So hows the weather?

[Damelon]

A week from Saturday, I'll be in the Caribbean.

Cruising? If so which ship .. my son cruises the Caribbean .. dancer, singer and holds classes on Carnival cruises.

No. We'll be on the island of Curacao.

[Lazy Luke]

Very cold and very frosty this morning, with a view of spectacular Venus, the Moon, and Jupiter.

[Skyweir]

Nice Lukey

Cooler today top of 18C

[aliantha]

That's going to be a shock to the system..

--A

And an even worse shock to the system when he gets back.

[Skyweir]

[Orlion]

Six inches of snow, but that did not stop me from making a Waffle House run this morning! Naturally, I did not have waffles because I'm not devoid of imagination and wonder.

[SoulBiter]

Six inches of snow, but that did not stop me from making a Waffle House run this morning! Naturally, I did not have waffles because I'm not devoid of imagination and wonder.

Scattered, smothered and covered?

[Orlion]

Six inches of snow, but that did not stop me from making a Waffle House run this morning! Naturally, I did not have waffles because I'm not devoid of imagination and wonder.

Scattered, smothered and covered?

Believe it or not, I go there mainly for the grits and a cook there makes the bacon taste like my grandfather use to make!

[StevieG]

It's raining ash - but there is some rain forecast later in the week, so REALLY hoping for that.

Meanwhile it's flooding in Queensland....

[aliantha]

Raining ash?? Yikes!

I heard about the flooding. That's no bueno.

We're starting to warm up here, after a few days last week in the deep freeze. We were in the 50s today and all the snow is gone. Supposed to hit 64 degrees on Tuesday. Too weird.

[Avatar]

Partly cloudy and mild, so that's nice.

--A

[Skyweir]

It's raining ash - but there is some rain forecast later in the week, so REALLY hoping for that.

Meanwhile it's flooding in Queensland....

Not good ..

When we had bushfires in Canberra a few years back and I volunteered to help firefight .. the raining ash thing actually burns. Tiny little embers floating in the air .. nasty and dangerous.

[Sorus]

That's terrible. It rained ash here during the last two big fires, but it had cooled off by the time it got here.

They're saying there's an itty-bitty chance of snow tomorrow if the stars align or some meteorological magic. Not gonna happen, but it's certainly very cold.

[Menolly]

Here on the Eastside of Seattle, going without snow in a season is more typical than not. In the six winters I've been here, we've had a few snowy days. But nearly a foot in 24 hours? Not gonna happen.

Or so I thought until today.

[Sorus]

So pretty! This city would break if it snowed. We can barely function when it rains.

[Menolly]

Pretty much the same here. Even most nonemergency outpatient departments at the hospitals appear to have closed today.

[Savor Dam]

Both metropolitan areas have the additional challenge in snowy weather of being built on fairly vertical topography. Lots of hills. When you add in that neither extended city has drivers with much snow experience, the result is that all the tech workers work from home (yay, computers!) and the rest have to muddle through somehow.

Both are also surrounded by water (Seattle by the Salish Sea (aka Puget Sound) and freshwater like Lakes Washington and Sammammish, the San Francisco peninsula by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay) which is a huge reason why neither usually get much snow. I grew up in the southern reaches of San Francisco Bay (called the Valley of Hearts Delight back then...but Silicon Valley now), and saw one snowy morning in eighteen years.

In between these two venues, Dam-sel and I spent seven years in the American Siberia of Cleveland, Ohio. Flat, yes...but I will see the overnight foot of snow Menolly photographed on our deck and raise her five more feet of overnight snow that was not uncommon in Cleveland.

When I moved Dam-sel, Dam-et, and myself back West in 2000, I sold them on the change by saying "rain doesn't have to be shoveled!"

[Sorus]

We're having a bit of hail right now, and Director Donner is hiding under my chair. Unfazed by thunderstorms, mildly annoyed by earthquakes, but hail is apparently Very Scary.

[aliantha]

It's finally warming up. And I've been wondering why my nose is running like crazy. It's not a cold -- it's an allergy-type discharge. (Don't worry -- I'm not going to get any more graphic than that! )

Turns out we've been under a Code Orange air quality alert since Saturday. We usually get inversions in the summer months, but this time we're being treated (ahem) to a rare winter event.

Anyway, it's supposed to dissipate later this week.

[Avatar]

Bit of a storm last night, helps keep the daytime temps reasonable. Mid-20's forecast for the rest of the week, and more rain.

--A