The outlook for December, January and February:
Temperature:
Precipitation:
First Snowfall of the Season
First snowfall of the season in Stormstown, PA. The forecast today called for a chance of snow showers (60%). Instead, there was moderate snow, starting around 10 AM EST. Later, the flakes started to fall in clumps.
Air temperatures remained well above freezing for most of the day, so there was little or no accumulation in the area. However, to the southwest, in The Laurel Highlands, travel was affected significantly.
Sacrificial Anodes
Over the weekend, I winterized our motorhome. One step is to drain the water heater. When I pulled the anode/drain plug I noticed what several months of corrosion had done to the anode.
The photo clearly shows that they work and prevent a similar occurrence to the tank.
Flight 93 National Memorial
Today, my wife and I traveled to The Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, PA. The memorial is about a 90 minute drive from our home in Stormstown. It was fitting that the weather was very much like that day on September 11, 2001.
Black granite marks the final flight path of Flight 93 before impact at 10:03 AM EDT, September 11, 2001.
The black granite path passes through the outside walls of the visitor center.
The visitor center sits at the top of a hill, overlooking Memorial Plaza, the crash site and the 40 acre debris field. This is the final resting place of the 40 passengers and crew. The Red Cross gave each of the families of the passengers and crew a small vial of soil from the debris field.
The visitor center as seen from Memorial Plaza. This was the site of The FBI command post during their investigation into the crash. It was also the site of the temporary memorials, which are now housed inside the visitor center.
Black granite continues to mark the final flight path at the foot of the hill from the visitor center at The Memorial Plaza.
At The Memorial Plaza, the names of the 40 passengers and crew of Flight 93 are memorialized in slabs of marble.
Todd Beamer was one of the passengers that attempted to take over the cockpit from the hijackers. His last words, heard by cell phone by an airline representative, were, “Let’s roll!” His Oracle ID card survived the impact and is on display inside the visitor center.
A 17-ton boulder was placed by the point of impact.
The largest recovered piece of the Boeing 757-222 aircraft measured just a few feet on a side. Most of the debris was strewn over 40 acres. Lightweight paper items were found as far away as New Baltimore, eight miles away. Some of the debris is on display inside the visitor center. I only recognized parts of a scarred circuit board and some wire. Also on display are a drivers license and some ID cards. The impact made a crater 30 feet across and 15 feet deep. The plane hit at an angle of 40 degrees, at nearly 600 mph in an inverted attitude. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight recorder survived, and the recovered data contained a record of the aircraft’s entire flight. Portions are shown inside the visitor center in a flight simulator display.
Centre County Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps
This week, I became a permanent member of a test team for The Centre County Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps. I have previously been out twice with a team that samples and tests the water from Little Fishing Creek at two sites in Centre County. Data obtained from these and other sites can be found here.
Little Fishing Creek is part of The Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The stream flows into Fishing Creek, The West Branch of The Susquehanna River, the main river and then into The Chesapeake.
Amateur Radio Traffic Net
Last Week, I became a regular check-in to The Western Pennsylvania Phone Traffic Net. I started to look for a net after the landfall of Hurricane Harvey. The net meets every evening at 6 PM on 80-meters, and is part of The National Traffic System (NTS).
So far, I’ve initiated 4 radiograms. I hope to continue handling NTS messages on a regular basis.
Harvey and Irma Are Not A Sign of Climate Change
Sorry climate alarmists, but you can not blame this year’s major hurricanes on climate change, global warming or whatever you want to call it.
Posting on the Watts Up With That blog.
Prior to this season, there haven’t been any major hurricane landfalls in The United States since Wilma in 2005. This season is simply an anomaly. In fact, the frequency of major hurricanes has been decreasing.
Outlook for Fall 2017
The outlook for September, October and November:
Temperature:
Precipitation:
Summer of 2017: Weather Summary
Meteorological summer has ended. Here is a summary of the summer’s weather in Stormstown, PA.
Overall, it was a cooler than average summer, especially during August. June was about a degree Fahrenheit below normal, July was near normal, and August was 3.3 degrees F below normal. There was only one day at or above 90 deg. F (91 F on June 13).
Precipitation was below normal for the most part, even though July was an inch above normal. The maximum single day rainfall was 1.33 inches on July 14.
Highest wind speed was 40 mph on August 19.
Final Legs and Epilogue
Made it to Akron, OH, on August 30, without incident during leg 8. Just 3 doggy stops and a stop for fuel, both for the RV and for the humans. This leg was as boring as leg 2 heading to Nebraska. There is not much to write about The Ohio Turnpike except for the seemingly endless series of construction zones in both directions for much of its length.
Near Akron, we stayed at a KOA near Streetsboro, OH, which is nicer than the place we stayed over two weeks ago during the journey west. However, the dog park had a flaw in the fence which allowed Toby Two to escape to chase a rabbit. We were able to retrieve him in short order, however. Tobey Two was covered in burrs though; many of them were able to be brushed out, but a few remain. We had dinner in our RV, along with a friend who resides in Akron.
The 9th and final leg began the next day. We needed 3 doggy stops again. We arrived home, safe and sound, at 3:15 PM EDT on August 31.
Trip summary:
- 10 states
- 17 days
- 75 counties
- 3045 miles
- 380 gallons of gasoline
- 13 campgrounds
- 2 National Monuments
- 1 amazing total solar eclipse
Lessons Learned:
- Check ahead near large cities for local events such as fairs, sporting events, construction zones and conventions.
- Bring waterproof shoes
- Have a backup backup camera
- Bring a tripod
- Remove GPS from mount after each drive
Stormstown Dispatch 