Snow, snow and more snow! This woman is one of the people who take care of the grounds around the apartment building... Tom was able to get a photo of her hard at work.
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
the weather...
Snow, snow and more snow! This woman is one of the people who take care of the grounds around the apartment building... Tom was able to get a photo of her hard at work.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
a mighty wind is blowin'
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Tom just walked over to the window to see what the thermometer has to say... it is -14. The wind is blowing pretty hard and it feels even colder. Cyprus is looking really good right about now. We leave for the East West Conference on Sunday.
We hear the temps are in the 60's there!
Tom just walked over to the window to see what the thermometer has to say... it is -14. The wind is blowing pretty hard and it feels even colder. Cyprus is looking really good right about now. We leave for the East West Conference on Sunday.
We hear the temps are in the 60's there!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Russia weathers a disturbing warm winter
Russia weathers a disturbing warm winter
By MIKE ECKEL, Associated Press Writer
It was one of Russia's traditional days for taking a dip and swimmers were complaining — because it was too warm outside. Countless Russians every year mark the Orthodox Epiphany religious feast by plunging into water through holes in the ice and shivering vigorously in the frigid air. On Friday, the ice was either thin or absent and the air wasn't especially cold.
In a country known for brutally cold winters, a spell of unseasonably warm weather has unnerved many people and caused experts to worry about the effects of global warming.
While much of Siberia and the Russian Far East soldiers through the usual long and grindingly cold winter, people in the rest of the country have been lamenting abnormally high temperatures that have left many rivers free of ice, fields absent of snow and weather forecasters confused — but not without hope.
"I'm not ready to give up on winter just yet," said Gennady Yeltsev, deputy director of the Russian meteorological committee.
Last year, much of January was unusually cold, down to 22 below zero. This year, temperatures have generally stayed above freezing in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Believers marked Epiphany by dipping in lakes and rivers across the country, a practice they believe purifies the soul. Swimmers had to chip through the ice at Siberia's Lake Baikal, but bathers in St. Petersburg had temperatures reaching 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
Umbrellas outnumbered fur coats at one Muscovite baptismal hole amid a driving rain more reminiscent of April than January.
Sergei Maximov, chairman of the Walrus Club of Serebryanny Bor, a Moscow neighborhood that includes the city's most popular beaches along the Moscow River, said some people were bothered by the temperatures that hovered above freezing, but he wasn't among them.
"I was the last one in, about four in the morning and the water was so soft, so soft," Maximov said. "The feeling you get is the same, warm or cold, a complete purge of all your sins."
Animals in many parts of Russia have seen their biological clocks thrown out of whack. At St. Petersburg's Leningradsky Zoo, two of five bears have come out of hibernation weeks ahead of time. Even the hedgehogs have insomnia this year.
Older Russians shake their heads reminiscing about how temperatures 58 degrees below zero helped stymie the Germans as they reached the outskirts of Moscow in 1941; grass was growing this week near the famous tank defenses north of the capital.
Russia's agriculture minister played down fears that the lack of a hard frost and snow cover would affect future crops. A hard frost helps improve soil structure, while the snow serves as a blanket for crops.
Sergei Gulev, a climate scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said global warming appears to be affecting how storms move across the North Atlantic, determining whether an Arctic blast is pulled into Russia or whether gale-force winds and warmer air push in from the Atlantic.
He said abnormally warm winters — which he said peasants a century ago called "a waif's winter" because it stunted crop growth — occurred every 10-15 years. Now they're happening every two or three years, and with more intensity.
"We can expect from climate predictions that this winter, the type we're having now, will be more and more frequent in the future," Gulev said.
Still, the warm temperatures haven't been all bad. Among those breathing a sigh of relief have been utility executives, who had warned about possible energy shortages if temperatures plummeted. And the warm weather also eases the burden on municipal heating systems.
And cooler weather is in the offing: Yeltsev said temperatures are forecast to fall in the Moscow region, possibly reaching 14 below by Wednesday or Thursday.
By MIKE ECKEL, Associated Press Writer
It was one of Russia's traditional days for taking a dip and swimmers were complaining — because it was too warm outside. Countless Russians every year mark the Orthodox Epiphany religious feast by plunging into water through holes in the ice and shivering vigorously in the frigid air. On Friday, the ice was either thin or absent and the air wasn't especially cold.
In a country known for brutally cold winters, a spell of unseasonably warm weather has unnerved many people and caused experts to worry about the effects of global warming.
While much of Siberia and the Russian Far East soldiers through the usual long and grindingly cold winter, people in the rest of the country have been lamenting abnormally high temperatures that have left many rivers free of ice, fields absent of snow and weather forecasters confused — but not without hope.
"I'm not ready to give up on winter just yet," said Gennady Yeltsev, deputy director of the Russian meteorological committee.
Last year, much of January was unusually cold, down to 22 below zero. This year, temperatures have generally stayed above freezing in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Believers marked Epiphany by dipping in lakes and rivers across the country, a practice they believe purifies the soul. Swimmers had to chip through the ice at Siberia's Lake Baikal, but bathers in St. Petersburg had temperatures reaching 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
Umbrellas outnumbered fur coats at one Muscovite baptismal hole amid a driving rain more reminiscent of April than January.
Sergei Maximov, chairman of the Walrus Club of Serebryanny Bor, a Moscow neighborhood that includes the city's most popular beaches along the Moscow River, said some people were bothered by the temperatures that hovered above freezing, but he wasn't among them.
"I was the last one in, about four in the morning and the water was so soft, so soft," Maximov said. "The feeling you get is the same, warm or cold, a complete purge of all your sins."
Animals in many parts of Russia have seen their biological clocks thrown out of whack. At St. Petersburg's Leningradsky Zoo, two of five bears have come out of hibernation weeks ahead of time. Even the hedgehogs have insomnia this year.
Older Russians shake their heads reminiscing about how temperatures 58 degrees below zero helped stymie the Germans as they reached the outskirts of Moscow in 1941; grass was growing this week near the famous tank defenses north of the capital.
Russia's agriculture minister played down fears that the lack of a hard frost and snow cover would affect future crops. A hard frost helps improve soil structure, while the snow serves as a blanket for crops.
Sergei Gulev, a climate scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said global warming appears to be affecting how storms move across the North Atlantic, determining whether an Arctic blast is pulled into Russia or whether gale-force winds and warmer air push in from the Atlantic.
He said abnormally warm winters — which he said peasants a century ago called "a waif's winter" because it stunted crop growth — occurred every 10-15 years. Now they're happening every two or three years, and with more intensity.
"We can expect from climate predictions that this winter, the type we're having now, will be more and more frequent in the future," Gulev said.
Still, the warm temperatures haven't been all bad. Among those breathing a sigh of relief have been utility executives, who had warned about possible energy shortages if temperatures plummeted. And the warm weather also eases the burden on municipal heating systems.
And cooler weather is in the offing: Yeltsev said temperatures are forecast to fall in the Moscow region, possibly reaching 14 below by Wednesday or Thursday.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
minus zero activities
The staircase in our apartment building is being painted today. Tom says that they are using a petroleum based paint. It sticks to high heaven. I was awakened by the fumes.
We are not sure why they waited until it was below zero outside and snow is on the ground but such is life here in Russia!
We are not sure why they waited until it was below zero outside and snow is on the ground but such is life here in Russia!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
warm in our house
We woke up this morning to the feeling of warmth in the house. The radiators were turned on at some point and we didn't know in advance this time.
Last year, a few weeks before the radiators were turned on, they did a test. They had the water go through the piping to make sure it was all clear. We know for sure that they did this because the pipe in Spencer's room had a leak and water poured down from his ceiling until they got the water turned off for our building.
This year the radiatiors came on without warning and without incident. Having the radiators on reminds us that this winter will be cold... hopefully, we are ready. Last year the 35 below zero temperature caught us off gaurd after coming from sunny southern California!
Last year, a few weeks before the radiators were turned on, they did a test. They had the water go through the piping to make sure it was all clear. We know for sure that they did this because the pipe in Spencer's room had a leak and water poured down from his ceiling until they got the water turned off for our building.
This year the radiatiors came on without warning and without incident. Having the radiators on reminds us that this winter will be cold... hopefully, we are ready. Last year the 35 below zero temperature caught us off gaurd after coming from sunny southern California!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)