Althouse: Just so you don't think you need to tell me.

February 2, 2018

Just so you don't think you need to tell me.

6 more weeks of winter.

59 comments:

Eric said...: Every year it's six more weeks of winter. Where is global warming when you need it?; 2/2/18, 7:03 AM
Curious George said...: Not for some. That memo is going to warm things up fast.; 2/2/18, 7:03 AM
AllenS said...: I'm guessing 8 to 10. At least.; 2/2/18, 7:11 AM
mockturtle said...: I'll take it! It's been in the low 80's here this week! :-); 2/2/18, 7:16 AM
robother said...: I just hope there's a tomorrow. There wasn't one today.; 2/2/18, 7:18 AM
MadisonMan said...: 'Annual Nonsense' is one of my favorite tags. It's no 'Insect Politics' but it's right up there.; 2/2/18, 7:23 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Yes please! Winter means 50s-60s where I'm stuck. It'll be intolerable here soon enough.

Mock ~ generally, where are you in Arizona? The Pants Texas Escape Plan has been the Twin Cities or east towards Wisconsin for a while, but my husband previously lived in Scottsdale, we have family and friends all over the greater Phoenix area and last week when we were visiting he was making longing comments about how he really likes it there. I'm sensing an offensive coming on. He drove me all over the northern end of Scottsdale up into Cave Creek, etc. It is pretty to visit, sure, but I don't care for the aridity/dust/sand and I HATE the heat. Being a former Washingtonian, how did you adjust to Arizona?; 2/2/18, 7:25 AM
AllenS said...: Taking a long time for the sun to come up. Did the earth quit rotating?; 2/2/18, 7:25 AM
Humperdink said...: "The four-legged creature only has a 39 percent accuracy, according to Stormfax Almanac's data."

Looks like old Phil is ripe for a job with the AGW crowd.; 2/2/18, 7:27 AM
mockturtle said...: Taking a long time for the sun to come up. Did the earth quit rotating?

It did, Allen. I felt it grind to a halt about 5AM.; 2/2/18, 7:28 AM
AllenS said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/2/18, 7:34 AM
D.D. Driver said...: I never understood Groundhog's Day growing up in the upper Midwest. So if the ground hog sees its shadow it six more weeks on winter (i.e., spring starts in Mid-March) but if not then it will be an early Spring. But... where I live mid-March is an early Spring.

The whole thing makes no sense.; 2/2/18, 7:35 AM
AllenS said...: Well, that really sucks, mockturtle, would have been better if it had been noon.

I made a typo.; 2/2/18, 7:35 AM
Original Mike said...: If the earth stopped rotating, we’d have all fallen over.; 2/2/18, 7:37 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: They say our love won't pay the rent,
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent...; 2/2/18, 7:39 AM
mockturtle said...: Pants, I'm in SW AZ in the foothills outside Yuma. Not the prettiest part of Arizona but the best winter weather. My late husband and I wintered here for over ten years so I decided last year to settle here. Of course, I leave for the summer [still have my RV] as it gets ridiculously hot--up to 120 degrees. In mid October last year when I returned from WA it was 110 and I had to unload my U-haul trailer and return it.

These temperatures are warmer than usual for late January and early February. Almost every day is sunny here and it seldom rains. Only issue is wind. None this week but it can blow for several days at a time and gets very dusty.; 2/2/18, 7:41 AM
Jay Vogt said...: Althouse said, "Just so you don't think you need to tell me.6 more weeks of winter."

Sure, but have you heard about the super/blue/eclipse moon.; 2/2/18, 7:50 AM
Jay Vogt said...: Original Mike said...If the earth stopped rotating, we’d have all fallen over.

I only managed a B in physics, but I don't think this is true. I suppose we might be able to push ourselves off though.; 2/2/18, 7:52 AM
Original Mike said...: Actually Jay, it’s worse than that. If you are at mid-latitude (like the US), your current velocity, shared with the Earth, is several hundred miles an hour. If the Earth just stopped (which, of course, isn’t possible) you would continue to the east at that velocity. “Falling over” does not begin to describe it.; 2/2/18, 7:59 AM
mockturtle said...: If the Earth just stopped (which, of course, isn’t possible) you would continue to the east at that velocity.

Quelle horreur! I could end up in New Jersey!; 2/2/18, 8:07 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Jay Vogt said...

I only managed a B in physics, but I don't think this is true. I suppose we might be able to push ourselves off though.

The circumference of the earth is ~25000 miles, so a point on the equator travels that distance in 24 hours. That's ~1000 mph*. If the earth stopped, we'd do much worse than fall over.

*That is at the equator. The closer you are to the poles, the slower you are traveling. If you were standing at the pole, you wouldn't even notice the change.; 2/2/18, 8:07 AM
Original Mike said...: ”Quelle horreur! I could end up in New Jersey.”

No worries. New Jersey won’t be there anymore.; 2/2/18, 8:09 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Of course, the effect also depends on how quickly it stops. Instantaneously would be severe, but spread out over a minute, with the deceleration ramping up ( and down ) smoothly, and you most likely would not fall over.; 2/2/18, 8:12 AM
Jay Vogt said...: Original Mike said If you are at mid-latitude (like the US)"

I'm at the north pole now . . . so.

In seriousness, I take your point. Thnx.; 2/2/18, 8:16 AM
MadisonMan said...: Instantaneously would be severe, but spread out over a minute, with the deceleration ramping up ( and down ) smoothly, and you most likely would not fall over.

It would be very hard to stop the fluid surrounding the Earth in that minute. You would be blown over.; 2/2/18, 8:20 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Mockturtle said: "I could end up in New Jersey"

Not to worry. I have it on good authority from our new governor that we are about to become part of California.; 2/2/18, 8:22 AM
Jay Vogt said...: I suppose too that every other piece of matter not attached to the firmament would travel eastward in excess of the speed of sound (per IIB), so at least I'd have a change of clothes when I arrived in San Sebastian in a few hours for pintxos.; 2/2/18, 8:27 AM
mockturtle said...: Mockturtle said: "I could end up in New Jersey"

Not to worry. I have it on good authority from our new governor that we are about to become part of California.

Even worse!; 2/2/18, 8:31 AM
tcrosse said...: It would be very hard to stop the fluid surrounding the Earth in that minute. You would be blown over.

It would be harder to stop all that sea water. It would wash away all our sins.; 2/2/18, 8:42 AM
Jaq said...: If we are going to talk about what happens if Earth stops rotating, we are going to need a shitload of simplifying assumptions. You know, like they use in the climate models.; 2/2/18, 8:44 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: The robins are on their way north as I type. I expect them in a week or two. When they show up in the back yard Spring has sprung.; 2/2/18, 8:49 AM
Original Mike said...: ”If we are going to talk about what happens if Earth stops rotating, we are going to need a shitload of simplifying assumptions. You know, like they use in the climate models.”

Simplifying assumption number one: We’re all going to die!; 2/2/18, 8:50 AM
Ann Althouse said...: We did go out kast night to look at the super blue blood moon!

Meade was very enthused about it.

Temperature was like 0.; 2/2/18, 8:57 AM
Jaq said...: I have a huge berry tree in my back yard. My Labrador eats them where they drop in the “grass” as they call it in Florida, and some years, the tree fills with robins about this time. Haven’t seen any yet though.; 2/2/18, 9:10 AM
gspencer said...: So where's the memo?; 2/2/18, 9:14 AM
MadisonMan said...: It would be harder to stop all that sea water. It would wash away all our sins.

If I'm visualizing this correctly, the ocean would rush off to the east. So the east coast would see all the ocean travel away at very fast speed, and the west coast would be inundated. I wonder how far inland the ocean would travel. Here in Madison, Lake Mendota would swamp Maple Bluff.

After a while, it all sloshes back, of course.; 2/2/18, 9:18 AM
Jaq said...: Where’s the memo? You mean the nothingburger that must. be stopped at all costs?; 2/2/18, 9:27 AM
mockturtle said...: Maybe we should construct large baffles to prevent this potential water shift.; 2/2/18, 9:28 AM
Gahrie said...: Eh...it's 80 degrees all week here.....; 2/2/18, 9:29 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: We did go out kast night to look at the super blue blood moon!
Meade was very enthused about it.

Eclipse/blood moon looks cool.
Super moon looks cool.
So super blood moon looks really cool.

Blue moon looks like any other moon, as it is only an artifact of our calendar month not matching a lunar month.

A SUPER BLUE BLOOD MOON that ONLY HAPPENS EVERY 150 YEARS!!! is overblown marketing hype. The hype so turned me off that I didn't bother to look at the moon.; 2/2/18, 9:36 AM
Rick.T. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/2/18, 9:37 AM
rhhardin said...: The Detroit punchline used to be "Six more weeks of bad hockey."; 2/2/18, 9:38 AM
rhhardin said...: Mercury rotates once a year.; 2/2/18, 9:38 AM
Rick.T. said...: What happens if the earth stops spinning:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/xkcds-creator-explains-what-would-happen-if-earth-stopp-1625068208

If the earth stopped spinning but the air didn't stop moving, we are about all well and truly hosed. BUT - the moon would eventually save us.; 2/2/18, 9:41 AM
Original Mike said...: “Mercury rotates once a year.”

That’s what they taught me in grade school, but it turns out to be wrong.; 2/2/18, 9:44 AM
Drago said...: An fantastic SOTU coupled with the democrats letting their anti-American masks falling so far that even moderate dems are writing fearful columns about how far left LLR Chuck's allies have moved.

Trump approval pops to 49%.

Tax cuts goosing the economy with a 1st qtr GDP expectation of 5%+ announced by the Atlanta Federal Reserve.

Nancy and lefty gang promising to repeal the popular tax cuts if they get back in power with the entirely predictable total collapse of what seemed like a blue wave democrat generic ballot advantage just 2 weeks ago.

De-regulation. US exporting energy to Western Europe and undermining the left's collusion buddy Putin. Remaking the Judiciary.

The most conservative year in governance since Reagan, and even more conservative than Reagan.

And so much more.

And I haven't even begun to discuss the exposure of the lefts/dems/LLR Chuck's beloved Deep State.

No wonder LLR Chuck is so absolutely miserable.

This is truly the Winter Of LLR Chuck's Discontent.; 2/2/18, 9:45 AM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: Ugh. Waiting for the beautiful Wisconsin spring which starts in earnest around June, if we’re lucky, May, if we’re really lucky the end of April. I recall a couple of years where the crab apple trees were blooming in early May. Wisconsin winters are a slog, but a couple of my grandchildren love it because of the skiing at the local ski hill. I prefer sitting on the pier at the lake watching the sailboats (summer dreamin’).; 2/2/18, 9:48 AM
Jaq said...: If the earth stopped spinning but the air didn’t stop moving,

See, we need assumptions people! Otherwise this is pointless. If Earth stopped spinning and the air stopped spinning and we sopped spinning, etc etc, pretty soon half of us would fry, and the other half freeze. But we wouldn’t fall over.; 2/2/18, 9:51 AM
mockturtle said...: Apparently Mercury rotates about every two earth months or six times per earth year.; 2/2/18, 9:52 AM
Jaq said...: That lake picture yesterday looked perfect for ice yachts.; 2/2/18, 9:53 AM
Drago said...: Inga: "Ugh. Waiting for the beautiful Wisconsin spring which starts in earnest around June, if we’re lucky"

Wrong!!

There are only 2 seasons in Wisconsin: Winter, and June 21.; 2/2/18, 9:58 AM
Jaq said...: When summer falls on a long weekend, it’s the best place!; 2/2/18, 10:07 AM
Unknown said...: I just wanted to acknowledge the Groundhog's accuracy... he really is more accurate than the climate change doom prognosticators predictions.

When your "Scientific models" are less accurate than a groundhog's shadow sightings..... it might be time to just call it a day.

--Vance; 2/2/18, 10:36 AM
Original Mike said...: ”Apparently Mercury rotates about every two earth months or six times per earth year.”

What rh was referring to is that it was long thought that Mercury’s rotation was tidally locked, meaning that its day and year were the same length. Mercury’s year is 88 Earth-days long, and it was thought that it also rotated once each 88 Earth-days. We now know, however, that Mercury is not (yet) locked. It’s roational period is 59 Earth-days.

For comparison, Earth’s moon IS tidally locked. Its rotation period is the same as the period of its revolution around Earth.; 2/2/18, 10:56 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: But Vance, can they even beat di Blasio's Groundhog? You know, the one he killed?; 2/2/18, 11:28 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Seen By His Shadow..; 2/2/18, 11:40 AM
Rusty said...: Yeah. I always get my weather forecasts from the prognostications of a giant rodent.; 2/2/18, 1:43 PM
southcentralpa said...: From our "it's funny now" files: Once on a construction site, we were looking out from the building we were working on, and someone said "Hey, look at that ... a woodchuck!" Another guy said, "You dumb [expletives deleted] ... that's a groundhog." They were on the verge of blows before I could get them separated and explain to them that "woodchuck" and "groundhog" were two names for the same animal. It's funny now, but they were really ready to go at it.

(post idea for our hostess: why is it that some animals inspire a number of different names for them (e.g., cougar, catamount, mountain lion are all the same animal)); 2/2/18, 3:24 PM
Mark said...: While you all are looking at more winter, here in D.C. spring is only six weeks away.; 2/2/18, 11:20 PM

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)