enough already.

I've been through the wringer with the prospective α7 kit. I ordered an α7ii and Minolta lenses, and then picked up an ea3 and ea4 adapter to find what works best for me. 

The answer, sadly, is now None of the Above. 

My brief dabble with an α7Rii seemed to focus with the ea4.. but it had to go to pay medical bills. Now I find the α7ii +ea4 won't focus the Minolta lenses; it just racks from end to end and randomly allows me to take an image, but only one focused to infinity. So whether it's a bad setting on the 7ii or a malfunction in the ea4 adapter, I now have no autofocus capabilities. Yes it's a fun camera with the Pentax primes, but the eM1 now has two excellent AF zooms (Lumices 12-60 +100-300) and a dual PD+CD focus system as good as the 7ii can match.

As to those Pentax lenses.. well I still have the K-s2 body with its unhappy solenoid. While no match for the Sony 36x24 image possibilities, it's a fine little camera - and will be more so once the solenoid is replaced. It can autofocus the 17-28 fisheye and Σs 28-105 +70-300, even when exposure is in M mode with the solenoid issue. And once that foul part is swapped out, the tiny 18-50 and 70 Limited will be play with full automation!

And then we have the happy µ43 kit: the eM1 and two zooms do everything quite well and play cheerfully with the Pentax primes. I even have the .71x PK speed-booster to create more lens options!* 

I believe it's time to cut the energy I'm wasting on Sony and A-mount.

*e.g. the DA70 f/2.4 Ltd is also a 50mm f/1.6

anything is possible..

but weather models can crank out some curious results at times.

We're on the cusp of another 3" snowfall beginning in six hours.. and again the NWS is shading things toward the warmer, less-drastic end of things. Last week when the forecast expected 1-2" NE Portland got over ten inches - that's not in the cards overnight (don't ask about Sunday night!), but odd things are happening. The Winter Storm watch has been dropped here, now maybe 1-2 inches will land at 750 feet. But how's that done?

According to the output at left, for 4-6 hours just after midnight (with temps 31° and dewpoint around 30°) the snow turns to .36" of rain. Not sleet or fz-rain, just rain. That 0.36" would be about three inches of snow if it magically remained frozen - like it shows at 11PM and 6AM. Curious, captain.

If this isn't breaking a law of thermodynamics, it's at least bent or twisted a bit.

Then comes Sunday night, where a low center could stay due west or make land further south. Last week it stalled completely just south of Astoria and spun up moisture that pounded Portland/Vancouver while leaving us the 3" that remains today. While speaking in ominous tones the model output is 1½". 

And the next few days we're in and out of the snow zone, with white mornings and damp sunsets. That'll teach people not to live in our elevation band - though I've never seen a forecast look like that for multiple days around here.

Time will definitely tell.. whatever the models say.

Yet another white February

Februarys on average have been the snowiest month at our 760' home over the past eight years. This month has lived up to its reputation - though it took its time. 

Last week brought about 3 inches of snow to our hill-top, which kept itself chilled on the driveway. I finally shoveled it off after two days of waiting (upsetting my piriformis muscle, oops!) and it melted off swiftly, allowing for a shopping trip.

Yesterday we had another 3" storm. A small bit of low pressure visited the north Oregon coast all day, spinning 10" into NWS Portland and 6" or more to Vancouver. No shopping today!

And now the trifecta: 2-5" is forecast for late Sat through Sunday?!? After that comes a few days of overnight snow and afternoon rain.

Hm. Saturday will be a popular shopping day..

subnormal

 

We're living in dry times around here. How dry?

Not drastically dry - just under 75% for the four-month period. But when you look at the bigger picture, it's been unusually dry! 

In the eight years we've lived up here, we have never seen all four of these months below average in a year. We've had drier Novembers, but Oct Dec and Jan had not been this dry before. More than that, these four months are wet ones: 54.1% of our annual average should now be in the bucket. Each of these months has averaged more than 100% of the PRISM statistical average for this site from the 2016-22 water years. October and February had never seen a sub-100% month.. until Oct 22. 

We shall see what Feb '23 brings us. We've definitely had a few damp months in the springtime too, so our annual number is still in reach. 

If we reach normal though, it won't be in a normal manner. But rarely is 'normal' done that way.