Strange Weather Continues

Posted on Sat,January/6/2007 by Ken

It’s 8 degrees on January 6 in Toronto. Ontario’s largest ski facility, Blue Mountain, announced the layoff of over 1300 people due to a lack of snow and unfavorable snow-making conditions. Trees are starting to blossom. To top it all off, weather forecasters are saying that we’re not really going to get any winter conditions to speak of this year.

On the other side of the country, Vancouver continues to get hit with wind and cold weather possibly leading to the collapse of the inflated dome roof on BC Place stadium yesterday. Their forecast for today shows heavy rain coming which will make the repair difficult.

Our long rate outlook suggests that we might actually see some light snow next Thursday but they’ve been way wrong too many times to count this season so we could be swimming instead. Hell, New York City is looking a 20 degrees today – only 8 below Florida’s expected highs.

I just confirmed that I’ll be travelling to Zurich on February 3 and they’re looking at double digit temperatures next week as well. Looks like I’ll have to get up into the Alps to see any snow this year.

I Know How They Feel

Posted on Thu,January/4/2007 by Ken

Much has been made about a reported UFO sighting late last year by United Airlines workers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Reading this followup story, I was immediately drawn to this quote:

“To fly 7 million light years to O’Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable,” said O’Hare controller and union official Craig Burzych.

I’ve had the misfortune to fly into O’Hare on busy days only to spend an hour or so waiting for a gate so I know exactly how the aliens felt.

Of course, FAA officials are saying that it was a weather phenomenon which brings to mind this graphic.

Christmas Eve 2006

Posted on Sun,December/24/2006 by Ken

It’s far too warm for Christmas Eve but the weatherman says that’s all going to change in the next few days. So, I grabbed the camera and set off for the Terra Cotta Conservation Area. A nice area about 1/2 hour from Brampton that contains the Credit River and the tributaries that run into it. I ran into this stream just inside the park and decided to play with the DSLR.

I was trying for running water so these few pictures are really meant to show this. Using aperature control, I exposed the shot so that exposure time would be longer to give the water a silky flow. The tricky part is getting the exposure just right so the timing is longer but the colors don’t get blown out by the amount of light received. I shot in RAW mode and made sure that the camera thought it was shooting in bright sunshine. This is done by metering off a bright area and then locking the exposure before focusing on the darker subject. This second shot really captures the look I was going for. The water rushes so quickly that it is blurred by the exposure and appears to be a continuous object. The color of the ferns was modified just a bit.

All in all, I’m happy with the way they turned out. Clicking on any of these will take you to the image on Flickr where they can be downloaded if you want.

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Is It Time to Move Christmas?

Posted on Thu,December/21/2006 by Ken

With Christmas under increasing fire from non-Christians and, let’s face it, losing most of its religious connotations in an orgy of retail frenzy, perhaps we should look at changing the actual date.

Anyone trying to fly out of London Heathrow or Denver Colorado today is finding that the weather is conspiring to screw up their holiday. Fog in England and snow in the US is closing airports or delaying flights.

Why not hold Christmas in June? Just before the start of the summer vacation period. The weather is better.

Just a thought.

Bad Times In BC

Posted on Tue,December/19/2006 by Ken

British Columbia, and indeed the entire Northwest coast of North America, has been going through some really savage weather lately. Snow, rain and terrible winds have been lashing the area for weeks and the damage cleanup continues. I haven’t been following the news closely but this story hit home.

I lived in the Vancouver area for a number of years in the 60′s and 70′s. Many, many hours were spent walking through Stanley Park which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest greenspaces on Earth. At the edge of downtown Vancouver, the park is a sanctuary of old growth forests, the seawall and numerous walking paths. It’s hard to believe how powerful the winds must have been to take down some of these huge furs.

Liftoff? Check! Docking? Affirmative

Posted on Mon,December/11/2006 by Ken

STS-116 mission continues with a successful docking with the ISS (International Space Station).

Discovery seems to have weathered the launch extremely well with no unusual damage noted during an exhaustive search.

(story)

Claireville

Posted on Sun,November/26/2006 by Ken

We’re going through a period of unseasonably warm weather with the high today hitting 14 degrees. Won’t last long.

Took a drive over to the Claireville Conservation Area but the sky was such a monotonous grey that all the color was washed out of the fields.

One picture I did get was of this tired fellow waiting for a customer at the Claireville Ranch. Standing hoof-deep in mud he was looking very forlorn but he did perk up a bit when I approached. I just wish I had a carrot or apple for him.

This Is Out Of Hand

Posted on Fri,November/17/2006 by Ken

How badly do people want to get a hold of Sony’s new PlayStation 3? Apparently enough to get shot while waiting in line. Thugs attempted to hold up a lineup of buyers at a Putnam Connecticut Wal-Mart early this morning.

One person was shot after refusing to give up his cash.

Here in Toronto, nerds lined up for 2 days in crummy weather to be the first to have one.

Me, I’ve got a PS2 that is gathering dust.

(STORY)

One Mars Explorer To Help The Other

Posted on Tue,November/14/2006 by Ken

NASA is planning to use the newly arrived Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (pictured below) to take pictures of the 10 year old Global Surveyor in hopes to determine why the aging craft has stopped communicating. (STORY)

Think about that for a second. Two spacecraft over 200 million miles from Earth will be brought to within 93 miles of each other. We may have become jaded when it comes to space exploration but every so often something comes along that makes you just want to say WOW!!

In related news, the annual Leonid metor shower hits its peak this weekend and astronomers predict that this year’s show could be spectacular with activity of 100-600 meterors per hours between 11:45PM and 1:33 AM (EST) Saturday night. Might be a good chance to check out the DSLR’s long exposure capabilities. That is if the damm weather cooperates.

Through The Mist Darkly

My head is in the clouds

Tag Archives: weather