Patience. That's all we need to get through our weather. Whether it's drought, persistent rain, blizzards or bitter cold, we just have to toughen it out and have patience. It soon passes.
So, will be the case with our next wave of rain that'll come through the area Thursday. It seems like we've been on an every other day situation with our weather. One day it rains, the next day sunny and then it rains the next day. That wet/dry cycle will come to an end soon.
Following Thursday's showers will be a trend of dry, sunny and mild weather which should last straight through the weekend.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice (and necessary in some locations in the area) that we get the timely rain. But, it's also nice to get the chance to be outdoors in the sunshine and mild temperatures before the mosquitoes and humidity become problems.
Grab the sunglasses and slap on the sunscreen, the weekend is looking bright!
I'll admit it, I'm a superhero geek! Hold the phone, I haven't gone to the level of hoarding decades old comics! But I do love the movie remakes.
I bring this topic up in this post after watching the latest superhero movie, Ironman. To be honest, Ironman wasn't real high on my superhero popularity list. In fact, I knew very little about him. I guess I did know a few things: a) he was a man and b) that he surrounding himself in Iron. Robert Downey, Jr., who is one of my favorite actors, played Ironman in the big screen feature. The movie was a lot of fun and gave us a hint that their is more to come in this series. If you see the movie, make sure you watch all the way to the end of the credits!
As far as superhero movies are concerned, the original Superman (played by Christopher Reeve) is my all time favorite super hero movie. With great acting skill, he made the transistion from the goofy, nerdy Clark Kent to the man of steel. My favorite villian, Lex Luther, Superman's arch nemesis, was played by another of my favorite actor's Gene Hackman. And of course Lois Lane, played by Margot Kidder, was helpless, but intelligent, at the same time.
Here are my top superhero movies.. 1) Superman I 2) Superman II 3) Spiderman 4) Spiderman II 5) Ironman 6) Batman Begins 7) Batman (played by Michael Keaton, Joker: Jack Nicholson) 8) Fantastic 4 9) X-Men 10) The Incredible Hulk (the new one looks great)
Let me know what you think and post your comment on your favorite superhero, or superhero movie!
It's been there for the taking for me for 12 years and I finally did it. I conquered the Sioux Falls bike trail!
In my opinion, this trail is one of the crown jewels in the city of Sioux Falls. When I first moved here back in the mid-90s the trail only covered about half the city and was disjointed. Through the work and efforts of many people, the trail course was completed and now it encircles the city. Even before completion the trail was a popular spot for bikers, joggers and roller bladers.
Now that the weather has warmed up you should have no excuse not to check out the bike trail! Maybe I'll see you out there!
Is the card in the mail? Did you order the flowers? What time is brunch on Sunday? These are probably the questions that are going through your mind right now. They're going through my mind too. Thankfully, I'm ahead of the game this year and have already put the card and gift for my mom in the mail.
I know my mom, Carol, deserves some appreciation for all that she's done for me. It boggles my mind when I think about how she kept her wits being a single, working mother of 5 kids! And she didn't work at just any job, she was a nurse who worked the graveyard shift! But even with that unusual schedule, she always found time to keep me and my siblings in line.
I know my brothers, sister and I, have certainly put mom through plenty of stressful times over the years. Incidents like me getting struck by a car when I was three to my brother getting run over by a train while heading to school to dealing with 5 kids who all played sports. To say she was stressed out through that is not saying enough!
One not-so-stressful, but funny, moment my mom had to deal with is when we all decided not eat what she cooked one night. To deal with our poor behavior, she decided to make us all eat cream of mushroom soup instead. Mind you, none of us liked this soup. So we all sat there, quietly looking at each other wondering who would be the first to finish. All the while, mom stood over us like a prison guard. We laugh now, but mom was "at wits end". That was one of her many sayings she'd throw at us when we misbehaved.
So in memory of all the good times and stressful ones that we put you through. Thanks mom. For all those times you drove me to hockey practice, baked thousands of goodies (I still remember the homemade doughnuts) and for being their for me when I needed you. Thanks for everything.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there and hope your card comes soon!
As a meteorologist, I come across so much information, sometimes on a daily basis, about global warming. Actually, I see it everyday during ABC's Good Morning America. Meteorologist Sam Champion has been sent out on many assignments around the globe to show us the effects of global warming. At the same time, Sam presents new ways you can "green up" your life with energy efficient ideas.
This constant barrage of information convinced me to buy the global warming edition of National Geographic. If you're unfamiliar with the global warming issue, I suggest buying this issue and reading up. Articles in this issue range from polar ice disappearing and glaciers melting to growing droughts across the globe to how you and I create that carbon footprint. The overriding idea of each article is to say we are, in some small part, affecting how the environment changes. The magazine also makes a strong case that carbon dioxide and methane levels change are directly related to changing temperatures (i.e. if carbon dioxide levels rise, so do temperatures).
No matter what your opinion may be on the global warming issue, i highly suggest you pick up this magazine. It will open your eyes to the global impact of a warming earth.
How would you feel if the entire population of Yankton county was wiped out? Yankton county, according to a 2006 census, had just over 21,000 people living in it. That was just how many people died as a result of a major cyclone that struck the southeast Asian country of Myanmar. As of this writing, the number of people killed, missing and left homeless was nowhere near final and all numbers may be a lot higher over the course of the next few days and weeks.
These cyclones are similar to hurricanes in our part of the world. They seem to hit with even greater force than any hurricane in the western hemisphere.
Southeast Asia is a part of the world that seems to be hit the hardest when it comes to natural disasters. Most of us are old enough to remember the massive tsunami that struck much of southeast Asia around Christmas 2004. As many as 225,000 people were killed in 11 countries after an underwater earthquake trigger a massive tsunami. This makes it one of the world's worst natural disasters in recent memory.
Two other cyclones in this part of the word rank higher in death toll numbers than the 2004 tsunami. A cyclone that hit Bangladesh in 1970 killed anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 people. That made it the 4th worst natural disaster on record. The 5th worst natural disaster was also a cyclone that hit this part of the world. That one struck India in 1839. Over 300,000 people were killed in that event.
Unfortunately, large populations, favorable geography for flooding, along with poor weather warnings in combination with limited mass media, have led to too many mass casualty disasters in southeast Asia. The last two items can be improved to alert of people of immediate danger. The United States has led the world in storm prediction, especially when it comes to hurricanes. The strong relationship between weather forecasting entities, like the National Hurricane Center, and the mass media have given most people who live in hurricane danger zones plenty of information and time to escape danger.
We can only hope that southeast Asian countries can improve their warning methods to avoid further major disasters.
Just a few random thoughts from an inspiring weekend in this edition of the Post.
The weather was inspiring everyone to get out and shop on Saturday. Every business I went to in Sioux Falls seemed to be bursting at the seems with people. A few of my friends work in retail and were very happy to have customers back in the stores. I'm sure the Sioux Falls economy got a nice shot in the arm with the increase in business, thanks to Mother Nature
The human spirit was inspired Saturday night down in Tea at an event called "We Dig Doug". The event was a fundraiser for a gentleman by the name of Doug Lee. Doug was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Burkitt's Lymphoma. What was terrific about this event was the amount of people who stepped up to help out Doug and his family. The event included dinner, a silent auction, an auction for a Harley Davidson motorcycle and live music. Doug has already started the aggressive treatment of this cancer. But he didn't let the effects from that treatment keep him from attending. He lit up the crowd with his appearance and words of hope. All proceeds are going toward Doug and his family as he fights this disease. You can go to the following web site to help Doug and his family. http://www.wedigdoug.com/
I've lived in the Midwest all my life, but South Dakota is the only state where I've lived where we've had a blizzard in one part of the state and tornadoes in the other.
That was again the case for the May Day Storm. The powerful spring storm brought these two forms of severe weather to the Rushmore state to start the month. As of this writing, the western part of the state was getting hammered with heavy snow and blizzard conditions. The Rapid City area was seeing the brunt of the winter weather problems. Anywhere from a foot to 3 feet of snow could fall in the Black Hills region once the snow ends late Friday.
Meanwhile, heavy rain will be a big concern Friday across southeast South Dakota. As much as 1 to 3 inches of rain over the same area that saw severe weather on Thursday. This may mean flash flooding conditions for parts of southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota.
Once again, this storm is an ongoing concern and bares watching. Stay with KSFY-TV and ksfy.com for the latest updates.
Our weather is finally warming up and it's happening just in time for the start of the spring sports seasons. Soccer, baseball and softball fields around the area are packed these days. It's a good thing.
For the last few years, I've been out there watching my kids on the diamond. Boy does time fly. It seems like yesterday when my daughter first stepped out onto a baseball diamond. This year marks her 5th year playing ball. She's now transitioned into playing competitive softball! My son is entering year two of his baseball career! It really is a joy to watch both of them participating in games I love to play!
Baseball really is the right of summer and I know why my kids enjoy playing. I remember playing ball when I was a kid. Back then, I didn't jump into the mini-van to get to practice or wait with baited breath for treats to be handed out at the end of the game. Back in the day, going to be play baseball was all about riding your bike to practice and games and the "treat" was playing ball with your friends.
Hope you have a great sports season, whatever you play.
May is the 2nd wettest month of the year, on average, across South Dakota and the surrounding states. With the way the weather pattern has been lately, it looks like we'll keep it wet.
May 2008 will begin with a big shot of moisture. Another powerful spring storm is set to strike the region for the end of the work week. As a result, you can expect another round of heavy rain and snow. Snow amounts could be on the higher side over central and western South Dakota. Amounts could reach between 2 to 5 inches. Across much of eastern South Dakota the precip will be mostly in the form of rain with a few imbedded thunderstorms. Some storms cold be on the stronger side too. We could also see a shot at more rain snow mix as this storm moves off to the east.
The strong wind will continue too. The wind will sustain between 15 to 30 as this storm blows through.
Now here's an interesting fact... Sioux Falls' most significant May snowfall fell in 1944 when 3 inches of snow fell on the city. The storm that is moving through could easily dump that amount of snow over much of the area. As of this writing, it appeared as if the heaviest snow would stay off to the north and west of Sioux Falls.
It looks like more rain producing storms are on the way for May. According to the monthly precipitation outlook, from the Climate Prediction Center, much of the upper Midwest is looking at the prospect of above normal moisture.
As we always say, stay tuned to the latest forecasts here on ksfy.com!
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