Thursday Morning Ramblings

Wow...some very interesting material already on the blog this morning. Be sure and scroll down to see:

* Some pix from Western North Carolina, around Asheville, where the James Spann family is on vacation this week for some well deserved R+R. The pix are great, but, clearly, my favorite is the second one in the sequence.

* Drew McCombs installment no. 12 of his recent Great Plains tornado chase.

* Bill Murray has another in his series about Hurricane Audrey

* Be sure and read a post in the comment section of the Audrey story from a gentleman named Tim. It is a first person account from New Orleans and very interesting.

Now back to my rambles:

ANOTHER COOL ALABAMA MORNING
Out in the cool just before sunrise, I could not help wishing I was driving up the beautiful Paint Rock Valley which runs along the Paint Rock RiveR in Extreme North Alabama...or driving up the switchbacks to Mt. Cheaha State Park headed for the breakfast buffet. Here we go with some more delightful low temperatures in Alabama this morning:

54 at Cullman Airport (Vinemont)
56 in Desoto State Park
57 in Pinson
58 in Crossville
59 in Decatur, Fort payne, Anniston
60 in Muscle Shoals, Tuscaloosa
61 at Huntsville, Troy, Concord-Hueytown
62 at Birmingham Airport and Shelby County Airport (NWS)
63 in Montgomery
64 in Evergreen
67 in Selma
69 in Mobile

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
A chilly 43 this morning atop Mt. Leconte. This would mean a light coat for most folks but not for me. It was 57 at the park headquarters in Gatlinburg.

JUMPING AHEAD TO INDEPENDENCE DAY
Highs across Central Alabama in the 90-94 range with widely scattered afternoon thunderstorms. This means most communities should remain dry. Latest models show moisture spreading into South Alabama from the SE and ESE. Therefore, the better chance of rain will be over about the south-third of the state.

THE NORTHEAST CRITICAL FLOODING
We could almost write a book about that but we will mention just one stat that shows how critical it is. In Pennsylvania, a state ofemergency has been declared in 46 of their 67 counties.

WILD FIRES
Great to hear that the Oak Creek Canyon fire in Arizona is finally fully contained. It was --- years ago this month that we were spending our honeymoon in the lower part of Oak Creek Canyon south of Sedona.
Posted by   www
on June 29, 2006, 7:59 am
The low this morning at my place in Vinemont, close to the school, was 59.9. Isn't that great for the end of June in Bama?

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Posted by  
on June 29, 2006, 8:56 am
I was born and raised in Central PA. The flooding that is happening there is of near historic perportions. I remember as a child the locals talking about Hurricane Agnes, which caused such devestation in that area. The town we came from is along the Susquehana river. Yesterday, the river was at 19.8 ft. Flood stage is 20 ft. It was supposed to crest at 33 ft this morning. I haven't heard any new news since last night. I know that most of the water treatment plants in Danville, Bloomsburg, and Wilkes Barre are down. The water workers can't even get to the treatment plants to turn off the electricity. There is no water, no electricity, and won't be for quite awhile.

These city's are prepared. I remember walking along the water walls as a child. And it is so amazing to know that the river may crest over some of them. Because, you see in most of that area, the dikes and water walls, are not along the river's edge. When you walked on top of the walls and dikes, you couldn't even see or hear the mighty river. The river could be 1/4 mile away!

I know that most of the towns affected are very small towns. But the devestation there is going to cost billions to rebuild. And alot of these towns are older and have historical value. The town of Brandywine, that is now flooded, was home to a great Revolutionary Battle. The town of Danville celebrated their two hundred years of history. It is very sad. I think more attention would be given to this situation if instead of these small towns, they were large cities. Isn't that sad.

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Posted by  
on June 29, 2006, 11:27 am
Low: 56.1° at Black Creek

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