Facebook Me Follow Me on Twitter
02-08-2013
Happy New Year! Wait a minute, what? Isn't it already the beginning of February?
While this may be the case, you'll understand why I said that when you look at the last time I posted on my blog; December 10 of last year. OK OK, so I fell a little behind. Starting today, I'm making a 'New Year's Resolution' of trying to update my blog more often.
Things have been going well so far in 2013. In January my wife and I went to Colorado for a week of skiing in the mountains of Breckenridge; it was a blast!
So far the weather hasn't been to bad this year. A few snowfalls have brought just a little bit of snow but it really hasn't amounted to much. Nothing like the blizzard that's going to hit the northeast this weekend. Places like Boston could get between two to three FEET of snow! While I wouldn't mind getting a significant snowfall here in central Illinois, I'm glad it's nothing like that!
Well, I just wanted to update things on my blog. I am alive and doing well! Keep checking in every week for new updates about the weather and how things are going! Until next time...
--KC--
12-10-2012
Whoops! It's been a little while since I've posted on my blog! Got a little sidetracked I guess!
About a month ago I started doing something new on my facebook page and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback so I wanted to share a link with you… Here it is:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/trivia/trivia.php
This will take you to the Central Illinois - National Weather Service Trivia Page. You can click on any day, all 365 throughout the year, and it will give you a weather trivia fact for that day in Central Illinois.
For instance, did you know on February 16 (1976) severe thunderstorms developed across parts of central Illinois during the late afternoon hours. A tornado touched down in Pana, in Christian County, destroying a home and damaging about 50 others. The storms also produced strong winds in Macoupin, Montgomery, Shelby, and Coles Counties. Damage occurred to trees, power lines, and some buildings as a result.
Or how about on December 27 (2008) when a strong cold front pushed into an unsesaonably warm airmass over central Illinois, causing severe thunderstorms with widespread wind damage. In Springfield, part of the roof was blown off a school, and 3 large barns and the grandstand were damaged at the state fairgrounds. In addition, heavy rain fell on partially frozen ground to cause flooding in a few areas.
It's a pretty neat link. Try it out and test some of your family or friends!
--KC--
11-8-2012
Here comes Round 2! Mother Nature is adding insult to injury across much of the NE portion of the United States only days after Sandy ravaged that part of the country. Now, instead of preparing for a hurricane, our friends to the northeast are getting ready for a Nor'easter. So, just what exactly is it?
A Nor'easter occurs in the eastern portion of the United States, generally between October and April. They form when an area of Low pressure develops off the southeastern coast (near Florida), gathering warm moist air from the Atlantic. Strong northeasterly winds will force that system to move up the coastline. Meanwhile, an area of High pressure (cold, dry air) will develop in the Arctic and continue to sag to the south along the northeastern coast. When those two systems collide, the moisture and cold air produce heavy amounts of snow and rain, potential for hurricane force winds, and high waves that can cause erosion to beaches.
So if it wasn't bad enough that the east coast is still trying to recover from Hurricane Sandy, now they have to worry about the first big winter storm that could dump up to 12" of snowfall in some locations. --KC--
11-1-2012
Why is it that time always seems to fly by? Honestly! Today is already the first day of November which means we only have two more months to go until 2013.
When most people think of November, I'm sure the first thought that pops into their head is Thanksgiving. While "Turkey Day" is easy to associate with the second to last month in the year, there's a particular day that a lot of people don't think about until it arrives; Daylight Savings Time (DST)!
That's right, it's that time of the year again! The time where we turn our clocks back an entire hour only to throw off our biological clocks; where 8 AM now becomes 7 AM. As if that weren't confusing enough, we lose that all important hour of daylight in the evening. So all you kiddos out there, you can wave goodbye to playing outside until 5:45 PM because now it will start getting dark around 4:45 PM.
Daylight Savings Time begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. In November, clocks are moved back one hour from 2 AM DST to 1 AM standard time. Than, in March clocks are moved forward one hour from 2 AM standard time to 3 AM DST.
So why? Why do we move our clocks back? Why do we "fall back" in the Fall and "spring forward" in the Spring? Some say the concept of DST started back in the late 1700's with a man by the name Benjamin Franklin.
The story goes, Franklin wrote of waking up at 6 AM only to realize the sun would rise before he did. Realizing this, he believed people could make better use of the daylight and accomplish more with the natural light of the sun. However, he didn't quite know how to put his thought into motion.
It wasn't until a few century's later before it would actually be implemented. Modern DST is credited to a New Zealand man by the name George Vernon Hudson.
The first time DST was issued was April 30, 1916, during World War I. Germany was the first country to try the new time switch in an effort to help conserve coal to be used for the war. It wasn't until 1918 when DST was first implemented in the United States for the states that chose to observe it.
So whether you like it or not, twice each year we are forced to move that hour hand by one hour. But hey, look on the bright side, we get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night!
--KC--
