weather

Night Precipitation

Posted by Orvan Taurus on March 16, 2026
Posted in: lighting, technology, weather. Leave a comment

Can sometimes be difficult to see. Not just that it is dark, but sometimes the light from streetlights and (neighbors) porch lights is not sufficiently illuminating. This can be dealt with. Having ones own porch lights might well be helpful. Due to… quirks.. of wiring that still need to be addressed (OFF is SAFE and SAFE is OFF), this isn’t really an option.

However, a strong light source is helpful:

Without rain or snow, just dust, the beam is still visible at night. With rain or snow, the scatter is very obvious indeed. Yes, this works with other colors (I did try with red and blue or violet), but green is easily the most intense for various reasons. The phone camera makes it all seem much lighter than it really was.

A Tree Is Not A Cigar

Posted by Orvan Taurus on January 24, 2026
Posted in: fiction, weather. 2 Comments

“…and it’s down that old road, with cigars that explode.” — Mark Russell

During or before the recent Cold Snap there were (at least) a few silly stories about exploding trees. Yes, SILLY. Trees do NOT explode (alright, lightning, or teenagers or drunks with access to things that can go boom, all bets are off.) I’ve been in The North as most might view it for decades now, with only a week or two here and there, now and again, in places that do not get FULL-ON WINTER. Oh they get Winter, sure…. it’s just the light beer version. What I NEVER encountered, experienced, heard,. or even heard OF until fairly recently? Exploding trees.

Now, yeah, the bark or what’s just under it can crack and supposedly it can sound like a shot. But… 1) that’s NOT a tree explosion. I suggest you look at lightning-struck tree to see what a tree “explosion” really looks like… but really, it’s better if you never are close enough to even remotely hear/see a tree “exploding” thus. And 2) that’s for REALLY SUDDEN temperature changes. A ‘cold snap’ in January (in Minnesota..) is bit “So what?” really. Yeah, it’s unpleasant and anyone who can stay in will do so, but… it’s also just a day ending in ‘y’.

How To Lie

Posted by Orvan Taurus on January 19, 2026
Posted in: advertising, evil, government, lies, weather. 2 Comments

“There’s this graph from NASA. Which should be used as an example of how to lie with graphs. Note that the Y axis starts at 2.5 not zero.
However… there was a big drop in the 2000’s before stabilization in the 2010’s and last summer’s minimum extent was about half that of the maximum seen in 1980.
Also it looks like estimates for pre-1979 levels are all higher than today, even in the warm 1930’s though that is necessarily an estimate” — A fellow who chooses to go by the nickname of Dingus.

I will add that many “Climate Change” fraudsters choose to start at about 1850 to be “before the Industrial Revolution took off” never mind that was at a historic MINIMUM of temperature. It ignores volcanic activity (which lowers temperatures by obscuring/reflecting solar radiation) AND the solar cycles which have more influence on earth weather than almost anything else, save perhaps the volcanic ash in the earth’s atmosphere. If you want useless drivel, ask a self-proclaimed “Climate Scientist.” If you want USEFUL DATA and predictions that have any chance of truth, ask a Solar Physicist.

I recall the 1970’s and the dire predictions (and no, not just in Pop Culture, this was in – despite modern cover-ups & denials – in the scientific journals of the day) of The Coming Ice Age. Perhaps the “greenhouse gasses” are all that’s keeping us from another disastrous Ice Age. A little more CO2 would benefit plant life (i.e. agriculture… you know, that thing that keeps people fed and thus alive). Current CO2 levels are really at a level so low it’s amazing plant life is managing to continue. Anyone trying to lower such levels by a significant degree is arguing for a worldwide murder-suicide. Criminals? Fools? Yes.

Another interesting thing is that thermometer readings were “adjusted” to bring things in line with Das Narratif (über Alles! Sieg Heil!) never mind that the technology was mature even “back when” and people of that time were NOT stupid. So, the ‘adjusted’ temperatures are LIES. Likely a case of: Follow the (grant) money. “You aren’t mindlessly echoing Das Narritif? Go flip burgers. No more suckling at the public government TAXPAYER teat for you!”

Storm Feelings and… Renuzit?

Posted by Orvan Taurus on January 12, 2026
Posted in: background, weather. 3 Comments

it was not every storm, but it happened during or maybe just after some storms. Winter snows. Maybe colder rains. I don’t recall it happening in the heat of Summer. What was it? It was a peculiar, hard to describe, but quite positive feeling. And it was more than just emotional, it something that was at least partly physically felt or experienced. I’ve not felt it in some time. Not sure why not. Maybe it was something to do with the building(s) I was in. Schools, especially hallways, or similar places in factory office areas. I never felt it outdoors, that I can recall.

Many years ago, Renuzit had a “Winter Storm” or “After the Storm” labelled scent (and, no, it was not and is not “After the Rain”) that could trigger the feeling. Not sure how it did that. Obviously there was some combination of chemicals that work on/for just so. Alas, I did not buy any of the stuff, nor do I recall the exact name. I only know that I never saw (or felt) it again. it was very much a one-time seasonal special, it seems. I had, for the storms, figured that perhaps atmospheric ionization was the key thing… but the air fresheners (or scents anyway) are not doing anything to general ion count either way that even the calmest storm might do.

What was happening, exactly? No solid idea.
How did Renuzit “fake it”? No solid idea.
Why I haven’t had this feeling again in some time? Again, no solid idea.

Yeah, a whole lot of imprecision. I had nearly forgotten about this, but I recently saw a little display of “holiday” air fresheners (pine scented, etc.) and that triggered a memory or three.

Fixing Mudfest, At Least A Bit

Posted by Orvan Taurus on September 7, 2025
Posted in: economics, faire, money, psychology, weather.

This is very much an ox-brag, so if bragging puts you off, go read something else. Ya dun bin warned!

After the.. disaster.. that was Mudfest, there was more than a little concern. The year of the Great Rains and The Big Mud (and low attendance) was also the year of skipped rain insurance. WHOOPS!

In those days I had the Great Job and was “socking it away” fairly well. The Siouxland Renaissance Festival folks had a set of “patron packages” that had a scale of simple but nice goodies as one went up the scale. We ($HOUSEMATE & I) had sprung for the big one since the beginning. This was a $400 thing, when the ticket price was (then well) under $20. The goodies were nice, sure, but it was really about support.

I did NOT know how bad things were. I only knew things were bad. I contacted one of the organizers/founders not long after Mudfest and asked what seemed a simple question. “Can I get a five-year subscription to the top patron package, paid in advance?” The reply came back, “Let me talk to the board.” I had NO IDEA what I had just done.

The board was seriously considering “throwing in the towel” and declaring the Siouxland Renaissance Festival defunct[1]. They were $10,000 in the hole. And I had just casually offered to make 20% of the problem vanish in an instant. ($400 x 5 years = $2000). But it was not just that. It was also, “Someone believes in us!” And with that, they decided they could, maybe, still “fly the airplane.”[2] The reply I got after the meeting was, “Yes, but realize we still might not make it.” My reply was that all investments have risk. I wrote a check.

A few years later, there was some other Issue and $HOUSEMATE wrote a check. The subscription was extended.

And even later… there was an oddity. We were told we HAD to be at the joust.. EARLY. This was…odd. Well, there was a reason. We were “knighted” and inducted into the Order of the Eagle[3]. Normally, Order of the Eagle is awarded to organizations or businesses, not individuals. Since that time, at least one other individual has been awarded Order of the Eagle.

Circumstances have changed, and I’ve told/warned folks that “my hat is all out of rabbits” as it were. But once upon a time, at the critical time… I worked a tiny little Miracle, almost by accident.

[1] I did not learn of this until years later.

[2] “We’re coming in on a wing and a prayer!”

[3] There is also an Order of the Ox (amongst others), which due to quite reasonable rules, I do NOT qualify for.

Lightning

Posted by Orvan Taurus on July 12, 2025
Posted in: electricity, weather.

NOTE: This happened in the early 1990’s, in rural central Wisconsin.

I must first explain that I had a ground-mounted vertical antenna for amateur radio. I had gotten it “for the hauling away” as the previous owner didn’t think much of it. What he, and its many previous owners, hadn’t done was give it a truly good ground. Antennas like that only work well if they have a sort of electrical mirror beneath them. I gave it that mirror by burying a set of ground wires that radiated outward from the antenna. It worked just fine that way.

Getting on with the story, there was an electrical storm, and it didn’t seem any different than any other. It wasn’t a big deal, and it wasn’t anything that generated a tornado warning of any kind. Eventually the storm passed, or so it seemed. The thunder was distant, then silent. The rain tapered off to nothing. And then…

FLBANGASH!!

It was one event, lightning and thunder all together in an instant. The walls shook. A picture fell. We waited a bit, as lightning does strike twice. Looking outside, there was smoke coming from what had been the outside phone box connection.

Inside, the damage was limited. The fax machine no longer worked (even after phone service had been restored) and one wall-transformer was burned out. Maybe one fuse had to be replaced. That was all.

Outside, the phone lines were burned and what remained of the box with the connections was melted. The box and the line from the road to the house had to be replaced. But what was impressive and scary was where the phone line and where some of ground wires used to be. Used to be. They simply were not there anymore. Instead, there was a trench, in places it was almost a ditch, where the wires had been. We had figured that the lightning had possibly vaporized the wires, or at least got them extremely hot. So hot that the water in the ground boiled and the steam explosion blew out the trenches.

It was not a direct hit. There were no signs of damage to the antenna, or to utility poles, or to trees – save for a trench doing some uprooting. This was something that was merely close. That only made the damage even more impressive.

The Wind Blew Out The Lights

Posted by Orvan Taurus on May 18, 2025
Posted in: electricity, weather.

It was windy – even for here, which is Saying Something. There were warnings about the wind, about fire danger, and likely (I don’t recall) about the possibility of broken branches taking out power lines. Friday afternoon that seemed to have happened. Power was out in at least the local area, nothing was checked beyond a couple blocks away – just enough to be sure it was NOT just us. Considering the wind did not let up, that power was restored in about an hour is rather impressive.

In Other News…

I made a second attempt to get the item I had ordered from Amazon. The very same thing happened. It got sent to same wrong city. Yes, I left feedback. It was.. not flattering. No badwerds, but you can hear them anyway. There will be NO third attempt. I think I found a workable substitute locally.

Weather or Not and Side Defects

Posted by Orvan Taurus on March 21, 2025
Posted in: weather, work.

First, a bit of humor:

The forecast earlier this week was for a Winter Storm and 4 to 6 or maybe 7 inches of snow. Then it became Winter Storm and maybe Blizzard (add wind…) and 5 to 9 inches of snow. Being March, with relative warmth and humidity, this would be heavy, wet, nasty snow like the last storm. That was what was expected as of Monday night. $WORKPLACE was already telling out-of-town folks to stay home.

Figuring things would be utter crap, I left work an hour early Monday night/Tuesday morning so I could come in an hour early Tuesday night and get things a bit more setup for whoever could show up. And the forecast changed. As early as 7 AM, I was wondering I should have bothered, but what was done was done. Also, the storm that was going start Tuesday afternoon, moved to Wednesday morning, moved to Wednesday afternoon… but what was done was done and I went in that hour early. And found another person who had said something about coming in early (to leave early and get ahead of any storm) had called in around 4 PM. Kicker: By 11:30 that morning, it was clear that the storm would NOT hit until at least 7 AM… he darn well could have come in early and been out and avoided anything… and the forecast was steadily changing to less snow and a later start. Dinglefritz. Oh, another person also from out of town made it in and stayed the full shift without issue.

So, the crew was short Dinglefritz, some stuff got shunted aside, and I put in a 9-hour shift. I thought I had compensated with early and additional sleep, but evidently not enough. It was more tiring than I’d expected. Thus more early sleep, and more sleep, and… so on.

And the storm? Locally it was Nothingburger Deluxe. I had gassed up the snowblower Tuesday morning and parked the car further back Wednesday morning to make it easier (possible) to get the snowblower out… and.. we got maybe an inch of snow, likely less, over several hours. The streets were wet, but that’s all. Every flake that hit asphalt or concrete melted right quick. Only snow that landed on something else (grass, trees, wooden railings) didn’t.

So I was spared having to run the blower to get out of the driveway and get to work. But, because of Dinglefritz, there was stuff we had to catch up on, so while everything important got done, it all ran long and the niceties got shorted. And I am not sure, but it felt like there was a Time Glitch. Maybe it’s just imagination or annoyance, but I looked at my watch at around 2:30 and about fifteen minutes later it was just after 4:00. No, this was not a case of “time flies when you’re having fun.”

Oh, and due to some wonderful effects of scheduling, I have another night to go (this past one as this publishes…) which will be (have been) number 8. Then a much need break, with a bit more. A bit that was supposed to have been a month ago but some folks moved things and didn’t bother actually TELLING people about that. I am reminded of an Arthur Dent line in the first Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book: “Ever think of going into advertizing?”

[ADDENDUM: Dinglefritz claims he “misread” the forecast. Gee, ox managed it even in a melatonin haze.]

More About A Door

Posted by Orvan Taurus on March 14, 2025
Posted in: house, weather.

Well, first: 3.14(1592653589793…) And now on to the content.

The screen door was installed and all seemed well, or well enough. It did, as hoped, make Winter a bit easier. I suspect it might also help the battery life of the light above the main door lock.

And then the winds came. Not the usual winds, no, the real windy winds. These were just the wrong (right) direction that they caught the slight opening of the door (as the closing cylinder didn’t have quite the ‘oomph’ to fully close it) and slam it open, hard. Very hard. Very very hard. Enough that it messed the closer cylinder rather badly. This was removed as it no longer worked, and was something of a hazard in its mangled state.

Thus, for a time, the door had to closed entirely manually – and we made good and sure it was fully shut, lest more wind do worse damage. In that time a new closer was ordered, as well as a safety chain setup. The chain is to keep the door going much beyond 90 degrees of open, thus hopefully saving door, hinges, closer, money, and sanity. The closer is neat little thing with a ‘push-button’ setup to lock it in an open position. To release it, just open the door slightly more and let go. A bump will do.

The closer assembly seemed a bit expensive, but I thought I had ordered a single cylinder. There were two. Only one had the push-button setup and that was the one that was installed. We could have set them both up on the same door, which is what I suppose the manufacturer intended. I suppose we have a spare/backup of sorts. I do like the push-button keep-open setup. It’s certainly more convenient than a sliding a little metal gimmick around, which is the usual method.