Friday, December 31, 2010

Goodbye, 2010!


On the second to last day of 2010, we finally got a real snow storm, and what a storm it was! On youtube.com, there is a video of the 20+ car pile-up on South Carefree and Powers, due to the icy, freezing cold conditions. Today's high was around 12. Tonights forecast says to expect a low of 9 below! Brrr! Despite the icy roads and numerous road closures, our total snowfall amount around here was about 3 inches. Not much, but when combined with arctic cold it made for very treacherous road conditions. My plans for visiting my sister this New Years Eve have been cancelled. Alas, we will be staying at home where it is safe and warm.

On another note, local meteorologist Mike Madson, reported on his blog, http://cordillerablogs.com/mmadson, that the reason this fall/winter has been so very dry is because we are in an el nina. Ocean temperatures are lower than normal, which make the great plains of the Rocky Mountains dry and mild. In fact, we are back in drought status thanks to the excessive dryness. My skin can attest to that.

Monday, November 15, 2010

First Snow 11/10/10


We finally got our first snow on the 10th of November. It was a mere dusting and melted off as soon as the sun burned away the clouds. But, it was exciting!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Heater Has Been Turned On!


On October 12th, the heater had to be turned on for the first time this Fall! Summer lasted a loooong time this year, and I'm happy to have cool weather back again.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

October thus far


Here we are at October 2nd, and finally, finally! we have fall weather temperatures. Today's high was 75, tomorrow's is 71. Early on in the week we're looking at lower 80's (ugh), but then it drops back down to lower 70's. Thank goodness!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Never-ending Summer


Here we are in the last days of September and record highs are expected today. Currently, the temperature is 86 degrees, which is 10-15 degrees above average! Sheesh! Go away Summer! I'm done with you!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Rain!


On the late afternoon of the 22nd of September the skies opened up and it finally rained! Not just a sprinkle either. It rained all afternoon, evening, and night. From my best estimation, it's been about 5-6 weeks since our last rain here in Colorado Springs, a sum of time my dry skin can attest to!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Windy September


It is only the 6th of September, but Autumn's presence is felt in the air already. Mainly, in the form of wind. The trees are also starting to lose their color, and the aspen leaves have yellow halo's around the edges. Night temps are ten degree's colder than they were last month (lows now are in the 40's). But the temp during the day can still be just as miserably hot as they were in July and Aug. It's also been very dry these past few weeks. The local forecast has no rain in our 10 day future. I don't think we've had rain since the middle of August.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

August, 2010, thus far...


This month has been hot, cold, dry, humid, rainy, sunny, and has been killing me with allergies! Besides all that, the unusually moist air has been friendly to the grasses of Colorado Springs. Heck, even my neighbor's front yard across the street, who never waters his lawn, or mow's it, is like an emerald carpet. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to grasses, and weeds, which are all flourishing right now. Come on, allergy shots! Do your magic!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

July Weather In Colorado Springs


Hurricane season is just beginning, and we can feel the effects of it way up here at 6,000 feet above sea level. When the seasons first hurricane, Alex, blew up in Mexico and Texas, a day or two later, it was very windy, rainy, and cold here. Late yesterday morning, Bonnie, downgraded to tropical depression, made landfall, and around 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning, the winds kicked up, and the temperature dropped significantly. In fact, the high today is only 68!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Crescent Waxing Moon Set


Time: 8:45 p.m., moon is setting over the hills. Probably about a quarter of the way from setting. Very beautiful! On a weather note, it's been freaking cold! For the past 3 days, temps haven't gotten into the 70's at all. Low's have been in the 40's, and fresh snow at elevation 9,000 ft and higher.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Sun Set Position: 06/07/10

Last night, while I was driving home from a therapeutic drive to the mall, I noticed the sun's setting position, which was very, very far north, reminding me that the Summer Solstice is almost upon us. At any rate, the set was over on the sloping mountain that graces the Tri Lake area. I believe that is where Rampart Range Road is.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Moon Set Position

At 10:55 a.m. on 06/04/10, the moon was high above Pikes Peak, on its way to setting. Moon was at about a 90 degree angle towards the set. It is in the last quarter right now, the shadow on the left side was at about 8 o'clock, the shadow on the right was at about 2 o'clock. The entire shadow was on the bottom half of the moon.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Tree Seeds This Year

This year it appears that all of the trees are producing seeds. I'm thinking it's because we had a relatively wet winter. Dad says that the maple trees haven't produced seeds each year, rather every 2 or 3 years. I know that the cotton is still floating around like crazy.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Waning Gibbous, May 30, 2010

The waning gibbous moon is rising in the mid southern sky. Time: 12:30 a.m. Shadow curvature: upper part at 11 o'clock, lower 5 o'clock. Appears to be about a quarter of the way through the cycle. estimated time of moon set: 5 a.m. This is about 1 day or 2 after the full moon, so the rise is still relatively early for a waning cycle.

Moths, icky, icky Moths

I saw a rouge moth flying about in my living room last night, just in time for me to think hey, maybe there won't be moths this year! I did wonder if the moths arrive in late May, early June, rather than late April, early May. It would appear it is the latter :(

on the upside, I killed the moth that invaded my living room this morning! One down, 5 billion to go.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Windy May

It's the 24th of May and the wind has been kicking it for the past three or four days now. Temps were in the 80's the past three days, and now the temps are dropping back down in the 70's until later in the week. My belief is the wind kicks up in the Spring so that plants and trees can better pollinate by way of their seeds spreading all over the place. Which is nice for nature, but sucky for us humans.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Moon Location: May, 2010

DATE: 05/22/2010. TIME: 8:53 p.m. Moon is high in the southern sky, just over half full, waxing to full. Radius is north/south. moon is about halfway through the night sky. Have seen moon since started rising in the late afternoon. Seems like it was in the low north horizon as it rose. Not as far north as it was a week ago, though, telling me that as the waxing continues, the moon revolves around the earth from my north to south.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Windy, Windy Spring

It seems like this year has been an exceptionally windy Spring, but I have a feeling that every Spring is just as miserable. Since I didn't start this blog sooner, my estimation of when the wind started is just a guess. I believe the wind started in March or April. Here we are on the 21st of May, and this weekend is supposed to be windy starting tomorrow. On the upside, the temps are predicted to be in the low 80's starting today (Friday) all the way through Monday! Whoo-hoo!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Cotton Tree floaters are starting


Yesterday evening, the 19th of May, as I drove home, I saw the dread sight of cotton tree cotton ball floaters rolling down the street. The time has come. The good thing is, I took really nice pictures of the sunset which showed the sun setting to the right of Pikes Peak. This again, was further along than I had originally thought. I didn't think the earth had rotated that much yet. Time flies!

Monday, May 17, 2010

This morning, I ran out to my car to search for my coffee, which wasn't in my car at all. However, I noticed where the sun was on the horizon and was surprised to see how far north it is! When I ran out, the sun was coming up from behind the house that the Kids used to live in, in the cul-de-sac. Last night, I noticed where it was setting, and although I didn't have a view of the mountains, I could see that the sun was right around Pikes Peak, so more to the right than I had thought.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Mid May weather

Today is the 14th of May, the day after my son's birthday. He just turned nine! The weather these past few weeks has been intermittently warm and cold, typical of this climate. When the weather turns rough, the temp drops down into the 30's and 40's. Still dropping below freezing at night. It actually rained today instead of snowing!

We've had a lot of wind for the past 1-1.5 months, and of course it seems like it is never this windy, but I have a feeling it is every Spring, which is why I've started this blog - to track the weather! And to track the location of the sun and moon.

The last I saw of the moon, which was a couple weeks ago, it was waxing. The shadow was coming up from the bottom of the moon, going straight up, not at an angle, which I found interesting.

Of course the days are noticeably longer, and I believe the sun is setting to the left of Pikes Peak still - but being that its been so cloudy lately, and I don't have a good view of the mountains from my house, this isn't a truly accurate statement, just a guess.

Sun is rising at 5:45 a.m., setting at 8:04 p.m.

Although we got rain today, the possibility of snow again is very real. I remember when Ben was born, a couple days later we were home, and we got this snow storm that lasted about 30 minutes. It was crazy.