Low traffic on the Blog today, so a good chance to post some highly unimportant notes!
* Most of you know how I am fascinated by unusual place names–especially if it is a small town and has a weather-related sound. Such as Hurricane, West Virginia and I believe there is a Sunrise, Texas and Frost Proof, Florida.
* I grew up “one-half mile south of Downtown Havana Junction” as I like to say. In its “booming” years it had two country stores and one cotton gin.” Now, just one country store. I always enjoy going back.
* I ran across a new one this morning. How about Index, Washington? They received one half inch of snow in only 30 minutes last evening. I also heard that Seattle has gone 14 days in a row with no sunshine.
* Speaking of Seattle, why do most people think of rain when they hear Seattle? The average annual rain amount for that city is 37 inches. Compare that with about 54 inches for Birmingham and 66+ inches for Mobile.
* It can get very hot in Washington. The all time high for that Pacific Northwest state is 118 degrees, hotter than Alabama’s all time high of 112. And get this, it occurred at Ice Harbor Dam! What an irony!
* If I had nothing else to do, I would love to travel the country and visit/photograph some of those out-of-the-way places. I well remember photographing a sign on the main street (only street) in Stanley, Idaho, that read “Population and Speed Limit 35″ And, there is Pie Town, New Mexico, know why it was named.
* But to travel by car to every nick and corner of the good ole USA now, I would have to be a $Zillionaire” Petro is through the roof. What a change over the years.
* Somewhere buried in my files, I saved a gasoline ticket from the 1960s from a Mobil or Esso station at Henrietta, Texas, just east of Wichita Falls on US 82. We were headed west to visit the Majority Owner’s family. The gasoline was only 13.9 cents a gallon and the station attendant filled my tank and cleaned my windshield! We will never see that price again.
* A nice break from severe weather. The SPC only has a slight risk today for a very small part of North Missouri. I heard one report that Monday’s outbreak (that also affected Alabama) caused the largest number of wind damage reports on record.
* Next time I post one of these, I want to tell the story of how I came close, no very close, no, no, very VERY close to NOT having a 32 year career at the US Weather Bureau/National Weather Service, Birmingham. My mom was involved and I was elated. I have never told that story but it will be included in my future book, “Scatterbrains and Scattered Showers.”
LITTLE MISS MOLLY: I promised that I would not do Molly adventures on this feature since those are included in the afternoon “7-Day Forecast” I will live up to that. However, I have received numerous requests on how she is doing since she has been sick for several days, turning down even her ball games and sleeping much of the time. She is better today. In fact, I was up at 5 and each time I sneaked through the living area for four cups of coffee, she raised her little head sleeping on the couch and wagged her tail. Soon after, she went to the back door and whammed her tiny bell wanting to go out. That was music to my ears!
