Friday, January 30, 2009
RAIN AT EAST BAY, BUT A FIRE WEATHER WATCH??
The first night of racing has rained out down to East Bay, Tampa, Florida. I was hoping to find some pictures or hear
about a car count.
When I checked their weather it was in the 60's and raining. The forecast called for Friday morning showers, then clear
for Friday night, but temperatures to be around 40 degrees. Saturday, clear and high of 60 and low Saturday night of 39.
That's cold for them.
But it's warmer than what we have.
But here's an interesting bit.
There is a "FIRE WEATHER WATCH" for Saturday afternoon.
This from weather.com for the Tampa area.
... FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT SATURDAY AFTERNOON...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL HAS ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH...
WHICH IS IN EFFECT SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
SATURDAY THE FRONT WILL HAVE CLEARED THE STATE WITH VERY DRY AIR ACROSS ALL OF THE PENINSULA.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL INTO THE MID 20S ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
Must be this is like a red flag warning in Southern California, where dry air moves in and there is a
risk of wildland fires.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING.....................
Man, people really stay off the roads during a snowstorm.
I got home around 11pm Wednesday night, and I started shoveling the driveway. At one point I heard the State out plowing
Rt. 104. Other than that, it was quiet.
Usually you hear something. It may be late, but you always see a car, or tractor-trailer going through town.
Not Wednesday night. It was quiet.
Until I was on the computer and heard a snowmobile on the rec path at 12:35am. GO HOME AND GO TO BED!
I could have walked up to the post office and walked in the middle of the road and not been run over.
I remember one time, back mid-90's, one Tuesday night, I was walking home from the fire station. There was no traffic
and I started walking down the middle of the road.
I think I got as far as the Funeral Home before I was starting to freak out over the whole ordeal, and finally saw headlights
in the distance.
But from the end of Goodall Street to the Funeral Home.....that's a long way to walk with no traffic to contend with.
There was about 7 inches in the driveway when I started shoveling, and I think we got another inch while I was out there.
Then as I was finishing up, THE WIND STARTED BLOWING!!
At least it's not 25 below zero.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Did we know it was supposed to get this cold????
It's below zero at midnight.
It was -3 about 11:15 when Margie went to bed. Now at 5 minutes to midnight, it's -1.8.
I figured it had to warm
up overnight for the snow to start in the morning.
We interrupt this blog so Mike can watch Leverage.................
1:18am and it's -0.5 degrees.
Probably should go to bed. My phone may ring at 6am saying there's no school.
We'll see how much snow we get.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
THOUGHTS OF WARM SUNSHINE
At least it was when we were there last year.
I just checked the weather for Tampa this week, and evening showers are scheduled for Wednesday night-Practice, then
showers Thursday and Friday and sunny for Saturday.
High of 57 and 60 Friday and Saturday. Lows in the 40's.
It may seem cold for them, but that would be warm for us. Downright balmy.
Last year, there was one night that was "cool". Temps in the 50's, but you could see your breath. I had to put on a hoodie.
The natives were freezing.
Not sure if it's the weather I'm missing, or..............
I just miss being at the races.
Monday, January 26, 2009
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
The Rolex 24 at Daytona is a team sport. Usually you have four drivers that take turns driving the car during the race.
Sunday, one of the drivers that was part of the winning team was David Donohue. He was driving the car when the checkered
flag flew.
David is the son of Mark Donohue, the 1972 winner of the Indianapolis 500. He also won the NASCAR Grand National(now
Sprint Cup) season opener in 1973 on the road course in Riverside, California, driving an AMC Matador for car owner Roger
Penske. Mark died testing a Formula 1 car in Austria in 1975.
40 years ago, in 1969, Mark Donohue won the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Sunday was great as David held off Juan Pablo Montoya to win.
The team completed 735 laps in 24 hours.
The race is run at the Daytona International Speedway, utilizing both the big oval and a road course in the infield.
Jayski has a Mark Donohue Tribute page that has lots of pictures if you want to take a look. It's fun remembering the
cars of yesterday.
I watched quite a bit of the race this year. Four cars finished on the lead lap.
Bud Shootout in two weeks.
Daytona 500 in three weeks.
