General Category => Totally Off-Topic Discussions, Rants, Tire & Oil Threads, Etc. => Topic started by: Bob_Roller on May 22, 2008, 08:13:25 PM
Title: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on May 22, 2008, 08:13:25 PM
It was 110 F., here in Phoenix on Monday, currently it's 58 F. windy, and raining.
There's heavy snow warnings for the higher elevations of 6500 ft. 130 miles north of Phoenix.
This is the first time it's rained in May, in the 15 years I've been here.
Normally you don't even see a cloud in the sky here during May.
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Ed Miller on May 22, 2008, 08:21:15 PM
Male or female rain?
Sheesh, I want to move to my little hogan out by a spring....
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on May 22, 2008, 08:57:53 PM
Had to look that one up Ed.
But currently it's the cold type of rain ( 55 F.).
Looks like I'm not taking the bike to work tomorrow !!
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: nhmaf on May 22, 2008, 11:33:00 PM
Hmm, 55F and raining is our "normal" riding weather up here in the springtime ! :D Once it gets above 65F it is time to break out the summer time riding gear..hehehee.
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: thrang on May 23, 2008, 01:03:01 AM
Normally May in Cumbria is a damp month, chill winds and showers this year its been unusually dry, I've harly needed my waterproofs. Not that I'm complaining mind as its nice to see the hills riding to work of a morning, but it is pretty dam strange to have to be watering the garden this time of year.
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: trolle on May 23, 2008, 05:42:11 AM
Same kind of weather here in Denmark. No rain, apart from a shower or two, and everything is drying out, including the turf roof on my summercottage, which changed from green to yellow in a fortnight.
greetings from a sunny north with excellent riding conditions
trolle
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Justin B. on May 27, 2008, 06:56:59 AM
Ok, Trolle, how often do you have to mow your roof?
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on May 27, 2008, 12:15:16 PM
That picture reminds me of a picture of settlers in the US around the late 1800's, they had a home with a sod roof, and there was a cow grazing on the turf roof !
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: trolle on May 27, 2008, 03:22:23 PM
As the grass has died of thirst the mowing is off :)
The roof will in three to four years get the same flora as the area, which is a sandy heath only 500 yards from the beach.
For Bob: the picture you saw was probably a picture of Scandinavian settlers, maybe even coming from the same area where I live. As late as 1870, houses made of sod with turf roofs were used in the north western part of Denmark. This was a way of building houses or shelters that goes several thousand years back, may be three thousand years back, when the woods which covered Denmark were cut down by the peasants to gain new land for farming. This resulted in an ecological catastrophe in the western part of Jutland which is very sandy and borders to the north sea. This part of the country became covered with heather and was impossible to farm for the next two thousand years. The few people who managed to live there and survive had no wood for building and had to resort to sod.
Today turf roofs are used primarily on summer cottages like mine situated at the coast in sandy heath or dunes.
greetings from a sunny and very dry north with excellent driving conditions
trolle
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on May 27, 2008, 03:26:56 PM
Is that a weather station mounted to the gable of your home?
From the best I can tell, it looks like an anenometer ( wind speed sensor), and a wind direction sensor.
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: fastcataz on May 27, 2008, 06:01:53 PM
I have lived in AZ for 40 years and this has been VERY strange weather. I was in Show Low thursday, 2 feet of snow, back in the valley on sunday at a pool party in Mesa. Very strange...
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Melena on May 27, 2008, 09:52:14 PM
Trolle, I love that roof! I guess that bit of Danish ancestry is showing. ;D
I've heard of people in some areas in the US putting those kinds of roofs on their houses. They are supposed to keep the internal temperature of the house more even. I think. I would love to have one. I like the idea that they gradually get the same flora as the surroundings.
The weather has been weird here too. We had that heat spell a couple weeks ago and now it's cloudy and cooler than normal with some rain showers mixed in. More sprinkles predicted for the next few days. One of my Mom's friends lives in Southern California - a semi-desert area to the southwest of the San Jacinto Mountains - and she said they were having pouring rain and thunderstorms, and even a tornado thrown in for good measure.
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: msbuck on May 27, 2008, 09:57:07 PM
I just LOVE what I learn on this list! Thanks for the history lesson from Denmark, trolle! Love the turf roof, too. When I visited the Viking Village in Newfoundland years back I was amazed at the sod houses they created. They were 5 feet thick all around!
We are finally getting the rain we've been missing for months. Although having the thunderstorms and tornado watches can be a bit frightful at times. However, I'm glad the heat hasn't set in yet! 8-)
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: nhmaf on May 27, 2008, 11:07:02 PM
Actually, it is fitting that "everything old is new again" - as scientists have calculated the area of all the large city buildings which have black, tar-covered roofs they estimate that they contribute substantially to increasing the local atmospheric temperatures (sort of a localized version of "global warming") as well as making the building hotter overall raising air-conditioning expenses - hence the big interest in putting rooftop gardens on newer large building designs. Eventually we'll become as smart as the settlers were in our American West over 150 years ago, or the Danes were 1500 years ago !!!!
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Rob Valdez 79 R65 on June 06, 2008, 08:36:25 PM
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: MrRiden on June 06, 2008, 08:48:09 PM
I have seen Turf roof homes along the Pacific Coast Highway in California [RT 1] always catches me off guard to see somthing like that. rich
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on June 06, 2008, 08:56:20 PM
The midwestern US has had some pretty 'rough' weather this spring, after having lived in the midwest for 37 years, I don't miss waking up to a siren indicating a tornado warning is in effect at 2 am, and when you look out a window, you can't see 20 feet for the rain and 60 mph winds.
The weather here in Phoenix is pretty tame compared to that !
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Rob Valdez 79 R65 on June 06, 2008, 08:58:50 PM
I happened to glance out the window that faces north, and saw the yellow/orange sky.
I grabbed the camera and ran upstairs, where there is a roof access on the west side.
Here at work...
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on June 06, 2008, 09:04:50 PM
Looks like the beginning of 'Armageddon' .
Repent sinner !!
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: msbuck on June 06, 2008, 10:52:36 PM
Great photo Rob! Looks like the world is on fire...
And regrettfully, the heat has set in - just in time for the Gathering...We're setting records temps here in NC, will probably hit 100 degrees tomorrow. >:( (https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp210%2Fcabcgec%2F033.gif&hash=c602a353ab0cf36d909e04d3daaada649d34c3da)
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Bob_Roller on June 06, 2008, 10:56:38 PM
Is it a 'dry heat' ?
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: Rob Valdez 79 R65 on June 06, 2008, 11:01:22 PM
I don't think I am going to bring the down mummy bag...
Title: Re: Weird Weather
Post by: nhmaf on June 06, 2008, 11:05:32 PM
Very hot for all of us here in the east this weekend. The average temperature the past several days in NH (high temp) has been in the mid 60s. Tomorrow, the high temp here will be in the low 90s and it is going to stay in the 90s for the next 4-5 days. To make things worse, the tree pollen has been collecting and this weekend they are claiming the pollen concentrations are going to be around 11 (on a scale of 0 - 12, 12 being very very bad) AND the humidity is going to be right up there, with frequent thunderstorms possible through Tuesday or Wednesday..
Sue and her friends probably aren't going to be really happy camping out on their way over here this weekend.
Unless we have really nasty storms, I am planning to take Monday off and ride with her around some windy back roads, and deliver her T- shirt.
Title: Cat Days of Summer
Post by: Rob Valdez 79 R65 on June 09, 2008, 08:51:07 PM