Solar Storms & CNN

CNN posted a video about the solar storms and the effects on our everyday living.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/weather/2014/09/11/solar-storm-explainer-orig-mg.cnn.html

The last thing we need is the power grid going off.

The weatherman (woman) is calling for rain today that we desperately need, my grass has not been green in a few weeks. A nice steady rain would be welcome, even on a Saturday.

Looking forward to checking out the bands this afternoon.

Enjoy your day!

More Snow.....

This is the winter that keeps giving in the form of snow. The bad four letter word that we are tired of hearing.

Here is a picture outside my front window this morning. We ended up with about 12 inches with another 1-3 inches more tonight.

It will be a long time before I get to see my front lawn again.

Summertime in July!

Well today is suppose to hit 98 F here in New Jersey with a real feel of 100-105 F.

Hope everyone finds a cool place to hide and drink plenty of water. The heatwave is going to last until Saturday night before a cold front arrives.

Watching TV the other day and the weatherman said:

"Go to the mall or a movie to stay cool, anyone see how much movie tickets cost these days"...($$)

Future Emergency Ideas

It has been a few days since the two storms have passed and everyday life is back to normal. The parents beach house in hard hit Ortley Beach is another story and we might not know the overall damage for another week or more.

My home lost 25 shingles from the super high winds and were reattached by my roofer at no cost, he is on the holiday gift list. During the storm we lost power at 10:00PM and did not get it back for ten days. Thanks to my neighbor for lending me a receptacle on his generator. This kept the basics going and the house semi warm with space heaters. We owe them a dinner out over the next week or two. A few items on my to do list for future emergencies include:

Generator
Stock up on water supply
Portable lanterns
Two thick extension cords
Small TV antenna in case my Verizon Fios goes out
Inverter
Batteries

A big help were my sleeping bags which kept my kids warm at night.
This list is sure to grow but its a good start. This is the second year in a row we lost power, 3 and 10 days.

Here's a tree that came down across the street from my house. When it hit the ground my house shook. Just glad it fell in that direction.

Power!

Well 10 days later my power just came on at 4:00PM this afternoon.

It has been a long cold week and will be glad to get back into a routine again starting tomorrow. My neighbor was able to keep me going with 1 outlet from his generator which powered the TV, light, and a space heater.

It was a pleasure to heat up the house and tonight will be nice the read the local newspaper.

10 days is a very long time without power.

More tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Boat Ride Anybody?

This goes into the just when you think you have seen it all category.
Check out this nut taking his boat out into the ocean yesterday afternoon.

No one was wearing life jackets on board.

Heard he made it back OK.

So far at my location winds are picking up but suppose to get worse after 1:00 PM eastern time. Storms is 300 miles away from New York City and making the turn now toward Jersey shore. Land fall between Atlantic City and Cape May, NJ.

Hoping to keep power but they are saying the winds will be at the peak between 3PM to 3AM.

Ready Or Not

It always seems like I am missing something or never fully prepared for storms but as they say do the best you can.

The yard is cleaned up and batteries are in charging mode just in case they are needed. The storm still is very strong but might not be a cat 1 when it comes ashore. Either way this is one wicked storm with 50-70 mph winds. With all the tress overhanging power lines in my town I expect power to be lost for 3 days plus, hope I am wrong.

I might even jump on 40 meter CW tonight as long as the stealth antenna stays up. As I cleaned my gutters yesterday it almost came down as I hit it with the ladder.

Here are a few links if you want to follow and see the storms live.

http://www.exit82.com/seacam/
Seaside Heights, NJ

http://friendsofislandbeach.org/ospreycam/
Island Beach State Park, in NJ

http://njbeachcams.com/northern-new-jersey/monmouth-beach-camera-and-surf-report
Monmouth Beach - check out the sand piled up for protection.

http://thesurfersview.com/live-beach-cams/central-new-jersey/ortley-beach
Ortley Beach - this is the beach I go to.

http://thesurfersview.com/live-beach-cams/central-new-jersey/manasquan-inlet
Manasquan Inlet

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/
NY radio stations 1010 Wins and 880 WCBS AM.

Stay safe.

S A N D Y

There is only one thing on every one's mind in NJ and NY since yesterday and that is Hurricane Sandy.

A few names I have heard so far, a super storm, perfect storm, and the odd name of "Frankenstorm". Whatever you want to call it this is one scary storm, due to make landfall along the Jersey shore on Monday. More than a few of these beaches are fragile already with small size beaches and homes close by. The timing of high tide and the full moon will make for some very serious water levels up and down the coast as well as inland with streams and rivers. Rain prediction is 5 - 10 inches. This area is not prepared for a category 1 storm.

Tomorrow will a major day for getting ready and putting all the yard stuff away, cleaning gutters, checking the water and battery supplies, etc, etc, and etc. The one item I do not have is a generator so unless I can borrow some power from my neighbors, I would guess power will be out for days. Might be time to invest in a generator down the road, this weather seems too be getting worse every year. I would have picked one up and as you can imagine they are all sold out. This is where my camping equipment comes in handy, sleeping bags, small stove, lights.

The Weather Channel has been a great source for information. They just said might be weeks without power, yikes. After hearing all this might load up on extra water for the family.
More updates tomorrow.

Stay safe to all my friends along the storms path and get ready.

Passed Right By

We ended up with a thunder storm which was not severe. Some parts of New York received the very high winds. Once the trees come down on the power lines that is when the trouble starts.

I am hoping for a very nice weekend with a Sunday in the yard radio set up.

Happy Friday!

Severe Weather

Severe weather is on its way tonight for the NJ/NY area. Just finished securing all the lawn chairs and anything else that can fly away.

With all the bright red colors on the radar this storm does not look fun.

Hope everyone listens to the warnings and stays inside.

Vacation Time

Just returned from a very hot week at the Jersey shore with temps in the 90F + range. The refreshing ocean was in the seventies and very nice.

On the radio side I packed the FT-857D and a few ham sticks but with the family activities going on never had a chance to power up. I plan on making up for that this coming weekend.

Sunset over the bay.

I missed one heck of a fast moving storm Saturday that broke the heat wave. Check out the video of a girl jumping from the sky ride at Seaside Heights, NJ when the lighting started flying. I saw an interview with her on TV this morning and she was OK. The jump was 35 feet into the sand helped break the fall.

Surprised the ride operators did not get a storm warning.

The question is would you have jumped?

Lightning Strike

Check out this photo from today's NY Daily news of a lightning strike on the Empire State Building from yesterday's storm.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/york-heat-wave-leaves-1-700-coned-customers-power-article-1.1100626

I bet King Kong even went inside for this one.

Weather for kids & adults

Good easy to understand weather site for all.

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/index.htm

Power Up!

Last night we were outside checking out the Halloween costumes when I noticed my neighbors front porch light on...POWER!

YES! Street lights starting filling the dark black streets with light. It was wonderful sleeping with the heat on and being able to read the evening paper.

Hopefully the others without power will get a quick fix before it gets cold. I guess we are lucky because it was only out from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday night, many are still a few days away.

Lights Out!!

The storm that brought us snow on Saturday morning knock our power out around 4:00PM and word from the power company is Wednesday for my area. I hope they are wrong and it is sooner than later.

My neighbor has a generator and I have a line hooked up for a few heaters and last night had the TV going. (The tube helps pass the time and lightens up the room.) He turns it off the at 11:00PM so the mornings are chilly, good think it's not winter yet.

At one point 500,000 homes in NJ were without power, as of this morning 169,000+ are out. The sun is shinning today so I am hoping it warms up and heats up my house a bit.

The funny thing is I keep turning on the light switches at night, just a habit!

Bye Irene

Flooded area down my street.

Irene is history now leaving behind wind and very wet conditions outside but the sun is shinning. I am just keeping an eye on my basement for any water coming in.

The forecasters say total rain in my area was over 6 inches with wind gusts between 40-60 mph. Power remained on during the storm for me but thousands are without power across N.J. The flooding is a major concern for many residents and will be for those living near overflowing streams and rivers for the next few days.

Might be a good time to plug in a soldering iron and unwind from the stress of the past few days.

Quiet Outside

The current weather forecast as of 3:00PM eastern sounds better which is good news. They are calling for a tropical storm by the time it arrives here starting tonight.

We will still be hammered with massive amounts of rain, 5 to 10+ inches which is going to create major flooding and winds up to 75 mph. I am still ready in case we lose power due to falling trees, etc. The ground is very wet already from the rain we had this week.

Flashlights are ready and batteries are all charged up. If you went to check out local coverage of the storm here is a link for online listening.

1010 WINS or 880 WCBS

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/news/

Hurricane Irene

Photo courtesy of Accuweather

It sounds like New Jersey and New York are in store for a wild weekend. Hurricane Irene is due to visit here late Saturday and throughout Sunday.

The weather reports predict a category 3 storm hitting the east coast. Right now winds are 115 miles per hour. The latest track shows the storm coming right over South Jersey and riding the coast toward New York. The prediction is that the storm will be a category 2 by the time it gets here with 4-8 inches of rain and 40-60+ mph winds.

Tomorrow will be spending the day putting away outside chairs and securing everything. The batteries for the HT are in charge mode and will also be breaking out the transistor radio. I have a feeling the winds could take out power for sometime.

I was planning on spending the weekend at the Jersey Shore, looks like just staying home and taking cover.

NJ Gov. Christie just declared a state of emergency to mobilize National Guard.
Below is a storm tracker link to check out:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2011/graphics/al09/loop_5W.shtml

QRP In The Heat

The game plan today is set up my Ten-Tec R40/20 QRP rig in the yard under the umbrella. The only problem is the heat and temperature racing to another 100 degree day.

From the National Weather Service,

Warning: EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING in effect until Saturday July 23, 8:00PM.

Yesterdays high in Newark, NJ at 3:00PM was a baking 108 degrees. So depending how I feel in the heat will determine if I give it a try.

Tomorrow is going to cool down to 90 degrees, wonderful.

Hazy, Hot, & Humid

The heading just about says it all for the next few days.

Per AccuWeather the high temperature for my location in New Jersey was a very sticky 102F. This is not a good day to stay outside for very long.

The forecast:

Friday 100 deg F (real feel will be 110)
Saturday 96 deg F
Sunday 93 deg F

I am still looking forward to setting up in the yard on Saturday to make a few contacts on the radio, in the shade of course.

Stay Cool!