I was able to enjoy a bit of the weather today. Upper 60's with some sun. A bit windy, but a good day for a walk. Took in a little over a mile, part of it through the local park. I noticed some of the diamond willow has died over the winter, and needs thinning. Might have to thin it out, and make some walking sticks
My dear hobbit. While it is rare for wig-wam's to have basements I found it to be quite handy on those extra hot summers. Unfortunatly it was not large enough to keep the ping-pong table
I have heard several complaints about the weather making a mess of the maple syrup this year. One source said that the weather must turn suddenly cold just after the sap starts to run, or else it is sour.
Sounds like you are enjoying the west cost stargazer. No real trouble with mosquitos, though I still hold with the theory my blood isn't sweet enough for them. As for lawn mowing, well, thats soon on the honey-do-list.
Fencer. I have seen the news footage, and thankfully have not heard of any fatalities. Prayer is definitly heading that way.

I caught some coverage of the DFW twisters. Pretty impressive, especially that video clip of the semi-trailers being twirled in the air. Fortunately, at this time injury reports seem comparatively limited.

The clouds parted in time for me to catch a glimpse of Venus passing through the Pleiades. Beautiful sight, especially in binoculars!

Another good day for a walk. Not too many insects flying about the head, and the birds were actually in tune I think.
I forgot to respond to johobbit's question about riding a bicycle. It can be done. But as a fellow creature with larger lower digits you can understand the need to be mindful of the front spokes. I find that pointing the webbed toes outward is needed when making turns.
The hat is another matter. A gust of wind, and low branches make rides very interesting.

Speaking of tornadoes.....
My husband called me a few minutes ago to let me know a cold air funnel had dropped from the sky not far from our house. I ran out to snap pictures like mad and as I was taking pics, a second one dropped. (These are NOT tornadoes btw. They more like dirt/dust devils.) I didn't get many good pics of the second one cause it started hailing shortly thereafter, but here's a few I did get...
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/ ... G_0398.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/ ... G_0399.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/ ... G_0400.jpg

The first one that's in the above 3 pictures is off to the left near the tallest tree and electric post. The second one is straight up from the SUV driving by.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/ ... G_0402.jpg

I had never heard of cold air funnels prior to a couple weeks ago when one formed on the northeast side of the city. (I didn't see that one.) Here's about all I could find on then on Wikipedia....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funnel_clo ... nel_clouds

It is amazing that there were no fatalities in the storms in the D/FW area yesterday. This video is really something (stargazer mentioned it above). Especially note around 1:34, which spectacularly shows 18-wheelers being tossed into the air!!

Unfortunatly it was not large enough to keep the ping-pong table

I guess you'll just have to build an addition, given you have room in the marsh.

One source said that the weather must turn suddenly cold just after the sap starts to run, or else it is sour.

*wonders what sour sap tastes like*

Sadly, it was cloudy here last night to catch Venus passing through the Pleiades. Tonight is clear, so hopefully it'll still be a very decent sight.

(Okay, now we so need an artist like Meltintalle to draw a sketch of a Marsh-wiggle riding a bicycle. )

fantasia, those photos are just too cool. Hurray for hubby calling! Wow, wow! Great shots. I had never heard of these before, but now wish they'd come to my area.

Well, today, even though there was a cool-ish wind, there was a definite spring feel in the air. Our grass was loooong (and very green), so this day marked our first mowing of 2012—probably three weeks to a month earlier than we usually first mow it. I got a 'ton' of yard work done as well, and didn't get overly hot (thank goodness) because of the fresh breeze. The temperature was around 10C/50F ... quite pleasant.

This high pressure holds until Sunday, when precipitation (not snow ) is expected, with temperatures dropping early in the week.

I'm still holding out for some snow in April, but I somehow doubt that will happen this year.

fantasia_kitty. Just a slight correction on your observation. from the photos you are correct about these being cold air funnels. They are seldom a threat as they rarely reach the ground.
However they are different from dust devils, which are from usually hot air near the ground circulating upwards. These are also seldom a threat, but have been known to move cars about. I witnessed one some years ago that was visible for some miles, and when I passed it made the familier train roar we associat with tornados.
My dear hobbit. While I would enjoy nothing more than expansion, room for a large screen telly would be nice, the budget simply does not allow for it.
After all, what would the neighbors think

Just a slight correction on your observation.

The comparison wasn't a good one. I meant that cold air funnels and dust devils were alike in that neither are very dangerous, unlike tornadoes which are highly destructive.
Dust devils I'm familiar with, we get them here all the time. It's always highly amusing to be driving past a field with a little mini dirt tornado swirling around.

I witnessed one some years ago that was visible for some miles, and when I passed it made the familier train roar we associat with tornados.

Wow! I've never seen one that big.

Great pictures of the cold-weather funnels, fantasia. Very neat.

(We had a chance to see several at once when our camping group drove to Glacier National Park some years ago. As we approached Fargo on Interstate 94, there were 3 or 4 visible at once. We figured they were small tornadoes and couldn't understand why no alarms were being sounded. Finally a radio announcer clarified things for us - and for all those who were calling in about them).

My parents have commented today that southern Minnesota is getting March-like weather now (frost at night and cool days) after the record-setting summer-like heat of mid-March. Go figure.

'Tis really cool you have seen these cold air funnels as well, 'gazer.

I meant to mention in my post above, that while our daytime temperatures are pleasantly cool (10C/50F or thereabouts), our nighttime lows are just below freezing, which make for a very refreshing start to the days (and air which I dearly enjoy—even the smell of that cold air is almost intoxicating to me ). This is more like maple-syrup-making weather ... and should have been in March. These mornings, we even have to scrape frost off the car.

Cool pictures, fantasia!

I heard about the torandos in Texas. We have family that lives not far from Dallas, so glad they are all okay.

Our weather had been in the upper 70s and low 80s for about two weeks. And today it's 50F. Big change in temperature! It should be a very pleasant Easter weekend.

SnowAngel

We had another earthquake in my area yesterday. It was a 2.9 located within a couple miles of where I USED to live a few months ago. I didn't feel it where I am now but I imagine my former neighbors did.

A fine sunny day today. About 70, and a bit on the breezy side. Good day to get the windows cleaned, and some yard work. Finished chasing the mower about yesterday, and noticed a bumper crop of dandelions already taking over the lawn. I do hate using chemicals, but I lake the patience, and back stamina of bending over each one with the root cutter.
Have to watch the time as we have service at 7, and need to wash up.
Sounds like you live in a really busy place Fencer. Tornados, now earthquakes. I hope you sufficiant insurance. Take care.

El Paso is in the OTHER half of Texas. We didn't get the tornadoes Dallas got. In terms of natural disasters, El Paso is one of the safest places to be. We don't have major earthquakes (yesterday's was the third in nearly 13 years I've been here, 2nd in a month, and the strongest of them all was a 4.0). We don't have tornadoes. We don't have blizzards. We had the worst freeze last year with 60 hours of sub-15 F (nothing compared to what the Michigan folk experience). We don't have hurricanes. We rarely have flooding (and only when it rains over 5 inches in less than an hour). We had our 500-year flood in 2006, something no one alive in El Paso had seen before. Our worst weather is heat (constantly 90-100+ degrees F for 8 months out of the year) and dirt. When the wind blows in the north, you get white out blizzard conditions. Here we get brown outs. We get storms similar to the ones that blasted Phoenix last year (and on a much smaller scale than the one seen in the movie Hidalgo). But that's about it. Our strongest wind storms are in the 70-80 mph range. Nothing compared to the 120-150+ mph gusts I got growing up in Colorado. So nothing big at this point here.

With all that dirt in the air it raises a question.. I read some time ago about how people in the old "dust bowl" years would set the table but would leave the plates upside-down, with the silverware under it, until the food ws actually served. Some retired folks still do this as tradition simply because they did so as children. The reason was simply because there was so much fine dust in the air it settled onto the plates, and you found the food a little gritty.
Anyone there follow this practice?

Not that I know of. But yes, it doesn't take long before you can 'write' in the dust here. It's a very fine powdery dust that you could only keep out with a vacuum seal and even then probably not. We don't do that here, but if a plate or a bowl is left out of a cupboard, we will often wash it before using it. Yeah, when the dust blows here and you need to be out in it, you will taste it, no matter how well you cover your mouth.