Weather, Climate, Environment, and Energy

[FearlessF]

Baseball... hahaha. The Sox and Twins say hello.

and the Royals

[847badgerfan]

I blame Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin, and Bob Stoops

And Al Gore. Don't forget that.

[MarqHusker]

Baseball... hahaha. The Sox and Twins say hello.

They could've easily played that series at Miller Park this weekend (a la Angels/Indians awhile ago).  I suspect Dave St. Peter couldn't bear the humiliation.  Good time for them to head to P.R. this week.
1/2 my directs are not at work due to this snowfall. Green Bay had 22 inches, huge drifts, I have a colleague, she can't get out of her house, drifts are enormous.  Day cares closed.    Another guy's flight was canceled.   Somebody else was a gymnastics meet in Iowa, and they've stayed away til today.   I've got regulators coming this week (today), no word yet on their ETA.

The Examiners' flight was canceled.  They'll be here tomorrow. 

[Cincydawg]

Why didn't you leave earlier? I've been wondering about that.

Well, for one thing I got married and I really like the wife's house and where we live.  We traveled a lot so missed most of the bad weather and I suggested to her that was a decent plan.  Some other changes made her want to head out now and we found what appears to be an ideal location and condo, though we will still travel a good deal once we get settled and I see how my finances are doing.

[Cincydawg]

Most of the condos in our price range were in the 1,500 sq ft range and on the 35 floor or somesuch, great views but the decks they had were smallish and scary and windy.  We saw one 3 bedroom that was 2800 sq ft for a few dollars more but we didn't like the location or the HOA (which was nearly $1500 a month).  The selection available is pretty thin.

The unit we have bought (hopefully) has 3 bedrooms but is on 3 levels which we decided was OK as there is elevator access to each floor and each has its own outside deck which wraps around the unit.  The lower two bedrooms will be offices one with a sleeper sofa for any Badgers that show up.

[betarhoalphadelta]

People scratched their heads when my parents said they were retiring to WY, twenty years ago.   People later visit, and suddenly understand the perspective a bit.  The world will do its own spinning, doesn't mean you have to live by some kind of script.    There's a lot people don't know, particularly human geography.

What I think a lot of people don't understand about the mountain west is that it actually is a LOT different weather-wise than the Midwest. People think "well if you're trying to avoid winter, why not go south?" But both the winter and the summers are different.
Now, I don't know WY that well, but I spend a lot of time in CO and have spent some time in UT. The winters are actually much more temperate than Chicago where I grew up. In CO you might get a foot of snow dumped on you, but it melts in a matter of days because they have 45 degree winter highs sprinkled in there. In Chicago it seemed like it was below freezing every minute from December through February. 
Then, the summers are better. It's high desert, so you don't have the humidity [nor the mosquitoes] that you get in the Midwest. So the summer is actually MUCH more pleasant than a Midwestern summer. 
I personally can handle cold but hate humidity. So for me, the Southeast is a no-go. A lot of people think I'm crazy to live in SoCal because it's hot in the summer, but the heat here is dry (without being the 110 degree Phoenix sort of hot), so it's really not that bad. 80 degrees with 95% RH is a LOT more unbearable to me than 95 degrees with 20% RH.

[FearlessF]

why I think of New Mexico

like Wyoming, without the snow

[betarhoalphadelta]

why I think of New Mexico

like Wyoming, without the snow

I've only really been to New Mexico once, for only ~24 hours. It was in the middle of the summer and it was part of a short business trip with one day in Phoenix and one day in Albuquerque.
The difference between the two was stark. It's amazing what some elevation can do. They're both desert, but SO very different.
Phoenix was about 110 in the shade. The very next day Albuquerque was hot, maybe 98 or so, but those 12 degrees make a HUGE difference. Phoenix to me is unbearable. Albuquerque was nice. 

[847badgerfan]

Most of the condos in our price range were in the 1,500 sq ft range and on the 35 floor or somesuch, great views but the decks they had were smallish and scary and windy.  We saw one 3 bedroom that was 2800 sq ft for a few dollars more but we didn't like the location or the HOA (which was nearly $1500 a month).  The selection available is pretty thin.

The unit we have bought (hopefully) has 3 bedrooms but is on 3 levels which we decided was OK as there is elevator access to each floor and each has its own outside deck which wraps around the unit.  The lower two bedrooms will be offices one with a sleeper sofa for any Badgers that show up.

Book it!

[MarqHusker]

Wyoming (like any state with mountains) has a lot of microclimates.  Additionally, the average winter in Cheyenne or Casper isn't at all comparable to Cody, or Buffalo.  You have places which average 15 inches of snow per year all the way up to more than 200 inches (parts of Yellowstone).  I've hunted in places where the ground is bare, skies sunny clear, temps around 10, obscenely dry and calm, and a short ride away it is low visibility and all the snow you cover ever want.

Meanwhile Central WY (west of Casper, and east of Shoshoni), I feel like I'm might be driving on the moon

My folks are in a basin surrounded by the Rockies to the west and Bighorns to the east.  300 days of sun a year.  High desert, not much rain, and 'about' 40 inches of snow annually where they are located, but within 40 miles drive it would be 100 inches+ easily.    The winds (chinook) can be incredible, though that's true in a number of W-NW states.   That's when you have massive temperature movements,  60, 70, 80+ degree swings in as little as a couple hours.

It is very hard to generalize about weather in the mountain west states.  

[FearlessF]

Phoenix to me is unbearable. Albuquerque was nice.

this........

unfortunately, its a 12 hour drive from Albuquerque to Lincoln for the spring game

[MrNubbz]

Woke up to a dusting of snow,now it's sticking & blowing.Jeebis Old Man Winter is definitely over staying his welcome

[847badgerfan]

this........

unfortunately, its a 12 hour drive from Albuquerque to Lincoln for the spring game

There's this new technology out called airplanes. 

[MrNubbz]

There's this new technology out called airplanes.

I guess I'll never get a ride in CinciDawg's crop duster.Eh,he'd prolly have an ejection seat installed anyway