Atmosphere Comparison

[Jim]

The endless chatter of weather.

[Jim]

Does anyone really buy the wind chill index idea? It's pure mathematical drivel with no accuracy as far as I am concerned. Yesterday, when I went outside at 8am and it was -18 my glove free hands started burning from the cold in a few second. It was calm, so it wasn't a wind chill, it was a pure cold burning sensation. Then in the afternoon, when I was above treeline on the peaks, the temperature was probably in the low teens and the winds were in the 30 mph range, with higher gusts. According to the NWS and the wind chill index chart, I should have felt like I was in temperatures nearing -15. It didn't feel anything like that. My gloved hands got numb, but they never had that burning sensation that I felt in the morning in truly cold air. It seems to me that the wind chill thing is just a load to give the weather channel have something to dwell on when Atlanta or some town in Mississippi gets to 45 and has a light breeze to make the people down there think it is cold.

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Does anyone really buy the wind chill index idea? It's pure mathematical drivel with no accuracy as far as I am concerned.

I think it's accurate within a very limited context, which is the rate of heat loss from exposed skin. For anything else, especially anything that insulates or blocks wind, it doesn't mean much.

[azbackpackr]

Pete Seeger sang it:

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes
Little boxes
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

And the people in the houses all go to the university
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same

There's a green one, and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

[Jim]

Pete covered it, the original was written and sung by Malvina Reynolds in 62, but then Pete sang it in 63. I've never even heard his version, and I don't want to. Let's consider him my Tom Petty. Seems time forgot him, but the Malvina original is still used. Either way, I find the song and phrase irritating. "Ticky Tacky" is a condescending phrase used by elitists at the time to denigrate the democratization of non-urban living. I see it as, "Oh, look at those ticky tacky houses Charles, isn't it just awful that they're building them here and ruining our view on the drive our to xxxx country club. Those people are all the same, and they live in those cheap ticky tacky houses". Plus, it's a lousy beatnik anthem, no doubt listened to whilst smoking their refer. "It's so cool, daddy-O, I'm rebelling against whatever they gots to offer, maaaan". I guess you could say the song is tacky. Besides, it isn't like the older houses from Pre-WWII were built substantially better. They still used plywood in the 1960s for exterior sheeting. Not today.

Does anyone really buy the wind chill index idea? It's pure mathematical drivel with no accuracy as far as I am concerned.

I think it's accurate within a very limited context, which is the rate of heat loss from exposed skin. For anything else, especially anything that insulates or blocks wind, it doesn't mean much.

You know, I wrote gloved and never caught it. My hands were gloved most of the time, but I was referring to when they were un-gloved when I was doing something like using my camera or trying to add a layer of clothing to my head. My un-gloved hand didn't feel the burning sensation I had experience earlier in the morning when I was actually in -18 temperatures. I still think it's an inaccurate piece of mathematical drivel. After living through four springs in Flagstaff, I know wind can make an otherwise pleasant 60 degree day into a pretty miserable one, but it is mostly just a different feeling not an analogously cold one.

BTW, no frozen pipes in Bellemont.

[azbackpackr]

Pete covered it, the original was written and sung by Malvina Reynolds in 62, but then Pete sang it in 63. I've never even heard his version, and I don't want to. Let's consider him my Tom Petty. Seems time forgot him, but the Malvina original is still used. Either way, I find the song and phrase irritating. "Ticky Tacky" is a condescending phrase used by elitists at the time to denigrate the democratization of non-urban living. I see it as, "Oh, look at those ticky tacky houses Charles, isn't it just awful that they're building them here and ruining our view on the drive our to xxxx country club. Those people are all the same, and they live in those cheap ticky tacky houses". Plus, it's a lousy beatnik anthem, no doubt listened to whilst smoking their refer. "It's so cool, daddy-O, I'm rebelling against whatever they gots to offer, maaaan". I guess you could say the song is tacky. Besides, it isn't like the older houses from Pre-WWII were built substantially better. They still used plywood in the 1960s for exterior sheeting. Not today.

Interesting analysis. I think nowadays people react similarly to mobile homes and prefabs.

However, I have to say I have never heard of Malvina Reynolds, but Pete Seeger is on PBS all the time. Not that I get around to watching PBS very much, but have seen him on there and also saw him on another channel, maybe History or Discovery. My brother had his records, I had his songbook when I was a kid, and he was on the radio occasionally back then.

However the fact that I have never heard of someone is not surprising, since I never pay much attention to famous people. For example, here is a photo of my son, Jeff, with a really famous movie star I had never heard of. (My daughter went nuts when she saw the photo.) http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=172462

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@azbackpackr He was Marky Mark before he was a movie star. I think he's better as an actor, though.

All our snow got rained on and wrecked. I didn't get even one day of skiing out of the big blizzard.

[azbackpackr]

Yes, several of my family members agree with you. As I say, I don't pay any attention. Good to hear there are one or two good actors in movies these days. So often, if I try to watch a movie on TV, the acting is so bad I lose interest.

[Jim]

The movies star is on the left, correct? No, just kidding, but it is interesting how he doesn't look so movie star without the makeup. He looks a little weathered, actually. Not so "The Fighter".

[azbackpackr]

The movies star is on the left, correct? No, just kidding, but it is interesting how he doesn't look so movie star without the makeup. He looks a little weathered, actually. Not so "The Fighter".

What can I say? The guy on the left has the good genes!

Now I am gonna have to make it a point to go see "The Fighter."

Incidentally, my son is a Warrant Officer and is currently in Afghanistan, where this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago.

[Jim]

FAIR WEATHER IS FORECAST FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS MODELS ARE
KEEPING A CLOSED LOW OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST. PREVIOUS RUNS HAD THE
LOW MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN AZ ON FRIDAY. WE HAVE REMOVED THE SLIGHT
CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR FRIDAY...BUT EXPECT INCREASING CLOUDS OVER
AREAS SOUTH OF I-40. THE CURRENT MODEL RUNS SHOW THIS SECOND LOW TO
CROSS FAR SOUTHERN ARIZONA OVER THE WEEKEND. SO WE WILL KEEP A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS GOING FOR AREAS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM THE
SOUTH RIM TO WINDOW ROCK ON FRIDAY NIGHT.

Could this be another southern Arizona snow maker? Anyone ski the Lemmon?

[SkyIslandHiker]

Sam Hikes and I trekked up snowy Mt. Wrightson on New Years Day via Gardner Canyon.
Here's a glimpse of the winter wonderland courtesy of La Nina:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TucsonHikers/message/4747

If some or all of the photos don't load, this link will work better:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TucsonHikers/message/4752

Bill

[JimmyLyding]

I used to chuckle when I heard people who aren't in Arizona complain about winter weather. Mama Nature is now making me regret exposing my karma like that. No work today so I tried to do a hike in Briones. My boots sank 2 inches into the mud as soon as I stepped off the pavement. Then I got cold because the wind was cutting right through my long-sleeve outer shirt. Then I got back in my car and went to the gym.

[PrestonSands]

Great photos, Bill! Your photos inspired me to get out my snowshoes and actually use them.

[Jim]

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobe ... aw=0&dbn=m
The above link will change as the days move forward, but right now it's relevant.

3 of the last 6 nights have been below zero in Flagstaff, and 6 of the last 6 nights have been in the single digits. When will this cold end? It looks like two more cold nights and then a return to more normal numbers around here.

[azbackpackr]

If I don't get called into work today I am going to go find some snow to xc ski on. Maybe up 180 or maybe over by Lake Mary. I had thought of skiing the Xmas Tree trail, but it is looking thin over there. I want about a foot, at least.

[Jim]

Man, what a day! From a low of 7 to a high of at least 58. The NWS stopped reporting temps at 2pm, so it might have gotten warmer. The snow is getting thin around here, which is fine by me.

[azbackpackr]

Well, there should be more than enough for my xc skiing tomorrow, at a higher elev. than town.

[Jim]

Try the Kendrick Park area, or Hart Prairie. I think you said you were headed for the prairie.

[azbackpackr]

Yes, I talked to the gal, and that's where she wants to go, unless some other fellow she mentioned wants to go down by kachina village. I was down there in the bus today, and there is a ton of snow down there. I told her I will go along with whatever they plan.

[JimmyLyding]

Jim_H you'd love the weather we've got here in Walnut Creek. Current temp is 38 with 91% humidity. Yes, ninety-one.