On January 30th and 31st 1982, a 1-in-70 year snow event occurred from the eastern Ozarks to central Illinois with the heaviest axis of snow blanketing St. Louis, Missouri. The snow began during the evening of January 30th, a Saturday, and ended during the afternoon of Sunday, January 31st.

If you were here back then, you remember it. The weather forecasters were still saying 2-3 inches at about the time you could go outside and see there was already 8-9 and scratch your head in confusion about what the forecasters were smoking. Over 20 inches in spots by the time it ended.

I had turned 13 a little over a week before.

It’s snowing outside right now. I doubt it will approach 20 inches. They’re only predicting 8. But they were only predicting 2-3 that night 26 years ago.

Apparently however, despite the accumulation, it wasn’t a blizzard. (“What the heck was it?” I hear a few people ask.)

For a blizzard to have occurred, the following conditions must have prevailed for a period of 3 or more consecutive hours:

• Sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles an hour or greater, and
• Considerable falling and/or b>lowing snow that reduces visibility frequently to less than 1/4 mile.

The second of those two requirements happened. The first one did not. It was just a snowstorm.

I understood Wil’s post.

It also made me think about a small land known as Enfrac that only I and a handful of other St. Louisans know about, but hopefully someday more people will know about and love.  I need to work on that.

I may have a snowday tomorrow…so I will have some time to spend.

Now that we know Ted, Caroline and Patrick are supporting Obama

And Robert Jr, Kerry and Kathleen are supporting Clinton

I think we need to hear from the Shrivers.  Who are the Shrivers supporting?
I can’t make up my mind until I know how all the Kennedy Clan are swinging, and just because they’re descended from Eunice, Jack and Bobby’s sister, doesn’t make then any less important.

ReadWritePoem is prompting poems that incorporate mathematics.  The Velveteen Rabbi wrote a poem about Gematria.

Here’s a poem I wrote awhile back, but I haven’t had much luck submitting it places.  I think because it is a little bit strange.
11.27 does not equal 12

Geerally, I suport
The metic system.
My favoite calendar
somehat misleadingly

has been alled
a metri calendar.
Howeer,
eleven pint two seven

is signifiantly smaller
thantwelve.
At firt I thought
I woud hardly miss

point seven three ouncs,
bu I do.
Ad while mathematically
it’s nce to know

metic six packs
are exctly equivalent
to two lier bottles,
to gt the extra

four pint three eight
I wod still prefer
my cola caned
Ameican.

Note:
11.27/12 = approx .94
433 = characters in ‘American’ poem
406 = characters in ‘Metric’ poem
406/433 = approx .94
So your lack of comprehension of the above poem is roughly equivalent to the loss of soda in the can.

More mathematical poems submitted for the ReadWritePoem prompt can be read here.

Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing has just discovered the card game, Fluxx.  It is as insanely fun as Cory says it sounds.  I’ve been playing it with some friends for over a year now.  It’s a rare feeling to know about something this long before it hits the geek sites.

You can find Fluxx locally at GamerGround.

Personally, my favorite version is Zombie Fluxx.

I agree with Christopher Moore’s comments on his MySpace.

Is it an Unidentified Martian Object – or an Identified Martian Object?

There actually seems to be some agreement that it is an IMO.

It’s just that NASA identifies it as a Rock.  And a few other people are identifying it as Bigfoot.

The word for when you don’t win: L*O*S*E
The word for something that isn’t tight: L*O*O*S*E

You look like an idiot when you confuse the two.
Really, you do.

I really wanted to laugh at the below video, and was laughing, until the misspelled caption. Then I was just disgusted with the poor US educational system.

Go ahead, call me a spelling Nazi, but at least I’m not a Cowboys fan.

Media: Romney keeps campaign alive with first win of his campaign (most news sources are awake enough to actually state “first primary win”, which is technically correct, but suggests Wyoming’s status as a caucus makes it irrelevant, even though Iowa’s caucus certainly wasn’t irrelevant. A conundrum. I bet many residents of the state of Wyoming are developing a hatred for the national media by now, as they jump up and down waving their hands in the air “Look over here! We exist!) Romney has also, apparently, made a stunning comeback, and has “tied” up the GOP race.

Delegates:
Romney: 36
McCain: 19
Huckabee: 18

Please don’t ask me about the numerological significance of this. I don’t wish to ponder it.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Clinton almost lost to None of the Above in a one-woman race. Ok, 55%-40% isn’t exactly almost losing except, perhaps in a one-person race. (Yes, Kucinich, Dodd, and Gravel were on the ballot too. They made up the remaining 5%.)

The media is still reporting that Michigan is a must-win for Romney. If McCain wins, and Romney once again finishes a close second, Romney will still have the most pledged delegates of any GOP contender. If he then drops out due to the Media’s insane reportage, will he be the first presidential contender ever to drop out of a race, while in the lead? (Excluding any that dropped out due to scandal or health issues)