Nevertheless, with all of the cold weather that we've had, below freezing all week, I think we've earned a bit of pretty.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Finally, some snow
The snow dusted us late last night, so light that you couldn't even measure it sideways.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
I asked several people at a gathering last night what they remembered about the night that John Lennon was shot. Most were too young to remember or to have cared.
That night in 1980, I was working at the old Enterprise-Sun news office in Marlborough, finishing up my stories about the Hudson selectmen's meeting. Computer terminals had just been installed a few months earlier. I saw the story come in from the U.P.I. wire service. There was one other reporter in the office that night. We talked for a little bit and then sat quietly until it was time to go home.
As Brian observed, music was being ripped in a lot of different directions at the time. The Beatles, gone for more than a decade, weren't part of anyone's current listening, but they still formed the backdrop for popular music. Punk was ricocheting between angry politics and just louder. We'd come out of the disco crisis scarred and a bit embarrassed that we'd liked Saturday Night Fever.
So, while Lennon's murder was a shocking reminder of violence, it wasn't a demarcation. With the assassinations of the 60s, a line of dreams was broken. We were sad at Lennon's death. We weren't, however, grieving for what he and we might have been.
That night in 1980, I was working at the old Enterprise-Sun news office in Marlborough, finishing up my stories about the Hudson selectmen's meeting. Computer terminals had just been installed a few months earlier. I saw the story come in from the U.P.I. wire service. There was one other reporter in the office that night. We talked for a little bit and then sat quietly until it was time to go home.
As Brian observed, music was being ripped in a lot of different directions at the time. The Beatles, gone for more than a decade, weren't part of anyone's current listening, but they still formed the backdrop for popular music. Punk was ricocheting between angry politics and just louder. We'd come out of the disco crisis scarred and a bit embarrassed that we'd liked Saturday Night Fever.
So, while Lennon's murder was a shocking reminder of violence, it wasn't a demarcation. With the assassinations of the 60s, a line of dreams was broken. We were sad at Lennon's death. We weren't, however, grieving for what he and we might have been.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
More on winter
We've had a few days of below-freezing weather with a couple more in the queue. There'll be a warm-up on Sunday and Monday, bringing freezing glop that turns to hydraulic cement early next week.
We've rearranged a few rooms in our house. I now have a different BlogCave™ off of our family room. The wood stove provides enough warmth; I've not had to turn on the heat, yet.
When the snow is covering the back window, we'll have better insulation. Until then, the sharp northwest winds alert us to each little gap that we missed in our last weatherization project.
Nature plays hard and wants to win.
 |
| via Wunder Blog : Weather Underground |
When the snow is covering the back window, we'll have better insulation. Until then, the sharp northwest winds alert us to each little gap that we missed in our last weatherization project.
Nature plays hard and wants to win.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Bringing the science of weather to Worcester
This year's Southern New England Weather Conference was held at Holy Cross on Saturday. About 140 amateur weather nerds and professional meteorologists, including those we see on TV, spent a cloudless day discussing weather reporting, forecasting, and climatology.[1]. Through the presentations, discussions between sessions, and in the Twittersphere, a couple themes kept showing up:
Next year, I will try to bring one or more of the grandchildren. I think that they would have enjoyed hearing someone such as 11-year-old Dew Butler, who maintains stormtopia.com, give a weather analysis that was sharp, funny, and fun. They'd be intrigued by Matt Noyes of NECN and his disarmingly easy-going approach to science education. Jonathan Byrne is both the Mad Scientist and thoughtful educator, bringing the best out of our students. Even the technical analysis of a meteotsunami, dense with math and physics, is pretty cool when you see a video of boats bouncing around Boothbay Harbor on an otherwise calm day. They might have wondered while some of the adults teared up a bit at Barry Burbank's tribute to Don Kent, who passed away this past year.
Winter weather is more that just knowing how much it's going to snow
. Some storms, such as our 2008 Ice Storm and sundry blizzards, can be life-threatening and economically devastating, not to mention keeping kids in school until the end of June.
Forecasting severe and dangerous weather, including hurricanes, is so much better now that we miss completely the worsening ability to get urgent news to the public. Bryan Norcross of the Weather Channel and America's Emergency Network, compared his experience with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to our situation today. While we're able to forecast with much greater accuracy now and we have cell phones and all manner of Internet-based communications, we're less effective in being able to handle such a situation without power.
The problem of the last mile, getting official news to people in a emergency, has worsened in our hyper-connected lives.Our cell phone networks don't support broadcast messages. ("Send a reverse 911 to all Verizon Wireless subscribers.") Our TV and radio stations have cut back on their news staffs. Many radio outlets, for example, do not have local staff at all, except for an engineer to receive and rebroadcast a satellite signal. Those stations that do have local staff are often concentrated in large cities, leaving outlying areas without meaningful news. And, even if the radio stations can do the job, fewer people are likely to have a battery-powered AM/FM radio in their homes. It's these issues that America's Emergency Network is helping us solve. These are also issues that can engage young people, helping us keep our emergency supplies, including a working radio, in ready condition.
The people we watch regularly, such as Kevin Lemanowicz of Fox25, Tim Kelley of NECN, who does the only Worcester-specific broadcast, Burbank of WBZ, who visited Holden last year, and Noyes, are very approachable. They appreciate the challenge of balancing the roles as TV personalities and scientists. They understand the complexities the weather in central Massachusetts. They'll be thoughtful as some guy launches into a discourse on probabilistic forecasting, risk analysis, and our culture's poor grasp of statistical analysis. Grandkids (and children and spouses) might roll their eyes when they hear talk like that, but these folks are patient and respectful.
And, then, few minutes later, they become as excited as school kids. They talk about long-range indicators suggesting a pattern of wintry weather next week, leading to a discussion about the overall prospects for winter.(It may snow a lot.)
- How do yo engage the public, particularly school kids, in science, in general, and meteorology, in particular?
- How do you convey scientific information, with all of its nuances, uncertainty, and urgency, through often fractious channels of media and government, to an impatient public?
Next year, I will try to bring one or more of the grandchildren. I think that they would have enjoyed hearing someone such as 11-year-old Dew Butler, who maintains stormtopia.com, give a weather analysis that was sharp, funny, and fun. They'd be intrigued by Matt Noyes of NECN and his disarmingly easy-going approach to science education. Jonathan Byrne is both the Mad Scientist and thoughtful educator, bringing the best out of our students. Even the technical analysis of a meteotsunami, dense with math and physics, is pretty cool when you see a video of boats bouncing around Boothbay Harbor on an otherwise calm day. They might have wondered while some of the adults teared up a bit at Barry Burbank's tribute to Don Kent, who passed away this past year.Winter weather is more that just knowing how much it's going to snow
. Some storms, such as our 2008 Ice Storm and sundry blizzards, can be life-threatening and economically devastating, not to mention keeping kids in school until the end of June.Forecasting severe and dangerous weather, including hurricanes, is so much better now that we miss completely the worsening ability to get urgent news to the public. Bryan Norcross of the Weather Channel and America's Emergency Network, compared his experience with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to our situation today. While we're able to forecast with much greater accuracy now and we have cell phones and all manner of Internet-based communications, we're less effective in being able to handle such a situation without power.
The problem of the last mile, getting official news to people in a emergency, has worsened in our hyper-connected lives.Our cell phone networks don't support broadcast messages. ("Send a reverse 911 to all Verizon Wireless subscribers.") Our TV and radio stations have cut back on their news staffs. Many radio outlets, for example, do not have local staff at all, except for an engineer to receive and rebroadcast a satellite signal. Those stations that do have local staff are often concentrated in large cities, leaving outlying areas without meaningful news. And, even if the radio stations can do the job, fewer people are likely to have a battery-powered AM/FM radio in their homes. It's these issues that America's Emergency Network is helping us solve. These are also issues that can engage young people, helping us keep our emergency supplies, including a working radio, in ready condition.
The people we watch regularly, such as Kevin Lemanowicz of Fox25, Tim Kelley of NECN, who does the only Worcester-specific broadcast, Burbank of WBZ, who visited Holden last year, and Noyes, are very approachable. They appreciate the challenge of balancing the roles as TV personalities and scientists. They understand the complexities the weather in central Massachusetts. They'll be thoughtful as some guy launches into a discourse on probabilistic forecasting, risk analysis, and our culture's poor grasp of statistical analysis. Grandkids (and children and spouses) might roll their eyes when they hear talk like that, but these folks are patient and respectful.
 |
| Joseph D’Aleo's winter forecast |
[1] Last year's conference was visited by a frontal passage, bringing a squall through the region and sending the weather folk to the windows.
Bringing the science of weather to Worcester
This year's Southern New England Weather Conference was held at Holy Cross on Saturday. About 140 amateur weather nerds and professional meteorologists, including those we see on TV, spent a cloudless day discussing weather reporting, forecasting, and climatology.[1]. Through the presentations, discussions between sessions, and in the Twittersphere, a couple themes kept showing up:
Next year, I will try to bring one or more of the grandchildren. I think that they would have enjoyed hearing someone such as 11-year-old Dew Butler, who maintains stormtopia.com, give a weather analysis that was sharp, funny, and fun. They'd be intrigued by Matt Noyes of NECN and his disarmingly easy-going approach to science education. Jonathan Byrne is both the Mad Scientist and thoughtful educator, bringing the best out of our students. Even the technical analysis of a meteotsunami, dense with math and physics, is pretty cool when you see a video of boats bouncing around Boothbay Harbor on an otherwise calm day. They might have wondered while some of the adults teared up a bit at Barry Burbank's tribute to Don Kent, who passed away this past year.
Winter weather is more that just knowing how much it's going to snow. Some storms, such as our 2008 Ice Storm and sundry blizzards, can be life-threatening and economically devastating, not to mention keeping kids in school until the end of June.
Forecasting severe and dangerous weather, including hurricanes, is so much better now that we miss completely the worsening ability to get urgent news to the public. Bryan Norcross of the Weather Channel and America's Emergency Network, compared his experience with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to our situation today. While we're able to forecast with much greater accuracy now and we have cell phones and all manner of Internet-based communications, we're less effective in being able to handle such a situation without power.
The problem of the last mile, getting official news to people in a emergency, has worsened in our hyper-connected lives.Our cell phone networks don't support broadcast messages. ("Send a reverse 911 to all Verizon Wireless subscribers.") Our TV and radio stations have cut back on their news staffs. Many radio outlets, for example, do not have local staff at all, except for an engineer to receive and rebroadcast a satellite signal. Those stations that do have local staff are often concentrated in large cities, leaving outlying areas without meaningful news. And, even if the radio stations can do the job, fewer people are likely to have a battery-powered AM/FM radio in their homes. It's these issues that America's Emergency Network is helping us solve. These are also issues that can engage young people, helping us keep our emergency supplies, including a working radio, in ready condition.
The people we watch regularly, such as Kevin Lemanowicz of Fox25, Tim Kelley of NECN, who does the only Worcester-specific broadcast, Burbank of WBZ, who visited Holden last year, and Noyes, are very approachable. They appreciate the challenge of balancing the roles as TV personalities and scientists. They understand the complexities the weather in central Massachusetts. They'll be thoughtful as some guy launches into a discourse on probabilistic forecasting, risk analysis, and our culture's poor grasp of statistical analysis. Grandkids (and children and spouses) might roll their eyes when they hear talk like that, but these folks are patient and respectful.
And, then, few minutes later, they become as excited as school kids. They talk about long-range indicators suggesting a pattern of wintry weather next week, leading to a discussion about the overall prospects for winter.(It may snow a lot.)
- How do yo engage the public, particularly school kids, in science, in general, and meteorology, in particular?
- How do you convey scientific information, with all of its nuances, uncertainty, and urgency, through often fractious channels of media and government, to an impatient public?
Next year, I will try to bring one or more of the grandchildren. I think that they would have enjoyed hearing someone such as 11-year-old Dew Butler, who maintains stormtopia.com, give a weather analysis that was sharp, funny, and fun. They'd be intrigued by Matt Noyes of NECN and his disarmingly easy-going approach to science education. Jonathan Byrne is both the Mad Scientist and thoughtful educator, bringing the best out of our students. Even the technical analysis of a meteotsunami, dense with math and physics, is pretty cool when you see a video of boats bouncing around Boothbay Harbor on an otherwise calm day. They might have wondered while some of the adults teared up a bit at Barry Burbank's tribute to Don Kent, who passed away this past year.Winter weather is more that just knowing how much it's going to snow
. Some storms, such as our 2008 Ice Storm and sundry blizzards, can be life-threatening and economically devastating, not to mention keeping kids in school until the end of June.Forecasting severe and dangerous weather, including hurricanes, is so much better now that we miss completely the worsening ability to get urgent news to the public. Bryan Norcross of the Weather Channel and America's Emergency Network, compared his experience with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to our situation today. While we're able to forecast with much greater accuracy now and we have cell phones and all manner of Internet-based communications, we're less effective in being able to handle such a situation without power.
The problem of the last mile, getting official news to people in a emergency, has worsened in our hyper-connected lives.Our cell phone networks don't support broadcast messages. ("Send a reverse 911 to all Verizon Wireless subscribers.") Our TV and radio stations have cut back on their news staffs. Many radio outlets, for example, do not have local staff at all, except for an engineer to receive and rebroadcast a satellite signal. Those stations that do have local staff are often concentrated in large cities, leaving outlying areas without meaningful news. And, even if the radio stations can do the job, fewer people are likely to have a battery-powered AM/FM radio in their homes. It's these issues that America's Emergency Network is helping us solve. These are also issues that can engage young people, helping us keep our emergency supplies, including a working radio, in ready condition.
The people we watch regularly, such as Kevin Lemanowicz of Fox25, Tim Kelley of NECN, who does the only Worcester-specific broadcast, Burbank of WBZ, who visited Holden last year, and Noyes, are very approachable. They appreciate the challenge of balancing the roles as TV personalities and scientists. They understand the complexities the weather in central Massachusetts. They'll be thoughtful as some guy launches into a discourse on probabilistic forecasting, risk analysis, and our culture's poor grasp of statistical analysis. Grandkids (and children and spouses) might roll their eyes when they hear talk like that, but these folks are patient and respectful.
|
| Joseph D’Aleo's winter forecast |
[1] Last year's conference was visited by a frontal passage, bringing a squall through the region and sending the weather folk to the windows.
Monday, December 06, 2010
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