Thursday, December 29, 2011

Heat Wave

OK, this is getting ridiculous...I raised a sweat Wednesday, and I was standing still! In a short sleeve T-shirt and long nylon "running pants". I was standing next to the fuel pump at the Sparks COSTCO filling up the car. I could feel the weight of the Temperature Inversion, and you could see the compressed wood smoke/smog layer laying fetid across the Truckee Meadows.

Smog is probably the wrong word if I'm going to be precise...it's probably been a decade or more since I've seen genuine smog in America. Smog implies emissions of pollutants from manufacturing, transportation, and power generation. I recalled real smog Tuesday morning when I watched SpeedTV's replay of April's Chinese Grand Prix, and I was reminded of the horrific scenes from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

The long outdoor shots from Beijing were frightening...during the bicycle road races, I feared for the health of the competitors! This year I saw similar smoggy views from the Grands Prix in South Korea and the new India Grand Prix near New Delhi.

Reno's wood smoke layer paled however to the fantastic vista of clouds hugging onto the peaks of the Carson Range, under towering stacks of lenticular clouds looking like impossibly huge science fiction pagodas. I would not have been surprised to see spacecraft whizzing to and fro like a scene from a STAR WARS Sequel! Backlit by the high clouds it was an awesome tableau..I kicked myself for leaving my camera at the DaveCave.

I rolled back up the Truckee River canyon, and caught a glimpse of the old Lincoln Highway on the north side of today's Interstate 80 near Floriston. As I climbed the hill to the Martis Valley, there were flurries evident over the Sierra Crest. Sadly they were falling over Tinker's Knob, midway between Sugar Bowl and Squaw Valley USA...not that they would produce measurable amounts of snow anyway...again it was a missed photo-op...and of course, it missed all the ski areas.

Back at the DaveCave, I stowed the groceries and worked for an hour on the pickup's distributor project before I washed up and laid on the bed for a minute...I woke up at 9PM and pondered dinner...home made pizza? NY Steak on the BBQ? I woke up again at 1:39AM

I was itchin' to write today's blog. I quickly scanned my social sites. Jeweler Facebook-ed that tonight was his first night back in his tractor. I toured the webcams and remote sensors...no joy...another night of tall temps in Snowmaking City. The Tahoe Basin has been flirting with record high afternoon temps for three days. and it's forecast to continue for a couple more days. Three days remain of December, it looks like Reno will record it's driest December since 1883!

I'd be lying if I said all this waiting on Mother Nature wasn't taking it's toll on my psyche...for solace, I looked at the sober Tahoe Weather Discussion Blog...I was comforted...check it out, good news may be on the horizon. He's a one-stop-shop worthy of a bookmark.

1 comment:

  1. Looks as if Morongone is in for a direct hit of weather. Been raining and unusually warm also. The temps will drop. It will be a wet snow.

    Really haven't journeyed too far from the abode as I've been under the weather.

    I love the view of Tinker's Knob from anywhere. I love hiking all around that area. The views from up there are incrediblely rugged.

    Enjoy the warmth...the next three month's weather should resume to familiar patterns as I think that high, stubborn, wedge that has been blocking and diverting the jet stream seems to be being pushed South, just in time for an incredible New Year's in L.A. It's 70 plus degrees at the beach.

    Bonne Annee or something like that.

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