Grrrrr.....

[Dr Mordrid]

Went shopping to this, and it's STILL snowing. High winds KO'ed power to >100,000.

[Brian Ellis]

How do you manage with your prosthetic limb on snow and/or ice?

In fact, how's it going generally? Long time since an update!

[UtwigMU]

Here trees are in bloom though you still need a jacket during morning and evening. Couple of weeks ago I was in Prague and I was walking around in T-shirt during afternoon.

[Dr Mordrid]

How do you manage with your prosthetic limb on snow and/or ice?

In fact, how's it going generally? Long time since an update!

I manage quite well, with a critical factor being shoe type - too hard a sole negatively,impacts stability so I go for soft tire tread like soles in wet/icy/snowy days and when expecting a hard smooth surface.

My residual limb is now completely toughened up and tolerates both legs; my knockabout leg for the short walks in the house and the $$ robo-leg I use for outdoor avtivities, shopping, etc. This to reduce the wear & tear on the expen$ive unit.

I did have one hiccup last fall, which was a fall. My fault, overconfidence and overran my capabilities at that time. Sustained a seriously sprained L ankle & foot that swelled like a melon and took 3 months to resolve. Made me miss both archery and firearms deer season, dammit

Pressure bandages, home nursing & PT etc. etc.

Much better now and behind us.

Back to our rather intetesting weather

http://m.detnews.com/updates/article...4150043&f=1208

Metro Detroit breaks seasonal snowfall record

Well it's official: The cold season of 2013-14 is the snowiest on record for the metro area.

The 3.1 inches of snow that fell Monday night into Tuesday morning brought this season's total to 94.8 inches, topping the old record of 93.6 inches set during 1880-81.

"I guess we could see it as a just reward for all of us after going through this winter," said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Tilley, working out of the White Lake Township station.

"The change over from sleet to snow began at about 10 p.m. Monday in White Lake, and at about 11 p.m. at Metro Airport. Cold and warm weather go back and forth in April, so there's still a chance we could see more snow this month."

(On April 15, 1904, a two-day snowstorm ended in Saginaw, leaving the city covered with 12.5 inches of snow.)

The normal amount of snow for the metro area is 42.5 inches.
>
The new record is also scant comfort to the 11,000 homes and businesses that remain without power in southeast Michigan as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.

That number is down from the 150,000 clients who lost electricity after high winds roared through DTE Energy's service area on Saturday and Monday.

DTE Energy expects to restore service by the end of the day Tuesday or early Wednesday. Crews are working around the clock with those from Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin assisting with restoration efforts.
>

[Brian Ellis]

Well, this "rainy season" has been the worst ever, to date. No rain! Temperatures have also been approaching an all time average record for this season. The following quotation is from a recent Cyprus Mail article.

Fear of worst drought on record

By Constantinos Psillides

CYPRUS is facing its worst drought ever according to the local weather service, which has recorded 204 millimetres of rainfall for the 2013-14 season, despite the occasional downpour in recent days.

This is the worst year on record since the weather service started keeping track of annual rainfall in 1901.

Although the water season hasn’t ended (the weather service considers October 1 of one year to September 30 of the next as a ‘water year’), this was worse than the 1972-73 period when the rainfall was 212 millimetres.

A weather service official told the Cyprus Mail that the figure for this year will probably be over 212mm. “Although that doesn’t mean much. It is still one of the worst years on record. It might still rain a bit but that doesn’t change the fact that we are going through one of the worst droughts ever,” the official said.

The all-time average recorded rainfall for the period in question, October to March, is 437mm. The 204mm recorded so far equals only 47 per cent of the expected rainfall. Last year, the recorded rainfall was 460mm, which was 5 per cent above the historic average.

Faidros Roussis of the Water Development Department (WDD) told the Cyprus Mail that besides being the worst year for rainfall, this is also the worst year for the flow into the dams.

“The Kourris Dam was built in 1987 and we have been recording water flow ever since. This is the worst year ever. Our second worst was in 1992 when only 12m cubic metres of water was collected in the dams. This year we are barely over 9m m³ and summer is just around the corner. It’s almost impossible to reach 12m,” he said.

According to WDD figures, 93m m³ of water flowed to the dams last year, which pales in comparison with two years ago, when water flow reached 192m m³.

While Roussis isn’t worried for now, he is fearful for the future. “Usually we have droughts going for two, three years. My department is prepared to tackle this year’s water supply problems but if the drought goes on, we will be faced with some tough decisions next year or two years from now,” he said, adding that despite the severe drought the dams are almost half full, at 48 per cent capacity. Dam capacity is still at a high level due to excellent rainfall over the previous two years.

Despite the drought, the government has stated that there will be no cuts to the domestic water supply. On February 21, agriculture minister Nicos Kouyialis assured the public that water rationing was out of the question.

Water supplied for irrigation is a different matter, as irrigation is estimated to be responsible for over two-thirds of water consumption. Higher consumption means higher susceptibility to rationing needs, but Kouyialis was again reassuring.

“With regard to water supplied for irrigation purposes, a problem may arise for those receiving water from the Southern Conveyor. We have decided to allocate the same quantities as the period from 2009 to 2012, which the WDD considers satisfactory for irrigation,” Kouyialis had said.

Cyprus had faced acute water shortages due to persistent droughts in 2008, as a result of which the government had to impose extended water cuts and import water from Greece to alleviate the problem.

Following public outcry, the government decided to resume its policy of desalinating water. Three desalination plants are now operational on the isalnd, with total daily output capacity of 160,000 cubic metres of water.

The following shows the average rainy season for this village in mm precipitation:


and this is this year's rainy season from my certified weather station:


These figures do not correspond exactly with those cited in the article because those are averaged over the whole island, which has several distinct weather regions plus many microclimates (valleys in the mountains and disparate vegetation). However, it is worse here, proportionally, because we are in the lee of the Troodos massif.

[Evildead666]

We're still hitting the high teens, almost 20C at lunchtimes...

It hasn't rained here for a long while either, the last little "sprinkle" we got awoke all the vegetation into popping out of the ground, and the trees to have leaves and blossom.
Nothing since though, and we had a very dry winter...

No idea at all what summer is going to be like.
I'm surprised its still snowing in Michigan, even if it is a bit North, its mid-april !!!!

[Dr Mordrid]

>I'm surprised its still snowing in Michigan, even if it is a bit North, its mid-april !!!!

Our latest recorded snowstorm in the Detroit area was a dusting in June, but sticking snow was on May 31. On May 10, 1990 Marquette was hammered with 14.2".

A lot of Swedes, Finns and Norweigans settled here and across to the Dakotas, a lot like home, and their influences are quite strong. Also French and Native American influences.

Lake Michigan

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/04/16/its-mid-april-and-coast-guard-is-still-battling-thickc-great-lakes-ice/

It’s Mid-April And Coast Guard Is Still Battling Thick Great Lakes Ice

CHICAGO (CBS)*— Almost one month into spring, and the U.S. Coast Guard is still breaking up ice around the Great Lakes.

The Coast Guard on Wednesday released video of the cutter Morro Bay carving up ice in the harbor in Marquette, Mich., nestled along the shores of Lake Superior.

The ice was preventing the delivery of coal to the area, needed to power local mining operations.

The ice-breaking operations began after a difficult and lengthy escort from in Duluth, Minn.

During the trip, the guard used satellite imagery to find openings in the ice.

The crews’ efforts helped keep local mining operations open by allowing the commercial carriers Mesabi Miner and Kaye E. Barker to offload coal to the power plant that is the sole supplier of electricity to the mines.

Ice in Marquette harbor was reported to be up to 24 inches thick.

The Coast Guard also conducted ice breaking operations along Chicago’s shoreline after a record 25 days of temperatures at zero or below this winter.

[Dr Mordrid]

Just thought I'd mention that it snowed again in northern Michigan, and one area up there has had >350 inches (8.89m) - so far. They stop counting for this season after June.