Building Blocks of Life Created on Earth from Lifelessness. A setback for Darwin? Dillinger’s 1st Failed Robbery June 24, 2009

The "Lost City"

Is This “proof” that Charles Darwin was wrong or is it just an anomyly?

I was sitting in the doctor’s office and actually found something besides Highlights or 6 month old copies of McCalls or Sports Illustrated. Doctors are notorious for providing extremely old periodicals to read. Anyway, I stumbled upon an article in Science News that talks about how organic material is apparently being created out of inorganic matter. Hydrocarbons, it is hypothesized, are being created out of inorganic chemical reactions in thermal vents in an area called the Lost City.

This Guy Might Be 30,000 yrs old

Thermal vents typically create chimneys of minerals that rise to as high as 20 meters before the collapse. What caught these guys’ eye was the vents that were up to 60 meters and it turned out that they were made up of hydrocarbons. It’s a very interesting article and is an example of how, in the 21st century, we think we are so smart and know everything, when in fact, we know very little. We also tend to find that what we think we knew, we actually didn’t know at all. I could go on about the absolutes that get thrown about on your daily tv weathercast, Global Warming and news reports about medicine, but I won’t. Nevertheless, I will say that one of the American exports of modern science is a lack of humility and lack of recognizing the limitations of man.

I’ve always reasoned that the Charles Darwin theory of Evolution was quite palatable and I can fit it in easily into my own Faith regarding the creation of the earth. But, this little article makes me wonder. I mean, if the hypothesis is correct, then this is evidence of life being created from nothing. I suppose one might say that its evolution in that the volcanic activity is the catalyst that evolves the non-life into life,

Is the Debate Really Over or is This an Attempt to End Debate?

but I don’t think that fits. It’s also just organic matter being created, not a mammal or reptile or anything. Yet, when you look at the Scientific American article that supports Darwin, I don’t think that there is a place for this discovery. They may need to make an update. Then again, if you look at the definition of evolution from Gene Zimmer’s article supporting creationism, you find that this creation of life from lifelessness does fit into the evolutionary model. Whether or not this discovery fits either worldview is immaterial to the fact that it is cool and quite interesting.

On This Date in History: There is a new movie coming out about John Dillinger which stars Johnny Depp. It will be interesting to see if they have scenes regarding a botched robbery attempt on this date in 1933 in Monticello, Indiana. Two aspects of this caper are of interest. One is that there doesn’t seem to be much information on the attempted hold up of a Marshall Fields in Monticello by Dillinger and William Shaw. I suppose its because it was a failed attempt and Americans only like to hear about wins, not losses. Perhaps the movie will shed some light. Then again, movies rarely get history correct so maybe it will invent something based on loose facts.

Anyway, the other interesting thing about Dillinger is that, even though he was Public Enemy Number 1, his career as a criminal didn’t really last all that long. He was put in jail in 1924 following the beating of Mooresville, IN grocer Frank Morgan by Dillinger and his good friend Edgar Singleton. They had been out boozing it up and jumped the guy. Dillinger got caught when, a few days after the assault on September 6, 1924, Dillinger brought attention to himself by inquiring as to the well being of Mr. Morgan. As it turns out, Morgan couldn’t identify his attackers, but Dillinger was tricked into confessing.

McNutt Thought Dillinger Capable of all Sorts of Things after long prison sentence

Meanwhile, his buddy Ed pled not guilty. Ed was out of jail after a couple of years while Dillinger got 10-20 years for assault and 2-14 years for conspiracy to commit a felony. Some scholars think that the difference in sentences is what pissed off Dillinger and led him on a life of crime. Indiana Governor Paul McNutt thought that the sentence was so harsh that it might cause Dillinger to do anything once he was out of jail. The victim, Morgan, and even the sentencing judge thought the sentence was pretty tough and by 1933, the pair was joined by 182 townfolk lobbying to let Dillinger loose. On May 22, 1933 John Dillinger was set free.

That’s the odd part. He was set free on May 22 1933 and was dead by July 22, 1934. So his crime spree only lasted for a little more than a year. His first robbery was probably in Carlisle, IN on June 10, 1933. It was on June 24, 1933 that he and Shaw tried to rob the Marshall Fields in Monticello, IN. The fact it failed was probably more associated with his lack of experience than anything else, but I don’t know for sure. Even Monticello doesn’t want to talk about it. I suppose we could say that his first robbery was on June 10 and his first fialed robbery was on June 24. Anyway, Dillinger went on to amass some $359, 322 in loot taken before he was gunned down in Chicago on July 22, 1934…or was he…read about the conspiracy theory here.

Storms Thursday?

Weather Bottom Line: The big fat ridge that was anchored over the Southeast is progressing across the southern tier of states to the west. We were under the influence on Tuesday, hence, no rain. Same will be true today. However, as the ridge continues to edge westward, it will set itself up over West Texas which will put the Ohio Valley on the periphery. This will allow little disturbances around the edge to rotate through the region from the upper plains. It’s pretty tough to pick one out and say with any certainty when it will get wherever its going and at what stregnth. But, all of the data shows a shortwave moving through here late in the day on Thursday. On the one hand, it appears that the wave will be winding down somewhat. On the other hand, its coming through in the heat of the day. So, the boys at the SPC have put the Ohio Valley in a slight risk of severe thunderstorms for Thursday morning until Friday morning. Otherwise, it remains hot and somewhat humid. Humidity isn’t too bad though. Snow White and I went sculling yesterday evening and it was great.

DAY 2 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1247 AM CDT WED JUN 24 2009

VALID 251200Z – 261200Z

…THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS THU FROM PARTS OF THE MID
MS/OHIO VALLEYS THRU THE LWR GREAT LAKES…

…SYNOPSIS…
IN A BROAD SENSE…LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE FAIRLY SIMILAR WITH REGARD
TO THE UPPER FLOW EVOLUTION THROUGH THIS FORECAST PERIOD. WITHIN
THE PRIMARY BELT OF WESTERLIES NEAR THE CANADIAN/U.S. BORDER…A
COUPLE OF SIGNIFICANT TROUGHS AND EMBEDDED SMALLER SCALE IMPULSES
LIKELY WILL REMAIN PROGRESSIVE. IT APPEARS THAT ONE WILL DIG ACROSS
THE GREAT LAKES/OHIO VALLEY REGION INTO THE NORTHEASTERN
U.S…FINALLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE NORTHEASTWARD ACCELERATION OF
REMNANT CLOSED LOW AWAY FROM THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD…THOUGH A
TRAILING SHEAR AXIS TO ANOTHER CIRCULATION NEAR THE FLORIDA GULF
COAST MAY LINGER. MEANWHILE…AN UPSTREAM TROUGH IS PROGGED TO
SHIFT EAST OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES INTO THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES. AND
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUGGEST THAT THIS FEATURE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO
NORTHEASTWARD/INLAND ACCELERATION OF THE CLOSED LOW/TROUGH NOW WEST
OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. SUBSTANTIAL DISCREPANCIES REMAIN
AMONG MODELS CONCERNING THE MANNER AND SPEED AT WHICH THIS
OCCURS…WHILE CONSIDERABLE SPREAD PERSISTS AMONG NCEP SREF/MREF
MEMBERS CONCERNING THIS FEATURE AND OTHER SHORT WAVE DEVELOPMENTS
WITHIN THE EVOLVING PATTERN…WHICH WILL BE OF IMPACT TO THE
CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK.

…MID MS/OHIO VALLEYS THROUGH THE LOWER GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST…
DESPITE THE UNCERTAINTIES…A REMNANT PLUME OF MODESTLY STEEP
MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES ADVECTING EASTWARD ALONG THE SOUTHERN FRINGE
OF THE STRONGER WESTERLIES SEEMS LIKELY TO CONTRIBUTE TO MODERATE TO
STRONG POTENTIAL INSTABILITY THURSDAY…AHEAD OF THE DIGGING UPPER
TROUGH APPROACHING THE REGION. WITH HEATING OF A MOIST BOUNDARY
LAYER CHARACTERIZED BY SURFACE DEW POINTS IN THE UPPER 60S/LOWER
70S…GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT MIXED LAYER CAPE WILL REACH 1500-3000
J/KG. GIVEN RELATIVELY WEAK INHIBITION…THIS
DESTABILIZATION…COUPLED WITH FAVORABLE MID/UPPER FORCING…IS
EXPECTED TO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. ALTHOUGH
FLOW FIELDS…PARTICULARLY IN LOWER/MID LEVELS…SHOULD REMAIN
FAIRLY WEAK…THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR
DOWNBURSTS AND THE EVOLUTION OF CONVECTIVELY GENERATED COLD POOLS IN
LOOSELY ORGANIZED EASTWARD/SOUTHEASTWARD ADVANCING CONVECTIVE
BANDS/CLUSTERS. THESE MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY POTENTIALLY DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS…BEFORE
BOUNDARY LAYER INSTABILITY WANES LATE THURSDAY EVENING.

…GREAT BASIN…
UNCERTAINTIES REMAIN TOO LARGE TO CONFIDENTLY DELINEATE SLIGHT RISK
PROBABILITIES. BUT…STRENGTHENING SOUTHWESTERLY MID/UPPER FLOW /UP
TO 40-50 KT AT 500 MB/ APPEARS A POSSIBILITY THURSDAY ACROSS PARTS
OF CENTRAL/EASTERN NEVADA…PERHAPS INTO WESTERN UTAH. ASSOCIATED
MOMENTUM AND INCREASING DEEP LAYER SHEAR… COUPLED WITH LARGE-SCALE
FORCING DOWNSTREAM OF APPROACHING IMPULSE…COULD CONTRIBUTE TO
ORGANIZED CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT AS DESTABILIZATION OCCURS WITH
DAYTIME HEATING. SOME HAIL COULD ACCOMPANY STRONG STORMS…BUT
STRONG WIND GUSTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT…AIDED BY
LARGE LINGERING SUB-CLOUD TEMPERATURE/DEW POINTS SPREADS.

..KERR.. 06/24/2009

This Naked Horse Rider Was Madonna Before Madonna June 3, 2009

Here is Adah Isaacs Menken.  You may choose to envision which photo that suits your fancy when you consider This Date In History: On June 3, 1861 an old melodrama was taking place on stage in New York.  Mazeppa was written in 1830 by Henry M. Milner as an adaptation of a Lord Byron poem.  The play had gotten some notoriety when a live horse was used in a scene.  But when the Green Street Theatre in Albany, New York cast the “buxom” Menken, they lashed her to the horse wearing a skin toned body stocking.  The play opened to rave reviews and it soon went on the road.  One account says the popularity comes about because of Ms. Menken’s “curvaceous calves.”   hmmm….I look at the  photos below and curvaceous is not what comes to mind.  Anyway, she had her fans including Mark Twain and Brigham Young, who expressed shock but not enough that he didn’t sit through the whole show.

Ms. Menken had a lot of suitors.  She had married a chap named Menken and converted to Judaism.  Even though that marriage didn’t last, she maintained her Jewish Faith for the rest of her life.  She was a bit unconventional for her time as she was married to 4 men in 7 years.  She also had a number of “friends” of note including Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas the younger.  Word of affairs roamed the rumor mill.But, alas, her life was short as she collapsed on stage in Paris and died shortly thereafter of tuberculosis under the care of the personal physician of Napoleon III.  She was only 33. 

Today, we have many mercurial celebrities some talented and some not so talented.  Many of these fast burning celebrity comets have their notoriety based on scandal and controversy rather than a firm body of work.  If you look all over TMZ.com you can find them on a daily basis.  We often are quick to assume that this is a sign of the apocolypse or the decline in America….when in fact…it’s nothing new.  Even in Victorian America and Europe, a starlet like Adah Menken burned just as brightly as today’s pseudo-stars that make one question why they are famous.    The only difference is that the media outlets are everywhere.  Perhaps it is worthy of note that, just as Ms. Menken faded quickly from the history pages (except here!), it is probable that today’s celebrities will be tomorrow’s forgotten stories, left to the annals of obscurity such as this.

SPC Slight Risk For Severe Storms-Winds/Hail Biggest Risk

 

Severe Wind Probability

Weather Bottom Line:  Tuesday night lightning was cool. Snow White and I went for a walk and I told her it wouldn’t but she was concerned nonetheless.  I was a bit worried but noted that the lightning had no thunder so I knew it was a ways away.  But it was still cool and we still didn’t get rain.  The forecast is a bit trickey over the next 48 hours.  We have a frontal boundary slowly sagging our way.  It will be approaching on Wednesday morning.  The GFS wants to start the rain in the morning and keep it all day.  The NAM only has the rain from 10am through 6pm and then Wednesday night heavy rain.  None of the indicies are too wild but do indicate t’storms.  The rain chances will continue into the first part of Thursday as there will be a number of waves running along the front to bog it down but by late Thursday, it should be shoved far enough south to keep the rain out of our hair.  While there is a question of when the rain starts on Wednesday, I’m confident enough that Snow White and I are going to scull on Wednesday morning. (Edit 7:55 AM-Looks like the GFS was right…Snow White doesn’t like thunder and its not too smart to be in a scull on the river with lightning around. I’m in the dog house) 

Severe Hail Probability

Now, there is some pretty cool air behind this front so on Thursday, the combination of clouds and cooler air will probably keep some folks in the upper 60′s with others in the low 70′s.  Friday we only get to the mid to upper 70′s and then we have a steady warm up back to near 90 by early next week.  Kinda interesting…the GFS is showing extreme instability on Monday.  If we were to get some sort of kicker then things would just go crazy…but, at this point, it just looks hot.

The SPC expanded the slight risk for severe thunderstorms farther west. We had been barely in the region and now we’re more solidly in it.  With the little wave that passed by last night and the one in the morning, I would think that the risk would be mainly for the afternoon as morning temperatures are being held down.  However, with the risk of hail and the evidence of a few hail reports last night and the frequent lightning, that tells me its pretty cold aloft with these waves.   So morning hail is not out of the question.  The bet remains that the heavy rain will come tonight but….that is the machines trying to time the front sagging in conjunction with waves that will run along the front.  I think certainly that heavy rain is possible during the daytime in southern Indiana and, should the front sag farther south during the day than progged by the models, then south of the river would get it.  Again, thats not the idea but its a close shave.

DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK 
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   0100 AM CDT WED JUN 03 2009
  
   VALID 031200Z – 041200Z
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS FROM PARTS OF THE OH/TN VALLEYS
   TO THE MID ATLANTIC STATES…
   
 

Tornado Probability

  …SYNOPSIS…
   BROAD TROUGH /ANCHORED BY VORTEX OVER NRN QUEBEC/ WILL BE MAINTAINED
   OVER CNTRL/ERN CANADA INTO THE GREAT LAKES AND NEW ENGLAND…WITH
   SOME AMPLIFICATION INTO THE OH VALLEY.  SEVERAL VORTICITY MAXIMA
   WILL ROTATE THROUGH THE LARGE-SCALE TROUGH…WITH MODELS AGREEING
   THAT STRONGEST IMPULSE/SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL DIG SWD INTO THROUGH
   CENTRAL CANADA.  FARTHER S…VORTICITY MAXIMUM/WEAK MID LEVEL LOW
   EMBEDDED WITHIN WEAKER FLOW REGIME OVER THE SRN PLAINS WILL DRIFT
   SLOWLY ESEWD TOWARD THE LOWER MS/TN VALLEYS.  IN THE WEST…
   DEEP-LAYER LOW WILL BE MAINTAINED OFF THE CA COAST WITH SEVERAL
   IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND THIS FEATURE ACROSS CA/NV INTO THE PACIFIC
   NW.
  
   AT THE SURFACE…A FRONTAL ZONE WILL SETTLE SWD THROUGH THE
   DELMARVA/MID ATLANTIC STATES AND ALSO FROM THE OH INTO TN VALLEYS.
   THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO LINK WITH A SECONDARY LOW PRESSURE AREA
   DEVELOPING SEWD INTO THE LOWER MS VALLEY.  THE WRN EXTENSION OF THIS
   FRONT WILL CONCURRENTLY SHIFT SWD THROUGH TX.
  
   …OH/TN VALLEYS TO MID ATLANTIC STATES…
   ANOTHER ACTIVE DAY FOR STRONG TO SEVERE TSTMS IS EXPECTED ALONG AND
   S OF THE SWD MOVING FRONTAL ZONE ACROSS THIS REGION.  DESPITE
   GENERALLY WEAK MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES…LOW LEVEL MOISTURE /SURFACE
   DEWPOINTS IN THE 60S/ COMBINED WITH STRONG SURFACE HEATING WITHIN
   THE WARM SECTOR WILL RESULT IN MODERATE INSTABILITY.  TSTMS SHOULD
   DEVELOP BY LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON AT THE LATEST…GIVEN A
   WEAKLY CAPPED AIR MASS.  WLY MID-UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO
   STRENGTHEN SOME ACROSS THE OH VALLEY TO SRN NEW ENGLAND AS LARGE
   UPPER TROUGH SHIFTS SWD.  THIS WILL SUPPORT 30-40 KT OF EFFECTIVE
   BULK SHEAR DEVELOPING SWD ACROSS THE SLIGHT RISK AREA CONCURRENTLY
   WITH THE SWD MOVING SURFACE FRONT.  DEEP LAYER UNIDIRECTIONAL WINDS
   ARE EXPECTED TO RESULT IN MAINLY STRONG TO SEVERE LINE SEGMENTS WITH
   STRONG WIND GUSTS BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT.  HOWEVER…A FEW
   SUPERCELLS WILL BE POSSIBLE GIVEN EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR UP TO 40 KT
   WITH AN ATTENDANT THREAT FOR HAIL…AND POSSIBLY AN ISOLATED TORNADO
   THREAT.  OVERALL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH BY MID-LATE
   EVENING AS THE AIR MASS UNDERGOES STABILIZATION WITH THE LOSS OF
   DAYTIME HEATING.
  
   …ERN TX TO LOWER MS/TN VALLEYS…
   WEAK MID LEVEL LOW/VORT MAX…CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER SRN KS…AND
   MCV NOW LOCATED OVER CENTRAL TX WITHIN ONGOING LARGE MCS…WILL BOTH
   TRANSLATE SLOWLY ESEWD TOWARD THE LOWER MS/TN VALLEYS THIS FORECAST
   PERIOD.  FORCING FOR ASCENT AHEAD OF THESE MID LEVEL FEATURES
   COMBINED WITH THE SURFACE FRONT AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM TUESDAY
   CONVECTION MOVING SEWD ACROSS THIS REGION WILL LIKELY SUPPORT
   NUMEROUS TSTMS WITHIN MOIST/MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS.  DESPITE
   THE LIKELIHOOD FOR CONVECTION…GENERALLY WEAK DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS
   EXPECTED TO LIMIT THE OVERALL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT…WITH ISOLATED
   HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS.  TSTMS
   AND ANY ATTENDANT ISOLATED SEVERE THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH WEDNESDAY
   EVENING AS THE AIR MASS STABILIZES WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING.
  
   …CENTRAL AND SRN HIGH PLAINS…
   WNWLY MID LEVEL WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN TO AROUND 40 KT
   ACROSS ERN WY/NERN CO INTO NEB THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS WILL OCCUR AS
   THE HEIGHT GRADIENT TIGHTENS SOME ALONG NRN PERIPHERY OF RIDGE
   BUILDING INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES AND WITH CONCURRENT WEAK HEIGHT
   FALLS/WEAK IMPULSE TRACKING SEWD FROM THE NRN HIGH PLAINS.  TSTMS
   ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN FROM SERN WY INTO CO
   WITHIN UPSLOPE FLOW REGIME.  ALTHOUGH EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR WILL BE
   SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED STORMS…WEAK INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO
   LIMIT THE OVERALL COVERAGE OF SEVERE WEATHER.  FARTHER S…
   INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO BE GREATER FROM SERN NM INTO SW TX WITH
   EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR INCREASING BY EARLY EVENING.  HOWEVER… MODELS
   DIFFER WITH THE AMOUNT OF TSTMS THAT WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SRN HIGH
   PLAINS.  THUS…THIS OUTLOOK WILL MAINTAIN A LOW PROBABILITY FOR
   SEVERE HAIL/WIND GUSTS GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTY IN STORM
   COVERAGE…DESPITE THE STRONGER INSTABILITY.
  
   …PACIFIC NW TO NRN INTERMOUNTAIN REGION…
   LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUGGEST THAT A FAIRLY STRONG
   VORTICITY MAXIMUM WILL LIFT NWD THROUGH CA/NV EVENTUALLY INTO ORE BY
   LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD.  THE AIR MASS IS NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME
   PARTICULARLY UNSTABLE…BUT STEEP LAPSE RATES AND THE PRESENCE OF
   RELATIVELY COOL MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES INDICATE SOME HAIL THREAT
   WITH THE STRONGER STORMS.  ISOLATED STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL AGAIN BE
   POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NRN GREAT BASIN INTO SRN ID WHERE INVERTED-V
   THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES WILL ENHANCE THE WIND GUST POTENTIAL WITH THE
   STRONGER STORMS.
  
   …CENTRAL/ERN GULF COAST STATES…
   WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATED A MID LEVEL CIRCULATION OVER THE WEST
   CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO.  NUMEROUS TSTMS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
   SYSTEM…MAINLY OVER THE GULF WATERS INTO SRN LA ON TUESDAY.  A
   SIMILAR INCREASE IN TSTM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE NRN
   GULF INTO THE ADJACENT COASTAL AREAS OF THE CENTRAL/ERN GULF COAST
   REGION AS THE MID LEVEL CIRCULATION MOVES TOWARD THE MS DELTA.
  
   ..PETERS/HURLBUT.. 06/03/2009

Congress Does Something Right April 10, 2009

Russian Version of Treaty

On This Date In History:  On this date in 1867, Secretary of State William Seward basked while his detractors fumed.  The day before,  Congress showed a nose for looking to the future instead of votes for the day as it approved what was known as “Seward’s Folly”.  That’s what they called his negotiated purchase of the Alaskan Terrirtory from Russia for $7 million.  That was less than half of what Thomas Jefferson paid for Louisiana.   Alaska became the 49th state in the 1950′s and has been proved to be anything but a folly.  It has provided billions of barrels of oil and billions of cubic feet of natural gas.  It is a strategic location for national defense, has great commercial fishing and has a vast frontier like wilderness.

Palin Was A Bonus Baby For Seward's Folly

The only folly was the pinhead shortsightedness of the members of Congress who opposed  the purchase.  So…when you get upset at elected officials who seemed more concerned about the next election rather than the future of the nation…when its easier to just go along with public sentament than to struggle to educate the electorate to support what is in the long term best interests of the country, our children and grandchildren…don’t feel too bad…Congress has been that way for a long time and we’ve managed to survive.  Though this time, they seemed to have spent way more than $7 million….more like $7 Trillion and who knows where that will leave our children and grandchildren…or even us in a few years.  But let us not cast stones…let us celebrate that on this date in 1867, Congress actually had something to celebrate, whether they knew it or not.  And look at it this way…if it weren’t for Alaska, we wouldn’t have Sarah Palin!

Skyline Club: Unlucky For Williams and Horton

But, the man who inexplicably adorns the top of this section did not.  See, it’s Johnny Horton who was a rising rockabilly star in the 1950′s.  He was influenced by Elvis and Hank Williams.  Horton’s connection to Alaska is that he had a hit song called North to Alaska.  Who can forget it?  His connection to Hank Williams was even more interesting or even eerie.   See, Williams had been married to the former Billie Jean Jones.  Williams was killed in a car accident at the age of 29 after performing in Austin, Texas at the Skyline Club.  A few months later, Billie Jean married Johnny Horton.  For the second time, Billie Jean became a widow as Johnny was killed at the age of 31 at the hands of a drunk driver after performing in Austin, Texas at the Skyline Club. 

Fri 8am to Sat 8am

Weather Bottom Line:  Forecast still looks on track.  Perhaps some early morning showers or maybe a t’storm or two as a warm front

SPC Outlook Monday

lifts through on Friday morning.  Then the cold front comes in Friday afternoon which will provide our best chance for strong storms.  Guess here is that we’d be looking at high winds and possibly hail, though maybe a small chance for an isolated tornado.  I’m thinking the the best twister chance will be to our south or southeast.  Still worth watching.  Cooler air slips in for the weekend but not terribly cold.  Easter Sunday looks good…high perhaps in the low 60′s.  Then on Monday another system comes through and I had thought previously that the main short would generate some action.  Then the last couple of model runs did not show any evidence of that.  I had speculated that it was worth seeing what really happened and now the SPC is putting us in the suspect area as there may be enough time to reload sufficiently to support some action as the short is really very strong and probably doesn’t need as much extra stuff.  Still, probably won’t be too major but since the situation is in flux, it’s wise to keep an eye out.    Generally seasonal temperatures it would appear for much of the week ahead if not a tad cooler for a day or so.

 DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK 
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   0746 AM CDT FRI APR 10 2009
  
   VALID 101300Z – 111200Z
  
   …THERE IS A MDT RISK OF SVR TSTMS OVER PARTS OF THE TN VLY/GULF
   CST STATES/SRN APPALACHIANS…
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS SURROUNDING THE MDT RISK AREA
   FROM MS AND THE LWR OH VLYS TO THE S ATLANTIC CST…
  
   …SYNOPSIS…
   AMPLIFIED BUT PROGRESSIVE PATTERN WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE LWR 48
   THIS PERIOD.  MAIN FEATURE OF NOTE…POTENT UPR LOW NOW OVER SRN MO
   …WILL CONTINUE E ACROSS SRN KY TODAY AND GRADUALLY DEVOLVE INTO AN
   OPEN WAVE.  THE SYSTEM SHOULD REACH SE VA BY 12Z SAT AS 80 KT MID
   LVL SPEED MAX NOW ON ITS SW PERIPHERY /OVER THE ARKLATEX/ MOVES OFF
   THE S ATLANTIC CST.
  
   AT LWR LEVELS…SFC LOW NOW OVER SE MO SHOULD TRACK E ACROSS KY
   TODAY/EARLY TONIGHT AS TRAILING COLD FRONT PROGRESSES STEADILY SE
   ACROSS THE TN/LWR MS VLYS.  AHEAD OF THE FRONT…SFC AND VWP DATA
   SUGGEST PRESENCE OF A PRE-FRONTAL LOW LVL CONFLUENCE AXIS…POSSIBLY
   RELATED TO SQLN OVER E TN/N GA…EXTENDING NE/SW FROM NRN AL INTO
   SRN MS.  FARTHER E…CURRENT OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT WARM FRONT
   OVER THE SRN APPALACHIANS/CAROLINAS WILL REMAIN DIFFUSE THROUGH MUCH
   OF THE PERIOD.  BUT SIGNIFICANT LOW LVL WARMING/MOISTENING SHOULD
   SPREAD NE ALONG THE CAROLINA PIEDMONT/CSTL PLN WITH TIME AS SFC LOW
   REACHES SRN VA EARLY SATURDAY.
    
   …TN VLY INTO CNTRL GULF STATES…SRN APLCNS/CAROLINAS/SRN VA…
   LATEST SFC OBSERVATIONS AND SATELLITE/GPS PW DATA SHOW FAIRLY
   SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE /WITH PW AOA 1 INCH/ IN PLACE FROM THE
   WRN/CNTRL GULF CST NE INTO THE TN VLY AND SRN KY.  A TONGUE OF DRIER
   AIR REMAINS PRESENT FROM FL NWD INTO THE WRN CAROLINAS…BUT A
   SECONDARY AREA OF ENHANCED MOISTURE LIES OFF THE NC CST.  MOISTURE
   SHOULD CONTINUE TO SPREAD NE ACROSS THE CNTRL/ERN GULF CST STATES
   AND GA TODAY AS 40+ KT SWLY LLJ PERSISTS IN WARM SECTOR OF
   PROGRESSIVE SFC LOW.  SFC DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW/MID 60S F SHOULD
   EXTEND FROM SRN LA INTO MUCH OF AL AND GA BY LATE TODAY. 
  
   COMBINATION OF INCREASING LOW LVL MOISTURE WITH COOL MID LVL
   TEMPERATURES AND ASCENT ON SRN FRINGE OF UPR LOW SHOULD SUPPORT
   INTENSE TSTM DEVELOPMENT LATER THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS AFTN
   IN WEAKLY CAPPED ENVIRONMENT ALONG/AHEAD OF COLD FRONT FROM WRN
   KY/TN SSW INTO MS.  OTHER INTENSE STORMS SHOULD FORM NEARLY
   SIMULTANEOUSLY…OR PERHAPS SLIGHTLY LATER…INVOF AFOREMENTIONED
   CONFLUENCE ZONE OVER ERN MS/AL/GA.
  
   ALONG THE COLD FRONT…STRONG…LARGELY UNIDIRECTIONAL DEEP FLOW
   EXPECTED TO SUPPORT BROKEN BANDS OF SUSTAINED STORMS/SUPERCELLS WITH
   HIGH WIND/LARGE HAIL AND ISOLD TORNADOES.  FARTHER ESE…
   WEAKLY CONFLUENT LOW LVL FLOW AND LONG…CLOCKWISE-TURNING
   HODOGRAPHS WITH 60-70 KT WLY MID LVL FLOW COULD FOSTER NUMEROUS
   DISCRETE OR SEMI-DISCRETE SUPERCELLS…ESPECIALLY IN AREAS WHERE
   HEATING BOOSTS SFC TEMPERATURES TO NEAR 80 F.  THESE STORMS COULD
   YIELD A FEW STRONG TORNADOES…IN ADDITION TO VERY LARGE HAIL AND
   HIGH WIND.  THIS THREAT APPEARS GREATEST FROM CNTRL/NRN AL INTO
   CNTRL/NRN GA…PERHAPS AS FAR E AS WARM FRONTAL SEGMENT INVOF THE
   SAVANNAH RVR VLY THIS EVE. 
  
   LARGE SCALE UVV AHEAD OF UPR VORT SHOULD STRENGTHEN E OF THE SRN
   APPALACHIANS AND THE REMAINDER OF THE CAROLINAS/SRN VA BY LATER
   TONIGHT.  BUT…WEAKER DESTABILIZATION…ASSOCIATED WITH A MORE
   LIMITED LOW-LVL MOISTURE RETURN AND ONSET OF DIURNAL COOLING…MAY
   MITIGATE SVR POTENTIAL.  A LIMITED SVR THREAT
   COULD…HOWEVER…LINGER THROUGH EARLY SAT…ESPECIALLY ALONG THE NC
   CST.
  
   ..CORFIDI/JEWELL.. 04/10/2009

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