How I "Bought" Cold Weather... and not ALL abou the Tropics... All About Weather...

So I was cleaning out my purse and I came across this receipt. Sounds like something I would do..."buy weather" but as far as I know it's not for sale even at Belk. Mind you I love Belk. One of the things I will wax poetic on is how wonderful a store Belk is...however I am pretty sure I couldn't buy weather if I wanted to... so.... there I sat in bed half asleep looking through receipts and wondering what kind of mystical weather magic this could be...

I wracked my brain. Don't remember buying "cold weather" and am pretty sure if I did it would say something like "snow" not "cold weather" or it would be a ticket to Key West to stare at the tropical palm trees in December.

Sheets? Nope. Table Cloth? Nope. Snow Globe? No....  It bugged me, but then again a lot bugs me so being bugged is nothing new to me. Says "Cold Weather" very clearly on the receipt and If I bought this winter for $9 I really, really got a bargain.

I mean I could have called Brenda, but seriously doubt she'd remember me... must have been a lot of people buying cold weather as it's been pretty cold the last few days...  Who needs to put "cold weather" on sale in winter??

I let it sit there on the shelf a bit ...well when I say "shelf" I do mean mentally a shelf as my shelves are way too full to put anything on them these days.

Cleaning up the room I threw something in my socks drawer and lo and behold...there it was... "Cold Weather" in the form of some furry looking texting gloves I got to match my boots and give me an edge on the ability to text in winter which was never a problem back in Florida....

No tag anywhere says anything about "cold weather" so it just goes to show you... you never know what you might be buying on impulse at an After Christmas Sale!

That being said... I have a new way of dealing with the cold weather this morning...

I opened up a window and turned the fan on higher and am pretending I have the AC on high and it's not really that cold. I'll let you know how this works... Either it works or I may be really sick in a few days, but hey it's a nice fantasy.

Speaking of WINTER... I just want to remind people that www.spaghettimodels.com is not all about the tropics this time of year. Some really great weather sites have been added in for winter. 

Example... if you want to know if it's going to snow...the link is there or rather the image which when you click on it is a link... love the way that page is laid out.. perfect.

Do NOT love how I am not getting any snow...  and for my brother Jay sorry that shows so big I like it that way!!

I'm currently getting a whole lot of rain... 

My birthday is tomorrow. Trying to figure out where to go...what to do.... the weather is interfering :)

Will figure it out in real time...tomorrow.

That's what us Southern Girls do... we think on that tomorrow... because tomorrow often brings an inspiration that is sudden and perfect and just kind of takes your breath away with the possibilities.

Think I'll wear my snowflake charm today and hope it will channel me up some snow... 

I have an Oscar charm for Oscar season... someone remind me to wear it when that season rolls in... 

Smiling.... if Life really is a box of chocolates... mine are currently frozen truffles... Dulce De Leche frozen truffles... 

Thinking I need some Teavana or Tres Leche for my birthday....

Besos Bobbi

Keep smiling...no matter what your weather is and be careful what you buy... you might just get it!

Atmospheric Acrobatics ... Freezing Rain... Freezing Toes....Day After Christmas

Freezing rain is one of those things that is hard to understand ....from my perspective.

I've lived up north when I was young... when it was 32 degrees & precipitation fell from the sky...

....it snowed.

Not here in NC where we live on the borderline often of weather systems clashing.

Weather you see is atmospheric and the many layers of the atmosphere are like an onion..

...you take one layer away and there is another and then another.

So the warm rain moves in fast from the South and falls on a cold surface which makes the rain freeze.

And as it happened at sunrise the temperature climbs and there will only be a slight grazing on 

"elevated roadways and bridges"

which means the 440 is at a complete standstill going west from all the cars that slipped & slided this morning

It's hard for a Miami girl who thinks differently to wrap her head around why it doesn't just snow...

Then there is "wintry mix" 

which basically means to paraphrase an old jingle.. 

"sometimes it starts to snow, sometimes it's ice"

In Miami when there is precipitation on the radar it usually means "locally heavy rain"

In Raleigh the rain or snow can show up on the radar and be a ghost like apparition 

that does not make it down to the surface..

(there is a meteorological term for this but the coffee hasn't soaked in and I'll have to edit it in later...)

Stephanie Abrams, who obviously is a meat eater, likes to explain this as:

The layers on a cheeseburger.. 

surprisingly she didn't compare it to SEC football.

Seems the atmosphere is indeed a tricky thing.

I'm typing in the middle today..by the way..cause I want to.

The weather can do whatever it wants here.. so can I.

Last weekend it was almost 80 degrees. It was so warm I could run around in sandals and tee shirts.

No coats. No sweaters. No dreaded layers. No boots. No leggings. No jeans.

Now it's back in the 20s at night and I'm feeling kinda blue.

Blue as is my toes are cold.

Popsicle toes... taken to wearing leg warmers like when I dance...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq8mBxeeUXQ

Hate that... want to go to the Mall...

Teavana is having a sale.. and Barnes & Noble 

Maybe I'll stay home... maybe I'll go... 

Who knows what will happen next?

The atmosphere always brings such surprises.

As always waiting to see what Mother Nature and her partner in crime the "Atmosphere"

has to throw at me this winter... 

or.............

I'll simply fly away to Miami :)

Besos Bobbi

As always I'm watching the weather... 

and hoping your Christmas was Joyful

as life should be every day of the year... 

Keep the spirit going on... as we move towards 2014!

Winter Storm Gemini: Twisters in the South, Ice in the North... Warm Days in the Carolinas

The 2 sides of Winter Storm Gemini...

I woke up this morning at 3 AM and the temperature in Raleigh, North Carolina was 72 degrees! Let me rephrase this... I woke up next to an open window and listened to the wind through the pines and smiled. I checked my phone and Accuweather confirmed what I already knew...that the weather forecast was blown and we were several degrees warmer than expected.

The high yesterday was 74 degrees and at 3 AM we had only dropped to 2 degrees. Obviously, we are flirting with the 80s this morning and it's a given that we will break the record high again today.

I like it. It's an illusion and I know we will pay for this sweet, balmy illusion in a few days, but as I sit here in the kitchen barefoot with the windows open and the heat off... I'm loving every warm moment of it.

The weather radio is on:

"warm and moist southerly flow around the Bermuda High pressure will continue tonight ahead of a moisture laden cold front that will cross the region Monday" "Tuesday, much colder"

I know this is an illusion, but I'm loving it. I'm sure December is too late to be Indian Summer...right?

Winter Storm Gemini is living up to it's name of being a dual system with warm weather on one side of it and freezing, cold weather on the other side. There have been reports of ice storms and twisters all from the same system.

I have kids who drove through the night to get to Minneapolis ahead of the storm.



It's feels like 4 degrees in St. Paul.

It feels like summer here in Raleigh. Picking out my clothes for the day and they include short sleeve tee shirts and sandals :)

So why am I sitting here typing at 5 AM pretending it's not winter?



See the flow around the Bermuda High?

The air is flowing up from the SW "ahead" of the strong cold front. Instead of air flowing down from Canada I am enjoying air that is flowing up across the Florida Panhandle, across Georgia and into the Carolinas. That's going to end badly for someone trust me.....

Violent Spring like weather will be the end result of this incredibly sweet southerly flow..."ahead of a moisture laden cold front" and the threat of strong thunderstorms in the forecast for many parts of this area.

We have here what is called an "Imbalance of Power"

Highs to the East... Lows to the West..



And, I'm wondering if we have thunderstorms in winter...doesn't that mean snow in 10 days?



Gemini is the sign of twins, but they are not identical twins in this case. Warm here, cold there.

And, I can hear the wind blowing... the air moving...

Venus has gone retrograde in Capricorn...what that means.. I have no idea with regard to the weather, but did think it was worth mentioning.

The Winter Solstice came through my house yesterday quietly...

I stayed home. I rested. I read. I enjoyed the warm weather on the deck. I wore a thin tee shirt and a long very thin skirt and relaxed. I stared at the sunshine. I read various magazines. I prayed. I ate. I smiled. A good day...

The sun went into my home sign of Capricorn. I like the sun in Capricorn.. it's a placement I understand.

And, today... when the sun rises in a few hours I'm going to go out and pretend I'm really not up north in the Caorlinas in winter. Maybe I'm just outside Savannah at Kroger stocking up for Tybee Island or about to take a walk up Simonton Street in Key West to Faustos. Maybe I'm going to enjoy myself here in Raleigh and worry on winter later. We Southern girls do that you know... we live in the moment and enjoy it immensely. I can worry about tomorrow ...tomorrow...

Storm chasers are out chasing...

Reed Timmer ‏@reedtimmerTVNnow

Finally back to an #ice covered Norman, OK after one hell of a storm chasing grind. @connormccrorey @stormchasetv @TheMattPhelps #tornado

TVN less controversy.. more WEATHER :)

Tornado northeast of Ruston, Louisiana December 21, 2013!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pFBZDE23cY&feature=youtu.be&a
Great views in real time of a chase in Louisiana yesterday of a Twister...

A lot of storm chasing going on with Gemini on both sides of it...



As for me I'm going to go shopping... hey a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Shop, watch football and pray..and dance... Carolina Panthers play at 1 PM...so do the Dolphins. I'm sort of in a Gemini mood myself... split loyalties right now. Hmnnnn...

Enjoy it... won't last forever... winter will be back with a vengeance...

If you're on the cold side of Gemini...bundle up. If you are on the wicked weather side hunker down and take pictures!! If you are on my side... pretend it's summer even if for only one day...

Besos Bobbi

"like a postcard out of nowhere you get to me..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ydQISFWy7g  ;)

Surfs Up! Why 1 Picture Does Not Tell A Whole Story...

You see this image is not about a Tropical Storm forming in the Caribbean.. it's about a something else.

http://dabuh.com covers the surfing scene and he's watching the tropics not for tropical formation, but for weather events that might provide huge waves somewhere.  NOTE the HUGE ...ATLANTIC BERMUDA HIGH that I will discuss later...

If you were just to come by and look at this you might think "Do they have tropical storms in the Carib in December?" and they answer is sometimes yes... but not this time.

This is all about surfing.

If you enjoyed learning about the "Suck Zone" in Twister you may want to read this here article:

SOUTHERLY SUCK UP GULF OF MEXICO INCREASING EASTERLY TRADE WIND SWELL SE U.S.

http://dabuh.com/11443/  .... click on the link for more information.

A good read.

Another view:


Another good link from www.spaghettimodels.com



Weather is always happening somewhere.

A LARGE... HUGE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM has taken up most of the Atlantic and the flow around it is going to give the Carolinas a touch of Summer for a few days...

Flow will move in from the SW and I will be wearing colorful sandals this weekend... before reality slams us back in the face on Sunday night and reminds us it really is winter.



The flow around the high comes in from the SW and ...we get warm, not so wintry weather...during the winter solstice. Hmnnnn.. some meteorologists think it could hit an all time high... time will tell or Mother Nature in this case...  We just report it...

Not so tropical and yet.... in another part of the world the tropics are very active. Ryan Mauve posted this picture online.

https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/413697874547851265/photo/1/large

Nice tight cyclones there... 

Not here..........

Here.... despite a few balmy days Winter is here to stay...

Besos Bobbi

Ps... Surfs up somewhere ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPCjC543llU

Winter Vacation...NYC... SNOW... Rockefeller Center.. Friends.. Kids.. Atlanta...

So, I've been on a sort of winter vacation traveling between Miami... Raleigh.. New York and now Atlanta.

It was hot in Miami... and cold everywhere else... But, I did see snow in Brooklyn and nothing is more beautiful than snow in Brooklyn. Why you ask?

Trees and brownstones... the snow against the brownstones is beautiful and the trees on Ocean Parkway and Eastern Parkway. It's an iconic look that you only see in Brooklyn. Okay, possibly parts of Boston... but Brooklyn in the snow after a fresh snowfall is stunning.

It was so much fun driving around listening to country music in Brooklyn as the snow was falling down....

NASH  FM 94.7 in New York City and nearby parts have the newest, best country station I've heard in a long time... it's really a wonderful addition to the music scene in NYC... and Brooklyn.

https://www.facebook.com/nashfm947/posts/597533043605654

Yup... was there and loving it as we drove through crowded streets all painted up in holiday colors and decorations... Jamaican fruit stands, chassidic families walking by and traffic jams with wild beeping drivers.. 

A little bit of country in NYC...which looks like a real live Winter Wonderland...

And...no winter wonderland trip is complete without a trip to Rockefeller Center...

Now THAT is New York City!

And this is country...

http://www.nashfm947.com

check it out...enjoy...

nothing like driving around with my daughter in Boro Park blasting country ...

Nothing like being with your family at a time when it's good to be pampered and loved..

Again my mother passed away 3 weeks ago and it's been a difficult time.. 

.. something about a death in the family that makes you remember bits and pieces of your life

like scenes in a collage that is being made in real time...

So... my daughter Dina insisted I come to New York when I was about to cancel the ticket.. 

There was a class... a program where I had promised to speak and the holiday in Chabad of Hey Teves.

Basically... sacred, valuable books that belonged to the Library of Chabad Chassidim were being removed and when they discovered who had removed them...there was a court case to prove that the books (bibles that go back to the 1500s and 1600s worth a fortune to collectors) belonged to the community of Chabad vs distant family members of the previous Rebbe... the court ruled in favor of the Chabad community and they were returned back to where they belonged. It's a long story... you can Google it...but it's a fun day to be in Crown Heights trust me ;) and I was there and spoke at a birthday party, program for the women.

http://www.shturem.org/index.php?section=artdays&id=2443 (It's a long complicated story... ended happy)

Sometimes you make a promise to yourself and I made a promise last year that I would go and I did... 

thanks to spunky, stubborn children ... 

Had lunch at Spoons... really good food.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spoons/100905706620331

And...there was lunch with a good writer friend.. at Terri's.. 

Across from Touro College

http://terrinyc.com/menu.html

and dinner with another set of kids at  Carlos & Gabbys in Flatbush...

http://www.carlosandgabbysbrooklyn.com/about.html

Yup... New York was a visual wintry feast for the eyes and for the soul. The class I had with friends was memorable and time with my kids and friends was priceless... 

And... well there was the great show my ex-husband had in in Manhattan for Chanukah with a few of the kids (Van Gogh Martinis..) and a trip to an all night Best Buy :) I soooo sooooo soooo love New York!!

1 AM at a Best Buy in NYC... a few days ago... got to love NY!

so sorry if this blog has been a bit spacey and all over the place tonight.. but that's been my life the last few weeks... a bit depressed over my mother's death and yet busy and functioning and trying to move forward..

while looking back and sharing time with some people I love a lot.. those who love me seem to be doing their best to entertain me, keep me busy and make me feel loved... Thank You!

I'm sitting at a kitchen table at a friend's house in Atlanta tonight..a rainy, foggy sort of night, but I'm inside warm and cozy typing while everyone else is asleep after getting the wifi on my laptop to finally work right.

Sipping Mint Magic and thinking on a good friend who passed away several years ago who studied to be a chiropractor here in Atlanta at Life College... memories are what our lives are made of...

(note to children never end a sentence with a preposition...)

I'll be back in Raleigh later this week and I imagine back to normal. 

Lots to blog about.. 

Winter storms..

Snow in Jerusalem and Cairo this week

And, a whole alphabet of winter storms from TWC... also here in Atlanta I may add ;)

And... just keep watching the weather and doing what y'all do best..

For me that's .. 

watching football

hanging with friends

talking to my kids

dancing..writing...

blogging... 

thinking about the past but moving on to the future...

it's what we do... we move on... 

memories locked up tightly in a memory box like a snow globe inside our heart

Oh, and I still watch the tropics, but the tropics are a long shot in December..especially when cold fronts are draped across the South. But, I watch... down in the SW Carib................always a long shot. 

There are some great new winter weather sites on www.spaghettimodels.com. One good one is below:

Shows you where the snow is... and sometimes if you wish really hard... 

you get your birthday present...and I did... 

thanks for your patience, your friendship, your prayers and smiles...

Besos Bobbi ;)

PS...if you want to help my best friend Malka's daughter Esther who has an amazing, incredible voice ... check out this link:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-esther-put-out-a-new-original-song

:)

NOT Tropical Low

But oh so fun to watch it spin up in the Far North Atlantic... NE Atlantic?? Look at that guy spin...



Weather Art:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/natl/flash-wv.html

NOT Tropical ... but fun to watch it spin.

Take care...stay warm...stay safe... stay smiling...

Besos Bobbi

Ps...Headed to NY :)

Crown Heights - Brooklyn - NYC...

NOAA Tropical Dreams..

Atlantic Hurricane Season 2013 Game Over

Let's put it this way... you could have a better chance of feeling Hurricane Force Winds crouching down under the hand dryer in any Hurricane Bar and Grill than you could on a beach anywhere in the USA this year...

We stopped there last night on the way home from a Chanukah program in Cary. Got a drink, watched some football and pondered the state of the tropics this hurricane season past.  

Now if you lived in Mexico...South of the Border you were hit over and over by one storm after another.

Hurricane Ingrid:

Fernand

Barry....

Well you get the idea and I left out the Tropical Depressions... for that region south of the border the hurricane season this year was tropically depressing. When you get hit over and over in the news by storms the perception is usually worse than it really was as far as damage and tourists tend to go elsewhere...

Perhaps we had some sort of force field up this year.. storms seemed to continually fall apart just prior to making landfall..

Dorian bounced away... 

So did Karen die out just before making landfall..

Then there were the storms that fell apart, reformed and fell apart again. 

Look back at Chantal that was originally forecast to threaten Florida.

Then it didn't.

Luck was obviously on our side this past year, but luck is a fickle lover and she comes and goes as the folks in the Pacific this tragically busy year for them.

Some people say the NHC hired a Weather Shaman.. 

Some people say there was a good bit of Weather Modification going on this year...

Some people say it was all about Global Warming...

Some people fell asleep back in early September and never looked back.

Some people went to the Philippines and chased storms there and many, many people died in storms in that part of the world.

You win some, you lose a lot. You take em as them come or as they don't come... 

And, next year it begins anew. Just because this year was quiet does not mean next year will be quiet.

If Hurricanes were predictable and we knew what to expect we would not watch them so carefully.

We are here watching, studying and discussing them because they are unpredictable, dangerous and yet a thing of beauty from high in the sky in the lens of a satellite snapping pictures back to us from the heavens.

This year's season is over... although some years do have "out of season" storms... so you just never really know what will be ... but... for now we are watch snow storms and blizzards (I don't think they are the same thing...are they???) and wonder on life and the meaning of life and we spend a lot of time watching earthquakes and comets and falling stars.

Stay tuned...always something happening to talk about and you know me.. I'll be here talking..

Besos Bobbi

Ps...They will be discussing for years why the season that everyone thought was going to be beyon busy turned out to be one of the quietest on record. 

Take a look back at the experts and what they said regarding the season that wasn't.

http://hurricaneharbor.blogspot.com/2013/04/bryan-norcross-predicts-active-busy.html

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