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Hey Georgians, there’s an app for the weather!

Gov. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., went before cameras and reporters this afternoon to take the blame for the massive traffic chaos in the Atlanta area that ensued during this week’s winter storm. The more than 2.5 inches of ice that became an urban glacier left motorists stranded, shoppers sleeping in supermarkets and kids spending the night in their schools.

All of the mess that caused a backlash against government officials leads one to ask this question:

Does anyone in Atlanta watch the weather?

Besides the capable TV meteorologists at local stations there is the great Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it being one of the last Cox newspapers — Cox being a company from which I am retired — still standing. And does anyone watch The Weather Channel? It’s based in Atlanta, for heaven’s sake! I mean, I think TWC is a shell of itself these days. I believe its idea of naming winter storms is ridiculous. I guess the channel got some traction with “Super Storm Sandy” but I doubt many people in the areas hardest hit by the baddest snow and ice storms could tell you the “name” of that storm.

Yes, I am sure some of the blame should go to city and state agencies for a lack of preparation. I wouldn’t blame the National Weather Service at all even though I am sure some blame gets stirred up toward them by those who seek to privatize the weather service. Hell, I went through this same winter storm, which hit with a little of the ice that goes a long way, in Beaumont, Texas. And while I’m not the biggest fan of our city government, I do have to praise them for taking steps that I’m sure looked overreaching to some. The city of Beaumont was fortunate to learn from its mistakes, as it has been pretty good at doing at least in the last 8.5 years I’ve lived here. Plus, I lived here in 1997 as well, when a gosh-awful ice storm paralyzed the city for almost a week.

A winter storm hit here last week that was worse that this week’s. The storm resulted in almost 140 traffic accidents in Beaumont and Jefferson County, including one fatality just down the road from where I live. This week’s storm tallied slightly more than two dozen wrecks with no fatalities in the city and county.

I doubt many who will read this would have as an abiding interest as I do in weather. Yes, I am a weather freak. No doubt about it. It, as “they” say is a force of nature. In the old days I would watch “Cowboy John” write the temperatures and cold fronts with a grease pencil on a glass board. Now I can get radar 24/7, on my phone. I can also read the story behind the weather that NWS folks publish on the internet. I may not have a lot of information on things I should have these days, but by God, I know what’s happening with the weather!

Atlanta and Georgia folks, the weather is out there. You need to take a couple of minutes to find out what’s happening with it just as you’d read or watch some report about stock prices, basketball or Justin Bieber.

 

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The actions of our democracy were outside the chambers last night, sorry to say

This was the first State of the Union address I have missed in several years. I did not miss watching it because of something the President did or didn’t do. I missed it because I knew every good deed that was proposed in the past year was usually grounded because of our pitiful excuse of a Congress.

Here is a full transcript of the 2014 SOTU. Beginning with:

 “Tonight this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: It is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong.”

What would the President say? “Man, this whole stinkin’ union sucks!”

During this past year, the minority within the House majority, along with the minority of the Senate minority, caused the federal government to shut down for half a month. We, the workers (part-time ones like me too) were all paid but we worried about whether that would happen because our senior U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R, Texas, held up the legislation allowing us our pay to the end of that sorry saga. I wish someone viable would appear to defeat Cornyn, the piece of dusty furniture that occupies our vaunted Senate succession from the great Sen. Sam Houston, who was for those from another planet was also President of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas. That is, until Big Sam was overthrown by Texas citizens of the United States who wanted to undo all the state had fought for by succeeding from this nation over slaves they couldn’t even afford.

No viable candidate brings me to the end of the SOTU. Read it yourself. I will. I have read the excerpts and the pundits, some of them. I rest my case, whatever it was on the SOTU because the scourge of idiocy showed itself outside the great congressional chamber where first, one of Cornyn’s opponents “showed his ass,” as we say down in Texas.

Rep. Steve Stockman, R, Texas is leaving Congress to run against Cornyn. That’s the good news, that he’s leaving Congress. Stockman, unseated congressional legend Rep. Jack Brooks who served 42 years in office. I wasn’t living in that district then. I am living in that district now but because of redistricting we have a brand new piece of Republican Tea Party furniture. Thankfully, I was ably represented back then, in 1995, by Rep. Charlie “Good Time Charlie” Wilson, D, Texas of “Charlie Wilson’s War” fame. Not that I could have done anything to stop the looney tunes Stockman from taking office. During Stockman’s tenure he was reviled for a bizarre incident in which he received a fax from Michigan militia types just after the Oklahoma City Bombing. While Stockman was accused of having received the message before the bombing and not reporting it to the FBI (he did report it), his sanity and ethics were questioned for sending the fax to the NRA. Plus his ties to a Michigan militia seemed also shady.

But Stockman, these days, seems shady-er, shadier. Cornyn’s high-powered Republican operatives have dug deep and found all kinds of dirt about financial shenanigans from Stockman and his missing in action from the House.  

Then there was that whole Stockman, figuratively thank you, showing his ass last night by walking out on the SOTU. The Senate candidate said he did so to protest the President abusing his power yadda, yadda. What a moron you are Steve Stockman.

Finally, the Republicans also made news for the party’s former Marine and FBI agent member of the House who last night threatened to throw a reporter off the balcony of the Capitol and to break the reporter into. That was because the reporter had the gall to ask Rep. Michael Grimm, R, N.Y., a question that was about some campaign finance irregularities rather that something from the SOTU on which the congressman probably had ready for a quote.

It turns out Grimm has a long history of bad behavior toward the press and others as well as many ethical and financial questions trailing his time in Congress.

Both congressional Republican morons think they can speak to reporters on their own volition. But that isn’t the way our democracy works. As it turned out, I made the better decision to just keep a copy of the SOTU handy to read at my own pace. Besides, all the action, if you want to call it that, was outside the chamber. Unfortunately.

Stupidity be thy name, Mr. GRIMM and Mr. STOCKMAN.

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Crazy good weather ahead. I hope it arrives soon.

The temperature has stayed at 28-29 degrees F all day. It looks as if the intermittent sleet that has fallen on and off most of the day is leaving to be followed, perhaps, by a small snowfall. This is all according to my favorite radar, that of Houston’s KHOU 11 site.

Even the Texas folks have laughed, good naturedly for the most part, as to how we shut whole cities and towns down when we even have a threat of a so-called “Icemageddon.” Last week’s similar winter storm was responsible for more than 100 car accidents in our county and at least one fatality from a slick overpass. If it took the police shutting down overpasses and the two massive bridges spanning the Sabine-Neches ship channel — the Rainbow and Veterans Memorial bridges — to save life and limb, so be it.

I have seen much worse winter storms in Texas, specifically East and Southeast Texas, from where I hail as does actor Jim Parsons’ character Dr. Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory.” The reference is made due to Houston-native Parsons does a great job in calling out his TV detractors who confuse his geographical heritage with that of other parts of the Lone Star State.
If nothing else I took a nice nap this afternoon and dreamed of a long time ago when I was younger and did not feel as if I should shriek in agony from the weather-induced arthritic pain. My knee has been hurting like hell the last two days. I say it’s arthritis. I can’t be sure. Perhaps it is arthritic pain along with a muscle injury from a fall I took several weeks ago. Who the hell knows/No matter though. i understand the weather calls for a high of near 70 degrees on Saturday. That sounds crazy, I know. It’s crazy freaking fine.

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A cold-a** winter vacation doing nothing

The Winter Storm Warning that was finally issued for our area of Southeast Texas came but did so with little accompaniments of such a

Little visible ice but a lot of cold here in Southeast Texas.
Little visible ice but a lot of cold here in Southeast Texas.

warning. Still it did get icy enough to sufficiently slicken streets and highways. I woke up and went outside briefly, noticing the police were on the freeway with red lights and warning flares. Whether this was for a wreck or for dangerous driving, I couldn’t say.

Many friends and relatives who live north of me in East Texas had unusual, if not scenic, photos on Facebook this morning showing a carpet of snow laid down in their yards. To the South, here in Beaumont, most of the ice was barely visible such as the photo I have posted showing the sleet, snow and freezing rain that congregated at the base of the trees. Also, the windshields got a very good coating, enough so a light scraping wouldn’t get it.

One constant though was the cold. The “Weather Bug” temperature on my laptop — set to record temperatures at a nearby school — stayed below freezing most of the day. Walk out side into a little wind at 28 F and 100 percent humidity, and you got yourself a freezing-ass day.

I understand another bone-chiller will be on the way early next week when I return to work after a week of doing nothing. Ahhhh. It’s one of the best vacations ever.

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It might snow. It might not. It might sleet. It might not. I don’t care. That’s for sure.

This will be as short as possible. I am on “hump day” of my annual leave — or vacation or however you would like to say it — and truly embracing some “do nothing” time.

There is a possibility of freezing precipitation tomorrow evening and going into Friday morning, according to today’s forecast (Jan. 22, 2014) by the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles, La. Yes, Lake Charles, the place with the high bridge over Interstate 10 and the gambling casino boats along the Calcasieu River. If my memory serves me, the Weather Service for the Southeast Texas was once at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport, what the airport was named back then I can’t remember. Then I think it was moved to Galveston. I don’t know, what I say might just be smoke coming from my ass.

The local NWS office “Discussion” about the area’s surface, marine and aviation weather is where one goes for a look at what the area forecasters are thinking about what is ahead. For our little spot during the winter weather slated for tomorrow, thus says NWS meteorologists:

USING A VARIETY OF PCPN TYPE FCSTING TECHNIQUES…AND LEANING QUITE HEAVILY ON THE TOP-DOWN METHOD…A MIX OF ALL MODES OF PCPN…LIQUID…FROZEN…AND FREEZING IS POSSIBLE FROM THU EVENING THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY. THERE ARE STILL DIFFERENCES AMONG THE VARIOUS MODEL MODEL SOLUTIONS…BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT STAND OUT AMONG THEM ALL…WHICH IS THAT LIFT AND MOISTURE WILL BE BETTER TO OUR WEST…AND THERE WILL BE A DRY LOW LEVEL LAYER TO CONTEND WITH. AT THIS TIME…GIVEN THE PROGGED QPF AMOUNTS…IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE WE ARE IN DANGER OF MEETING OR EXCEEDING WINTER STORM WARNING CRITERIA…AND IN FACT…EVEN AN ADVISORY LOOKS UNLIKELY FOR MOST OF THE AREA. TEMPERATURES FRIDAY MORNING ARE FORECAST TO BE IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S…ONLY RISING INTO THE MID 30S DURING THE DAY.

Click on the above if you want definitions of the jargon. But this says that, for where I live in Jefferson County, coastal, Texas, it is doubtful any significant winter precipitation will occur. But for our subtropical area or the country it certainly should be colder than a well digger’s shovel.

Nevertheless, these weather service chaps leave themselves an out. They’ve prognosticated a 30 percent chance that sleet and/or snow may fall somewhere in the Lake Charles forecasting area. This ranges, for your information, from extreme western Hardin County, Texas, to Alexandria, La.,  to the west of New Orleans and south to the Gulf of Mexico. This is given with the proviso that weather does not generally obey imaginary boundaries such as county or parish lines.

And so too, the Texas Department of Public Safety will not be caught with its “Texas Tan” — replete with blue stripe with red piping — pants down by the release of a blanket travel advisory of this state. Texas, you might know, has  a length north and south by some 800 miles and nearly 775 miles east to west.

 “DPS is asking drivers to use extra caution on Texas roadways as an arctic front moves into areas of the state. Drivers may encounter freezing rain, sleet or snow is some areas, which could create extremely dangerous driving conditions,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “As always, Texans should continue to monitor the changing weather conditions in their area and prepare for any expected hazards.”

Further, said McCraw, several state agencies are standing by should their assistance be required including “Texas military forces.” Military forces? I knew DPS had its own swift boats, but military forces? Isn’t that a bit over the top? Couldn’t he have just said the National and State guard? Oh well.

Whether rain, sleet, snow, hell or high water, I plan for the remainder of my week off to mostly sit around or lie fast asleep catching up on a year or more of rest. Excited? Who’s excited?