The winter of 78/79

Dad29 remembers a winter long ago.

Some of you will recall the Winter of 78/79. (77/78?) It was as bad as this one; snow piled up all over the place, piled to “top-of-your-car” heights on the Milwaukee street-sides.

I remember seeing a picture of a house in Buffalo; nicely surrounded by a layer of the white stuff. Then you read the caption and find out it’s a two story house and you’re looking at the second story because snow is obscuring the first.

We traveled from FL to OH in Jan., ’79, I believe (Yes, we were young and crazy). We spent a couple of weeks in the Knoxville area and left on a morning where it was -3 F. We never got above zero the whole day. My wife’s hometown had a record low of -20.

Oh, did I mention we were driving a Dodge window van? The heater just couldn’t keep up. We hung a blanket behind the front seats and put our oldest on one of those bouncer thingies between the front seats (Yes, kids, no child seat laws back then).

We took warm breaks every about every hour, stopping at a gas station and going inside to warm up.

Those were the good ol’ days.

Waukesha JanBoree weekend is set

Spring City Chronicle editor-in-chief Huckleberry Dumbell knows when the January thaw will happen.

The Waukesha JanBoree never has snow or cold. Dates? Jan. 23-25.

You can right let’s make that write it down.

Fill ‘er up!

From Yahoo! News

Drivers might want to top off their tanks early before hitting the road for Labor Day weekend.

Consumers will likely face higher prices at the pump during the busy holiday period as Tropical Storm Gustav swirls toward the Gulf of Mexico on a path that could disrupt energy production. Any damage to oil and gas facilities — especially along the vulnerable Gulf Coast — could send retail gas prices spiking back above $4 a gallon, analysts say.

But don’t gas prices usually rise around Labor Day?

Hey, if they don’t want it…

why beg them to take it?

The WFP’s regional director, Tony Banbury, directly appealed to Myanmar’s military leaders in an interview with Associated Press Television News.

“Please, this food is going to people who need it very much. You and I, we have the same interests,” Banbury said. “Please release it.”

And why trust them to deliver it themselves, when they’ve already shown they won’t.

Myanmar’s military leaders seized aid shipments headed for cyclone survivors and told the top U.S. diplomat there Friday that they’re not ready to let in American aid workers despite warnings the country is on the verge of a medical catastrophe.

Myanmar says it will accept aid from all countries, but prohibits the entry of foreign workers who would deliver and manage the operations. The junta is not ready to change that position….

Hey, it’s their country.

Snow over the weekend?

Could be.

Maybe we’ll get some in May also.

Rough weather in Tennessee, too

UPDATE: Here is a map showing tornado damage and sightings. The death toll has risen to 17 (FOX reports 21). A natural gas station is burning northeast of Nashville, perhaps as a result of the storms.

Tornado reported in downtown Nashville

At 9:45 p.m., a tornado was reported sighted traveling from downtown Nashville area headed toward Goodlettsville.Tornadoes sirens in the downtown ares were going off and the authorities were telling people to seek shelter.

Tornado warning had been extended to 10:45 p.m. for the Davidson County area.

The National Weather Service reports a half-dozen tornadoes in Tennessee and northern Mississippi. Tornadoes have also been reported near Fort Campbell, just north of Nashville. A couple of people were killed and several injured in severe weather around Jackson, TN, about halfway between Nashville and Memphis. There were reports of tornadoes around Memphis, damaging the Hickory Ridge Mall.
The Tennessee Secretary of State was forced to close some precincts for a time.