* Wide awake, up and dressed at 5:00 this morning. It is automatic with me. No alarm clock, just my biological clock. This is a regular work day for me, but I plan to have the afternoon edition finished and on the way not later than noon or shortly thereafter. All of our family will gather this afternoon to celebrate Christmas. This includes our son, Steve, daughter Debbie, their families and our grandkids and great grandkids.
* We are long past the days when we were forced out of bed at daybreak to gather around the Christmas tree and open presents. Our two kids would bang on our bedroom door before daylight demanding action. They would further get furious with me when I insisted on being by the Christmas tree with my camera ready before they entered the room.
* Our son, Steve, wanted to be a fireman from day one (by the age of 2). I actually believe that he stood up in his crib very, very early and sounded like a siren. Once in the back of our station wagon, he made the sound of a siren that was so real that i pulled over to let the non-existent emergency vehicle pass. He is now stationed at Birmingham Fire Department Station 1 and also at Centerpoint Station 1. He worked a horrible wreck yesterday near Clay with multiple injuries.
* It is tradition for a nice supply of sausage ball fresh from the oven to be ready for my first cup of coffee on Christmas morning. Really enjoyed them despite Little Miss Molly pounding my leg with her little paws wanting just one. I looked at her little eyes and I almost cried.
* I filed a brief with the MO (Majority Owner) to let me give her just one. The brief was quickly denied.
* Like my son, I got interested in my career very early. I sometimes wonder if I heard thunder before I was born. I was born on April 17, 1932, only about three weeks after the worst tornado outbreak in Alabama history.
* An amazing 63% of the lower 48 states are under a blanket of snow this morning–the most so far this season. The snow cover is solid from the north half of Texas all the way to Canada. It is also solid in the Great Lakes, from the north half of Illinois and Indiana and all of Ohio northward. Also solid snow from Western North Carolina all the way to Maine. The south extension of that snow blanket may alter the high temperatures for our area during the next few days, especially with a NW wind.
* Cities in the West lust after a big snow deposit in the mountains because the spring runoff furnishes a lot of them with their water supply, such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The water content is tested daily. This morning the snow pack with the most water content was at Easy Pass in extreme North Washington in the Cascades. If all of that snow were to melt today, it would be the equivalent of 44.60 inches of rain.
* A tragic story on the front page of the B Section of The Birmingham News this morning about 66 of the 67 counties in Alabama being declared a disaster area by the Agriculture Department because of so much crop damage from rains and floods this year. So, the good ole Gulf of Mexico (our main supplier of rain) can sometimes do us in.
* Coldest temperatures in the USA this morning included 25 below at Jordan, Montana and 22 below at Arctic Village, Alaska.
Finally, let us please remember in prayer during this season all of our far-flung military forces abroad. And don’t forget their families who, once again, have to spend Christmas without dear ones who are serving abroad and in lots of danger. Also a very Merry Christmas to all of our readers and to my fellow co-workers in our weather group. I could not ask for a nicer group to be associated with. Life goes on–sometimes without enough sleep.
