Ice Ice Baby!

Shots from our local dose of winter on Friday:

Storm over Coventry

I snapped these shots with my cell phone around 11 AM this morning at the Village at Coventry; I don't recall ever having seen a storm like this before. Shortly before these pictures, the sky was overcast, and looked dark off to the west. I then observed what looked like a white band across the front of a dark band of clouds roll across the horizon. There was wind and lightning in the cloud formation, but no rain fell during it's passover.




As the formation passed overhead, one could observe it to appear to be pushing the lighter sky in front of it out of it's way as it moved eastward. Then, within 2-3 minutes, blue skies and white clouds appeared behind the dark mass. You can see that in the back of this photo:


Here are a couple of linear shots as the storm reached the shopping center:

The blue skies and clouds behind the front didn't last long; the real storm was moments behind them and poured rain for about 30 minutes before finally clearing.

Snow Day

Well. . .we finally got snow. Although it doesn't look all that bad in these pics, Allen County is under a Level-II snow emergency, meaning no travel other'n emergency and to and from work.

Looking Out My Back Door (doot doot doot)


It's supposed to continue through this afternoon with another 2-3 inches expected.

The Front View

I guess I'd better go fire up the snowblower. . .

Snow Day by Three Day's Wait

Who'll Stop the Rain?!

This isn't actually a picture taken here in Indiana today, but it COULD be! The forecast calls for more of this tomorrow. . .and Wednesday. . .and Thursday. . .and. . .well, you get the point.

When we suffered through one of the driest summers on record here in the midwest, we never realized that all of the missing precipitation was merely being banked by Mother Nature for one enormous show in late August. . .she must be a fan of the "wait for it" school of theater. All I know for sure is that my dead lawn looks rather depressing, floating underneath the numerous ponds that have developed all over it. The mulch that I so carefully applied earlier in the summer has made a desperate escape attempt; riding the swirling streams of water halfway into the yard, and smothering what grass defiantly dared to grow during the long dry spell - a double herbicide, indeed.

I am certain that our gutters should be functioning normally; I installed gutter guards on them myself, and my wife cleared all of the tree debris from the roof in June. Yet that roaring sound coming from the front door turned out to be rainwater pouring off of the top of the gutter and assisting the mulch in it's futile efforts to return to the mother tree! I care not to investigate, and shall not until all has dried out once more.

My sleep last eve was fitful and disturbed. I kept awaking to a loud, oddly familiar, growling sound from the depths below our bedroom. Fearing that a bear, or at the very least a large raccoon, had invaded the basement, I wisely remained in bed secure in the knowledge that the beast would likely drown down there if the sump pump fail. . .oh! Well, I hadn't heard the wretched thing run in nearly 3 months!!

The lake in our back yard (Not from the rain; it's always been there) seems to be getting closer. I just looked out the back door, and I swear that it's 50 yards closer to the house! I fear that sleep tonight may be a challenge again; and wish I wasn't such an avid reader of Stephen King . .at least the growling will bother me no more. Thank heavens we disposed of the water bed several years ago - I would wake up screaming in a cold sweat for sure!

I'm certain that this was all bound to occur sooner or later. We live in a town called Fort Rain, the local weather service is called NOAA, our esteemed state representative is named Moses, and we're famous for our Three Rivers Festival. You can't say that we weren't warned. . .

Good night. . .I hope.

Tragedy in Aboite!

Early this morning, during the ice storm which swept the area overnight, another innocent soul suffered the loss of his longtime home. Benjamin Bushytail, pictured here in happier times late last summer, described the incident to this reporter:

"I was fast asleep in my home in the hollow tree where I have resided all of my life. Suddenly I hear this cracking noise, and the entire top of my tree was just gone! I didn't know what to do. . .ya see, I spent all summer storing hickory nuts in my warm and dry nest, and there I was, sitting on my nuts, with freezing rain hailing down on me. So I just sat there all night, on my freezing nuts, and waited out the storm."



Mr.Bushytail spent the better part of the morning looking for temporary living quarters as well as nut storage. Longtime resident Billy Blacktail graciously offered temporary digs in his huge oak tree home across the way.





"This could have happened to any one of us", proclaimed Blacktail. "I'm happy to help out my fellow squirrel in need. Fortunately for Ben, the worst of the winter is over, at least if you can believe that crazy groundhog Phil who lives down by the lake."

Snow Day

Wow. I feel like I'm back in school today. 'Cause that's the last time I ever remember having a snow day. . .My supply chain is shut down, so I have no work today, my wife's employer is closed, and our daycare provider as well as the local schools are closed as well. Some pictures from our deck:

BBBBBRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew it was gonna be cold this week, but. . .jeezow! Even the local Rethuglicans will be BLUE! The official Aboite temperature at the time of this writing is -4. . .

The National Weather Service update for 46804-Fort Wayne, IN - 02/04-07:

Rest Of Tonight:
Partly cloudy. Lows around 5 below. West winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Wind chill readings 15 below to 25 below zero.

Sunday:
Mostly cloudy. Chance of flurries. Highs around 6. West winds 10 to 20 mph. Wind chill readings 14 below to 24 below zero.

Sunday Night:
Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. Lows around 4 below. West winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Wind chill readings 18 below to 27 below zero.

Monday:
Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. Highs around 5. West winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Wind chill readings 17 below to 27 below zero.

Monday Night:
Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. Lows around 4 below. West winds 10 to 15 mph. Wind chill readings around 21 below.

In December and January, our local high temps were averaging in the 40's and 50's. . . I guess Mother Nature felt a need to reassert herself! Seriously, the above forecast is NOT typical Indiana fare, even in a "normal" winter. Then again, neither were the 40-50 degree highs we experienced over the last couple of months. . .things have definately gone haywire here in the heartland. . .