The title of this topic is about the weather. Get back on topic please.

9 hours ago, dave2013 said:

I can name another place that absurdly claims to be its own country, but I'd get into trouble.

WAIT!!  TEXAS!!  You're talking about Texas aren't you!? 😄 

OK, I'll get back to talking about the weather now.

Even with all the Summery weather here (60's) we still have a few square inches of ice in the shadows. I'm pretty sure it's actually ice; I haven't been out to check.

Those shoes. Thanks for posting the article about them. I'm guessing if you wore them in the snow (obligatory weather reference), they'd be fairly functional as skis. More likely you'd be "skiing" across the top of a few inches of... manure, from some of the stories I've heard.

I can't believe Mike posted that about fingernails. I can only assume he's talking about snow shoveling. 😄 

Now, where are we? Oh yes, the 250 year celebration. I lived in the Washington DC area during the Bicentennial in 1976. It was indeed impressive. I'm glad that celebration is during the good weather of summer. 🙂 

Less about weather, but I hope it's interesting for most people. Various claims about the age of countries reminds me of the various claims about who invented the hamburger and french fries. Stick with me here.

Both the hamburger and french fries were introduced during the 1904 Worlds Fair in New York. The hamburger is claimed to have been invented in Corsicana Texas (I used to live near there). If I remember right, it consisted of a ground beef patty in a bun with a slice of onion and mustard. There is a usurper somewhere in Oklahoma who claims to be the origin. French fries were, I believe, deep fried potato wedges served with a tomato sauce, not exactly ketchup. These came from Paris Texas (I live near there now) and were probably called Paris Fries. The highly educated Noo Yawk journalist who reported them saw the word "Paris" in the title and recognizing it as a city in France dubbed them French Fries. This is my story and I'm sticking to it. 🙂 

There's nothing wrong with Tennessee. It was the prettiest and most interesting part of the drive between Washington DC and Dallas. One year the entire road was buried under a few inches of ice. The 18 wheelers were tooling along at freeway speeds, so I did too. This was in my Scriocco, and it was like driving a boat. Steering was mostly a suggestion. I wouldn't do that again; I'm older and wiser now.

We need to keep this thread open at least until those last few square inches of ice finally disappear. At the current rate, that may take up to a week.

Anyone wanting to talk about the age of various countries is encouraged to start another thread. I'll be glad to talk about the Bicentennial celebration in Washington DC there. Thanks.

Hook 

Our 5 days of winter are over.  We got 8 inches of snow and zero degree temps overnight.  But it was all gone in 5 days and our temps are back to highs in the 60s.  Our snow sublimates more than it melts so we get no slush.  Such is life in the high desert.

Noel

12 hours ago, birdguy said:

As for the Republic of the United States I could apply some of your comments to it but that would get the thread closed as being too political.

But pointy shoes won't get it closed!

You know I would wear pointy shoes to stay WARM in this COLD weather.  That extra space at the toes could hold warm air, keeping my toes toasty.  And I'd grow my pinky finger nails long just for all of you, as I contemplated tiny European Republics.

It's 70 out there right now and there are STILL two small patches of ice. One is oblong about 3x6 inches and the other a little larger and looks like a break-dancing amoeba. 

We had a severe snow storm in the DC area once. I measured about 2 feet burying my poor Scirocco. Long after the snow was gone near my apartment I was taken on a drive and the snow plowed from the roads was still stacked on the edges of the roads, after several weeks.

Hook

1 hour ago, Mace said:

You know I would wear pointy shoes to stay WARM in this COLD weather.

I learned to stay WARM in the COLD weather once when riding my Goldwing motorcycle on my 80 mile commute to work in Texas once when the temperature was 17 degrees. Mostly over freeways. I didn't have a car at the time.

Everything was two layers. Thin socks under heavy socks in military boots. Thin pants under heavy pants (left over from when I worked at a restaurant, the black and white checks variety). A windbreaker under a heavy coat. A nylon scarf under wool one under my full face helmet. A pair of thin deer skin gloves under military shells. I never noticed the cold. Thank goodness the road was completely dry.

I had a Marine rain suit for rainy weather. I once went on a job interview in the pouring rain with my interview suit under the rain suit and light boots, jacket and dress shoes in the baggage compartment. I met the recruiter there who must have thought I was crazy. He later remarked, "He got off the bike, turned around twice, and was ready for the interview!" Including the Florsheim wingtips. 😄 

Summer had the opposite problem. Sometimes the faster you went the hotter it got. That's when I traded the bike for the Mercedes 300D, mostly for the air conditioning. 🙂 

Hook

Edited February 6Feb 6 by LHookins

An update on the weather here in Surrey, BC, just across the Fraser River from Vancouver, BC. Yesterday's high reached 14°C (57°F) and it was a beautiful, sunny day, and today the temperature is expected to be about the same. Yesterday, my wife and I went for a walk in a park along the Fraser River and saw three large bald-headed eagles. 

Although we do get some snow (around 1 inch or so) every now and then in most winters, it looks as if we may have the first snowless winter in 43 years, according to the CBC.

Edited February 6Feb 6 by JRMurray

🔒 coming if there is one more off topic post!

3 hours ago, LHookins said:

It's 70 out there right now and there are STILL two small patches of ice. One is oblong about 3x6 inches and the other a little larger and looks like a break-dancing amoeba. 

We had a severe snow storm in the DC area once. I measured about 2 feet burying my poor Scirocco. Long after the snow was gone near my apartment I was taken on a drive and the snow plowed from the roads was still stacked on the edges of the roads, after several weeks.

Hook

Here in swampeast MO we had about 7 inches but as usual it wasn't all snow, it broke into chunks of ice.   Fredericktown MO had 15 inches but they're up in them thar hills.   It's been COLD (per thread title) and most of it is still here a week+ later.

That's neat that you had a Scirocco, I knew a guy that had two Mk2 Sciroccos, wish I had one of them today.  You don't see cars like that in the U.S. these days.

We had 2 feet of snow in 1979 and that's the most I've ever personally witnessed here.  They had to call in the National Guard.  My parents wouldn't let me play in it because they said I would drown.  They were probably right.  5 year olds don't have much sense.  We had some buildings collapse from the weight of the snow, and lots of awnings go down.  It thunder-snowed for that one.

This winter, other than being 72 degrees on Christmas, the rest of December and all of Jan/Feb have been COLD!   I'm ready for those 60's in a few days.

Three sources of temperature give me 81 (on the thermostat, gets the external temperature from the Internet somewhere), 75 (on the Windows weather app) and 66 (on windy.com). Can't even trust the temperature to be reported correctly these days. 75 feels correct based on the 77 indoor temperature.

We're down to 1 square inch in one ice patch and about 3 in the other. I'm about to call it complete.

If there is considered to be a need to shut down a thread where people are having fun, go for it.

Hook

15 minutes ago, LHookins said:

If there is considered to be a need to shut down a thread where people are having fun, go for it.

Hook

I'm glad that everyone is having fun, but please stay on topic!

It's dark outside at 6:30 PM, about 69 degrees. The small patch of ice is completely gone, the larger one is down to a single square inch. Yeah, I had to use a flashlight to see. Any bets it will be up over 80 next week?

For what it's worth, I have a fancy thermostat that automatically runs the heat or air conditioning depending on the temperature. Yes, it often runs both within the same 24 hour period here.

Hook

Just once, I would like to see it snow, and then have a warm front pass through, shooting us up to 75 degrees within a few hours.  The Ozarks don't give us any chinook winds darn it.

I wonder if Roswell gets chinook winds.  Maybe not, it's more of a northern Rockies thing.

By 8 PM the last of the ice was gone.

THIRTY

Hook

PS. When news reports were filed by teletype, they used a code at the end. "NO THIRTY" meant "not the end of the story, more to follow." "THIRTY" meant "end of story."

When I spent a lot of time in chat rooms many years ago, my signoff message was NO THIRTY. Except once.

Hook

Chinooks are downslope winds.  We get them sometimes.  I saw more of them when I lived in Denver.

Noel