G'day everyone ... looks like I'm gonna be pretty busy next 24-36 hours so if I'm not in here much you'll know why...everyone stay safe and have a smilin' goooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness ......

A WINTER STORM WARNING GOES INTO AFFECT LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL, EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS!

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM
CST FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM CST
FRIDAY.

EXPECT SNOW TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON WITH
PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF FRIDAY
MORNING. BETWEEN 6 AND 10 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WILL BE LIKELY IN THE
WARNING AREA BY FRIDAY MORNING. GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS TONIGHT
WILL BECOME NORTHWEST BY FRIDAY MORNING. THIS WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT
BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...WHICH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT TRAVEL.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...
SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE

A major winter storm will affect all of central and southeast Illinois beginning Thursday afternoon and lasting into Friday morning. Low pressure is expected to develop in northern Texas early Thursday morning and track to the northeast, reaching central Indiana by Friday morning. All ingredients appear to be coming together for a band of heavy snow to develop to the north of the low pressure track. Gulf of Mexico moisture will be entrained into the system and interact with an adequate supply of cold air in place to produce the snowfall. In addition, favorable jet stream dynamics and a strong mid-level disturbance will track across the state Thursday night and enhance snowfall rates.

Snow should spread in from eastern Missouri and southern Illinois Thursday afternoon and quickly envelop the entire area by early evening. Snowfall rates of up to 1" per hour are possible in small-scale banding during the overnight hours. At this time, it appears areas east of the Illinois River have the best chance of receiving 6"+ accumulations. The most favored area for maximum accumulations appears to be along and east of the I-57 corridor with localized 10"+ totals. Enough warm air could advect into the low/mid levels of the atmosphere to produce a period of sleet south of I-70, which could limit total accumulations there. Any shift in the exact storm track will alter the location of the heaviest snow band. In addition to the heavy snow, northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph will back around to the northwest and continue to be gusty into Friday morning creating significant blowing and drifting. The snow should end from southwest to northeast Friday morning as the upper level support departs the region.

The Lincoln NWS is requesting SWOP reports during and after this significant weather event. Some reports that will be helpful to the forecast staff include: precipitation onset, any mixed precipitation, snowfall amounts during and/or after the storm, and blowing and drifting. Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

G'Day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe! Seeing as how not much is going on at the moment but the weather, I will blog about it...gonna post about the upcoming winter storm so anyone living in the area or passing through can prepare for it... Gonna let ole Blue Eye's furnish the music today to browse with...

Sooooooooooooooo, put your troubles aside for the moment, pull up a chair and visit a spell...

Getting prepared to go to town tomorrow and pick up any supplies we may need before the main event gets here, I had two of my wind instruments freeze up yesterday, hopefully they'll thaw out today.... had 48-50 mph winds yesteday and the local airport observed winds around 60 mph... at one time had wind chills around 20F below zero....

So here is the latest and keep in mind THE WEATHER CAN CHANGE IN A HEARTBEAT especially here on the plains of Illinois, so just monitor the weather as time goes along....
From the HPC/NOAA;
the probabilities of at least 4 inches of snow;

the probabilities of at least 8 inches of snow;

the probabilities of at least 12 inches of snow;

now add to that winds of between 15 to 20 mph....
From the NWS Lincoln, Ill;

A winter storm is expected to develop across the southern Plains Thursday morning, then move northeast into areas south of the Ohio River. This type of storm track is favorable for heavy snow to fall across portions of central and southeast Illinois. The greatest chances of heavy snow are expected from Springfield and Bloomington southeast to Flora and Newton, where in excess of 6 inches of snow is possible. Totals up to 4 inches are expected as far northwest as the Illinois River.

For my little place in the Universe; Winter Storm Watch;
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS. BETWEEN 4 AND 8 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER BEFORE TAPERING OFF BY
MIDDAY FRIDAY. BRISK NORTHEAST WINDS WILL ALSO CAUSE SOME BLOWING
AND DRIFTING SNOW.

Now you ask what is it I do...well I'm a SWOP observer (as well as a COOP obsever) for the NWS which is unique to Central Illinois;

We monitor the weather (like yesterday) and turn in reports of the weather as it is happening... I go to a website called eSpotter, which is nationwide;

and log in, and of course, the Gov't is watching;

sorry about the quality but it didn't take off the screen very well but you can get the idea.... I'm tap into a computer at the forecast desk and the folks there use that info with data they have to update any forecasts, watches, warnings, etc. and I have to venture out to observe as well as equipment I have inside whatever the weather is doing and sometimes it can be a rather unpleasant experience....I do this during the entire event, log reports in my log books, and around 4:30 in the morning, get up, make the first pot of coffee, organize my notes and at 6 AM turn a summary in along with my Climatological Data I gathered as a COOP.... plus say good morning to my friends...then I start the day....

Well, better scoot, got things to do, soooooooooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' goooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise.

"Over the hill and picking up speed"

Hazardous Weather Outlook
Issued by NWS Central Illinois

Severe Thunderstorms, Snow, High Winds and Plunging Temperatures across Central, East Central and Southeast Illinois during the next 12 hours!!

Low pressure will develop over northeast Missouri Tuesday morning, then rapidly intensify and track into Michigan by evening. As it does, it will pull a strong cold front through central Illinois during the afternoon and evening hours. Ahead of the front, breezy and unseasonably warm weather will persist for much of the day. Temperatures today will range from the lower 50s around the Galesburg area to a balmy 58 degrees in Lawrenceville. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop...with some of the storms potentially becoming strong to severe east of Interstate 55 from 200 pm until 600 pm this afternoon. The primary threat from any storms that occur will be damaging straight line wind gusts.

Once the front passes to the east, very strong west to northwest winds will transport sharply colder conditions into the area. Sustained winds are expected to be in the 25 to 35 mph range...with gusts approaching 50 mph. The high winds will develop across the Illinois River Valley after 200 pm...then will spread eastward to the Indiana border by early evening. In addition...lingering rain showers behind the front are expected to change to snow showers as temperatures rapidly drop through the 30s. By the time the snow comes to an end Tuesday evening, most areas will receive little or no accumulation...however locations along and northwest of a Canton to Minonk line may pick up as much as one inch of snow.

To compound matters, the combination of the very strong west winds and any snow that does accumulate later this afternoon and evening may produce some very difficult driving conditions for a few hours with considerable blowing snow, especially in the outlying areas. In addition, temperatures will drop some 40 to 50 degrees from today’s highs by late tonight as the blast of Arctic air funnels into central, east central and southeast Illinois. Low temperatures by Wednesday morning will plunge to near zero in Galesburg to the lower or middle teens far southeast. Wind chill readings will drop to between 5 below and 15 below zero by morning along and north of a Springfield to Champaign line with single digit readings across the southeast. Winds are expected to gradually diminish after midnight as the potent low pressure system pulls away from the area.

G'Day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe!! Weekend coming up, gonna be a busy one so thought I would do a short blog to wish everyone a wonderful weekend....got another Don Wlliams song to browse with, I like the style of him and Tom T, kind of laid back and mellow, those two have been my favorites for years and this song I especially like...

Soooooooooooooo, put your troubles aside, pull up a chair and visit a spell......

got some little projects to do today to get ready for the weekend, gonna have ham & beans for supper.... on occasion I'll cook a ham on the grill, usually a smoked shank, and I'll cut off a piece of the shank end, around a pound or two slightly larger than a softball and save the hambone, bone, skin and all(freeze)for the beans....when I'm ready I get out this pot...

a 5 quart caste iron pot, it has only one purpose in life cook ham and beans.....you can't have good ham & beans cooked in anything else and you don't have to deal with the problem associated with ham & beans..gas .... first you preboil the beans ( we use 1 pound Great Northern) till the skins start floating, rinse well in cold water, add the hambone and a onion (about the size of a tennis ball), salt and pepper to taste and cook on a Low heat slowly most of the day.... I have a tripod for a fire pit and in the summertime I'll occasionally cook on an wood fire..... over time you can pull the hambone out of the pot, discarding the bone and any fat, just leaving the ham in the pot and let it cook till your ready...add too it some fried taters and homemade cornbread and ........Bon Apititie!!!!!

Well, like I said, will have a busy weekend gonna grille a turkey Sunday, so other than being in and out on occasion, won't do any blogging till next week...Gotta scoot and get this day started....Soooooooooooooooooooo everyone have a smiln' goooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willin' and the creeks don't rise...

and without further delay......

"Over the hill and picking up speed"

G'day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome.. Popping in to do a short blog, gonna be busy next couple of days so wanted to be sure and wish everyone;

Got some chili started gonna have Chili Mac and coney dogs with cheese for supper.... while I was doing that was checking some items for a number of walks I'll take this spring, summer and fall....first my still/video camera with audio;

handy little thing and should get some good pictures this year...then there's my walking stick and fly rod;

Don't go anywhere without them...here is a picture of the handle on the walking stick...

Suppose to be the Old Man in the Forest carved on the handle, I have a bolt at the end that I can attach the camera to the walking stick for quick shots and a stable platform.... What's all this mean, you ask, Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeellll when the weather is right I'm gonna join Mr. Loggin and I'm gonna.....

Gotta scoot, finish up the day and get ready for the cold tonight and tomorrow.....Everyone have a smiln' gooooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see ya next time if the good Lord's willin' and the creeks don't rise....