The tree that was knocked down on Dad's house by tornado

Good Friday? What’s So Good About It?

My Dad had a close call on Good Friday when a tornado struck his home in Dunlap, Tenn. The twister took down several mature trees on Dad’s property, dropping one on his garage and an outbuilding, but largely sparing the main house. The twister also destroyed a building at the Sequatchie County school campus down the hill from Dad. Luckily, Dad was down at the church and wisely stayed put at the end of his meeting when the storm hit. His wife was in Florida visiting relatives. My brother and his family were unharmed, too. The photo above was taken by my sister-in-law as everyone gathered at Dad’s to clean up.

Others, sadly, weren’t so lucky:

MURFREESBORO, Tenn., April 12 (UPI) — The tornado that crossed Murfreesboro, Tenn., took the lives of a young woman and her 9-week-old child and destroyed hundreds of houses and businesses. The twister was one of two Friday confirmed by the National Weather Service in Tennessee, The Nashville Tennessean reported. The other did little damage in Sumner County. The storms were caused by the same weather system that spawned a tornado that killed three people Thursday in Mena, Ark. In Murfreesboro, in the center of the state, the tornado left a corridor of devastation 15 miles long and, in places, half a mile wide.

Artist's rendering of Monday's blizzard. Well, it's a work of Art, anyway

Oh, man, this week is going to suck. From the Star Tribune weather page:

Winter weather advisory posted for the metro and much of central MN; Blizzard Watch for the southwestern third of MN for high winds, blowing snow, dangerous wind chills Monday

2-4″ Monday, another 2-4″ possible Wednesday as a second clipper moves in…remember that when it’s subzero chemicals take MUCH longer to melt snow/ice: expect very icy roads and slow commutes through midweek

Coldest week of winter? Rivaling what we endured in mid December: subzero highs possible Tuesday and Thursday. Wake-up temperatures Thursday may dip to -20 in the outlying suburbs.

Bundle up. It’s gonna be a cold couple of days.

I'll show you a polar plunge, whale blubber boy

From News 8 in Austin, Texas:

The Polar Plunge is an annual tradition at Barton Springs Pool.  For some, New Year’s Day means making resolutions, watching parades or catching up on sleep they didn’t get the night before. But others were ready to plunge into 2009. Hundreds of Central Texans took a dip in Barton Springs Pool for the annual Polar Plunge. … The water remains about 70 degrees year-round. But, some kids were still a bit hesitant to take the plunge. “It’s pretty much hard and it really gets me tired,” young participant Andrew Smith said.

Note to our family and friends in Texas: If the water is 70 degrees year-round, that bear ain’t white…. Let us show you how we do it in Minnesota (note use of the royal “we”):

Now that's cold water....

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Absolutely the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” says Nam Nguyen, of Apple Valley, who climbs out of Lake Minnetonka on an ice-encrusted ladder Thursday during the 19th annual On It & In It Lake Minnetonka Ice Dive in Excelsior, Minnesota. With morning temperatures in the teens, more than 900 brave souls — a world record, according to organizers — plunged into the icy waters to greet the new year and raise money for the American Lung Association.

Great White North

We definitely “enjoyed” a white Christmas this year. Seems like we’ve endured several inches of snow every day this month. We’ve had to shovel the driveway many times already … and I don’t like it. We have plenty of extra snow if any of you all want to drive up here with a cooler and take some home with you. We’ll even supply the shovels.

At left is a picture I took looking out from our dining room onto our deck, where the snow is a couple of feet deep in most places. We haven’t been able to get out to the grill to barbecue in weeks. Guess that’s a good thing because the temperatures have been well below zero (up to today, when it warmed right up).

But, since it’s warmed up so much, I think I’ll shovel out to the grill tomorrow and barbecue some country ribs. Mmmmmm. Nothing says “Minnesota Winter” quite like a plate of barbecued ribs.

For those of you who are curious, or who just get some kind of kick out of pointing at us and laughing, here is a handy weather widget to show you what our weather is like right now. Read it and laugh till you weep:

Sponsored by: Pet Supplies

What global warming? We’re wrapping up the warmest January ever recorded in Minnesota. I even went to the store the other day in light sweatshirt (and no socks). We’ve only had to shovel the driveway two or three times this month — and most of the snow that’s fallen has now melted. Laurie says she doesn’t care if she doesn’t see another snowflake until Christmas.

Here’s what Mark Seeley, a climatologist at the University of Minnesota had to say about our unusual weather (read the whole thing here):

This January will undoubtedly be the warmest in the modern National Weather Service (post 1891) record statewide. Most communities are reporting a mean monthly temperature so far that is from 14 to 16 degrees F above normal. On a statewide basis we will end up with a mean monthly temperature around 25 degrees F, over 3 degrees F warmer than the record warm January of 1944 (21.7 F mean). … Most communities around the state reported at least one day with temperatures in the 40s F and many reported days with temperatures in the 50s F (we hit 54 two days ago — Art). Extremes ranged from -22 F at Embarrass on the 21st to 59 degrees F near Winona on the 26th.

Minnesota reported the lowest temperature in the nation’s lower 48
states only twice this month, and further many communities, including the Twin Cities have yet to see a reading below zero F. In fact, should we finish out the month that way, it will be only the third time in Twin Cities climate history without a January below zero F reading (the others in 1846 and 1990.

As America’s poet laureate Jimmy Buffett said, “The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful)….