cheap thrills

Something like a polar front is dropping in this evening!

The grey dashed lines show ground-level winds. From Chehalis south showers are coming in WNW, but around Seattle it's NNE! The cold front arrived last night, so a basic reinforcement of cool air is on its way. Fun to watch the showers change direction like this.. well if you're like me it is. And we're over 5" of rainfall after 7½ days of February!

a classic cold front

February arrived with another 9/10" of rain, via the classic cold front!

Top lines are temperature/dewpoint. Just over 50° until just after 8AM, then a quick drop to mid-40s. The two lines have begun to diverge, showing some drying to the air-mass - until now we've been in the clouds!

Second line shows calm air before 8AM becoming gusty in a hurry. All winds are under 10mph but are from NW and some NE breezes, as shown by the point-plot in third place. The south wind has a hard time reaching the gage due to the large hill just to our south..

Last and not least is the barometric pressure. The pressure began to rise just before 8AM, pretty much in line with the other charts. Wind shift to more northerly + pressure rise + temperature drop = welcome to the new, cooler air-mass!

Yes, folks east of the Rockies and elsewhere will chuckle at our wimpy temperature drop and winds. When your source pool changes from the mid-latitude ocean to the polar ocean, changes are still based on maritime air. The midwest can pull from the Gulf of Mexico or the Yukon, and that can make for a massive drop! Nonetheless, for folks 'round here the shift shown here is as wild as we can really manage.

am I a sports 'fan'?

I really like sports. In several I like most to participate, but to some degree I enjoy many others as well. I'd much rather play golf than watch it, but to ignore it completely when I cannot play is difficult. I really like badminton and volleyball, yet I don't keep up with others who do those things. I visit sports sites frequently and read about soccer/football, US football, Aussie Rules football, and some baseball. I haven't managed to understand cricket yet, much less follow it - but I think about it now and then; maybe some day?

And yet - a fan? A sports fanatic? That's not me.

I enjoy the Trail Blazers as our local team and want them to do well; however basketball is just above badminton as a sport to watch. The Timbers are interesting yet I haven't seen one of their matches in decades, certainly not the MLS team (NASL? Yes!). College sports generally and football/basketball in particular do nothing for me; I may listen to a bowl/playoff game if a local team is playing, but probably not.

But now and then I should talk about sports when they merit it. Today is one of those days!

This past week has been almost unprecedented in Damien Lillard's excellent career. It coincided with the shock of Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash that took all aboard to a better place - and after postponing a game to compose themselves the Lakers played the Trail Blazers. This season Portland has been uneven with a mess of injuries but had added several good pieces, which (to the surprise of many) included Carmelo Anthony.

ESPN - the first Lakers game after Kobe's death:  In his past five games, Lillard is averaging 48.4 points, 9.8 assists and 8.2 rebounds.

ESPN - eleven things I like #7: Lillard is a bad, bad man. I would have included his stats from Portland's past six games, but my laptop caught fire when I looked them up.
Lillard has some Kobe in him, doesn't he?

OK that's all I have for now in the 'sports' column. Thanks for listening!