Late winter storm hits New Zealand with hurricane force wind

| September 8, 2012

I’d love to visit and sail in New Zealand someday and I occasionally exchange emails back and forth with a couple friends living in that southern hemisphere country. One friend sent me a link on Friday after a strong storm hit Wellington with 140kmh (87mph) winds. They saw some damage throughout the city and it […]

Hurricane Isaac comes ashore with plenty of rain

| August 29, 2012

Hurricane Isaac s-l-o-w-l-y made its way ashore in Louisiana last night bringing 80mph winds and torrential rains. The category 1 storm may not have packed the punch associated with tight eye-walled hurricanes, but because it is moving at only 8mph, it dumps rain for a much longer period of time. Early reports are that a […]

Hurricane Katrina and Isaac are eerily similar

| August 28, 2012

Click for larger image In checking on TS Hurricane Isaac’s progress over lunch it was clear to see that those living in low lying areas on either side of the Mississippi River better be prepared for some nasty weather — currently the biggest threat appears to be rain. It is kind of eerie to see […]

Sailing and watching tropical storm/hurricane Isaac

| August 27, 2012

  I spent part of Sunday afternoon checking on tropical storm Isaac and watching some sailing (America’s Cup Preliminary races in San Francisco Bay). The sailing racing associated with America’s Cup has certainly changed in recent years and I’m not sure I’m happy with giving up the 12-meter monohulls this past decade? As for Isaac, […]

Isaac could reach hurricane strength by Thursday

| August 22, 2012

As expected, tropical storm Isaac has formed in the tropical Atlantic, about 500 miles east of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. The storm is expected to intensify into a hurricane Thursday or Friday in the Caribbean.

Liberty Township Ohio lightning takes another home

| July 18, 2012

Yikes … another lightning strike and fire too close to home (below is an out the window Palm Pre video on my way home tonight). This make the second house fire due to lightning in the last couple months in an area within walking distance from our home (May 2nd: LINK–amateur video). The surrounding area […]

The tropical disturbance is messing with my plans

| June 23, 2012

Since I’m hanging out at the boat this weekend getting Encore prepped for tropical weather/hurricane season, it is rather fitting that the chatter at the marina is about what is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. A couple neighboring boat have added a couple extra dock lines and removed some canvas. I’ve taken down the […]

Sharing an impressive and artistic Wind Map website

| March 30, 2012

Click and be impressed …

The Loop Current again — once a concern for the BP oil spill

| March 13, 2012

Strange story about the Loop Current that runs around the southern tip of Florida and a three month voyage of the abandoned Lucky Dog (previous story).   PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL – A boat that sank in the Gulf of Mexico in December has reappeared – on a beach on the east coast of Florida. […]

Storms cut a wide swath thru 10 Midwestern States

| March 3, 2012

Following up on yesterday’s Tech Friday weather watching post, I had no idea that we were in store for this much destruction; the front spawned over 80 tornadoes and impacted ten midwestern states. I’m sure the death toll by these strong storms without the advancements and communications available to those monitoring severe weather. It is […]

Tech Friday: Watching the weather with ChaserTV.com

| March 2, 2012

If you’re looking for a new way to watch the weather, check out ChaserTV.com … it is a weather and storm watching site and also has trackers with cameras in cars all tied to maps.  So instead of pulling up the basic weather while we are under a tornado watch here in the Cincinnati area […]

Winter is finally here with a little snow and colder weather

| January 14, 2012

I’m thankful for the mild weather so far this year and it’s not realistic to think we’ll make it through winter without snow or cold weather. Still, waking up on Friday to 35 mph gusts and temps in the teens was a shock to the body as I haven’t adapted to winter yet, have you?  […]

First snow for 2012 and a UK Top Gear chuckle

| January 2, 2012

It looks like we’ll be getting the first real snow of the season today … and definitely the first for 2012, Happy New Year by the way. I’m spending today at home tackling a few chores like helping my son put his snow tires on the VW GTI; it is not the most behaved vehicle […]

Katia is getting stronger and could threaten the US

| August 31, 2011

Here we go again … Tropical Storm Katia expected to become a Hurricane and tracking toward the NW while it continues to pick up energy. Hopefully it will peel off to the north and dump its rain and wind  well offshore … but after Irene, and knowing we’re in the heat of the strong storm […]

Enjoying a cool & clear evening, but reflecting on Irene’s impact

| August 29, 2011

Late August here in SW Ohio feels more like an autumn evening; the air has cooled and the late day sunset very still. I do like this time of year and am trying to enjoy the moment (photo over the house on Monday evening). Also I realize how fortunate we are not to have been […]

Hurricane Irene continues to track precisely as forecasted

| August 26, 2011

  Clouds from Hurricane Irene off the South Carolina beaches on Friday (click for larger) While most living near the east coast of the U.S. prepare for Irene, the rest of us watch and hope early warnings are being heeded and that preparations are/have been made for the wind, rain and surge heading north. It’s […]

What will the economic cost of Hurricane Irene be?

| August 26, 2011

As the east coast waits for hurricane Irene to unleash its torrent of wind, rain and surge, the financial markets are analyzing the cost to insurance companies, taxpayers and eventually insurers (in higher premiums). Some suggest that Irene could make it into the top five list due to the forecasted impact of heavily populated east […]

Hurricane Irene soaks Puerto Rico and takes aim on the U.S.

| August 22, 2011

The U.S east coast and Bahamas look to be in the crosshairs of a strengthening hurricane Irene. The storm finished with Puerto Rico leaving more than half the island without electricity and a quarter of the population without running water. No deaths or injuries have been reported at this time. Hurricane Irene’s winds remained at […]

Time to watch the weather IF you’re in the forecast zone

| August 2, 2011

As if the financial news from our country and from around the world isn’t creating enough waves, tropical storm and hurricane watchers are forecasting Emily. This is the first named tropical storm of 2011 to target the islands of the Caribbean, Bahamas and possibly east coast of Florida. Hmm … did I prepare appropriately?

Sweating the summer heat, financial markets & debt ceiling vote

| July 28, 2011

In the Midwest we’re still sweating from the 90+ degree heat (12 days in a row for Cincinnati), although I’m getting use to it. We’re also sweating the debt ceiling and cost cutting measures being proposed in Washington DC by politicians. Like most of America, I watch the haggling and posturing between the extremes on […]

Storms, rain and more unusually severe weather continues

| May 23, 2011

I worked my way home west to east in southwestern Ohio either pursuing or being pursued by the severe thunderstorms passing through Monday night. I had to clear a tree and branches in our lane before I could safely get my car into the garage (photo below). The wind was blowing ‘straight-lined’ so hard that […]

I am not complaining, but it is kind of toasty today

| May 17, 2011

I’m trying to work through my checklist this afternoon on the boat since Brenda is off on her way driving her parent north for the summer. They will soon find out how well my son has been managing the house, feeding pets and knocking off the short chores list we have given him after his […]

What a muddy mess I have made of the backyard

| May 9, 2011

With the amount of rain we have been having this spring, we’ve had constant grass growth without hardly a day of dry weather in order to mow. I finally had to cut the soggy backyard for fear of never being able to cut it without a brush hog. After making the decision to cut it, […]

More snow, you must be kidding?

| April 1, 2011

Woke up this morning to protesting snow-people … we’ve had far too much winter weather this year here in Ohio (and I suspect many other areas feel the same way). It started at the beginning of December and didn’t give us much of a reprieve … unfortunately the forecast isn’t for spring quite yet either. […]

Rain and wind cause havoc at Sun n Fun in Lakeland Florida

| March 31, 2011

The annual Sun ‘n Fun air and trade show is a rite of spring for many pilots who regularly enjoy one of the premier fly-ins in the country. This year the weather in central Florida (Lakeland) did not cooperate and sent heavy ran and damaging winds through the airport ground. Early reports indicating that people […]

Snow, Snow, go away and a nice dinner out

| March 31, 2011

Isn’t it about time for this long winter to end? It was a slippery day of driving and another couple of inches of snow while making my way around northeastern Ohio on Wednesday. About the only positive was an enjoyable “Two for $20” dinner with my daughter at Applebee’s. A couple of spring 2011 snow […]

A misty sky and a Cincinnati area “Supermoon” photo

| March 20, 2011

Although my ‘supermoon’ photo from Saturday night isn’t one of the better ones from across the country, I did head outside to admire the “brightest moon since 1993.” The moon appear in its full phase just 50 minutes shy of the orbit that brings it closest to the earth … perigee. According to what I’ve […]

A rainy day is a good time to work on “inside” boat projects

| March 10, 2011

With a front moving through bringing rain all day on Thursday, it was a good day to tackle some non-essential ‘interior’ boat projects. After replacing the autopilot a month ago and waiting to see if all was good, I finally replaced the ceiling access panels — not as easy of a task as it sounds. […]

Watching my son’s flight before heading to the airport

| March 5, 2011

My son Taylor is spending his spring break with his dad … moi … and I’m anxiously waiting for his flight to make its connection in Washington DC before heading to the airport to pick him up. I know he is looking forward to coming down to Florida and getting out of rainy Ohio. The […]

This winter has been tough on our swimming pool

| February 9, 2011

I didn’t put the cover on the pool this winter and so I’m able to see the damage to the ceramic tiles as it happens. With all the snow, rain and freezing temps, the winter weather is having fun snapping off tiles more than usual. Looks like I’m in for some work and pool repair […]

A little snow this evening surprised me

| February 7, 2011

Noticed a little snow driving to the grocery and then came out to see it covering the cars and the streets. Surprised me. Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

A long slow drive from western New York to Cincinnati Ohio

| January 21, 2011

Thursday was not the day to be driving in Ohio as the snow and traffic made for slow travel. I unfortunately drove from western New York to afternoon appointments in Akron and had to pass through Columbus near rush hour – obviously not named for the speed in which I was traveling! I did finally […]

Whoops … FedEx missed the driveway. Now what?

| January 12, 2011

It will be interesting to see if the FedEx driver delivering to our home on Tuesday will voluntarily make note of this “error in judgment” … or if the little off-roading incident will go unmentioned? I’ll need to check on things when the snow melts, but perhaps someone reading this knows how it is best […]

Lake Erie Cleveland Light House coated with ice

| December 26, 2010

I’ve been looking for some good photos (before and after) of at NE Ohio ice coated lighthouse … Joe Rousé shared some excellent ones. Light House Becomes A Popsicle Before, during the summer. Now, after a freezing temperatures and big waves on Lake Erie crashed over a Cleveland lighthouse. Do you think it’s vanilla flavored? […]

We’re having a cold and snowy December this year

| December 17, 2010

Palm Pre photo after clearing the driveway on Thursday I’ve had to put the snowblower on my old John Deere 330 a bit early for SW Ohio this year since we’ve had significantly more snow and colder weather this entire month. In years past I remember crossing our fingers that some snow would whiten the […]

There’s little humor in my procrastination

| December 14, 2010

I started to clear a little snow away from the pool skimmer lids this evening and fitted my compressor to blow out the water lines … but it’s just too cold to continue on. It might be better to wait a couple days and keep the pool from freezing by running the pump. I was […]

Procrastination taken to the extreme. What was I thinking?

| December 13, 2010

Just in case your wife complains that you are a procrastinator for putting off all the Christmas decorating and shopping this time of year, all you have to do it point to me. After realizing that Rich hasn’t even closed the pool yet this year, she should appreciate you far more and forgive your minor […]

Wrapping up the busy 2010 hurricane season

| December 1, 2010

Hurricanes Karl, Igor and  Julia  (from left to right on Sept. 16) were part of the onslaught of Atlantic storms this season. Download here (Credit: NOAA) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) closes the book on one of the was busiest hurricane seasons on record which is in contrast to the eastern North Pacific […]

First cold weekend of the year here in Cincinnati

| November 7, 2010

While behind on my autumn chores, I was shocked to see my gutters iced over when cleaning them out on Saturday. I didn’t realized that the temperature dropped so much and was actually shocked to see 21 degrees this morning. No wonder the furnace is running so much already! Palm Pre smartphone video posted to […]

Strong weather expect in SW Ohio this afternoon

| October 26, 2010

As the strong front approaches from the Indiana area there is a tornado watch in for the entire Cincinnati area, but warning have been issued everywhere by the National Weather service in anticipation of tornados (odd, thought the “warning” label was maintained for actual tornados?). Radar images show a heavy band and local reports from […]

Looking back: 5 years since Hurricane Wilma

| October 24, 2010

Five years? Has it been that long? Every once in a while I check in with my blog’s Way Back Machine (links to the right) and noticed that “Years ago on this day”  5 years ago hurricane Wilma crossed the southern part of Florida. Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005

Working on home projects and watching football

| September 19, 2010

The last weekend of summer was a little muscle taxing as Brenda and I worked around the house on a few overdue yard and home projects. Along with the yard work, we also pick up a few new perennial plants that were marked down as well as a new tree.  This year’s tree is a […]

Hurricane watching and playing with GRIB files

| August 30, 2010

As the tropical activity heats up in the Atlantic, I wanted to play a little more with raw data to see exactly what kind of projections are concluded. For those not in the bluewater sailing  or weather watching world, the data is downloaded and run in GRIB file readers. I’m using UGRIB and imported the […]

Here we go again: 14 yr old girl “ready” to sail around the world

| August 6, 2010

Far be in from me to discourage sailing, cruising and voyaging around the world … but at some point a parent will go too far in supporting a parent’s a child’s dream. Personally speaking my childhood hero was Robin Lee Graham who set sail at 16 for his around the world voyage – and there […]

Hot weather, thunderstorms and dramatic skies

| August 4, 2010

There are times that a photo doesn’t do the brilliance and vibrant color of the sky justice; Wednesday afternoon was one of those days. While we experienced some overly hot weather that saw the “heat index” rise to 112 degrees (below), the clouds, after a cleansing rain, created a beautiful view.  

It’s been hot and humid, but beautiful summer so far

| July 26, 2010

Clouds building in Butler County Ohio as the summer heat persists (photo with Palm Pre)  In the 35 days of summer 2010 this season, 27 days have seen temperature 85 degrees or hotter … with 10 of those days in the 90s. Of course that doesn’t tell the entire story, as 26 of those sweltering […]

It’s HOT! Where’s the Summer Breeze?

| July 8, 2010

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Hot Weather to continue Wednesday and Thursday

| July 7, 2010

While stopping for lunch to check my emails this afternoon, I opened my Slingbox and noticed that triple digits will be hit up and down the east coast.  For once I’m thankful to only be in the 90’s while driving in Ohio. The heatwave has been cooking has been cooking us for the past couple […]

Beautiful sunny morning then rain on this first day of summer

| June 21, 2010

We are enjoying the changing weather as a thunderstorm rolls through over my  lunchtime break here in Cincinnati. Since I’m at the house today, I had a chance to snap a few “first day of summer” photos. It is awe inspiring to see and hear storms arrive from the west and feel the cooling rain […]

Rogue waves kills 2 and injures 14 on a cruise ship in Med

| March 3, 2010

A large rogue wave, actually three “abnormal” waves, hit a Greek cruise ship with 1350 passengers and 580 crew in the Mediterranean north of Barcelona, Spain killing two passengers and injuring fourteen. The Louis Cruise Line ship, Louis Majesty, has 14 decks and is over two football fields long. It hit the three 26 foot […]

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile and tsunami warning

| February 27, 2010

After tuning into the news early on Saturday following the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake which struck the coast of Chile, I checked back in this afternoon after 4PM as Hawaii waited to feel the effects from the earthquake after a tsunami warning. The large earthquake has taken the lives of over 800 people (edit: 3/4) and […]

Snow beautified picturesque Glendale Cemetery in Akron Ohio

| February 20, 2010

While traveling to NE Ohio this week, and waiting to meet with my daughter for lunch in Akron Ohio, I drove through the gates of snow crusted Glendale Cemetery founded as Akron Rural Cemetery in 1839.  While steering through the snow-covered drives in serene park-like setting, I took the opportunity to capture the snow surrounding […]

Breaking February snowfall records in SW Ohio

| February 16, 2010

Now that the worst of the couple of days of winter snow are over, I noticed that Clinton County (a county to the east) has just now declared a LEVEL 3 Snow Emergency (the one that closes roadways to non-emergency personnel – see below). I had thought that road crews were getting on top of […]

Nearing February snowfall records in SW Ohio

| February 15, 2010

The El Niño as certainly brought it share of precipitation this year, although I’m not sure where the warmer weather is? Here in Cincinnati we’re surpassing our February snowfall averages and nearing records, so I have been hearing – WCPOWeather Tweet. We’ve already past last year for snow for this time of year (21.5”) by […]

Slow work week due to snow although the economy doesn’t help

| February 10, 2010

I’m ‘enjoying’ (sort of) staying in town this week since most of Ohio has been receiving a good dose of snow. I’ve been out shoveling the walk (Palm Pre photo left – click for larger) and snowblowing the driveway more than once already – and no doubt will do it again before the last few […]

Thinking about New Orleans 4 years after Katrina

| August 31, 2009

Watching the tropical storms and hurricane firing up this season in both Pacific and Atlantic, I noticed that my posts 4 years ago reflected on Hurricane Katrina as it first came ashore on the east coast of Florida and then returned to power its way into New Orleans (my blog posts 1, 2, 3, 4 […]

Another slick day of driving in southwestern Ohio

| February 3, 2009

Here’s hoping that everyone who lives in my neck of the woods, from Dayton to Cincinnati Ohio,  made it home safely?  The roadways on Tuesday afternoon were about as slick as they can get without being sheets of ice. That was evident by the very slow going and significant number of vehicle either in the […]

Strong 70+ mph winds do damage in Ohio

| September 14, 2008

Hurricane Ike didn’t just come ashore and disappear after the Texas and Louisiana landfall, but continued to leave damage in its path. On Sunday here in Ohio, the strong winds arrived and were gusting over 70 mph between 2 and 6 PM. Here in the Cincinnati area, power outages were widespread — 650,000 in the […]

Winter is here – a little more global warming please

| January 25, 2008

While I was out feeding the dog before sunrise and creaking over the light snow on the sidewalk, I thought “it feels really cold today?” Brrr … it is! Thankfully the sun is out and should warm things up a little bit. Maybe this is a good time to point out that during the 1970s […]

Snow, Ice, Curb = Bent Tie Rod

| December 16, 2007

Winter weather has arrived and many drivers ‘new and old’ are remembering how to drive on slippery road again. Having a teenage driver who is still learning to manage rain, ice and snow is a recipe for car repairs — few escape unscathed, from what I can tell? This weekend was the first for my […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog