Cold, Eagles, and Records

Lots going on here for the first day of 2009.

First of all, there is the cold.

If it were possible to hang icicles off of the word cold I would.

Last night around 11:30 p.m. it was 6.9 degrees F.

Some folks might round up,

Some folks might decide that the margin of error for the thermometer makes it 7,

The moment it says it is less than 7, it is six,

Call it six point whatever, I don't care.

It is ridiculously cold.

(I was deeply thankful I wasn't doing First Night when I saw that,

I was also deeply thankful that the Lodge was some 60 degrees warmer than that.)

This morning I looked at the thermometer at 7:30 a.m. and it was 2.1 degrees.

TWO!

It just keeps getting more crazy!

So I checked my favorite National Weather Service page,

Climatological Data (see the new link off to the right in the column,)

and the record for yesterday was -13 degrees F in 1917.

Ok.

2 is fine.

I'll deal.

Then there was an email from Conscripted Ranger Melican.

It is his firm conviction that he saw an Eagle circling over Mower Street this morning.

Any one else sight the bird in the Cascades of late out there?

Hmmm.... and eagle, pretty cool!

As for today's weather conditions at 9:13 a.m.:

Temperature of 9.5 degrees F and rising (yeah!);

Humidity of 67% and steady;

Pressure of 29.91" Hg and rising;

USFS Fire Danger of NONE.

Yesterday we got 6.4" of snow as measured by the National Weather Service up at the Worcester Airport (O'Brien Municipal Field), and 

THAT IS A RECORD! 

Previously the snow record for 12/31 was 5.0" in 1897.

Which gets us to the 2008 weather recap.

What was notable about 2008?

Precipitation.

Plenty of it.

Let me demonstrate:

Last year we got 63.04" of precipitation! 

Five and a quarter feet of rain fell here!

Amazing the effectiveness of the streams, and rivers at moving this stuff along so we don't all have to become fish or take up wearing moss.

Typically we would expect on the order of 49.05",

or a whole foot and a half less.

As for snow?

well, we have December to thank for keeping us well supplied.

Not a flake fell before December,

and 31.4" fell in December.

That is a lot of snow.

Generally we get 17.3" of snow from July to January 1,

and that gets spread out over October, November and December.

This time we almost double the snowfall, and do it all in the final 2/3rds of December.

Wild!

I love this weather record stuff.

We have had two families of hikers go through, and confirm that indeed, it is cold.

The sun is out the breeze is light.

It is all very pretty outside.

The fire is burning away inside.