I Loaded My Outdoor Wood Boiler, And The Steam Is Rolling Out Of It. It Is So Nice To Be Warm!
If warm is what you want to be then this is the way to go. Wood will warm you in so many ways. It warms you when you cut it to size, and again when it is split. You get warm when you stack it, either neatly or in a pile. It warms you when you fill the appliance, and then for days afterward it warms a great big house. I am grateful to my outdoor wood boiler since it cost me less than $2000.00 for two years worth of wood, and that is a lot less than the $5000.00 it would have cost for one winter's oil. It is environmentally neutral as well since the only things that can come out of burning wood is what went into it, namely carbon dioxide, water, minerals, light and heat. The same thing happens to it whether it is burned or rots on the forest floor. It just happens a little faster, ok a lot faster.
Apparently N.O.A.A. got the predominant weather correct for today. There were scattered snow showers all over the area, and here in Wilton, Maine we did have a few. They only left a trace of new snow, just enough to keep the surface pristine and white. The temperature here did not make it out of the twenties, and it is already down to 25.3°F. The wind is kicking around to the west, and is currently (22:15 hours) over 9 mph. While the La Cross Weather Station earlier showed falling barometric pressure and foul weather it has turned the corner and forecasts fluctuating conditions with a rising barometer.
For tonight the N.W.S. forecasts no precipitation after 19:00 hours, but there will still be some clouds around for the first half of the night (53%/37%/21%/19%), and the lower cloud cover should allow the temperature to fall, possibly farther than they predicted. There are only a few scattered light showers on the NEXRAD Composite regional radar. The Weather Underground model forecast maps indicate that the storm from last night has moved on, and the storm for Sunday had not even formed yet, but the conditions are apparently right for a real cocker on Sunday. Once again, we will wait and see. From what I hear through the grapevine there may not be many people at work on Monday.
My Weather Stick is responding to 79% relative humidity by continuing to frown. I have not checked it, but I have to wonder how often it really smiles when I take the data. At 05:00 hours all three of the electronic instruments were forecasting falling barometric pressure. Two of them showed foul weather and the remote weather station forecast cloudy conditions. Of course we already know that the La Crosse Weather Station now indicates that the conditions are changing. The La Crosse Weather Station registered a high of 29.3°F, the Min/Max Thermometer a high of 29.5°F and the remote weather station a high of 25.7. I think that we will experience that calm before the storm tomorrow, and that it will be quite cold. If we reach 20°F I will be surprised.
High Temperature (°F): 29.3
Current Temperature (°F): 26.4
Relative Humidity: 79%
Dew Point (°F): 20.7
Heat Index (°F): N/A
Barometric Pressure (in Hg): 29.90
Wind Direction: South
Wind Speed (mph): 1.4
Wind-Chill (°F): 26.4
Precipitation (Type): Snow
Amount (Inches): Trace
Cloud Cover (PM): Overcast
Cloud Type: Stratocumulus
Weather Stick: Down
Comparative data for today.
Temperature:16°F/10.2°F//23°F/15.4°F//31°F/27.1°F//29°F/27.6°F
Relative Humidity: 80%/81%//71%/77%//58%/71%//60%/77%
The N.W.S forecasts for the temperature were within 5°F of the recorded temperatures at the last two forecast times today. It was quite a bit colder here that they predicted it would be. On the relative humidity side they had the first two forecast points correct, but they missed the last two, and by quite a margin. Nice try, but they do need to do better.
Forecast data for the overnight.
Temperature: 21°F/16°F/12°F/9°F
Relative Humidity: 77%/77%/73%/69%

E-mail this entry to a friend