Late-Breaking News & Views
February, 2003
What? No February Update????????
January 26, 2003
January has come and gone at a very rapid pace! The semester is looking to be quite interesting, with so-far favorite classes being Forecasting and Air Quality. Both are taught by excellent professors, and though the semester looks to be challenging, I think it will be a semester well-spent, to say the least.
In other news, there really IS no news. Things are pretty much the same as they've been all month; Frigid temperatures with little snow to show for it. However, we are anticipating our first significant snowfall quite some times. WAMC's Mike Landin gave his unofficial snowfall total prediction in the ES Maproom earlier today, and he's thinking 6-12" sounds like a good bet. He's been right all along, so I hope this one verifies, too! We could use a good dump of snow to make up for the ridiculously cold temperatures. Brr!
January 9, 2004
So...It's winter, and we're sitting in the middle of an arctic system that has us gripped by the...Well, it's cold - let's just leave it at that. And while I would NEVER admit that it's too cold for me to bear, I must say it's quite the experience to see my breath come out of my mouth, condense into ice crystals, and fall to the ground in a stunning display of twinkling and shimmering loveliness, all while I'm sitting in the middle of my living room.
Woke up to a temperature reading of -4F this morning, and it reached all the way up to 6 this afternoon. Tonight, it will be going down to -12F, with the outlying areas falling below that. Hey, the record low for tonight is -13F, so maybe some good will come out of it, if we wind up breaking that record. 'Cause, otherwise, it's just cold for no reason.
JANUARY 2, 2003 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here's wishing all my friends and loved ones a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year. Let's not forget that life's too short to hate one another, and that everyone has something good - or at least unique - to share with the world.
Images taken by me on New Year's Eve.
Special thanks to Bob Keesee, for giving me the links for the University at Albany's Mohawk Tower Observatory webcam!
************ OLD UPDATES ************
DECEMBER 14, 2003
MAJOR weather geek time! I am SO glad that my mother and my friend, Tom, encouraged me to brave the elements to go meet one of my weather idols. Jim Cantore is SOOOOO nice! (I hope to have a picture scanned in sometime soon, when I get my scanner working again.) When I got there, he was surrounded by several students (seniors) from the meteorology department at SUNYA, but eventually they left and I worked up the nerve to blurt out the words "Welcome to Albany!" Okay, okay, so I am a major dork. I am already aware of this. LOL. Suffice to say, I eventually calmed down enough to have a five minute conversation with him; he's AWESOME!
THANKS FOR THE PICTURE, JIM AND CREW! STOP BY AGAIN ANYTIME! :) :) :)
DECEMBER 14, 2003
With the impending storm, The Weather Channel has sent JIM CANTORE to Albany, NY to report on the second Nor'easter of the season!!! HOW EXCITING!!!!! Hello to Jim, and ALL the Weather Channel crew!
As of 12z (6pm EST) the precip had become mainly sleet, but we got a decent dump of snow beforehand. I shall post the storm totals tomorrow, hopefully!
DECEMBER, IN GENERAL:
For more information about this season's hurricanes and tropical storms, click
here
. You can also find the Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook at this site, as well as tropical outlooks, climatology information, and radar images.
Fun fact: For a list of Atlantic Hurricane Names from 2003 - 2008, click
here
DECEMBER 9, 2003:
Tropical Storm Peter has formed in the Atlantic Ocean! This is the SECOND late-season tropical storm during 2003! As you may recall, Odette formed 4 days AFTER the official hurricane season ended. WHOOHOO! Neither Odette nor Peter posed any threat to the US mainland, but Odette caused some flooding problems over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. For a graphic archive of Peter's history, click
here
.
DECEMBER 8, 2003
The
National Weather Service in Albany
has reported the "official" storm total for Albany (December 5-7) is....drumroll, please...18 inches! At times, the snow-to-water ratio was 18-to-1, meaning that for every inch of water falling from the sky, there was potential for 18 inches of snow (indicating that the snow was VERY dry, compared to heavier wet snow, which could have ratios of 7-to-1, for example.) It made for some awesome shoveling!!!
DECEMBER 7, 2003
As of 13:30z (8:30AM EST) the ol' snowfall gauge is indicating 14" of snow. The low-pressure system is currently sitting off the coast of Cape Cod. Because the low hasn't moved much since last night (it was sitting just south of Long Island), Albany has been sitting in a position where several snow bands continue to wrap around and dump another couple of inches even after it seems as though the storm "should" have ended by now. But hey, I'll take the additional inches! :)
DECEMBER 6, 2003
As of 03:10z (10:10PM EST) I've got 12.5 inches of snow sitting in my front yard, and the flakes continue to fall! :)
Shoveled most of the day, and the plow has just come by to bury my car in snow...AGAIN. But, I gotta give them credit: they've been workin' really hard, and the streets are in good shape! Nice job, guys, and THANKS!
DECEMBER 5, 2003
Our local forecasters are predicting a big wallop of snow with this upcoming storm. Sure to be a true Nor'easter (because the winds whip around the low-pressure circulation and bring in winds from the North and East), I look forward to this storm with a lot of enthusiasm! It's been too dull around here; WE NEED SNOW!
I personally expect that our immediate area (that is, the western edge of the City of Albany) will get somewhere between 12 and 15 inches of snow. My first "official" forecast on this site! YAY!
Where have all the updates gone....
I admit it. I've been slacking off. I haven't written an update in 3 months!!! Let me catch you up:
NOVEMBER: My birthday came and went, uneventfully, thank goodness. I've been thoroughly enjoying my SUNY-Albany classes. The professors are top notch, and my classmates, for the most part, are a joy to be around.
November 13th: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAX! :) For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good feeelllllllooooowwwwww, which nobody can deny!!!!
I will be giving a talk about severe weather at my cousin's school on November 25th (I'm a show and tell project, I think!) and I'm excited about that, but also kind of nervous.
OCTOBER: October seems to have flown by without much of any notice. Halloween was a lot of fun. Let's see, what else. Dunno...I had mid-terms, which were okay.
SEPTEMBER: School started with a bang. Have met some great people in my classes, and I'm finally using my meteorological knowledge to DO stuff in school. (Love it when that happens!)
In entertainment news, on Sept. 28th I had the honor of seeing Dave Attell AND Lewis Black together on the SAME stage, right here in Albany's "The Egg" theater. It was almost too much to handle, I tell ya! Two immensely talented comedians, each bringing their own style to the party. As always, I was blown away by (and in awe of) Lewis Black's political wit! And Dave was, well, Dave...LOL. He's a cutie, though!
August, 2003
Okay, so I'm cheating a little...August is still three days away. BUT, just a reminder: On August 27, Mars will come within 34,649,589 miles of Earth, and will be the brightest object visible in our night sky (aside from the moon, of course.)
So, if you've got a dark place to go, away from the hustle and bustle of city lights and whatnot, cast a glance upwards, and marvel at the sight that is Mars, the Red Planet. It'd be even cooler to see it through a telescope, I bet!
July 25, 2003
The National Weather Service has confirmed a total of six tornado touchdowns (so far) from the line of tornadic storms discussed below. The additional ones have been confirmed as F0's, but they still count in my book! (Let's not be snobbish, okay? LOL.) There is a possibility that there will be more confirmations, so I will keep this page posted!
Week of July 20, 2003
A strong line of thunderstorms blew through the Capitol Region this past Monday, July 21st, bringing with it strong wind gusts, heavy rain, and two NWS-confirmed tornadoes. The tornadoes were rated F1 and F2, and hit Columbia County and Greene County, respectively. Though there was major damage caused by the winds and debris associated not only with the severe thunderstorms, but with the tornadoes as well, there were no serious injuries reported.
Greene County was hardest hit, with many trees being ripped from the ground, and much structural damage was also reported. Several mobile homes were flung through the air, as well as several vehicles being moved several hundred feet from their original locations. In addition, a local Agway lost most of its inventory, with barrels being found up to a mile and a half away from the store.
In the Albany City area, we were bombarded with a major display of CG lightning, with a house two blocks over from my home being struck by lightning and catching on fire. In addition, many of the roads became impassable due to floodwaters.
More thunderstorms are expected to continue for the rest of the week.
JULY 2003 UPDATE:
No longer in the cast.
Actually, I got out of it back in March. A lot has happened since then (since December, really), but not all of it has been good, (i.e. the diagnosis of my beloved Rottie, Tasha, with osteosarcoma - bone cancer - in her hind right leg. She has since gone to join her brother, Bear, in doggie afterlife.)
I did not do any stormchasing this year. Well, none out in the West, anyway. I instead have been doing coursework, Calculus 3 and Differential Equations, so as to get further toward my degree...Slow and steady wins the race, or so they say...Slow and steady, that's me. LOL
A friend of mine just wrote me to say his father has passed away. He lives very far away from me, so I can't hug him, but I hope he knows my thoughts are with him. Death is such a horrible, horrible thing. So final. Makes us realize how short life is, and how much of a waste it is to spend time hating, fighting, and killing.
I want to take this opportunity to say how much I appreciate having all my friends and family members in my life. I know it's not often I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I really do love you all. If it weren't for you, existence would be without color, meaning, laughter, hope, humor, or purpose. I feel truly honored to know you all, and hope we will continue to know each other as we muddle through along this journey called living.
NOVEMBER 2002 UPDATE:
still in the cast.
On November 1, one of my dreams came true. I attended the Laughter arts Festival at Proctor's Theater in Schenectady, NY. highlighted were the talents of brad sherwood (from Whose Line is it Anyway), Jim Cesario (from I don't know where), Jim Gaffigan, and.........LEWIS BLACK!!!! Jim Gaffigan signed my cast (i will cherish it always, though it's quite stinky now..lol...ewwww.)
BEST OF ALL WAS LEWIS BLACK. He was soooo 'on' that night; hilarious. Best of all, i got to meet him after the show, and he signed me an autograph. I can now die a contented woman. Lewis Black touched my pen. :)
In other news, my friend Derek's van was stolen back on the 30th-ish of October. Here are the stats. Any information would be greatly appreciated:
1974 Dodge short wheel base 1/2TON cargo van
Orange with silver side doors
Colorado truck plate O27-CJM (9-03)
Stolen on 10-31-02 between 1am and 1pm MTN TIME
Please email me
with any information you may have about the van. He misses it a lot.
OCTOBER 2002 UPDATE:
hey-lo. on the tenth of october, i broke my left wrist, so this update is going to be without proper capitalization. get over it.
HEALTH: october is breast cancer month. take care of yourself, and those you love. (see below, september's update, for more information on how you can do that.)
ENTERTAINMENT: on an unrelated note, i feel the urge to vent about something. in my area, the cable company has taken it upon itself to play one particular commercial over, and over, and over, and over, and OVER. anyone out there ever see the time warner commercial with the flying pigs? it is of this commercial that i type.
one time, the commercial was cute. two times, the commercial became somewhat less cute. the third time i saw it, i tried to find something - anything - interesting (or having a point) in the damn commercial. by the fourth time, i was cursing the frigging pigs. by the seventeenth time, i was wishing the damn chef in the commercial would take his cleaver and make a little piggy go wee-wee-wee all the way home to the big barnyard in the sky, if you catch my drift.
SCHOOL: physics is continuing to plague me, though i just got an 'a' on the midterm. i wonder if the professor knows how clueless i really am. lol. calculus is going well, except for the word problems...i'll hopefully get the hang of it. chemistry is okay...the lab is growing tedious, though. oh well. at least the student body is finally getting involved in current issues; there are 'chalk discussions' - via written chalk notes on concrete sidewalks and sitting areas - all over the campus about the impending war on iraq. who says today's youth are mindless hedonists?
POLITICS: say no to the war in iraq. what's the point?
ARTS & LEISURE: saw 'red dragon' last week. ralph fiennes dons his nekked bod. anthony hopkins dons a ponytail (while serving sweetbreads to his dinner guests, no less) and ed burns dons a scar on his tummy from a scene that even made ME cringe.
guess that's it for now. can't feel my fingertips on my left hand...i suppose it's time to go elevate my arm in a sling. joy oh joy.
SEPTEMBER IS
OVARIAN CANCER
AWARENESS MONTH
Listen up, ladies and gentlemen. There's a silent killer out there, affecting 1 out of every 55 women in America (even more if she has a gene for it.)
It's name: Ovarian Cancer.
Don't let yourself become a statistic. Know the facts!
Some of the symptoms are vague, at best: bloating, heavy bleeding, change in bowel habits, etc.
However, other warning signs include a rising CA-125 level, a positive result on a CAT Scan, or on a PET Scan. CA-125 is a blood test your doctor can give you. It involves a small amount of blood being drawn; there's really nothing to it. The CA-125 test is a marker to determine whether or not there is a presence of Ovarian Cancer in the bloodstream. It is not foolproof, of course (many things can cause the level to rise, without being due to a presence of disease - especially when a woman is young) but getting your CA-125 baseline as early as possible is a good way for you and your doctor to eatablish a pattern that can be looked at throughout many years. CA-125 is also a definitive way to rule in the possibility of cancer AFTER one has undergone typical debukling and chemotherapy treatment.
A CAT Scan involves the patient drinking a solution that allows a medical machine to "look inside" the various organs within the body. Sort of like an X-ray for muscles and organs.
A PET Scan is a fairly new tool in the fight against Ovarian Cancer. It provides your doctor with a THREE DIMENSIONAL look at the organs inside your body. The doctor will have you ingest a radioactive (calm down, it's not harmful, even though it sounds extreme) liquid, which is formulated specifically to be taken up by a particular cancer. Once the liquid is ingested, the medical professional will place you into a chamber similar to that of a CAT scan (it's like a long tunnel), and the entire scanning takes about 20 minutes. The results can be read as a series of dots (or clusters) if there is significant disease. The clusters/colored dots denote the presence of disease, because it is only those cells with disease that take up the radioactive particles. Again, a fairly harmless procedure.
If Ovarian Cancer is caught early (within the first Stage), there is a 95% chance of survival. The longer the disease remains undetected, the worse off the patient is. While that sounds hopelessly pessimistic, think of it this way: While chemotherapy treatments have been significantly improved over the past 4-5 decades, the fact still remains that chemotherapy (not to mention radiotherapy) is toxic to the HEALTHY cells in addition to the cancer; the more times a patient is exposed to it, the more times her body is put under stress. Eventually, everyone has their own limits of tolerance; the body just gives out. And the later the Stage of the Ovarian Cancer (the stages are I-a, I-b, I-c, II-a, II-b, II-c, III-a, III-b, III-c, IV-a, IV-b, IV-c), the more cancer there is in the body, and the further it has potentially infiltrated the various body systems; thus, the more chemo, radiation, or surgery will be needed.
BUT THERE'S HOPE! As I said, chemo has come a long way, baby! More and more drugs are being discovered and manufactured every day, to not only combat the side effects of the chemo, but to limit the toxicity (to the GOOD cells) so the body suffers minimal long-term damage. In addition, IMMUNOTHERAPY (introducing massive amounts of stem cells into th ebody as a way to boost the immune system - hopefully allowing the body to help fight off the disease) and GENE THERAPY (attempts to make cancers more susceptible to chemo by restructuring their genetic makeup) are making progress.
The fact remains that this is a CHRONIC DISEASE, one which constantly requires monitoring, and usually means a lifetime of treatments, remissions, treatments, remissions, etc.
Your best defense is a good offense. IF YOU HAVE A FAMILY HISTORY OF CANCERS, BE SURE TO TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT YOUR RISKS! Ovarian cancer is in the BREAST CANCER family (in fact, the gene for Ovarian Cancer is a BRCA gene - typically referred to as the "Breast Cancer Gene"), but may also be related to COLON CANCER, PANCREATIC CANCER, STOMACH CANCER, CERVICAL CANCER, and even PROSTATE CANCER. Yes, MEN can get Ovarian Cancer related cancers - THEY CAN BE CARRIERS OF THE BRCA GENE! Of course, once the disease has metastisized, it can engulf, and eventually either "suffocate" or infiltrate any organ in the body.
PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, AND YOUR LOVED ONES! Together, we can beat this disease!
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT INSURANCE COMPANIES AND DOCTORS:
It is important to note that many insurance companies balk at paying for tests, which is why many women die of this disease. Often, doctors are forced to wave away or dismiss symptoms because they are unable or unwilling to perform expensive CAT or PET Scans, and it's sometimes hard to "convince" one's doctor to even perform a CA-125 blood test. YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE!!! Take it upon yourself to seek out Social Workers, or Human Resource workers, who can point you in the right direction as to who you should contact about your insurance/MediCaid/MediCare if you can't do so yourself.
YOU are the one who has to live in your body. Not your doctor, not your insurance company. TAKE CARE OF IT.
August 11-15th:
The week of the 11th will bring meteor showers into view once again, with best viewings (due to lack of cloud cover) being bestowed upon the Northwest and Northeast area of the U.S. It's time, once again, for the Perseid Meteor Shower!
Between the hours of approximately midnight through dawn until the 15th of August, viewers will be treated to the sights of the fragments trailing off the end of the comet Swift-Tuttle. Those of us in the U.S. will be able to see them best on Sunday night/Monday morning, and Monday night/Tuesday morning. Much of Europe will have a best view around midnight on Sunday/Monday morning.
At it's peak, we can expect to see about 50-60 meteors per hour, some with flaming bright "tails" that seem to trail across the sky. DON'T MISS OUT!
Summer Update:
This chase season was pretty exciting, and it's not even over yet! I will be posting logs from the chase trip I was part of earlier this May, so check back soon! In the meantime, check out my storm pics from this year...You can get to them via the "2002 Pics" link below.
In other news, this website is finally back up and running, after a short - well, not-so-short - amount of time being shut down. Hope you enjoy it. Please sign the guestbook. It's woefully lacking in signatures/entries. Yes, woefully.
As for me, I'm doing okay. The summer's been very busy. But, what else is new, right? Right.
April Update - Monthly
BEGINNING APRIL 14, the moon will pay a visit to four of the five planets. It will appear to pass by three planets on three consecutive evenings (April 14: Venus; April 15: Mars; and April 16: Saturn). It will then pass near Jupiter on April 18.
Mercury will be in easy view by mid-April! :)
Sunday, April 14th: Check for Venus to be by the crescent moon, shortly after sunset.
Blue Moon is more than just a song, right?
As the sky darkens, see if you can make out "earthshine," which is the result of reflected sunlight. Along with the bright crescent, the rest of the moon may appear dimly illuminated with a sort of bluish-gray glow.
Monday, April 15th: The moon will be passing by the planet Mars, and the planet will be easily identified by its reddish hue, appearing just above, and slightly to the right of the moon.
Tuesday, April 16th: The moon continues to make the inter-planetary rounds! (Or, at least, it looks that way) Tonight, the Moon will share the spotlight with Saturn. Saturn will appear below, and to the right of the Moon.
Thursday, April 17th: Take note of Jupiter sitting in the middle of the "Gemini" constellation. It will be below, and to the left of the Moon.
April 5th, 2002 UPDATE:
Hey all...
Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour this Saturday night before you go to sleep. It's daylight savings time again!!! Wait, is the correct term "Springtime Savings" or something? Somehow, that just sounds like a blue light special at Kmart or something. Dunno.
Anyway, so before ya hit the hay on Saturday, set your clocks ahead. And check your batteries in your smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, etc. Whatever else you have batteries in, check those, too. And trust me, I don't wanna know what else you may have batteries in - what you do in your own free time is your own business - just think, though, now that it's daylight savings time again, you'll have an hour more of light to use it! Whee! :)
Of course, you can always wait up until Sunday morning and switch your clocks ahead at 2 am. The choice is, as always, up to you.
January 17th, 2002:
HAPPY (Belated) NEW YEAR! Hope everyone's New Year celebrations were safe and happy. Here's what's new:
In FEBRUARY 2002 (the weekend of the 8th, 9th, and 10th), there will be a gathering of the Nation's professional and amateur Stormchasers in Denver, Colorado.
Festivities will include slide presentations, guest lecturers, and lots of storm-related paraphenalia.
Come out and join us for a party that'll blow you away!
November 27th, 2001 UPDATE: FYI: The Leonid Meteor Shower that took place on November 18th, 2001 is not the only meteor activity that we'll get the chance to see this year. December 13th-14th, from evening to morning, the Geminoid Meteor Shower will once again set the sky ablaze. It will not have the meteor frequency of the Leonid (only one about every minute or so) but it's still worth a peek.
As the name suggests, the meteors will be concentrated around the Gemini constellation, with the meteors appearing to originate near Castor.
Sky Watchers: MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!! The sun will be undergoing an annular (ring-shaped) eclipse on December 14th. Most of the U.S. (except for Upstate New York, darnit, and some of New England and Alaska) should be able to view this eclipse. In the locations where it is viewable, 1 to 40% of the sun's diameter may be covered. Those in the West will have the best view. Providing, of course, it's not cloudy!
FUN FACT: On January 2, at 9:00 in the morning (EST), the Earth reaches perihelion. What, you ask, is perihelion? It is the point at which the Earth is closest in its orbit around the sun. 91,402,515 miles, give or take a few feet.
Check out my NEW pics from 2002's chasing adventures!
More Fun Than You Can Shake a Coconut At
There's No Place Like Home
The Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Life and Times of F5 Chaser"
Storm Pictures Page
Photography Hints and Tips