Trees of Rimrock and Jake’s Rocks
As I gaze over the tree tops from Rimrock Over look on the edge of the Allegheny Reservoir in the Allegheny National Forest I’m struck by the sight of tree species that I almost never see in the forests of Northern Chautauqua County where I live, like Boutwell Hill State Forest, one of my favorite local hiking places. At Rimrock I see the dark green shiny leaves of a couple of Black Gum trees below the overlook and there are many more all around. That’s a tree I’ve don’t remember ever seeing in Boutwell Hill State Forest. And whereas Red Oak is the predominant oak tree in Northern Chautauqua...
Read MoreSevere thunderstorm in Jamestown
In the 5:0o PM hour today, August 2, 2014, we had a very severe thunderstorm in the Jamestown area despite it not being warned as one. Apart from nonstop cloud to ground lightning strikes and torrential rain dumping inches in a short period it had severe hail at least quarter-sized and perhaps nearing golf ball in some locations with vehicle damage reported, downed trees and lines, flooding and a host of other problems. Here was the cell on radar as it peaked regionally and close-up as it hammered Jamestown – pink and purple, over 70dBZ at times! We’ll show you some of hail and...
Read MorePalm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) by Scott Kruitbosch
This Palm Warbler is wondering what’s taking so long, too – where are our leaves?! Soon…very soon…
Read MoreThe weather of this slowww spring
Is it spring? How about now? This could turn into an, “are we there yet?!” routine rather quickly if we cannot manage to move the ridge to the East and get a consistent southerly flow soon! I think we all know it was an extremely cold winter for New England and the Mid-Atlantic but here’s more evidence if you needed to be convinced. Temperature departures of that magnitude across such large swaths of the nation are incredible. It’s notable to have a single month more than a few degrees one way or the other, forget three with huge areas 6 to 8 degrees below average and...
Read MoreEaster Island’s history rewritten, previewing ours?
This post was inspired by this piece on NPR by Robert Krulwich detailing what happened on Easter Island – the old story and the supposed new story. Twan and I independently read this and had the similar thought (I love when that happens) of it being a good follow-up to my recently posted entry on climate change. You can read in detail about Easter Island on NPR but essentially the old tale tells of the inhabitants spending hundreds of years destroying the tiny remote island’s environment in order to feed themselves and prosper only to be left in ruin when it was all gone, slowly...
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