A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Winter is BACK.... And Mean and Cold and Cat 5 Wind Chills. Some thoughts on Weather and General Hospital & Social Media
I'm back from my trip to New York. Someone in the family had surgery and they are doing well and I went in to be there for moral support and to show my love. While there I saw a few family members and did some ice cold sightseeing in the Pomona Height's area. This picture is an icy waterfall as snow up on the ledge was melting, falling into the cracks, freezing, melting, freezing and covering the plants in small icicles. It was beautiful, it was freezing cold. We drove by and I saw out of the corner of my eye what looked like a crystal plant and then realized it was covered in ice (Miami girl here...) so we drove back and the daughter that liked to chase storms with me was chasing winter views and pictures. No we didn't get out and examine it, it was freezing.
The truth is winter comes and goes and this is normal. It gets cold early, it warms up and then winter comes back like that friend you didn't expect to show back up on your doorstep or bad sushi salad! It comes back. And often when it's been unusually warm it SNAPS BACK big time. In this case it is due to warm up in many places in a few days so that's good news. People outside not dressed properly could easily die when it's this cold. That includes animals and all living things. This is one of those times when the hype is for real, but it's really for those places where the wind chills are near zero or below. Yet I know people in West Palm Beach terrified of this winter's sudden Arctic Dive who are panicking. We are the world, social media makes us all feel closer and it's not gonna be 20 degrees or feel like it in Miami but it still will feel colder than you are used to so .... so proceed accordingly.
Will see tomorrow how we survive this winter weather.
And I hope and pray people do take it seriously.
And then what?
Is this the start of something big?
A new pattern?
Or an anomaly and it warms up.
In the Carolinas snow is often promised...
...but you can rely that the rains will come.
South Florida has had a rainy, wet winter.
New York City people feel snowless..
...though they have been dusted with snow.
In the midwest they can't get rid of it.
Europe was buried under it.
And in a month or so the tulips will push up...
Spring will be upon us.
A lady in the market today said "I"m waiting for Spring"
Aren't we all?
That's the nature of the seasons....
We want them to come faster and then......
....we start praying on the next season to come fast.
Life goes on.
As for me I have been in a sort of news, weather and sports black out as where I was staying the wifi was a weak signal, my phone service went from full service to no service for no apparent reason and I was on the move often. I watched the last winter storm come rolling through into Brooklyn from the Verrazano Bridge that swayed a bit in the wind while tropical like rain came at us sidewards. Then from a tall building in Brooklyn I saw the sun come out and light up the New York City skyline. Far off on the horizon the city shone under a silver sky, through the raindrops and next to a beautiful rainbow.
On Friday we went shopping and I caught this picture.
Winter cold and mountains in the distance.
And tonight they are blanketed in snow.
Stay warm under your blankets.
I have a special satin blanket that's warm.
Well it keeps me warm I leave it on top of the covers.
What do you do to stay warm?
Drink soup?
Sip tea?
Warning
Non - Weather related rant
Social Media
General Hospital
GFS vs EURO
Oh Lord.... stop fighting!
Now I'm back home, under the covers watching a show on my TV on my cable that my young Millenials don't use as they do HULU and NetFlix and YouTube usually. While away I follow what happens in the world on Twitter. I also missed General Hospital which is fun to watch and have on while putting together dinner. So while away I follow what's going on in Twitter, just easier to retrieve news and follow. Got to tell you if you think Weather Twitter is bad, oh my gosh you haven't seen anything. So many haters... People holding on to obsessions on characters no longer on the show who they want them to bring back and I mean "NOW!!" showing old clips of their favorite scenes. They love Franco or hate Franco (I like him and yes I followed the actor on One Life to Live) and I don't mean just hate I mean long, long diatribes worse than arguing about Trump and Pelosi and Hilary. There is more of a Soap Opera on General Hospital Twitter than on the show and they have strong feelings about the writers who they all seem to know by name, some guy name Frank and they seem to feel someone is trying to destroy the show (oh no) and oh gosh worse than arguing over the EURO and the GFS model. I missed the big Jasam reunion which doesn't upset me much as I preferred Drew and Sam to Jason and Sam. Let's get real Sam could never totally commit to Jason and Jason always ran off to save Carly and Sonny. Drew loved Sam, brought out something soft and beautiful in her while she remained tough. This is what I don't understand about GH...they spent years building up Drew and Sam into this beautiful couple who loved each other greatly and then they ripped it away bringing back stone cold Jason and I don't get it. I watch.... I watch when I can but I don't understand. I like the Peter guy (maybe it's the name) and I don't get so emotionally involved. I don't say hateful things and attack the writers, producers and actors personally.
And the reason I bring this up is it makes me wonder what goes on in this world? Every person who has a Weather App or can watch a satellite loop thinks they are an expert meteorologist and student mets think they are all the next Jim Cantore and everyone thinks they know what will happen next and if it will snow in Cincinnati and they argue when someone (a well known reliable meteorologist) says something they don't like on Twitter such as "it probably won't snow" which basically is "OH NO!!!" an insult that in the old days someone would result in a duel at sunset by the cold river.
Social media is wonderful and fun and I've been around since the early days of AOL and the Weather Message Boards but come on people get a grip! It's not the total end of the world and the guy who plays Franco is a great actor, focus on some other character and stop begging for Anna and Duke to get back together (he was never worthy of her anyway) and stop making Laura into the next matronly Monica who can be grandmother and matriarch of the family, she may be mayor but she's a bit boring like this... give her something fun to do. Stop threatening mets who take away your snow and by the way Mother Nature is the problem not some met who reads the models correctly and won't promise you it's gonna snow just to get likes on Twitter (rolling eyes) and if you got a problem with the Government Shut Down or Truce... force the congress people to show up in DC because the place looked like a Ghost Town on Monday when we sailed through as if the city was closed; I checked Twitter to make sure there wasn't an alien invasion somewhere or a terror attack. Obviously no one is really working in DC just yet, waiting for the Super Bowl to be over and go back to digging into their boots and saying "NO!!" the way my grandson does when you offer him chicken!
Social media can be the best thing that ever happen or the worst. Be part of the solution not the problem.
Stay warm, before you know it I'll be posting on the tropics and Spring will have burst through everywhere in the Northern hemisphere and life goes on as my friend is prone to saying (yeah I know you say that) and enjoy the music.
In a world before HULU and NetFlix and YouTube and the EURO model and the GFS model and in a world where only friends argued if Luke and Laura should be a Super Couple because well he raped her before they became lovers and Franco had a brain tumor removed and he's not the character he played on One Life to Live anymore....
Good to be home, at least for this week anyway.
Besos BobbiStorm
Dreaming of Tropical Dreams on a cold night in the Carolinas
Ps Life does go on after our first loves (tho Laura was married to Scotty before Luke so maybe Luke was her second love but I digress) and whether Anna is with Robert or Duke (he died, really) or her new love who she is cute with .. life goes on. She was really young back then.... so let's look back on Laura and Luke way before we had great weather models we could argue about.
And when it comes to Anna... that actress can dance.
See she can dance with anyone....
But......before life at General Hospital she was in one of the most iconic movies ever
Keep on dancing......... but leave that Frank guy alone on General Hospital and stop fighting!
Otto Odds Bumped Back up to 90% ... Snow in NY. Winter Storm Blasts Thru East Coast. From Crown Heights Brooklyn... Windy, Cold, Brrrr
The video above shows why the models forecast the track they do.
Look at that cold front blast through the Mid Atlantic.
Down through the Deep South.
It was windy and cool in Key West today.
If you went to Key West today.
I hope you brought socks with you!
In NY where many of our family is gathered.
We are in boots, jackets and leg warmers.
Actually we are inside away from the cold wind outside.
Yet I'm here under the covers tonight writing about the tropics.
The NHC has put a red circle over the SE Caribbean.
I keep thinking on Rudolph's nose but I digress.
Note the discussion.
Note the red X over the area where Otto may form.
Also note the round blast of cold air that moved off the East Coast.
Ball of convection down where it needs to be.
The tightly wound tropical disturbance forming in the SE Carib.
Winds pretty strong, seemingly closing off a center.
Winds equally as strong in NYC tonight.
Great site. On bottom left of www.spaghettimodels.com
Models finally taking the low road.
There's still options but the road North is blocked.
Blocked for now with high pressure.
I'll update tomorrow morning. I'm thinking if and when it gets a name it should be Tuesday or Wednesday. Maybe Monday... This is a big flooding danger for Central America.
Again as I have shown before a part of this system is in the Pacific.
Put it in motion:
Seems to be trying hard to come together.
As for me I'm still in Brooklyn. Visited family and friends in Flatbush today. Lent out my phone and got it back. Lent out my charger for my Ipad and did not get it back. On the list... buy new charger cord. Happens. Bought kosher meat to go back with as well as some kosher canned food unavailable in Raleigh. Relatives are flying out... Southbound to the Deep South, out West to Seattle and slowly the party is over.
Meanwhile it was freezing, windy, crazy today. Freezing windy as in I didn't go to Basil NY for breakfast :( and stayed inside. We went to Carlos and Gabbys with relatives, friends later for a late lunch/early dinner. Fun always.
http://carlosandgabbysbrooklyn.com/menu.html
In the mood for Mexican ;) in Brooklyn.
Leaves are flying about in the wind. The trees tomorrow should look a lot more bare than earlier in the week. Relatives took pictures endlessly from the World Trade Center aka Freedom Tower. Some went to Chelsea Pier for Bowling and an indoor view of the river. The Statue of Liberty can be done another time. Winter has moved in and I think it's here to stay. Some warmer days, then some colder days. In a week or two temperatures in the 40s won't seem so cold.
We were stopped at a light today and I saw the sunset over a cemetery in Brooklyn. I couldn't get to my phone fast enough it was a wild view. Sort of like this below.
Strangely beautiful.
Brooklyn is so diverse.
From Boro Park to Crown Heights.
From Sheepshead Bay to Park Slope.
Brownstones bleed colors of brown all in a row.
Old homes, new homes.
Torn down homes, rebuilt homes.
Off in the distance the view of the bridge.
Manhattan beyond the river beyond the bridge.
One son walked into Manhattan for exercise today.
Across the bridge. The windy, cold bridge.
A friend's children woke up to snow.
Up in Monsey further inland.
Unexpected as the forecast was as wind blown as the day.
The kids played.
Can you imagine going to sleep to gentle rain.
And waking up to see show covering everything?
Tomorrow we may wake up to Otto in the Tropics.
Stay tuned.
Eventually I'll be heading South again.
Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter
Ps Thanks for your patience.
It's been a blast of winter and a blast of memories made.
The idea of the AirBNB was a good one.
Go Millenials.
Go Mommy for saying "yeah go for it"
Had all the amenities of a house vs motel room or rented basement.
Clean, comfy though somewhat not totally prime time.
Location: Miami, Raleigh, Crown Heights, Florida, United States
Weather Historian. Studied meteorology and geography at FIU. Been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post & everywhere else... Lecturer, stormchaser, writer, dancer. If it's tropical it's topical ... covering the weather & musing on life. Follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/BobbiStorm