Weather: Whether You are Wondering or Not!

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This past week I have been preparing for this blog to move from one platform type to another – from Blogspot.com to WordPress.com. This will all be in the background over the next few weeks so you will still see the blog the same old way. We are making some changes to our website and in the process have the opportunity to upgrade the blog to a more customer friendly (read that to say writer/reader friendly) format. This will be a great change for the website and the blog but change always brings about the unknown and the “getting used to it” period.

I am just in the beginning stages of this transition and in the process have been reviewing the blog in it’s early stages and chuckling at some of my early attempts to communicate the neighborhood feeling here at Stillwaters Estates. What I also noticed was how much weather plays a part of our daily lives and most of us probably don’t give that much thought. Week after week, these past three years, the blog has noted the weather – the good, the bad and the ugly as they say.

During all this time though we have been lucky to have avoided flood seasons similar to 2007 and 2009 where we had torrential rains and our neighbors in Centralia,

A Foggy Stillwater's View — A Foggy Stillwater’s View

Chehalis and the county were devastated by floods. Weather throughout these blog years has run the gamut and whether it was through pictures or words I can see that we have had a wide variety of weather documented for all time by the blog. So this brings me to the focus for the week – weather! I found this online under “Weather for Dummies Cheat Sheet” by John Wiley. Here are some common weather terms it is good to understand:

Pressure: The weight of the air overhead exerted in all directions on everything air touches. Horizontal differences in air pressure cause winds. Vertical differences in air pressure causes cloud formation and storm development.

Low Pressure System: An area of rising air usually marked by cloudiness, often referred to as a storm.

High Pressure System: An area where more air has been added overhead than in surrounding areas. That accounts for higher barometric pressure. Typically, the air enters at high altitudes, sinks, and exits at ground level. The sinking motion causes warming and drying, leaving the clear sky often found in high pressure areas.

Here is a little tidbit from the National Weather Service about the months to come:

The latest regional winter weather outlook from the National weather services climate prediction center is based upon what the central and eastern tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures are doing.

Right now they are close to average… meaning no La Nina or El Nino but rather neutral conditions are anticipated for this winter. Between El Nino… La Nina and neutral conditions… historically neutral Winters are number one for those atmospheric rivers – Aka – pineapple expresses with a lot of rain… flooding and landslides. Neutral Winters rank number two in frequency for strong damaging wind storms and lowland snow events.

Neutral Winters usually offer active winter weather. Last winter was also a neutral winter and it was rather tranquil – we dodged a bullet. It is not likely we would do that again this winter. So now is the time to get ready.

Quote of the week:

Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself unreservedly to it. – James Allen

Happenings this week:

Thursday, September 26^th: It’s Potluck night at Stillwaters Estates! Bring your favorite dish to share and a dish (plate) to eat off of! Potluck starts promptly at 6:00 p.m. All Stillwaters residents are welcome!

Friday, September 27^th: The Two Town Tuners Barbershop Chorus will present a musical tribute called The Dollar Show. The show will be at the Lewis and Clark Hotel in Centralia starting at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, September 28^th and 29^th: ARTrails of Southwest Washington 11th annual Studio Tour, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Check out the artists who will be here at The Gathering Place.

Tuesday, October 8^th: The AAA Driver Improvement Program is accepting reservations for a refresher course on defensive driving skills. The course gives practical guidance for traffic accident prevention and enhances

driver safety and confidence. Successful course completion qualifies drivers 55 years of age and over for automobile insurance premium discounts. Some companies give the discount starting at age 50. The class will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Woodland Estates Retirement Center, 2100 SW Woodland Circle, Chehalis. Cost is $16 per person. Preregistration is required. For enrollment information, call (800) 462-3728.

Weather: Cloudy and rainy with a few patches of sunshine for the next week. Everyone is hoping for a nice September but we will soon run out of September so it is possible that Fall has struck! Enjoy your week!