below the WeatherTable is the weather narrative...
Weather narrative: Unseasonably warm temperatures will move in today and tomorrow; a few showers are possible later today. Friday and Saturday will be rainy off and on and potentially rather turbulent: showers and thunderstorms are possible either day.
Look for breezy and cooler conditions Sunday through Tuesday with highs struggling to get out of the 40s; milder conditions will return by the end of next week.
The following weekend (4/19 and 4/20) looks spring-like with highs near (and possibly above) 70. Time to get out the mower!
Beyond the forecast table: Seasonable with highs in the mid to upper 50s and lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.
Monsoon
Monsoon Martin's Warming Trend Forecast for Wednesday, 2 April 2008
A general warming trend will define the weather pattern for the coming weeks. Though there are aspects of spring that I enjoy, two side effects of the spring fever in particular are anathema to me: warmth and bugs. Both of these scourges reared their ugly heads yesterday: the temperature reached 70 in some places with high humidity as a cold front moved through; and last evening, I opened the back door of my home only to be greeted by a large, brown arachnid in the jamb. It had an arse the size of a softball (I tried to look up what the ass-end of a spider is really called, but I couldn’t stand to look at the pictures of spiders on entomology websites) and legs like nautical rope.
Yes, friends, the return of insects also marks the return of my wildly hyperbolic tendencies.
The spider was looking at me with all eight of its eyes (again, I don’t know how many eyes a spider really has, but I can’t bring myself to brave the World Wide Web and its horrifying array of arachnid photos), daring me to take it on. I vanquished the beast with a potent stream of Simple Green—my weapon of choice for spiderfighting, in that it ensures there will be no close contact—which eventually sent the creature thudding to the patio and lumbering unhappily away.
And in that moment I missed winter so, so much—missed it in all its frigid, spiderless, grey-and-brown landscaped glory.
On to the forecast, including the return of the WeatherTable, which follows the text forecast…
Today will be chilly and windy with lots of sunshine and blue skies. High 51, low 26.
Thursday will feature sunshine early; clouds will increase through the late afternoon and evening, and showers will develop sometime after 8 or 9pm. High 55, low 41.
Friday looks overcast with steady rain and periods of showers throughout the day, tapering to drizzle late. High 59, low 48.
Saturday will be cloudy for the most part, with perhaps a lingering shower or two in the morning; clearing late. High 56, low 38.
On Sunday, temperatures will be milder and skies will be partly to mostly sunny. High 61, low 40.
Next week looks like more of the same, for the most part. Highs will be in the mid to upper 50s to near 60; lows will be in the lower 40s. Windy on Tuesday and Wednesday. Best chances for rain next week are Monday the 7th (a few showers in the evening) and Thursday the 10th (rainy throughout).
Friday, April 11th will be noticeably warmer and quite sunny with a high of 67 and a low of 39.
The following weekend looks a bit cooler over all: Saturday the 12th will be sunny and chilly with a high in the mid 50s and a low in the mid 30s. Sunday the 13th looks rainy and windy with temperatures struggling to get out of the 40s.
Beyond that, we’ll trend warmer again, but not dramatically. Highs will be in the mid 50s; lows in the mid 30s.
Monsoon