Weather
Warm start to a wet day
17/May/2009 20:25
We had blue sky this morning and a nice breeze. We went to church this morning, and as we were walking back to our car, we could see dark clouds to the west. By the time we had driven the seven or eight minutes to get home the rain had started.
We have been through some relatively heavy periods of rain this afternoon, but nothing serious so far. Our rain gauge had about six tenths of an inch of rain in it at 6 PM, but we have seen some additional rain since then.
The big change when I went out to check the gauge was the temperature. By 6PM our temperature had fallen 17 degrees almost to the point of it no longer being shorts weather. Yesterday I was sweating on a beach, today I am glad we did not cool the house off last night.
We might have enough residual heat to make it through the cool spell. I suspect the real casualty of the rain will be the remaining strawberries. My guess is that this rain will finish them off.
We have had mixed luck with this years strawberries. They seem to have come out of the field very ripe. We had to throw away about one third of the ones we bought from Buck’s Corner Farm.
I think everyone is quietly anticipating the return of the tourists. The beaches are still uncrowded and peaceful. The fishing remains slow with winds and weather not cooperating very much.
We are still wrestling with getting people to take advantage of our electronic village. The sheet at the crossroads seems to remain a favorite way of advertising.
Connecting Twitter to our real estate listings seems to be a good idea. Also using YouTube to post virtual tours of area homes is working.
Right now it looks like we will be returning to warm weather before the Memorial Day weekend tourist season kickoff. We are all hoping that this is a good season, our businesses need a shot in the arm.
Ephemeral Snow
21/Jan/2009 00:04
The temperature did drop last night to around twenty degrees Fahrenheit. However, the bright sunshine is making short work of any snow that it can reach.
We are still just below freezing at noon today, but our driveway is bare as are most of the roads.
We drove over to Emerald Isle to see how the snow was doing on the beach.
It is a mere shadow of itself. One of my neighbors told me that he has been living here for six years, and this is the first snow that he has seen.
I guess a snow once every six years is not much to complain about especially since I did not have to shovel any of it.
We did make the Roanoke, Va. weather blog.
It did snow on the beach
20/Jan/2009 20:51
Today, January 20, inauguration day, we got snow. All day I did not think it was going to happen.
When I got up just after 7 AM, the temperature was still 40F.
However, in three hours until 10 AM the temperature dropped to 34F.
By 11 AM the temperature had dropped another two degrees and we were down to freezing.
By 12:30 PM we had some light snow. It snowed most of the afternoon, but it was never cold enough for it to freeze on the driveways and roads.
The exception to that happened to be bridges, culverts, and shaded spots in the road.
The bridge to Emerald Isle was more icy than any of the roads, but they were sanding it as we came over for a visit.
It was very quiet over on Emerald Isle. It would have been a good night for peaceful meal if you could have found a restaurant open.
We were happy to have eaten over on the island last night when we had some choice with restaurants.
Snow in the forecast?
19/Jan/2009 23:44
The big news here on the coast is the potential for the first real snow since 2003.
I think it is going to be a challenge. As we were out and about today, I saw the temperature hit 56F. This evening just before midnight the temperature remains at 45F.
About the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens. If it does snow, I will try to get over to the beach to take some pictures.
The weathermen seem convinced that we will see snow tomorrow. Even one to three inches could be pretty.