Thursday, January 29, 2009

Weatherpixie, and a Winter Storm





We've had a true winter storm here of a kind we rarely have, with 10 inches of "Fresh Pow!", as Jack calls it. It's very unusual to see the trees laden with snow for more than a few hours, but this looks as if it will stick around for awhile. I took a walk in late afternoon yesterday, once most of the streets had finally been plowed, and saw dozens of kids sledding in a local park – their shouts of delight could be heard ringing around the neighborhood for a couple of blocks. There's no school again today, so Jack should be able to ski a bit in our backyard, where he made a couple of mini-jumps. On Friday night he'll go skiing with Lenni in Paoli.

Fresh Pow, wow! I stumbled across a sweet little application called Weatherpixie, where you can create your own graphic that shows a representation of the weather using data reported (mostly) by airports and aerodromes around the world.

As the weather in a particular location changes, the character's clothes reflect the local weather and the graphic will show rain, snow, airborne particles and changes in cloud cover. Daylight, sunset and current moon phase are also displayed on the Weatherpixie page (though they are not part of the image I was able to import here, alas). This link takes you to frequently asked questions about Weatherpixie, which was created by Tamsin, in the United Kingdom. At this link you'll find a Pixie Guide, about the characters, many of whom resemble Tamsin's friends. (There are male characters, too.)

If you click on the gadget on the left, you can go to My Pixie, with the updated report. Oh my! The image changed just now to an American flag. (Not sure why. I wonder what became of the little dressed-for-the-chill pixie chick?...Okay, now she's back..)

Here was the weather news when I checked just now, in Bloomington, Indiana, at the Monroe County Airport:


64 minutes ago, at 10:53 UTC, the wind was blowing at a speed of 4.6 meters per second (10.4 miles per hour) from Southwest in Bloomington, Monroe County Airport. The temperature was -7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit), and the pressure was 1,016 hPa (30.01 inHg). The relative humidity was 85.6%. There were overcast at a height of 213 meter (700 feet). The visibility was 11.3 kilometers (7.0 miles).








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