Long-term weather forecasts are often wrong, and I was hoping today's would be. It is a tiny bit off, but not in the right direction:
the forecast was -25ºF (-32 C).
This morning it's -28.
And it's windy. The wind chill (what the air feels like) is -50, colder than the South Pole. At these temps,"exposed human flesh can freeze in 10 minutes", according to weather guy Mark Seeley at the UM.
Ah--here--my friend Julia caught how that looks (the dangerous cold, not the frozen flesh): this is Bde Mka Ska, the lake a couple miles from me, yesterday--from Julia's IG "happify":
Here's an interesting article (1/29/19) from scientist Jennifer Francis who studies Arctic warming, explaining "How Frigid Polar Vortex Blasts Are Connected to Global Warming".
Mz had come over Monday evening and got stranded by the quickly falling temperatures. (She lives a couple miles away, and neither of us has a car.)
Both her workplace (the food co-op) and mine closed yesterday and today for the cold, so she's hanging out here.
Of course she could take a taxi, but I'm glad of the company.
I didn't have much food in the house, so yesterday I bundled up and went out in the mere -15 temps to get the makings for Thai chicken soup. The Asian grocery Shuang Hur is only two short blocks away.
Penny Cooper watched and waited at the window for me.
My old windows are leaky, and you can see there's frost on the outer windows, even though I put plastic over them this fall.
This morning, they're iced up. (It's a little scary.)
I returned safely, the soup was terrific.
Thai chicken soup (tom kha gai) is easy to make.
You make it like classic American chicken soup, you know--boil a chicken with some veg and flavorings.
In the Thai version you use lemongrass, lime leaves, and ginger, and add a can of coconut milk. Here's a recipe for Thai Chicken Soup that gives substitutions.
(I leave out the fish sauce––I don't like it.)
In the evening, I settled on the couch to do some Serious Reading.
(My hair is not supposed to sweep forward like a Beach Boys 'do, but it tends to...)
The apartment is cold this morning--I have the oven on low for warmth. Since it's on, I might bake bread today--I've been meaning to since Sandy Miller blogged her bread recipe (on her blog Paine Falls).
It's supposed to warm up tomorrow (Thursday)... to -1.
And Saturday is supposed to be +40 F (4ºC), when "a Pacific breeze returns with a 60-70 degree temperature jump."
the forecast was -25ºF (-32 C).
This morning it's -28.
And it's windy. The wind chill (what the air feels like) is -50, colder than the South Pole. At these temps,"exposed human flesh can freeze in 10 minutes", according to weather guy Mark Seeley at the UM.
Ah--here--my friend Julia caught how that looks (the dangerous cold, not the frozen flesh): this is Bde Mka Ska, the lake a couple miles from me, yesterday--from Julia's IG "happify":
Mz had come over Monday evening and got stranded by the quickly falling temperatures. (She lives a couple miles away, and neither of us has a car.)
Both her workplace (the food co-op) and mine closed yesterday and today for the cold, so she's hanging out here.
Of course she could take a taxi, but I'm glad of the company.
I didn't have much food in the house, so yesterday I bundled up and went out in the mere -15 temps to get the makings for Thai chicken soup. The Asian grocery Shuang Hur is only two short blocks away.
Penny Cooper watched and waited at the window for me.
My old windows are leaky, and you can see there's frost on the outer windows, even though I put plastic over them this fall.
This morning, they're iced up. (It's a little scary.)
I returned safely, the soup was terrific.
Thai chicken soup (tom kha gai) is easy to make.
You make it like classic American chicken soup, you know--boil a chicken with some veg and flavorings.
In the Thai version you use lemongrass, lime leaves, and ginger, and add a can of coconut milk. Here's a recipe for Thai Chicken Soup that gives substitutions.
(I leave out the fish sauce––I don't like it.)
In the evening, I settled on the couch to do some Serious Reading.
The apartment is cold this morning--I have the oven on low for warmth. Since it's on, I might bake bread today--I've been meaning to since Sandy Miller blogged her bread recipe (on her blog Paine Falls).
It's supposed to warm up tomorrow (Thursday)... to -1.
And Saturday is supposed to be +40 F (4ºC), when "a Pacific breeze returns with a 60-70 degree temperature jump."
2 comments:
I was wondering how you were faring in the polar vortex. Baking sounds like a fantastic way to keep warm and useful.
The cold front barged in yesterday afternoon around 3 o'clock and this morning it's 5 degrees here on the north shore of Long Island. I am keeping all my kitties inside, except for the ones who, I know for a fact, will poop on the living room couches if they don't get a bathroom break, so they get to trot out for five minutes.
My poor outdoor cat, Steve, is curled up in his nest by the front stoop, on his heating pad that is covered in insulating straw, and he is out of the wind and enclosed on the top, bottom, and three sides...but still. I check on him every half hour and so far, he looks good. I wish I could coax him to come inside.
I don't bake, so I'm going to make a lot of toast at crucial moments of the day, punctuated with cups of tea. I've got three of Diana Athill's memoirs to keep me company. I'm wearing two layers of fleece jammie pants, and three layers of sweaters, with heavy merino wool socks and indoor Uggs. I hate the cold.
VIVIAN: Hooray, your beautiful book arrived! Perfect timing--a dose of travel while trapped inside by the deadly cold. Thank you very much.
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