Open Window

Temperatures in Iowa reached 80 degrees yesterday, and for the second day in a row we had our classroom window wide open.  It was glorious!

Photo #94/365: Weather Change

Yesterday we had an unusually warm day, with record breaking temperatures of 87 degrees. By evening, however, the wind had picked up, and the temperature had dropped almost 40 degrees. Today our high is only 48 degrees with wind gusts as high as 50 MPH. One minute the sun is shining brightly, and the next minute the clouds roll in and hide the sun.

Photo #198: Heat Wave

It's hot! It was actually 95 earlier with a heat index of 103. And it's still plenty hot at 92. My air conditioner has broken down, and a repair person cannot get here until tomorrow morning. I am not a happy camper.

Photo #73: The Encroaching River

We had a difficult winter with 94 continuous days with more than five inches of snow cover. The all time record is 99 inches. After record snowfall, we began to worry about potential flooding. The ideal was a slow melt, but as the temperatures climbed into the forties and we began to see the shrinking snow banks, I couldn't help but get excited. Spring was actually coming! Now the rivers are rising and the threat of flooding is real. The sun was shining today, so I took a drive down to Gray's Lake, which is one of my favorite places to walk. The park is closed and the Raccoon River is encroaching on Fleur Drive, which is a major thoroughfare through the south side of Des Moines. The barricades are already there ready to be moved into place, once the river once again takes over the road.

Photo #49: Icicles and Shadows

Icicles
Originally uploaded by BarbaraLN

It was a sunny morning, and as I was closing up the garage this morning, I noticed the shadows cast by the growing collection of icicles along the roofline of my house. I would enjoy the beauty of the ice more, if I wasn't concerned about the damage these ice dams might be doing to my roof and gutters.

Will spring ever come? We had another six inches of snow on Sunday and Monday. The sunshine of the past two days has melted only a little of the collected snow. The forecast is for a 70% chance of more snow tomorrow. I am winter weary!

Photo #20: Iced Castle

Iced Castle
Originally uploaded by BarbaraLN

Today was our fifth snow day of the school year. To be more precise, this is really an ice day. I was awakened around 3 a.m. by the freezing rain hitting against the windows. Now the entire house is encased in 1/4 inch sheet of ice. Every tree branch, every twig is encased in ice. It was beautiful! Then as the hours passed, the weight of the ice and the wind, caused branches to break and crash to the ground. Now my front yard is littered with the broken limbs. They will stay there for awhile. I have not set foot out of the house today, nor have I gotten dressed, and it's going to stay that way. In my 23 years of teaching, I do not remember a year where we have missed this many days of school because of weather. While I love staying home, each day must be made up. Our school year has now been extended to June 14th.