Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Coldy Cold Cold Cold

From an area newspaper:


Two competing weather systems are pouring a blast of cold air on a wide swath of the nation, including the Carolinas. The result is an unusually long bought of very cold weather that has forecasters and other officials warning residents to take safety precautions.

Ahh, man. I knew I shouldn’t have written that blog entry about how it’s usually warm enough to ride here even in the winter.

I’m going to guess that, even though it won’t be on their list, one of the safety precautions is “Don’t go out riding a bicycle.”

By the way, the result is an unusually long bought of cold weather?

Meteorologists have issued a hazardous weather outlook for the region, urging residents to protect exposed water pipes, check heating units, bring pets inside and make other preparations for the cold.

Like not riding your bicycle? Did I already say “ahh, man”?

The region is experiencing the longest cold spell since 2005 and the low temperatures are expected to last into next, according to the National Weather Service.

To last into next? Next what? Next week? Next month? Next eon? You know, somebody really needs to porfreed these things.

Since Saturday, low temperatures have been around 20 degrees, according to data recorded at
Fayetteville Regional Airport. The lowest temperatures have typically come between 6 and 8 in the morning.

Here is something published on this same day: As of noon today, the temperature in Bismarck warmed up to -21 degrees.

Warmed up to -21 degrees?!! Okay, we are officially wimps here who should be grateful that our twenty degrees is above zero instead of below.

Of course, I’m still not going to go out riding…

Scott Sharp, a meteorologist with the Raleigh office of the National Weather Service, said the cold temperatures were the result of arctic air that is being funneled south by pressure systems over parts of Canada and the American west.

Is it just me, or does it seem like they always blame arctic air? Doesn’t this air warm up when it leaves the arctic? Why is it always bringing the cold to us?

Sharp said the cold spell will continue to produce temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees lower than the average for this time of year. "This is very abnormal for this time of year," he said, "to have temperatures this low for this long."

This is not making me feel better. Will I be reduced to riding the rollers out in the garage? Trust me, as lovely as she is, my Lovely Lovely will not let me ride the rollers in the house. And, you know what? It’s still cold in the garage.


My Lovely Lovely was quite strict with me (but still lovely) yesterday when I suggested going out for a ride because she felt that it was just too cold, so I stayed in. Oh, well.

It has to warm up eventually. When it does, I'll see you on the road.

1 comment:

  1. "Arctic air" reminds me of the 2004 movie The Day After Tomorrow. In this film, cold air gets pulled down from space by a huge storm freezing everything in its path almost instantly. In my circle of friends, we jokingly call this phenomenon "space cold" (pronounced in some overly dramatic way, like "Dun dun dun...Space Cold!") It sounds like you have some space cold coming your way. ;)

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