Posts from the ‘Weather’ category

Weather, etc.

The waning “super moon” greeted us on this morning’s first outing.

Overnight dew turned into ground mist as the sun rose.

A beautiful, cool morning…

Bear stood watch on Beardog Point after our perimeter walk.

Bob took the front door duty after he walked down the driveway with me. Although we started another round of a combo medication – just to be sure we beat the bugs – Bob is very close to 100% back to normal Bob. Hoo-rah!!

We took extra time outside this morning – for a work day… after a wonderful run of cool weather with overnight rain and some daytime showers, a sudden jump into summer and heat is forecast.

I looked at NOAA yesterday afternoon.

Hazardous Weather Outlook ???? … for sunshine ???

No, for heat. Not just heat, historic heat!! See, I am not the only heat wimp in Montana :) !

***Colorado West Fork Complex. I guess because no structures have been lost, i.e. there is not enough drama for this fire to continue to make the news despite the fact that there are 1400 people working it with no containment yet and continued extreme fire behavior. It is good news that no structures have been lost and people like my folks are VERY grateful for the effort. My folks are still evacuated – their home is on the edge of South Fork, CO which is closest to the north east border of the largest fire. The fire is still spotting up to a mile away and also doing some crown runs. A bulldozed fire line which is being continually monitored and widened sits between their house and the fire. Firefighters have also been able to protect Wolf Creek ski area, numerous cabins and other small resorts. It is still a matter of weather but there is some hope that things will be calm enough to allow access this coming weekend.

May Day

May 1. Happy May Day!

We don’t do much about May Day here in the U.S. but when I first moved to Montana, I happened to be in a local book shop on May Day morning when the husband of Heidi brought her a cup of coffee, gave her a May Day kiss and went happily away to deliver May Day baskets. Heidi, who is also the potter that made my “word” dishes, related that her husband, Leif, LOVED May Day and that he made gorgeous baskets of goodies to give to friends and family. I hope he still does.

My Grandpa Jim declared that May Day was the day to shuck your shoes and go barefoot for the summer.

May 1 is also the traditional day to plant sweet peas.

May Day here in Montana, this year, dawned gray and a little foggy but it is to clear and hit 51F this afternoon. Anything above 50 is shorts weather but I might wait just a bit as it is currently only 34F.

The last 2 days of April did a great job of acting like Winter. Monday, Bear and I headed out in the Jeep for a walk at the subdivision up the highway. It was so windy that I was a bit concerned about walking in the woods as Bear and I do not have helmets. As we got near the highway, it was obvious that a snow squall was approaching. The clouds moving along the mountain range were dark and heavy, obscuring the mountains completely. We turned around, got a quick walk in the most open area of the woods and made it inside before a blizzard-like squall hit with even stronger wind, blowing snow and temperatures that plummeted 10 degrees in short order.

Yesterday, we tried again. It was gray, but calm.

As we drove into the subdivision, it started graupeling. I parked. It usually doesn’t graupel for long.

Typically, when it graupels, like when it hails, it is a quick squall.

We waited.

I had a good book on my phone Kindle app.

Ten minutes and the graupel changed to snow.

We had a snowy walk on the last day of April.

And then we returned to Winter.

Today, though, today is May 1.

I’ll kick off my shoes and put on my shorts.

This afternoon.

I hope.

A change in the weather

The forecast from NOAA late this morning indicates we are in for a bit of everything.

The verbage for this afternoon, evening and tomorrow states that in addition to the sunshine giving way to clouds, two cold fronts will whoosh through…emphasis on the whooshing as high winds are forecast.

On the way back from town this morning, I could see the change happening: Blue sky and sunshine to the east was starting to give way to dark clouds.

The clouds were smoothing out with the promised wind.

Spots of sunshine dotted the peaks of the peaks that border the southern end of the Flathead Valley. A bit of lake occasionally reflected bright from some sun.

Now, early evening, it is dark and windy. It is hours until sunset but the black clouds and gusty wind signal a change in the weather.

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Earlier this week, I took some quick video of Bear walking in the woods to show Dr. Clark when we go for our 8 week xray this coming Friday. It is a short, no frills video with a snippet of Bob at the end. It is very jumpy. I took it with my phone, walking behind Bear…in the woods. Still, it shows Bear walking comfortably and normally at a good pace over uneven ground. It is hard to believe that here we are – end of week 7 and starting week 8. Hurrah! And Bob’s ear has not puffed up so hopefully we are done with the Yoda ear part. I expect it will take some time to fully eradicate the yeast infection, though.

BearAndBobWalking0424 from Liz Summers on Vimeo.