In case you hadn't heard, KSTP, AM-1500 is now the region's Twins
Station. It is. Really. It used to be the station that was on all the
time here in my dungeon in Saint Paul. Not any longer. While I like to
listen to the games, there are more important things.
Yesterday, we had some severe weather in the North Metro. Trees were
falling, trucks were getting blown over. Heck, there were tornado
warnings in several areas in the Metro. AM-1500? They didn't hear about
it, apparently, because there wasn't any information available. Just
another Twins game, with the announcers droning on about statistics
about players. They did call the pitches, etc., but they didn't let
anyone know about the weather or the warnings...at least not that I
heard.
Over at WCCO, AM-830, it was another story. Remember? WCCO used to be
the Twins station. It's always been the go-to station for weather info,
though. Forget KSTP, folks. We have weather here in the Metro. Sometimes
it's dangerous weather, and we need to know about it.
KSTP, AM-1500 has dropped the ball in a serious way Yes, the Twins
are important. Yes, we want to know the score. But we also want to know
what's happening when severe weather shows up, as it often does. Break
into the game, boys. At least report the storm warnings. Then you can go
back to discussing when Sammy Sosa will hit his 600th homer, and how
long it has been since a Twin has hit three homers in one game. We'll
wait.
5/24/07
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Here in Saint Paul, the city fathers are threatening to fine citizens
who don't keep their sidewalks clean "down to the pavement."
Most of us do that every time it snows. Not everyone, but most of us.
How about the City of Saint Paul clearing our streets "down to
the pavement?" They sure didn't do that during this last snow
emergency. Side streets here in the Northeast corner of the city got
plowed, but very, very poorly after our record snowfall last week. Very,
very poorly.
The street in front of my home, over near McKnight Road, has
6-8" of snow still covering most of the street. It's nasty, now,
with deep ruts from the traffic. Drivers are getting pulled this way and
that by the ruts. You can see this in the photo below:
It's the same story on all the side streets in this part
of the city. I don't know about other areas, since my little 2 wheel
drive car hasn't been out of the driveway since the storm, and the SUV
is needed by my wife.
It seems to me that if the city wants to charge
residents to clear the snow off their sidewalks, it ought to do a decent
job of snow removal on the city streets. All the city streets. Don't you
agree?
You can contact the Public Works Department of Saint
Paul by calling 651-292-6600. Let them know about the streets they
didn't do right. Insist that they come and re-plow if they're going to
get stinky about sidewalks.
3/8/07
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Me!
That Minnesota Nice reputation sometimes seems like it doesn't ring
so true these days. Lots of folks in a hurry, lots of folks crowding,
lots of folks acting impatient on the road. I've heard more than one
Minnesotan complain about Minnesota Nice being a thing of the past.
Still, let a foot of snow fall on a late February weekend, and the
nice seems to come right back. Here in the Northeast corner of Saint
Paul, the residents of my diverse neighborhood near McKnight Rd. woke up
on Sunday morning to find anywhere from 10" of heavy white snow to
as much as 18" in drifts. Even in Minnesota, that's a lot of snow,
and it all has to be moved off the driveways and sidewalks. The city
snowplows will take care of the street...eventually...leaving those
inevitable piles of snow at the end of each driveway.
I got up on Sunday, looked out the window, and groaned quietly. At
age 61, I'm still clearing my own snow, but I feel entitled to grumble
about it a bit. My wife and I sat in our living room, fortifying
ourselves with some black coffee, muffins, and a couple of hard-boiled
eggs, watching out our large window as the neighborhood began to wake
up. We rise early, so the sun wasn't up yet.
The neighbors across the street were the first outside. Adults and
kids alike grabbed shovels and began clearing the driveway. They're
young, so no snowblower is really necessary, although it might have been
nice. Half an hour later, they were done, but hadn't cleared the main
sidewalks yet.
From two doors down the street, a neighbor with a snowblower came up
the street, blowing his own sidewalk, then his next-door neighbor's, and
then my neighbor's across the street from me. He just waved at the
neighbors.
By this time, I'm ready to get out and start in on my own chores. I
pulled on the big insulated boots, dragged on a medium parka (it gets
hot, even in 20 degree weather). I pushed the screen door open and
pushed the button on my garage door opener.
First step is always clearing the porches, then the sidewalks around
the house. I hate shoveling, so I prefer to do that first, rather than
after I'm weary from running the snowblower. That done (not as easy as
it sounds), I trudged through the snow to the garage, shoveled a little
pad outside the door, then dragged the snowblower out of its spot. I had
started it up on Friday, so it fired up instantly, and I began the
process of clearing the long asphalt driveway I share with my next-door
neighbor.
Normally, he turns out and starts working, too, but he hasn't been
feeling well, so I did the whole driveway, rather than just my half. It
seemed the right thing to do. Once I got to the end of the driveway
(about an hour later, since the snow was drifted heavily), I started on
the city sidewalks. Since my next door neighbor wasn't well, I did his,
then mine. The snowblower makes easy work of it. New folks had just
moved in on Friday at the house on the other side of me. A young couple
with a small child. We hadn't met yet, but I didn't see them out, so I
ran the snowblower up their sidewalk, too.
Just as I was about done with that, the new neighbor came out of his
house, in full winter regalia, snow shovel in hand. We had a good
Minnesota handshake and introduced ourselves to each other. A simple
"thanks" was all that was offered, and all that's required in
these situations.
A little finishing up and I was done for the snow removal stuff that
day. As I watched, through the day, I saw lots of other folks going a
little further than they needed to with their snowblowers. One
neighbor's machine refused to start, so his next-door neighbor loaned
him his own blower, once he was finished. He got it back later, wiped
down thoroughly, and full of gas. All day long, I watched as one
neighbor helped another to dig out and get moving. Cars got pushed as
they tried to get going on the unplowed street. Conversations went on,
often between folks who normally don't really talk to each other a
lot.
That's Minnesota Nice, folks. Maybe it's not so much needed in the
normal day-to-day routine. But, when the snow flies and accumulates
deeply, the Minnesota Nice seems to come out in most folks. It's a good
thing. It is. Pass it along, please.
2/26/07
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We're finally coming out of the Winter deep freeze, following one of
the coldest Februaries anyone can remember. Temperatures are likely to
exceed 40º on Wednesday, and it will be above freezing at some point
every day this week.
Time to break out the Hawaiian shirts, I'm thinking. But
wait...there's more. This weekend has the potential for a big
late-winter storm, dumping rain, snow, and freezing rain on the Twin
Cities. That's yucky stuff. It's not certain, yet, of course, but the
indicators show that we may be in for the wet sticky stuff after a few
nice days.
Well, it's almost March, so what should we expect. I remember one
March storm last year. It dumped about 10 inches of heavy, wet snow,
forcing me to break out the snowblower. Of course, the next day, all
that snow melted. Minnesota is a strange place, no doubt.
2/19/07
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It's the 5th of February, and the thermometer outside my St. Paul
window read -20° this morning at 7 A. M. It's all over the TV news that
it's cold in Minnesota. Schools are closed, cars won't start. It's cold!
But wait...this is Minnesota. It's early February. It's supposed
to be cold. Having moved here from California just 2 1/2 years ago, I
expected this. My wife warned me about this. I have parkas, hats, warm
boots. My SUV plugs in to an outlet in the garage. There are some winter
emergency supplies in the back of my car.
But it's so cold...that's what everyone's saying this week.
Even my parents, who still live in Southern California, where it was
80° yesterday, called me up. They just wanted to check on me, out here
in the cold. I told them that where I was, sitting on my sofa, it was
72°. No problem. I have a nice furnace. Now, it's a little chilly down
in the basement, where I'm writing this blog, but I put on a nice warm
sweater and some thick socks, and I'm just fine.
It's Minnesota. It's February 5. It's supposed to be cold. My only
complaint is about the lack of snow this winter. That $600 snowblower in
my garage is pining away, almost unused this winter.
So, folks, it's going to be a bit nippy all week. But just think how
nice it's going to feel on that first 20° day in a week or so. Won't
that be wonderful?
2/5/07
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My snowblower is all tuned up. It's been all tuned up since October.
Where's the darn snow?
That question may be answered tonight and tomorrow, when the storm
that dumped 30" of snow on Colorado makes its way to the Metro.
Opinions vary on how much snow this weakening system will drop here, but
2-3" seems the most likely. Since this is the Winter Solstice, it's
only fair that we get some Winter, OK?
That's nice, but I don't start my snowblower for less than 4".
The car does a good enough job of packing down lesser amounts and the
trusty shovel will handle the sidewalks.
As a relative newcomer to Minnesota (since July, 2004), the state
just hasn't lived up to the reputation it had before I got here. Sure,
we've had snow for the last two winters, but hardly enough to get exercised
about. One of the first things I bought the year I moved here was a 5.5
hp, dual-stage, 6-speeds forward, 3-speeds reverse snowblower. It set me
back about $600, and two years later has maybe 2 hours on it. I did
change its oil this fall, though, and put in a new sparkplug. I
tightened all the fasteners, too, and added a little air to the tires. I
did that, though, just to say I had done it.
So, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
12/21/06
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Up to 7 inches of snow and even more blanketed southern Minnesota on
Friday, heralding the season of snowblowing in our chilly state. This
season always brings to mind Ezra Pound's parody of an anonymous 13th
century poem praising Summer. The Summer poem, with a translation into
modern English says:
Sumer is icumen in, / Spring has come in,
Lhude sing, cuccu! / Loudly sing, cuckoo!
Groweth sed and bloweth med / Grows the seed and blooms the meadow
And springth the wude nu. / And the woods springs now.
Sing, cuccu! / Sing, cuckoo!
Awe bleteth after lomb, / The ewe bleats after the lamb,
Lhouth after calve cu / The calf lows after the cow
Bulloc sterteth, bucke ferteth. / The bull leaps, the buck leaps,
twisting.
Murie sing, cuccu! / Merrily sing, cuckoo!
Cuccu, cuccu, / Cuckoo, cuckoo,
Wel singes thu, cuccu. / Well sing you, cuckoo.
Ne swik thu naver nu! / Nor cease you ever now!
Sing cuccu nu, sing cuccu! / Sing cuckoo now, sing cuckoo!
Sing cuccu nu, sing cuccu! / Sing cuckoo now, sing cuckoo!
Ezra Pound had a somewhat different view of Winter than the anonymous
poet had of Spring, it seems. Here's his parody:
Winter is icumen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm,
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.
Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham.
Freezeth river, turneth liver,
Damn you, sing: Goddamm.
Goddamm, Goddamm, 'tis why I am, Goddamm,
So 'gainst the winter's balm.
Sing goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm,
Sing goddamm, sing goddamm, DAMM.
(Apologies for the swearing...I didn't write it)
So, get that snowblower tuned up. Winter is definitely icumin in.
11/11/06
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Well, a bit of snow is falling this morning. The rain water in the
bottom of my fishing boat is frozen solid this morning, and there's
slip-sliding going on on the freeways. Are we shocked and surprised? So
it would seem, based on the morning news programs.
It's October, folks. It's Minnesota. It gets cold; it snows. Time to
polish those winter driving skills, tune up the snowblower, and get
ready for Old Man Winter.
Heck, I've only lived here for two years, and I'm far from surprised.
Now, my parents, who live in California, are visiting this week, so now
they think that Minnesota is that frosty state they keep hearing about.
Over coffee this morning, they're gazing out the living room window, marveling
at those little snow flurries. It makes them a little nervous. I think
they have visions of drifts up to the windows by this afternoon.
Me? Well, it's time to turn the old aluminum boat upside down for the
winter, store the outboard motor in the basement and buy fresh gas for
the snowblower. No hurry, of course, but it's what I'm thinking about
this morning.
Pretty soon, I'll go back upstairs and reassure my parents that they
won't need their snowshoes on this visit. I love Minnesota!
10/12/06
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Well, there's no getting around it any longer. Looking out my picture
window in the living room this morning, I spied frost covering the roof
of my neighbor's house across the street. Time to start thinking about
winter again. I need to do oil changes on my two cars, get a coolant
system flush on one of them, and get my snowblowers ready for the
season.
Time, too to do all that yard cleanup I've been putting off all
Summer. I'm heading for the hardware store to get one of those
Dumpster-in-a-Bag thingies so I can clean out enough of the garage to
get the good car in there in bad weather. That seems to get harder every
year. Maybe it's time to downsize on the vehicle. That big old SUV is
great for getting around on icy streets, but a little sub-compact would
let me keep more of my junk in the garage. Hmm....
Then, I'll need to clean the furnace, stuff a new filter in there,
bring the outboard motor down to the basement, along with the trolling
motor battery. My first year here, I made the mistake of leaving the
battery in the garage and didn't connect it to a trickle charger. I got
to buy a new battery in the Spring. There's the lawnmower, too. It needs
to have its gas tank emptied and I must find a place to put it during
the cold months. The lawn furniture? Well, there's just no room for it,
so it gets to spend the Winter outdoors. Never mind.
All that stuff is good for me, I suppose. Exercise and all that, you
know. Still...I'm going to miss the nice weather...again. Uffda!
9/20/06
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Strong thunderstorms caused severe damage in Rogers, MN, along with
other Northeast Metro communities last night, but skipped over the Twin
Cities. A line of severe thunderstorms cause numerous warnings and
watches early in the evening. The worst damage appears to have occurred
in Rogers, where numerous homes were damaged, power was lost, and a
number of injured folks were sent to the hospital. One 10 year old girl
died as the result a collapsed house caused these storms.
While many think it is unusual for severe thunderstorms to occur this
late in the season, a similar severe thunderstorm system caused damage
in the same area last year on September 21. News sources cannot say at
this time whether it was a tornado or straight-line winds that caused
the damage in Rogers, but two tornadoes were spotted to the west of this
area earlier in the storm. The system moved across Nebraska and South
Dakota before speeding through Minnesota. Storms also swept through
Southern Minnesota, but little information is available so far.
Since the storms happened on Saturday evening, news is spotty so far,
but damage reports will filter in through the day today, and tonight's
local news should provide all the details.
Video reports from Rogers are available on KSTP's web site. Click
Here!
9/17/06
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So, I ventured out into the yard to perform my weekly lawn mowing
chores the other day, and saw the end of Summer in the boulevard. The
boulevard tree in front of my house (I have no idea what kind of tree it
is) had dumped it's first load of yellowed leaves there for me to see.
It's like a little insult that the tree prepares for me each year. As
one of the first trees on the block to change color and being littering
my yard, it's a harbinger of ugly things to come, and I don't mean
Winter.
The real culprit is the gigantic silver maple that grows out of my
lawn. It's huge. It's also the very last tree on the block to lose its
leaves. Its roots push up sidewalks and prevent any digging on that side
of the yard. It also has the ugly habit of strewing my lawn with small
branches, which fall all year long.
To appease this tree, I have attached one of those composition faces
to its trunk...the kind that has a beard, etc. It hasn't worked, but
does rather alarm a couple of young Hmong children from a few doors up
the block. Apparently, the Hmong have particular reverence for maple
trees, and the appearance of a hoary old face on the tree has these
small children in something of a tizzy.
But, I digress. I was talking about leaves. Once my boulevard tree
begins shedding its leaves, it is a signal for all the other trees in
the neighborhood to begin littering yards. While some residents
may wax nostalgic about the autumn leaves, I find them a singular
annoyance...something to be grumpy about.
My first Fall here in Saint Paul, I set about raking leaves with
gusto, since I moved here from California, where the leaves never fall.
I raked them into neat piles, then loaded them into huge plastic bags.
Then, about the time I had raked them all up, another tree nearby
proceeded to litter my yard once again. I raked again...and again...and
again. Then, the huge silver maple, which had turned yellow in warning,
finally decided to add insult to my injured back, and dumped its entire
load, seemingly in a single day, leaving several inches of leaves on my
lawn, sidewalk, roof, and gutters.
With an ugly spirit, I raked, swept, scooped, and otherwise gathered
all those leaves together and filled the big plastic bags. Now, these
aren't the typical black garbage bags, but huge bags just for leaves.
When I was done, I had thirty of them. Thirty. I arranged them in rows
on the boulevard, and called Waste Management for a special pickup, and
they were gone. The next month, I found a bill for $120 for their
service. Uffda!
The second year, I devised a new strategy for the leaves. I set my
lawnmower to mulch, and mowed the leaves, rather than raking them. The
lawn had stopped growing, as lawns do in the Fall, so I was just mowing
the leaves. It worked! Leaves that were inches deep on the lawn turned
to powder and just settled back onto the grass. I had found the answer,
and am still using that technique to this day. Yes, I still have to
scoop the wet leaves out of the gutter. I know...I could buy some sort
of leaf guard for the gutters, but I so enjoy climbing on a rickety
ladder and sticking my hands into piles of stinky, slimy leaves...
So, this week, I mowed the leaves from the boulevard tree. Soon, I
will be mowing leaves that have blown onto my lawn from the neighbors'
yards. Finally, I will mow the huge mass of leaves from that silver
maple. I'll scoop the leaves from the gutters about four times, too.
Next, I need to tune up my snowblower, turn my aluminum boat upside
down on its trailer, winterize the outboard motor, change the oil in my
vehicles, and check the furnace and storm windows. The leaves remind me
of those tasks... and of my winter chores. Uffda, again! Then, as sure
as the Earth flies around the Sun, Spring will come, and the lawn will
start growing again, and the trees will start growing the leaves they'll
dump on my lawn next Fall.
Yes, it's the theater of seasons that is Minnesota. Doncha just love
it!
9/15/06
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Having only lived in Minnesota now for two years, I've seen just two
winters here. Both have been rather mild, in comparison with the many
stories I've heard about the winters of the past. What's in store this
year? Well, the National
Weather Service Climate Prediction Center seems to indicate that
this winter will be much like the last two: warmer than typical and with
less snowfall than normal.
The image above shows warmer than usual temperatures for
November, December, and January this year. Why is this continuing. It
could be La Niña developing out in the Pacific, but nobody really knows
for sure.
What does this mean for all of us? Well, the snowblower
may get a little less use, your back may not hurt as much from wielding
that shovel, and there may be a bit less slippin' and slidin' going on
out on the roadways. At least that's what it will mean to me. For
others, particularly those who manufacture and sell winter recreation
equipment, the prediction couldn't be worse, though.
One thing's certain, though. You can never tell what the
weather will do. And you can take that to the bank!
9/8/06
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Me!
Minnesotans are used to weather. It's the most common topic of
conversation in the state, after the Twins and the Vikings. Last night's
storms, though, went beyond even the normal extremes of weather here in
the state.
Counties, mostly to the south of the Metro, that were hard hit,
include Nicollet, St. Peter, and Le Sueur counties. Tornadoes slammed
down and damaged homes and other properties in the communities of
Nicollet, Elysian, Oshawa, and Waterville, among others.
Huge hailstones damaged homes, trees, and automobiles in several
communities. The Northfield area was, perhaps, the hardest hit, with
hailstones up to softball size crashing down. The Northfield police
department had to borrow cars from surrounding communities just to get
around.
It's easy for those of us living in the Metro area to skip thinking
about the damage these storms can cause. For several reasons, storms
seem to slide either north or south of the Twin Cities most of the time.
Outstate, though, extreme weather this time of year is a real issue.
Oh, yes, we had some heavy rain and winds here in Minneapolis and
Saint Paul, with some minor flooding in spots, but we were lucky. My
thoughts, this morning, go out to all of those who lost property in last
night's storms, and to the family of the one man who perished.
There's nothing we can do to prevent storms and the damage they
cause. It's a fact of life here in the upper Midwest. We can, however,
take a few minutes and think about our good fortune, if we escaped
damage.
8/25/06
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Near Austin, a significant wind power farm finally got the go-ahead
from the Feds, and the 43 generating turbines will soon begin towering
in the area. Several other wind farm projects in the state are still
awaiting federal approval.
The problem appears to be a concern that the huge rotating blades
might interfere with military radar systems, so a study is underway to
determine the effect they might have.
8/22/06
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First we're in a drought, then we're in a downpour. Last night's
thunderstorm over the Twin Cities certainly let us know who's in charge,
and it's Ma Nature. Up to 2" of rain fell, and in a very short
time. Golf-ball-sized hail rained down on the University and on the
Fairgrounds. I must confess: I am the cause of this deluge. You see,
since we haven't had much rain, my lawn was getting a little crisp, so I
watered thoroughly yesterday morning. Worse, I ran my car through the
car wash, too. It's my fault, and I apologize deeply.
At my place in Northeast St. Paul, we missed the hail, but the rains
came hard enough to overflow my gutters. That's a lot of rain, since I
spend an inordinate amount of time clearing my gutters from the
accumulation of random material deposited in them by the huge silver
maple in my front yard. Tip: Don't buy a silver maple, folks, as
a front yard shade tree, unless you're prepared to go up the ladder
about 6 times a year.
The thing about the weather here in the state is that we have lots of
it. We're looking for more rain, now, over the next few days. I think
I'll go check those gutters again, and forget about the drought.
7/25/06
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Governor Pawlenty has sent Minnesota National Guard troops to help
with firefighting in the BWCA. The fire, burning just South of Seagull
Lake, is out of control, and the Guard troops will be assisting in
support of firefighters already in place and on their way there.
You can read more about this by Clicking
Here!
7/17/06
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Well, not really, but it is going to be hot for the next few days.
Global Warming? Probably not. We had a stretch of 90+ degree weather
last year at the same time. Will it hit 100 degrees? Possibly. The
effect of all this has been significant, though. Small town festivals
have been cancelled, and I'm sure as heck not going to the Ramsey County
Fair this weekend.
So, everyone, turn on your air conditioner, grab a cool beverage, and
take it easy. If you do have to go out in the heat, be sure to drink
plenty of fluids to keep yourself hydrated and get as much shade as you
can.
This, too shall pass. But It's Too Darned Hot!
7/13/06
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The recent three-day stint of hot, humid, windy weather has everyone
grumbling, it seems. It certainly has me grumbling. I've just finished
getting my new old boat ready for the water, and it's just too darned
windy and hot to have much fun with it. But, is this weather strange for
the end of May?
Nope. We almost set a temperature record yesterday, but missed by one
degree. As Joe Soucheray would tell you, "It's just more
proof of nothing at all." Are things warming up? Who knows?
The one thing that's certain is that the weather will change shortly.
Tonight, we'll have the obligatory thunderstorm, maybe even with the
premature severe weather sirens blasting away. Then, the temperature
will drop back into the high 70s again. And so it goes.
As a recent arrival to Minnesota, I was unfamiliar with the custom of
discussing the weather endlessly. I've gotten used to it, though, and
can say, "So, how about this weather, then?" with the best of
the native Minnesotans.
Maybe I'll get to try my boat out tomorrow, or Wednesday. Who knows?
The weather might change.
5/29/06
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Me!
