A Skydazzler's Life Unwrapped...

Christmas Day Mammatus Clouds

Christmas morning about 8:30am I was getting ready for the day.  I peeked outside to see if we had any snow yet and this is what I saw!  Mammatus clouds...wow, they are beautiful.  I got dressed real quick and got a couple shots from my front door.  I apologize to the neighbors if you looked out and saw a crazy haired woman standing on her front porch!  LOL...  Usually these clouds mean a weather event of some kind is coming and sure enough...later that morning we got our Christmas snow.  As you can see in the last picture (the little flecks in the picture is the snow)  it didn't stick to the ground but it was beautiful and technically it was "snow for Christmas" 

We're Having a Heat wave...

It looks like Oregon is having a heat wave like the rest of the country.  They are predicting the hottest days of the year so far.  NOA says it will be 101 degrees today.  So far it is getting warm.  It is currently 91 degrees at 12:50pm.  We might make that prediction, but not sure about the 104 degrees that the Weather Channel is saying.  Any change in Oregon 68 degree temps bring on plenty of complaints...haha.  It's either too hot, too cold, too rainy, not enough rain...you get the idea. We only get maybe 5 of these hot over 100 degree days a year. Haha.  So how do you stay cool on these hot summer days?  Let me know some good tips and tricks.  This is what I do... 1. Crank the AC up at work; 2. Crank the AC up at home; 3. Crank the AC up in my car getting to and from work; ( you can see there is a pattern there) 4. Drink plenty of fluids; 5. Keep all the fans and ceiling fans on; 6. Cook as little as possible; 7. Popsicles, plenty of Popsicles!!! Uhooo, yummy! 

It's Snowing!

I finally had a chance to sit down and post this.  No weather people called for this much snow.  When we got up at 5:00 am this morning it didn't look like we had anything at all, the roads looked dry.  At least until Bryant went outside and saw we had sleet and freezing rain.  The road was coated with a thin sheet of ice.  Then around 6:00-6:30, it started snowing!  It is absolutely beautiful on my street.  Our house is in all it's glory!  We have maybe 2.5-3 inches so far, but big fat flakes are still falling.  The schools are closed, including the College! whoo hoo.  I love snow days.  (wink)

Get out the row boats!

They seriously have gotten out the boats in some parts of the State.  We haven't seen it rain like this in about 10 years.  In Salem we got about 2.5 inches on Monday and another 1.75 yesterday.  Now I realize,  that most people (unless you have lived here) believe it "rains all the time" in Oregon.   We are getting some help right now from a weather event known as The Pineapple Express.  Ten years ago it may have been worse due to the time of year and our mountain snowpak.  Those warm rains came in and melted the snow causing more flooding than the buckets of rain it dropped.  Although it happens from time to time along the coast of CA, OR and WA, it isn't an annual event.   Here are some of our Annual averages in Salem, Oregon. 

·  Average annual temperature: max 63.1; min 40.9  ·  Average annual rainfall: 39.15"  ·  Average annual snowfall: 6.45"  ·  Average annual clear days: 77   ·  Average annual rainless days: 216   ·  Average annual wind velocity: 7.1 mph    ·  Average growing season: 204 days

This concludes your weather lesson for the day!  haha, smile  You may now resume your normal routine.

Hot, hot, hot this Weekend!

Be cool & stay in the shade!