h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That's a very interesting website which I've never seen before - thanks for pointing it out to me. Now I'm thinking about replacing my crappy old travel alarm (the only timepiece I own apart from the clock on my kitchen wall - I have worn a wristwatch for about 25 years) with one of these http://www.ambientweather.com/attrcl.html

Oh, wait... I've kept that travel clock on London time ever since I got here. I wouldn't be able to do that with an atomic clock, unless I got this one http://www.ambientweather.com/rmorscattrcl.html , but it wouldn't be quite the same.

Just a couple of years ago I tried to find a similar weather station for my dad but the cheapest I could find was just a basic thermometer/barometer/rainguage with remote base and I think they wanted nearly $500 for it. A friend just got this system a month or so ago and really likes it.



I've got a radio controlled clock in my living room with indoor and outdoor thermometer similar to those on that first page (but larger). Oddly it does NOT display the seconds. What's the point of having such an accurate clock if you can't precisely synch your wristwatch to it.

I've taken to pulling the stem on my watch 1 second after the sweep passes the minute, readjusting it for the current time then depressing the stem one second after the clock changes. That's as good but I'd still like a second hand.

Y'know, ever since I was a kid I've wanted one of those old-fashioned hanging barometers that you tap whenever you want to take a reading and which says 'Fair', 'Dry', 'Rain' etc around the dial. Something like this http://www.quicksilver-barometers.co.uk/barometer_carved_from_solid_oak.html My aunt used to have one hanging up in her hallway and I always gave it a little tap as we walked through the front door each time we visited.

So here we are on the Thursday which was forecast to reach anything between 65/18.3 and 76/24.4... and the current temperature at 1.30pm is 89/31.7, which will no doubt hit 90 before too long.

You've gotta , haven't you.

I reckon the cold front must have just passed over Austin - we've dropped from 93/33.9 at 4pm to 80/26.7 at 4.30. It's getting quite dark too. I think we might be in for some more rain very soon.

And we've just had a shower of very heavy rain. Tthe emperature went down to 72/22.2 but it's bounced back a few degrees.

There is just enough nip in the air today to actually call it 'autumn'.

Here's how I figure the Texas seasons:

If I don't feel cold when I step out of the bathroom following a shower, it's summer.

If I do feel cold after stepping out of the bathroom following a shower, it's either autumn or spring.

If I feel cold after pulling back the shower curtain and while I' still in the bathroom - cold enough that I should have put the heating on first - it's winter.

This morning it felt like autumn That was confirmed by the lady on the wireless who told me it was 58/14.4 at 7.30am. It's currently 77/25. Very pleasant.

It's gonna be in the 90s today and tomorrow! What the f... Then 70s again on Thursday

Plenty of rain over the weekend. I think somewhere between one and two inches at Camp Mabry between last Friday and yesterday morning.

Flooding (serious flooding) in the Houston-Galveston area. A strong South wind drove the bay waters up into the creeks, lakes and bayous causing abnormally high tides. 4 deaths were associated with the flooding in Houston, all were related to vehicles in high water. Rain amounts were similar to those reported during T.S. Francis several years ago but there was not nearly as many homes flooded this time. The San Jacinto River will be cresting sometime tomorrow so a flood warning is still in effect for those areas until Thursday.

Nasty. I hope chez CZ is well away from the flooding.

Meanwhile, we've had a hot, sunny day in Austin and the temperature hit 91F/32.8C this afternoon. It should be about the same tomorrow (Wednesday) but about 20F colder on Thursday as a cold front passes by in the early hours. Might be some more rain too.

Oh, yea. High and dry and close enough to Galveston Bay that the water runs off quickly.

Very glad to hear it.

At 9am, it's already warmer today (76F/24.4C) than it's likely to be all day tomorrow.

We had a pretty good rainstorm while I was at the flicks this evening. I've just looked at the report for Camp Mabry and there was almost half an inch in the hour between 8pm and 9pm. It's raining again now and the radar is showing more coming from the southwest, all associated with a cold front which I reckon must have passed an ahour or two back because the temperature dropped from around 90F at 6pm to 63F now (11pm).

Goodness gracious! We ended up with 0.82" of rain from last night's precipitationary activities. And this morning is definitely an autumn morning according to the Gosho shower test. In fact it was almost 20F colder at 8am today than this time yesterday - 55/12.8 and quite breezy. We might not even make it into the 70s today.

precipitationary - is that really a word?

Autumn has arrived in the midwest. High around 50 later today, windy, damp, and generally depressing. I really should go take some pictures of foliage like Phred's been doing. I've had a couple of his pics as wallpaper, but it'd be nice to have some of my own since people walking by my desk keep asking me where I'm getting the fabulous pictures from.

No, I just didn't want to say 'rain event'

The Gosho shower test said 'Autmn, borderline winter' on Friday morning! In fact I woke up in the middle of the night and had to put the duvet on the bed - the temperature had dipped to 45/7.2.

That wasn't necessary last night.

It might be tonight though - a cold front came through just an hour or two back. Camp Mabry recorded 89/31.7 this afternoon which is about 9F above normal, but tomorrow's likely to be only in the upper 60s (about 20C) and tonight will go down to about 50/10.

I love this time of the year in Austin (when the temperatures stay around normal - upper 70s/low 80s) but the nights can be difficult. When you go to bed it's too warm to put the duvet on the bed but if you don't you'll probably wake up around 5am, shivering, and then have to go and get it.