Don’t go outside!


I made the mistake of leaving my snug warm house. It’s windy out there! The temperatures are right there on that edge where one minute it’s snowing, the next it’s sleeting, the next it’s raining, and then back ’round again! It’s cold, damp, and piercing; I prefer a calm dry -20°F to this soggy frigidity.

I’m staying indoors the rest of the day. Slippers on. Snuggly blanket close at hand. Not looking out the window ever.

Comments

  1. otrame says

    Strange. It’s about 75 here, nice and sunny. What alternate universe do you live in?

    *snicker

  2. evilDoug says

    It’s a nice steady ~-5°C here. Only about 10cm of snow last night, which was at the lower end of the forecast. 2-4cm more today. Wind only gusting up to about 50 km/h. Just one day this week with a forecast low of -10°C or less. Could be worse.

  3. Eurasian magpie says

    Here the thermal spring finally started last week. The first crocuses (croci?) are up and about too!

  4. remyporter says

    I believe your outside is malfunctioning. It’s lovely and sunny in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh!

  5. says

    Ugh, it snowed again today. Just a little bit. Just enough to say, Ha. You like spring? You like warmth? I spit in your eye. I am Binghamton.

  6. Trebuchet says

    Just proves that global warming is a hoax! Over at Conservapedia, Andy Schlafley is proclaiming just that since the Twins have had to cancel their first game in many years. Of course, he ignores that they previously played indoors…

  7. yazikus says

    Obviously your weatherperson missed the whole Spring memo. You might call them and let them know.

  8. Maureen Brian says

    We had to cancel the annual Dock Pudding Contest in Mytholmroyd because the main ingredient – bistort – had not grown yet. Mind you, yesterday’s rain finally removed the streaks of snow from the hillside opposite. We have no leaves or blossom on the deciduous trees yet – compare with 2009 – http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/127718ll

  9. JohnnieCanuck says

    I can see why you left the Pacific Northwet Coast. You just described November through February. Well, except for the part where it rains, sleets, rains, snows, rains for weeks without stopping, all with occasional cloudy periods.

    Most everything is blooming here. Magnolias, cherry trees, all the spring bulbs. The deer have become very selective in their garden dining choices.

  10. says

    Meanwhile, over in Chicago, we’re having the one nice day we’re supposed to get this week. Your storm will be showing up here tomorrow, and sticking around until at least Thursday. (Although for whatever reason, it won’t be snowing, so instead — just like last week — we get rain and rain and rain and rain and rain and rain.)

  11. yazikus says

    @steffp
    I spent several days in Bangkok when I was young, and I remember the warm humidity that would embrace me as I stepped off of the airplane. I also consumed a lot of pink fanta and watched Jem & the Holograms at my hotel. Hooray for random memories

  12. Stardrake says

    Had to go out to help plan CONvergence 2013–at least it’s changed over to pure (if cold) rain here in Minneapolis.

    I’ve lived in Minnesota for 55+ years*, and this non-spring is wearing me down too!

    *And that’s all I’ve got!

  13. dustbunny says

    What’s stopping me from enjoying this lovely Tennessee Sunday outdoors is the way-too-high pollen count…

  14. steffp says

    @yazikus
    Yeah, that warm humid air creeping up one’s pants as one descends from the plane… and that light smog blank white sky with a light spot in it so radiant that you don’t dare to look at it. And they build great thunderstorms here. We’re celebrating Songkran (Buddhist New Year) these days, throwing water at each other and strangers, being rewarded with a telephone number now and then… Come to think of it, it’s a bit strange doing that in the rain, but who cares.

  15. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Your storm will be showing up here tomorrow, and sticking around until at least Thursday.

    Hope it holds off until after the Redhead’s periodontist appointment Monday morning. Heavy rain would be a distinct challenge, being a fall hazard and all.

  16. brazenlucidity says

    It truly sucks. However, I’m still going out for dinner and a movie. I will not be a hostage to bullshit weather.

  17. René says

    Kinda funny that humanity (erhm, the awake part of us) can communicate directly with the rest, nowadays, in completely different climates and weather systems. As a male that evolved to be sexually predatory romantic geezer, I also love the idea that my Significant Other a quarter of the globe away sometimes can look at the very same Moon as I.

  18. yazikus says

    it’s a bit strange doing that in the rain, but who cares.

    That sounds quite fun actually. I love warm rain! I don’t get any where I live now, sadly. I do get warm nights however, which I didn’t get at the place I lived last. No matter how hot the day was, it always got cold at night.

  19. JimB says

    Come on out to California PZ. A very pleasant 67 out right now here in the bay area… I’ve got an empty room and while I don’t drink beer, Creek Monkey Ale House is just a short walk away!

  20. Gvlgeologist, FCD says

    Yeah, I know what you mean. It only hit 78F today after reaching 85 yesterday. Rough.

    ‘Course, in August, you’ll be in the 70s or low 80s and it’ll be 95 with 95% humidity here…

  21. coragyps says

    Don’t go outside here, either. 30 mph wind and >90F for a little later in the afternoon. With 1.35 inches of rainfall so far in 2013.

  22. carlie says

    It’s in the mid-40s here, not so bad when the sun is out. Spent the afternoon at a historic site celebrating maple syrup time and watching some militia re-enactments. It was nice to just get outside for a bit.

  23. says

    I’m still getting this non-stop patter of falling ice drops against the window. I said I wouldn’t look, but it’s chilling to just listen to it.

    And all the Norse gods I might call upon tend to favor this kind of weather. Maybe I should switch to the Egyptian pantheon…

  24. marcus says

    Powder Day! Yes, we got a lovely 12 inches of fresh, lovely new snow, more or less sunny and holding steady at a balmy 32 degrees. And did I ski this morning? Yes I did!
    Lifts close today. :(
    Wait! Mountain biking season starting in the desert! :) Yay!
    Snow will start melting soon. Whitewater! Get the kayak out! Woohoo!
    I tell you it’s just one thing after another in this place.

  25. says

    And all the Norse gods I might call upon tend to favor this kind of weather. Maybe I should switch to the Egyptian pantheon…

    Do you have a few moments to hear the good news about Coyote? If you take Him into your heart He’ll happily gnaw His way right back out again.

  26. frankb says

    Three hundred miles to the south of PZ we are enjoying 50 degree sunny weather. Spring is late here and it is colder than it should be but I am not complaining if the alternative is Morris MN weather.

  27. shouldbeworking says

    It’s snowing again in Edmonton. At this rate, I might have to emigrate to Calgary.

  28. New England Bob says

    *6 and sunny here at my winter home. Its cooled down to 82 now at 5:30 pm

  29. says

    I don’t even want to think about how much power it would take to heat my lossy little cabin in that weather.

    Then again, the ice would probably seal some of the gaps…

  30. phere says

    uggh..it’s a windy 75 out here in Napa and I hate it. I prefer the cool (not sub zero) weather over this.

  31. Ogvorbis, broken failure. says

    Look at the bright side, PZed. It’ll be cool enough up in your attic to deal with the 47 meter long wasp nest sitting over your head.

  32. Ogvorbis, broken failure. says

    Oh. And it is 56F (real numbers, not that C stuff) and sunny. Wife did yard work while I replaced two of my back steps (while also making a chicken pot pie (with chicken dinner from a local Greek Catholic church (a gift from the nephew of our 91-year-old neighbor))).

  33. robro says

    PZ — The Egyptian gods like to punish with drought and plagues. Drought might seem inviting at the moment, but it would get old. Perhaps you should switch to New Age Airy Fairy. As several have noted already, it’s practically ideal in the Bay Area today. I’m sure it’s because the Rainbow people Om the weather into this state. It works most days, except when that atmospheric river comes through or the fog hangs in for weeks.

  34. navigator says

    Duluth -1 C and, what’s this? A Winter Storm Warning!
    Thanks, but there’s no need to warn me when the snow is flying and the wind is trying to take the roof off.

  35. Ogvorbis, broken failure. says

    navigator:

    Could be worse. You could be in Fargo. Short term forecast: heavy snow. Longer forecast: big flood.

  36. Ogvorbis, broken failure. says

    navigator:

    Not me. I’m down in Pennsylvania. I’ve been to North Dakota (had to get the roof of our minivan replaced), but I don’t think I would want to live there. Though Theodore Roosevelt National Park would be tempting . . . .

  37. navigator says

    Yeah, No Dak has some beautiful scenery, see it now before oil rigs and roads eat up the whole state.:(

  38. evilDoug says

    I might have to emigrate to Calgary

    That’s Calgary at #2. 2 cm snow tonight, 2 more tomorrow, unspecified amount tomorrow night, -11°C Wed. night. Three more weeks should get us past most of snow season. Maybe.
    But we did get a lot less snow over the winter than Edmonton.

  39. Azuma Hazuki says

    It’s about 5C here in Madison WI, but was a little warmer earlier. After that last line of storms, the atmosphere…changed. I can smell terpenes (plant chemicals) on the air and sense things moving in soil, root, and branch. Spring didn’t start here until yesterday or today I think. The air has a different feel to it and there’s a sense of life to it that wasn’t there even 2 days ago, and also wasn’t a couple weeks ago during that weird warm period.

  40. ekwhite says

    Chris @36:

    Do you have a few moments to hear the good news about Coyote? If you take Him into your heart He’ll happily gnaw His way right back out again.

    Coyote visits my neighborhood quite often. He takes sacrifices of cats and garbage.

    BTW – here in the Santa Monica “Mountains” it is overcast and in the low ’60s (Fahrenheit).

  41. changerofbits says

    You haven’t heard “The Secret”? You just close your eyes, imagine a warm, blooming land of fresh strawberries and ready to pick artichokes. That, and move to California…

  42. says

    By the time that 75F wind from Napa is going out into the Monterey bay it’s gotten down to 55F.

    Damn chilly to have a 20-25 wind, if you ask me.

  43. changerofbits says

    ew. I’m never making that mistake again :-p

    C’est la vie… Supposed to be 80s in Santa Cruz next weekend, time to get out the sand toys!

  44. says

    I fully agree with PZ, the worst weather is always when the temperature hovers around freezing. Gimme consistent above or below freezing and I’m a happy camper.

  45. blf says

    There were long pigs sundrying themselves on the beach this weekend. Unfortunately, as the mildly deranged penguin pointed out, it wasn’t hot enough to properly sundry a long pig. Early season sundried long pig is still rather moist, and tends to spoil quickly.

  46. esmith4102 says

    Up to 90 degrees today in San Antonio, Texas! Comfy now, but wait another month and it’ll live up to its reputation as one of the hottest cities in America. It’s these sweltering summers that make me yearn for the frozen northern wastelands.

  47. David Marjanović says

    Here the thermal spring finally started last week. The first crocuses (croci?) are up and about too!

    As they were in early March, before winter returned!!!

    It’s room temperature here now. From Friday to Sunday I had to drastically change what clothes I wear outdoors. And on Thursday there’ll be a thunderstorm! A thunderstorm from all the heat, before a single leaf is out! This is madness!

    But what really brings on the mad cackling are the birches and the alders. No trace of a leaf yet, as mentioned, but they’re literally fucking with my nose.

  48. blf says

    [T]hey’re literally fucking with my nose.

    Olfactory sex?

    (The mildly deranged penguin just tried this. She went outside to the fig tree that’s finally starting to show a few leaves, stuck her beak into it, and inhaled deeply. All she got was a fig leaf up a nostril and is now coughing madly…)

  49. Sili says

    The first crocuses (croci?) are up and about too!

    Crocopodes, of course.

    11 \deg C here, when I went to work. Positively summery.

  50. Ogvorbis, broken failure. says

    Oh, and do tell about the roof of your minivan. What happened?

    navigator (up at 50 (sorry, I went to sleep)), we got caught in a hail storm in Bismark, ND. Our roof looked like a golf ball. Unfortunately, at the same time, there was an Airstream Camper convention in Bismark and a big meet with the Canadian American Hot Rod Association. Thin aluminum campers and hail? Not good. Hot rods with five coats of hand rubbed lacquer and hail? Also not good.

    On this same vacation, our van got leaned on by a bison at THRO, we got a foot of snow in Yellowstone (and drove out through it in a minivan with tyres that were fine for summer driving), and saw tornados near Gillette, WY. All we needed was killer bees.

  51. says

    Huh. So far, the rain they were predicting for Chicago has mostly failed to show up. (When I checked the hourly forecast yesterday, this afternoon was one solid block of rain.) There have been a few periods of rain, and it got wet enough in my particular area last night to form puddles for a while, but it was so nice earlier — dry and warm — that I actually ran a few errands by bicycle. It’s cloudy now, and they’re saying thunderstorms, so it may not last.

    (I just wish I knew for sure when it would be clear — I am probably the worst, laziest gardener out of anyone in the world who makes any sort of attempt, but I have a bunch of stuff I want to do and can’t realistically start until the rain stops for at least a few hours. And I don’t want to put it off too long, in case it suddenly heats up. Chicago-area springtime weather is notoriously brief, most years.)

  52. says

    last spring was really nice so this mess is hard to take.i’m using the enforced inside days to clean the basement.i just hope it clears up for the fishing opener in may…having said that, as a transplanted new yorker i did notice many years ago that may day is the real start of tee shirt and sneaker weather in minnesota.

  53. Ogvorbis says

    …our van got leaned on by a bison at THRO…

    *ahem*
    Story please?

    We were driving through the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I saw a bison standing on a butte. Nice silhouette shot. I stopped and rolled down the window. Now, keep in mind it was about 110F in the shade — our AC was on full blast. As I focused on the bison, Wife tapped my arm and said, “There’s a bison.”

    I continued to look through the view finder and said, “Yeah.”

    She hit my arm. “There’s a bison.”

    I said, “I know. I’m trying to get a photo.”

    She said, “Look at me.”

    At looked.

    A bison was leaning his head against the passenger window of our minivan. His forehead was above the window. His nose was below the window. I guess that, thanks to the AC, the window felt cooler.

    I put it in gear and carefully drove away. No damage.