More snow headed this way; arctic blast to hit New Year's Eve

From our local weather forecaster:
More snow headed this way; arctic blast to hit New Year's Eve: "Tuesday's brief respite from the clouds and snow, dominate meteorological features of December 2009, is coming to an end. Area residents reveled in Chicago's sunniest weather of the past 13 days Tuesday. The day hosted 88 percent of its  possible sunshine and managed a 24-degree high. But the thickening, wintry-gray cloud deck under development as Wednesday gets underway is to begin producing snow by late morning or early afternoon--snow which is likely to continue in periods through Wednesday night. Computer snowfall estimates for the Chicago come in at half an inch to an inch and a half. But another technique employed by forecasters to estimate possible snowfall is less conservative, generating amounts by daybreak Thursday (New Year's Day) closer to 4 to 5 inches.

This method---the B.J. Cook Technique---looks at the degree to which temperatures warm high in atmosphere at 39,000 ft. and relates that warming to snowfall. Studies have found that peak snowfall at ground level often ends up equaling half the temperature increase more than 7 miles above the ground. That rising temperatures aloft can be related to snowfall intensity makes sense when you think about. Disturbances in the atmosphere produce precipitation by encouraging moist air to rise and saturate, producing rain or snow and clouds. Rising air transports warmer temperatures aloft. Therefore, the AMOUNT of warming aloft offer a means of gauging just how vigorously air is rising which, in turn affect the intensity with which precipitation falls. The stronger the updrafts, the greater the amount of moisture which rushes into an area and, therefore, the higher the amount of that moisture which precipitates out as rain or snow.
    
A 'wall' of frigid arctic air hits toward News years Eve (Thursday evening)

A blast of frigid arctic air is the next weather challenge facing Chicagoans this week. While high temperatures are likely to hover around 30-degrees Thursday afternoon, the leading edge of bitterly cold air is to ride gusty northwest winds into the area toward New Year's Eve. From that point forward, temperatures are expected to dive.  Single digits are likely Friday (New Year's Day) with the day's temperature recovery only resulting in highs in the teens. Nighttime lows in single digits or sub-zero are predicted Friday and Saturday nights. Days of northwest winds across Lake Michigan are likely to ignite waves of lake snow which may---between Friday and night and next Tuesday---produce heavy accumulations in excess of a foot in a number of locations.

The chill is Florida-bound

The frigid outbreak is to plunge into the Southeast and out over the Gulf of Mexico and into the Caribbean. Freezing nighttime readings are likely to reach sections of north and central Florida this weekend. The cold's intensity is likely to wane once in contact with the warm ocean waters to the south of Florida--but it is likely to shift winds as far south as Cuba, Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and even Jamaica to the northeast over the weekend and into next week.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I fell behind in posting my watercolors. Here are the recent ones.

My home setup for watercolor

The current semester of my watercolor class ended on Monday. I had an unfinished painting, and the next class does not start until January, so I got my home setup fixed and ready to go, and finished the work. I am happy.

It's finally up

After months, we have our old chandelier fixed.

- Posted from my iPhone

Hanging our fixed chandelier

Our chandelier broke loose a few months ago. We have had it fixed, and it is being hung.

Posted via web from chmoss's posterous

American Buffalo

We went to see "American Buffalo" at Steppenwolf Theater last night. Wonderful cast, tense, hyperactive performance. Highly recommended.

A Couple of Days in the City

On Wednesday we went downtown to see the operetta "The Merry Widow". What makes it operetta, not opera? I guess its because nobody dies at the end.


We slept downdown, and were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of sirens and helicopters. Not unusual in Streeterville - Northwestern Medical School Hospital is there, and ambulances come and go all the time.
This time, it was a fire in the building across the street!




A dozen people were injured, and one person died, I learned from the newspaper the next day.

After sleeping late, we went to Symphony twice - a rehearsal in the morning followed by the performance in the evening. An odd mix of music - the conductor was Nicholas Kraemer, who also played the harpsichord. The first three works were very enjoyable:

• Mozart - Divertimento in D Major
• Haydn - Symphony No. 88
• Telemann - Selections from Tafelmusik
• Strauss - Metamorphosen

The final work was Strauss’ elegiac Metamorphosen, an intimate work for 23 solo strings. Very somber, sad music.

Winter in Chicago

It's here. It's cold. It's dreary. It's winter.

Who said there is no Justice?

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The cast of Katya Kabanova

We saw the opera Katya Kabanova by Leos Janacek Thanksgiving Eve

Car shopping

We went shopping for a car. On the left - our old SUV - on the right - the Honda Insight, looking ludicrously small in in comparison. We ended up splitting the difference and buying a Prius.

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Low Rider

Low Rider

It was a sunny, but brisk day. This car was parked near the Lake.

Making Reservations for Israel

We have just made airline reservations to go to Israel next June with the whole family.

Jacob and I spent a day in the city

We did the Arts thing. The Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Institute, and the CSO.

Mahler Symphony #1 on TV

Does it get any better than this?

I send my TV sound through an Onkyo amplier to Ohm 2xO speakers and I listen to sound as good as most concert halls (but not as good as Boston) and see better than any I could from any seat I have ever had.
Gustavo Dudamel conducting the LA Philharmonic of which he is the new music director. Outstanding.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

We went to another superb performance at the Writer's Theater last night.

Tom Stoppard's play is funny and thought provoking.

The cast, as always at Writer's, was wonderful.

It's a dogs life

-- Clive http://clive.moss.net From my iPhone - please excuse typos

Almost disaster

Our entrance hall light fixture broke - suddenly, without warning!

I was baking a challah (another story.) The loaf was in the oven in last minute or so of baking. I heard a metallic clang and Bernie (Karen's dog for whom we are dog-sitting) started barking.

I followed the noise, and saw that our large glass bowl had come away from its mounting. Three of the four supports had failed, the fourth was barely supporting it - see the picture. At that moment, the timer sounded that the challah had to come out of the oven.

Putting first things first, I took the challah out (possibly prematurely).

I found a ladder in the garage, but it was not high enough for me to reach the fixture (and fall off, as I did last Friday, but that's also another story.) The bruises are now fading.

Fortunately we had workmen nearby in another part of the building. I enlisted one of them to help. I swung the the fixture over the railing that you can see in the background and while he held the glass I unscrewed the last support.

If that heavy glass had fallen on a person or a dog it could have been fatal.

All safe now, however.