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"