22nd March 2009

Big red lips, and I love the internet

The dotter staged this picture of my big red lips beanbag “reading” a book; I barely cropped it at all.

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So there I was, relaxing and reading a few blogs’n'boards’n'things late this evening, and I decided to do my recent hobby:  checking in at Alaska Volcano Observatory’s Redoubt website to see how things were a-cookin’.  Things were definitely a-cookin’, to the point that I kept checking in at the seismic webicorders as it became obvious that the volcano was really thinking of doing something this time.

And then, between one moment and the next, suddenly the color code of the volcano watch changed from ORANGE-”watch” level to RED-”warning” level, and the descriptor over to the side changed to “RED: Eruption is imminent with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere likely OR eruption is underway or suspected with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere [ash-plume height specified, if possible]. WARNING: Hazardous eruption is imminent, underway, or suspected.”

So I switched to Twitter to send out a notice to whoever might possibly be listening to my intermittent blatherings, and as I was typing, @alaska_avo sent out a tweet that Redoubt was erupting.

Now, before anyone gets worried, concerned, scared, etc., please be aware that this volcano is a hundred miles away, and it looks like a short eruption (seismic stuff has already cooled down after going off the charts).

But still…so cool to be able to monitor this stuff in real-time.

Here’s what the seismometer was doing at one of the seismic stations; the red square at the bottom left corner is an indicator that the seismicity was off the chart, unable to be measured by that seismograph, during those minutes.

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posted in Alaska, Miscellaneous, Volcano | 2 Comments

22nd March 2009

Green, green is the color of…

Spring.

Rumor has it that spring is arriving in various parts of the U.S.

While we still have snow and cold, there are hints of spring peeping up here and there in our area.  Specifically, snow is melting.  The sun is rising at 8 a.m., and setting at 8:20 p.m. (yes!), and we now have twilight until a little after 9.

And!  And!

I drove off Friday to Big City, to provide some supporting documentation for our first PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) (which this year could be anything from a little over a grand per person to a whopping $68 per person, due to the economic mess).  It was sunny, it was warm, there were people outside with no coats on!  And shorts!  Woot!

But the thing that really gave me a foretaste of spring, that made me optimistic that endless winter is on its way out…

Certain stands of trees were showing the very faintest, tiniest, almost not noticeable, tinge of greenishness, mostly on the trunks.

And other trees, here and there, as I drove through Small Alaskan Suburb, had fluffy white flowers at the very topmost branches.

So, in honor of Friday’s equinox, I pronounce it SPRING!  Woohoo!

posted in Alaska, Weather | 1 Comment