Categories
Weather

Monday Weather

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Plenty windy yesterday and, with all the soaked branches, plenty of kindling hit the ground as well.
OWASA’s official rain numbers aren’t out yet, but it looks to be an inch or so around here. It was not all that widespread. RDU got .2.

For today NWS says Today: Sunny, with a high near 46. West wind between 9 and 13 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 21. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Discussion:

SYNOPSIS…HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD EAST AND OVER THE AREA TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY. BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED DURING THIS PERIOD. A MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR BY MIDWEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OFFSHORE. THE NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN WILL COME LATE THURSDAY INTO EARLY FRIDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE APPROACHES FROM THE WEST.

Categories
Weather

Sunday Weather

High wind warning throughout the area.
High of 48 and Low of 27 are predicted, but it’ll feel much colder than that.
Via NWS:

…WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM EST MONDAY…

WIND GUSTS UP TO AROUND 48 MPH ARE EXPECTED LATER TODAY THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

INTENSE LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE RAPIDLY UP THE MID ATLANTIC COAST TODAY AND IN ITS WAKE STRONG WESTERLY WINDS WILL USHER COLDER DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS WILL INCREASE TO BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH BY THIS AFTERNOON. VIGOROUS MIXING OF COLDER AIR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MPH WITH MAXIMUM GUSTS TO AROUND 48 MPH LIKELY BETWEEN 2 PM AND 10 PM ACROSS THE AREA. WINDS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE LATER TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY MORNING.

THE STRONG WINDS AND COLD AIR WILL ALSO SEND WIND CHILL READINGS DOWN INTO THE TEENS TO AROUND 20 DEGREES TONIGHT. EXTRA LAYERS OF CLOTHING ARE ADVISED FOR ANYBODY VENTURING OUTDOORS THIS EVENING.

Categories
Weather

Saturday Weather

Windy.
Rain is moving in.
DIABATIC COOLING, too. High of 43 today. Not much colder tonight.
NWS:

Today: Occasional rain, mainly after 1pm. High near 43. East wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Periods of rain. Low around 41. North wind between 3 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Discussion:

SYNOPSIS…HIGH PRESSURE OVER NEW ENGLAND WILL PUSH COLDER AIR INTO CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA TODAY AS A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE GULF STATES SPREADING CLOUDINESS AND RAIN OVER THE AREA LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. INTENSE LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE QUICKLY UP THE COAST AND AWAY ON SUNDAY WITH GUSTY WESTERLY WINDS IN ITS WAKE. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE AREA MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

Categories
Weather

Light sleet

Careful driving this am.
Via the NWS:

AREAS OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION THROUGH MID MORNING BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL RAIN. ACCUMULATIONS OF LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICE AND SLEET MAY DEVELOP. MOST ACCUMULATIONS WILL DEVELOP ON ELEVATED SURFACES…ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES.

Categories
Miscellany

‘The Little Prince’ pays a visit

When a disenchanted aviator crashes his plane in the Sahara, he is surprised to meet an ethereal visitor from a faraway star. Through the startling insights shared by this charming “Little Prince,” the aviator is reminded of what is truly important in life.

Cherished by adults and children alike, Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s classic novella The Little Prince is filled with all of the magic, exuberance and wonder of childhood.  

Categories
Miscellany

Literature Reviews

By Erica Eisdorfer

The Air We Breathe

by Andrea Barrett
(Norton, 320 pages)

Andrea Barrett does what she does better than anyone else, and that is to combine hard science with beautifully wrought fiction. Barrett has the ability to ensnare her readers in a story, wrap a character around us and then fill us up with information–hard facts, made palatable. In her National Book Award-winning collection of stories, Ship Fever, she told us about the inner life of Gregor Mendel and explained his experiemnts. In The Voyage of the Narwhal, she infected her readers with the Arctic Fever common to the 19th century American and illustrated the plight of the Eskimaux. And here, in The Air We Breathe, is the tuberculosis epidemic of pre WWI America. We see the lace-like quality of a tuberculer lung illuminated by an X-ray, that technology still in its infancy. We watch as the disease progresses. And what it is that holds us still, reading quietly, are the patients themselves: Miles, the wealthy patriot, recuperating in his charming cottage and Leo, the immigrant in the public sanatorium.

The Air We Breathe examines a point in our time, when, with our nation at the cusp of war, we held our collective breath. 

Categories
Miscellany

Holiday Calendar: 2007

“Holiday Spirits” – Winter Stories program includes live, instrumental music & storytelling. Thu., Dec. 6, 5 p.m. UNC Campus: Wilson Library, 201 South Rd, Chapel Hill.

Transactors Holiday Extravaganza Musical – Improv. Fri., Dec. 7, 8 p.m. $14, students $7. The ArtsCenter, 300-G E Main St, Carrboro, 929-2787, www.artscenterlive.org.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday parade – The annual parade down Franklin Street to Main Street has featured bands, floats, loud cars, firetrucks and, occasionally, a trained chicken. 10 a.m. to noon 

Categories
Miscellany

Theater/Comedy Calendar: Dec. 2007

DSI 
STANDUP COMEDY – December 6, 7:30pm. $5
MISTER DIPLOMAT – December 7, 9:30pm. $12
COMEDYSPORTSZ 4 KIDZ – December 8, 5pm. $10
COMEDYSPORTZ – December 8, 7:30pm. $12
BEST SHOW EVER – December 8, 9:30pm. $12

Playmaker’s
THE LITTLE PRINCE – November 28-December 16; Tuesday-Saturday 7pm, Sunday 2pm

ArtsCenter
TRANSACTORS HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA – December 7 – December 8, 8pm.

Categories
Miscellany

Literary Calendar: Dec. 2007

McIntyre’s 

  • December 6: 7PM Open mic night. Call 542-3030 to sign up.
  • December 7: 2PM Nancy Smith Thomas discusses her book Moravian Christmas In The South.
  • December 8: 11AM Lour Ureneck reads from his memoir, Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-Fishing and a River Journey Through The Heart of Alaska.  
Categories
Community

That’s a lot of pajamas

This from OC:

Orange County DSS Holiday Programs Receive Pajama Donation

ORANGE COUNTY- The North Carolina chapter of the Pajama Program has donated over 200 new pairs of children’s pajamas to the Orange County Department of Social Service’s holiday programs.

Marcey Cring and the Pajama Program have made sure that at least 200 Orange County children will be warm and cozy on December 26th. The agency has donated 210 pairs of new pajamas to low-income, at-risk children in Orange County. The Pajama Program is a national not-for-profit organization that provides new, warm pajamas and books to children in need in the United States and around the world. “By providing these pajamas, we hope to create a warm and nurturing bedtime environment for vulnerable youngsters living under difficult circumstances. We are simply trying to make the holidays a little bit warmer for needy children in our community,” stated Ms. Cring, Chapter President.

The Pajama Program is one of several organizations or individuals that have already answered the call for holiday donations. However, there are more than 5,000 low-income children in Orange County in need this holiday season. To try to meet these needs, the Orange County Department of Social Services continues to recruit sponsors and donors for the annual county holiday programs, the Orange County Toy Chest and Share Your Holiday. The programs, sponsored by the Orange County Department of Social Services in partnership with Toys for Tots and Balloons and Tunes, provide new toys and clothing for low-income, at-risk Orange County children during the holidays. The agency and its partners recruit donors and sponsors to provide toys, clothing and food to needy Orange County residents.

Anyone interested in donating new children’s toys to the Toy Chest or sponsoring a family through the Share Your Holiday program is encouraged to contact Serena McPherson or Beachy Sanders at (919) 245-2800. Corporate sponsors can contact Sharron Hinton at (919) 245-2840. For more information, or to donate to the Pajama Program, please contact Marcey Cring at (919) 402-1363.

Categories
Sports

CHHS Field Hockey State Champs

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Via Lew Borman:
Chapel Hill Nov.3–For the Chapel Hill Tigers’ field hockey team, it was an unforgettable season that ended with a 2-0 victory over the Asheville Cougars to take the state public high school field hockey championship. The game was played at Wake Forest University Kentner Stadium.

The game was fast paced and both teams were well prepared having faced each other early in this year’s season.

Senior, Taylor Wahrenbrok scored the first goal early in the first half off an assist from junior, Barbara Parks. Sophomore, Alexis Hebert scored the second goal midway through the second half with an assist by Taylor Wahrenbrock.

The Tiger team capitalized on 9 corners while Asheville had 3. Goalkeeper Alyssa Stefanadis had one save in the final minute of the game.

Tigers Coach Diego Cabellero and Assistant Coach Marie Bounds savored the victory after the intense and hard-fought playoff series.

Caption (via the Parks Family):
Field Hockey PAC-VI Conference Champions CHHS Tigers bring
home the State Championship Title. Front Row: Hunter Newton, Jessie Allen, Meghan Cabell, Barbara Parks, Hannah Martin, Grace Krafte, Bonnie Wilson, Taylor Wahrenbrock, Alexis Hebert, Hanna Root. Back Row: Faith Westdorp, Caroline Williams, Kelsey Buckley, Colleen Falvey, Abby McNeal, Liz Passannante, Savannah Kennedy, Steph Straubel, Kira Borman, Head Coach Diego Caballero, Assistant Coach
Marie Bounds, Lucy Bell, Alyssa Stefanadis.