Persistence

Hmm.... 18 days since my last post here. That's a new procrastination record for me as far as blogging goes. But, I do like records, even if I have to set them myself.

See, as I've mentioned before, I started this blog 2 years ago in an attempt to add some interactivity between myself and visitors to the Hood River Weather site. The result? Not so much. But, ever since adding the chat window in December 2008, and then (reluctantly at first) joining Facebook, I've had interactivity up the wazoo. And, let me tell you, interactivity up the wazoo can be very distracting.

So, the initial reason for doing this blog has pretty much disappeared. Facebook and Twitter are available for photos, status reports, groups, and much more. In fact, blogs may well be on their way out, replaced by social networking and microblogging (140 characters or less!). Which is about the length of my attention span anymore.

But, for several reasons I am still drawn to posting in this blog. First, I enjoy writing, and need the practice. There's something very satisfying about thinking a subject through and crafting a semi-coherent essay. Not that I do a good job at it, but, like I said, practice, practice, practice.

Second, although very few comments come in here, I am aware that at least a couple of dozen people read this, so that's enough to get my ego stroked and I really should give them something new to read occasionally. As if anyone really needs yet another thing to read...

The third reason is "persistence". On a personal level, the more one persistently exercises their will power (sit down and write a blog post, damn it!), the stronger that ability becomes. (but don't get me going on whether we humans actually HAVE free will, that's another blog post).

However, on a non-personal level, "persistence" implies that information stays available for an extended time. So when I do a "March Revisited" blog post, it's here. It stays here. It's searchable. Same thing with weather records, events, links, anything I find interesting and want to share and/or remember. In a chat room, and on Twitter/Facebook, information fades away quickly. (at least, we can only hope it does)

But the best reason for continuing this blog? I get to ramble on without interruption about all sorts of crap! And it's persistent!

Persistence of Vision

(hint: you don't need to view it full screen, you don't need to wait until instructed to look away, and just look at another part of the screen for the effect. And there's music.)

Over 3 Million Served

I'm not one to brag (well, not too much), but the Hood River Weather site has reached 3 million views. I celebrated the 2 million mark here, about 1.5 years ago. The million view rate is accelerating, which is exciting to me, but then, it really doesn't take much to excite me.

But I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you, the site visitors, who apparently find the site useful and/or interesting. Or whatever it is that keeps you coming back. You guys make it all worthwhile! Thanks for visiting.

March Revisited

Compared to historical data, March in Hood River was way colder, wetter, and slightly windier than average. To view my weather station's monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.

The persistent inversion conditions of January and February were replaced in March by persistent cold, wet weather systems. Huge monthly snow amounts in the mountains have set us up for continued excellent skiing and (hopefully) abundant summer water supplies.

The average temperature in March was 2.8 degrees colder than long term averages, and 4.4 degrees colder than more recent averages (2000-2008). So far this year, only January has been warmer than normal. And, if NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has anything to say about it, April will continue the cooler trend.

There were no local weather records set in March.

The data below is from my home weather station. The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2008 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	57	25	41.4	44.2
Wind (mph)	33		3.0	2.7
Rainfall (in)	0.83		5.67 (total)	3.13

Sunny days ahead. Let the sun shine in!