Thursday, December 10, 2009

Santas, Snow, and a Band Concert

Wednesday, December 9, 2009. Christmas is coming. No question about it. We even have snow on the ground. Not much, but at least the grass is (almost) covered now. I've heard that the bulk of the heavy snow went well to the south and east of us.


Santa Express, now boarding in Sauk Centre. December 7, 2009.

More households have their Christmas displays up: ranging from rotating inflatable snowmen and mini-merry-go-rounds, to a few lights or a simple crèche.


A traditional Santa. Judging from those bench colors, under the window, the homeowner likes John Deere products. December 7, 2009.


One of Sauk Centre's more enthusiastic displays. December 7, 2009.


A garland, a few candy canes, and a crèche. Nice. December 7, 2009.

It looks like folks have prepared for winter: including, sometimes, laying in a supply of firewood. You can't see it too well, in the picture below, but there's quite a few cubic yards of wood piled behind and to the side of that gray shed.

One thing I like about this town is that it's still relaxed enough to let people have pickups parked in their yards, or store firewood behind a shed. Neighborhood associations and regulations banning pink flamingos or garden gnomes never made much sense to me.


This was before Tuesday's and today's snow. December 7, 2009.


Hats off to everyone who keeps things running: particularly in winter. December 7, 2009.

One more thing. The school bands put on a concert this Monday: the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade bands, Junior High Jazz Band, Senior High Jazz Band and Senior High Band. There's more than a bit of overlap between some of those: some students had a lot of rehearsals.


At the back of the house: the camera crew. December 8, 2009.


That's my son, and the whole 7th grade band. December 8, 2009.


You weren't seeing things. Those really are corkscrew Santa hats. December 8, 2009.

I've got some pretty good photos of Christmas lights, but there's something to be said for knowing when to stop.

Goodnight!

Monday, December 7, 2009

First Big Snow of the Year Coming for Minnesota

Depending on where you are in Minnesota, there's not much happening tomorrow and Wednesday, a "Winter Weather Advisory," "Winter Storm Warning," or "Blizzard" coming.

Right now, there's a map on a Weather Service page for Duluth, Minnesota, showing some of the areas involved:
  • "Duluth, MN"
    National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
As of about a half hour ago, here's how the forecast goes for the next two days in Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service

"Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Minnesota
"Issued by the National Weather Service
"This page is expected to be phased out and replaced by the new version available here (County listing) by December of 2009. Please update your bookmarks and feed readers!1

Minnesota counties with a
  • Blizzard warning
    • Blue Earth
    • Dodge
    • Faribault
    • Fillmore
    • Freeborn
    • Martin
    • Mower
    • Olmsted
    • Steele
    • Waseca
    • Watonwan
  • Winter storm warning
    • Anoka
    • Brown
    • Carlton, Southern St. Louis
    • Carver
    • Central St. Louis Superior NF SW
    • Chisago
    • Dakota
    • Goodhue
    • Hennepin
    • Houston
    • Jackson
    • Le Sueur
    • Mille Lacs
    • Nicollet
    • Northern Lake, Northern Cook Superior NF NW
    • Pine
    • Ramsey
    • Rice
    • Scott
    • Sibley
    • Southern Cook, Lakeshore
    • Southern Lake, Lakeshore
    • Wabasha
    • Washington
    • Winona
  • Winter weather advisory
    • Benton
    • Cottonwood
    • Isanti
    • Kanabec
    • Kandiyohi
    • Lyon
    • McLeod
    • Meeker
    • Mille Lacs
    • Mower
    • Murray
    • Nobles
    • Northern Aitkin
    • Pipestone
    • Redwood
    • Renville
    • Rock
    • Sherburne
    • Southern Aitkin
    • Stearns
    • Wright

1 I didn't include the link that the National Weather Service had, to their 'new and improved' page.

That link, that goes with the words "available here" is to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/alerts-beta/mn.php?x=1.

When I tried it, I was redirected to this:

"Error loading stylesheet: An unknown error has occurred
"(805303f4)http://www.weather.gov/alerts-beta/capatom.xsl"

Oh, well. Maybe you've got the sort of system they had in mind.