Sunset/Moonrise

To mark the impending end of my vacation, below is a link to a set of photos of Sunset and Moonrise tonight from Navy Pier.



Sunset/Moonrise

The Great Flood

With the Mississippi River spilling over it's banks again, here is a video about the great Mississippi River flood of 1927, one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. The flood also led to Herbert Hoover's election to the Presidency, so it would be hard to overstate the influence this flood has had on American History.

John Barry is interviewed in this video. He is the author of a Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, a book that covers the social and political impact of the flood.

Also see today's post on Just Music for Randy Newman's song about the flood.

Who needs a Groundhog

Who needs a groundhog when you have an elephant?

Man in a Blizzard

I have cribbed this from Roger Ebert's post here. Jamie Stuart's short film "Man in a Blizzard" was shot during the New York City snow storm back in December.

This film is a homage to the great 1929 Ukrainian film "Man with a Movie Camera". Ebert's post also contains a YouTube version of the 1929 film, although watching the YouTube video does not compare to seeing that film on the big screen. I saw "Man with a Movie Camera" about two years ago with live musical accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra, and that was quite an experience.

Holland Island House Collapses

The Baltimore Sun has published an in depth article on the collapse of the final remaining house on Holland Island in the Chesapeake Bay. It is good to see that the Sun is still capable of doing journalism once in a while.

Here is a link to the photographs that go with the article.

Chesapeake Bay island vanishes

Fire Tornado

I have never seen video of one of these before. Evidently, in the last couple weeks there have been fire tornadoes on both Hawaii and Brazil. A link to some video from Hawaii.

Fire Tornado Filmed in Hawaii

Freaks of Nature

Two videos from the BBC. The first, video of the world's largest hailstone. The second, video of a baby zedonk—I never heard of these before.

Giant South Dakota hailstone breaks US record


Rare zedonk born at US wildlife reserve

Lighting the Trump Tower

Last night was the official lighting of the spire on the new Trump Tower in Chicago. I don't think that this was exactly what the plan called for.

When lightning strikes (twice), a photographer is ready

First Forsythia

I saw my first blooming Forsythia of the season in DC today. It seems like just yesterday that we had a couple feet of snow. Here are some pictures that I took on my way to work this morning.

First Forsythia

Iceberg on the Loose

Article from the Guardian about a new 50 mile long iceberg off Antarctica.

Giant Antarctic iceberg could affect global ocean circulation

Report from the Tidal Basin

I went down to the Tidal Basin this afternoon. Some damage to the Cherry Trees, but they seem to have survived the snow much better than the larger trees. Except for the really old cherry trees, I think their branches are too small to hold enough snow to do much damage.

Here are the pictures I took, showing some of the damaged trees. Also repairs to the seawall around the Jefferson Memorial, and pictures of some of the other memorials.

Tidal Basin, etc. - 2/24/2010

The Blizzards: Good & Bad

Like everything else the recent blizzards have had both good and bad side effects.

On the good side, Baltimore City went eight days without a Homicide. I wonder if someone can make a television show about that.

On the bad side, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore suffered severe damage. I have not yet seen any reports on how the cherry trees in the tidal basin have weathered the weather.

Snow Damage To Delay The Opening Of The Maryland Zoo

The Blizzard Voices

There is not much that can be said about this blizzard, that has not already been said about the one last weekend. So here is a poem by Ted Kooser about the Blizzard of 1888. Also known as the Children's Blizzard. Over 200 people died in that blizzard, including many children who never made it home from school. In that context the current blizzard is not so bad.

Blizzard of 2010

Photographs from the Blizzard of 2010

Blizzard 2/6/2010

Blizzard of 1922

Below is a video of one of the worst Mid-Atlantic snow storms from the 20th Century. In 1922 the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater, Columbia Road and 18th Street, NW, in DC collapsed under 28" of snow, killing almost 100 people.

Here is an article from the Washington Post on the disaster, although I doubt that many people actually remember this, since you would have to be 88 to even have been born when it happened.

D.C. snowfall triggers memories of 1922 collapse of theater's roof




Here are the historic 3 day snow fall records for DC and Baltimore.

North Atlantic Oscillation

OK, So this is why it is so cold. Although I do remember some colder days from last year, when I stood for hours to see Obama when the temperature was 16.

North Atlantic Oscillation blamed for cold spell