Stormy

We had a chance of showers yesterday, but I wasn't really expecting anything more than a few hundredths at most. But some on and off showers traversed my area starting by 3:00 p.m. with brief downpours and barely pea-sized hail multiple times. Even heard some thunder a few times. Ended up getting 0.32" while my sister's place 2/3rd mile ne. got nearly a half inch as did another sister 7-8 miles se. I was going to plant some garden, but plans changed. A plenty chilly rain anyway. You're probably wondering why I mention siblings living here and there, and jfyi, I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters. And one brother's winter home may be @Tom's neighbor!? Not sure what his exact address is, though it's in Fountain Hills.

Yes that last minute darkening was surreal, and we couldn't see any shadow bands either, though some climbed onto the house roof and other structures for a better view. One thing I didn't realize was that sunspots are readily visible through a spotting scope etc. I don't make a habit of looking at the sun! Lol

That's good that it was decent viewing for you. I could see the flares throughout totality, but it looked better through binoculars.

Here are a few photos from my friends iPhone. IMG_1163.MOV.mp4 IMG_1143.MOV.mp4 IMG_1153.HEIC IMG_1147.HEIC

My first total eclipse was an awesome and enjoyable experience! Took off for southern IL just after 2:00a.m. and arrived at our destination (my cousin's farm near Carbondale) in only around 5.5 hrs. as traffic was a non-issue and had good roads. And the weather was perfect with only a few thin cirrus at times with a high temp around 80⁰! Had over 100 people there (mostly from my community) to watch it and enjoyed 2 hearty big meals (brunch and supper) plus snacks in-between! Had several spotting scopes on tripods for people to use, and later mounted a camera on one during the eclipse. We also did some experiments and someone gave a presentation about eclipses, etc. My nephew flew his drone before and during the eclipse, which mostly flew itself so he could enjoy the sights. We also had a thermometer recording the temp which dropped 12⁰ f in the shade and still more in the sun, if I remember correctly. One thing I forgot was sunscreen, so I got burned a little even if I tried staying in the shade at times. We left for home around 6:30p.m. hoping traffic would clear out some. Had one little stretch of heavy, slow traffic, but mostly good travelling most of the way, arriving back in around 6 hrs. Trees were much greener in s. IL. Oh, I forgot to mention my brother down there took us on a ride to his place nearby with a farm tractor and trailer afterwards. Had 60+ people on the flatbed trailer!

A similar thing happened in Mo. where my brother went to watch in 2017. It was all cloudy, but clearing occurred just in time for the eclipse with clouds moving back in soon after! It's was sunnier in IL. that time.

I plan leaving around 1:00 am. Monday with a van load of friends. In fact a bus load of people is leaving from my community to see it. Makes for less traffic going together! Lol As of now the NWS point forecast is calling for sunny skies on Monday near Carbondale. Oops, I couldn't clear the editor for some reason, then kind of reposted things. I will need to edit this.

My brother went down in that area to see it in 2017, but I couldn't make it. This time though, I'm going to the Carbondale, IL area (not far from Ava) where another brother lives. Lucky for people there, being it's the only area where both total eclipses cross, which I'm sure you knew!

What blows me away yet more is that most of the snow fell within 1 weeks time during a season that only had around 2 weeks of real winter, and that most of it melted by early February!! And it basically all soaked into the thirsty unfrozen soil, similar to the previous winter's precipitation. In January I totally expected to see more of January's snow hang around till some time in March, but even the very deepest drifts have mostly disappeared! The winter of '07 - 2008 was the snowiest of my records, but does anyone know if that was also an elnino winter too? It seems like NINO winters are more active in my area.

I don't care either, but the Marxist racists do.

They are doing it for a number of reasons including needing more democrat voters, changing congressional districting control (they are moving them to some areas to be counted in the next census), making the the country less white, and so on. They are committing treason by not protecting this nation that they swore under oath to protect!

I thought my governor was sending national guard , but I'm not sure. Kristi Noem (if I remember correctly) was sending razor wire.

I nearly lost my 88 year old mother around Christmas when she supposedly had Covid for the first time? Not sure how she managed to never have it before now because nearly everyone around her had it at some point. But she also had UTI, another light stroke, and possibly sepsis all at the same time and she still survived!! Just got her out of rehab yesterday. (I'm pretty sure I had covid twice, the last time around 2 years ago.)

You might've had covid without realizing it since symptoms were/are basically non-existent for some people.

I totally agree about the under reporting! Precip. amounts here are similar to yours. I haven't checked yet, but this month is likely the wettest January of my records, with most of it from snow! The first snowstorm had insane amount of liquid, but I won't post it as I'm still not sure if I really believe it or how accurate it was. The last system brought 0.58" of rainfall bringing my weekly total to 0.83". Heavier rainfall occurred south of here in far se. IA