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Nothing to worry about - yet
By adamg on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 2:57pm
Matthew earlier today, via the GOES satellite.
We've reactivated the French Toast Alert System as Hurricane Matthew churns up the Caribbean. We're still at the lowest alert level, because it's too early to say if it'll churn up the Atlantic and smack us or head out into the middle of the Atlantic (remember Hermine?) or even go further into the Caribbean. But we've got a wary eye open.
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Comments
Dark and Stormy Alert System?
Adam,
Have you given any thought to modifying the system for hurricanes?
Maybe we should be checking Gosling's and Baritt's and ice and lime levels.
I'm loading up, just in case!
Respect.
Respect.
Yeah
I'm thinkin Adam needs to modify it.. let's help him by posting ideas we have on how to modify it :-)
Of course I'm drawing a blank right now......
I'm with Neil....
"Dark and Stormy" works on multiple levels. And the following ground rule should be in effect regarding competing proposals: Anyone submitting a "pumpkin spice" alert system will be immediately and permanently banished from UHub.
But!
Isn't the pumpkin spice menace on par with hurricane?
No, pumpkin spice is like DefCon 4!
Or DefCon 1, I've had a few Stormies and can't remember the system.
Regardless, pumpkin spice must be stopped. Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
Cheers!
Glad people liked the idea. I didn't even think it through. My levels would be one Dark and Stormy for a trop storm going up to 5 cocktails for the Cat 5, I guess. I like the different cocktail levels though.
I was under the impression that Gaffin loved all the input from his legion of amateur editors. :)
I've got a million more ideas where this came from...
(Just kidding, keep up the good work Adam!)
Power
I did think of one while sitting in traffic..
The "You're gonna lose power alert system" and just use percentages of a chance
ya i'm lame.. I'm fresh out of ideas.
Dark & Stormies are the best!!
How about that covers the hurricanes if they go to the Caribbean instead of us - would be appropriate (close enough to the Bahamas).
On board
We should have hurricane alert levels named after particular cocktails.
I'll bite
Cucumber martinii
Aviation
Margarita
Whiskey sour
Sazerac
NOLA go-cup slush theme
Jungle Juice
Tropical Passion
Daquiri
WTF
Hurricane 190
OH yeah..
....like the Hurricane Cocktail itself!
Baritt's is traditional, but imo Fever Tree is superior
Best soft ginger beer around. Maine Root is also very good. Both all natural and actually brewed, rather than 'manfactured'.
To wit, wrt hard ginger beer - even though I still have a soft spot for Crabbies, it's no longer a 'real' beer' - they add extract flavor to a brewed neutral base and backsweeten with hfcs.
Fever Tree Rocks
Both the elderberry tonic and the ginger beer.
However, for just pure value, the Polar Goslings mashup cannot be beat. It goes particularly well with the dark rum from Goslings, because it was specifically designed for that. It also works well when the kids grab it and just drink it, because it costs a whole lot less.
I use the Fever Tree when making Dark and Stormies with my "pirate" rums like Ipswich, Triple 8 Hurricane, Medford, or Short Path Golden.
DIY Ginger Beer
I've had good luck using this recipe. I get the yeast at Boston Homebrew Supply at Coolidge Corner 1378b Beacon St. I also have a juicer so getting the ginger juice is no problem,. However friends have improvised chopping up some peeled ginger & bringing it to a boil in a cup of water. As soon as it boils, take it off heat & let it sit for an hour or two. Strain & use.
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 cup Demerara Sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon Champagne yeast
2 ounces fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice
3/4 ounce fresh ginger juice
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 black peppercorns
3 cloves
2 liters filtered water, divided
Dissolve honey & 1 TBSP sugar in a scant 1/2 cup of warm filtered water, then add the yeast, Put everything else except the filtered water into a 2-liter bottle*** and shake vigorously until the sugar is dissolved^^. Add the yeast & sugar mixture and fill the bottle to the halfway point with the filtered water. Shake again, then fill the bottle to the top before giving it a few final shakes. Close securely and leave in warm dark place for 48 hrs. Take care and open the bottle slowly, allowing the built-up pressure to release. Once opened, the bottle should be kept in the fridge and opened at least once a day to release any pressure. If you want to stop fermentation and reduce or even eliminate the daily opening, pour the beer off into another bottle or several smaller bottles being careful to leave the sediment.
*** A plastic soda bottle works best, I've found. It makes it easy to tell when fermentation, which is dependent on ambient temps., has reached the right level. If the bottle is firm with no give when you squeeze it, then the ginger beer is ready to open.
^^You can help the dissolving phase by processing the Demerara in a blender until it's superfine.
Adam/WashPost
Your article you posted on twitter about the similarities to Hurricanes Hazel and Carol in 1954 was interesting. We may actually get hit if it follows Carol's path (and be a nasty hurricane).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/09/28/t...
I'm actually concerned about getting a near or direct hit with strong winds. We've had a few gusty days recent that have taken down trees without much effort because it's been so dry. I'm concerned we'd see alot more damage if we got a very windy hurricane.
But on the good side (remotely) if it's very wet.. it'll put a nice dent in our drought.
But on the good side
Not quite - tropical systems are never good at easing extreme drought conditions. Too much rain too quickly, most of it just runs off instead of be absorbed into the ground. Plus, the side effects (heavy wind) don't counterract the rain benefit we do get.
Ugh, come on NASA
All that technology and you can't make the land/water border and political borders different colors or thicknesses or dashed lines or something?
That Venezuela/Colombia border keeps messing with my mind in this framing.
How's this?
And in full color, no less!
From this NASA site.
Ooooh, pretty!
I love shots like this, especially when they come from astronauts in the ISS as they zoom overhead (this one is from the GOES satellite though which is quite a bit further up).
This NASA site is a great daily visit if you want to see some amazing images and analyses of Earth:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Aw, bull cookies!
All you REALLY want is another excuse to gorge yourself on pain perdu!
Guess I picked the wrong week to give up biting my fingernails
Matthew is now a Category 4 storm. Entire east coast at potential risk later next week, Weather Underground says.
Meanwhile, in Jamaica, which is right in the path of the storm, one government minister says the country is facing a national crisis, especially since "a wide cross section of Jamaica do not believe Matthew is coming."
EEEEK
http://icons.wxug.com/hurricane/steveg/2016/500MB-...
But that's 9 days out from here... plenty of time to stock up on everything.
Unless
there is a panic run on ginger beer.
I'll hook you up if you need ginger beer
I've got the mother lode on the South Shore. Might give you a sixer early on. Maybe a can later. I guarantee anyone that makes it to Hull during hurricane gets a Dark and stormy into they run out. Irish whiskey or tequila after that!
Watchin the TIIIIIDE roll away
Well, around 6:00 pm on the 9th we'll have high tide in Boston Harbor, so hopefully nothing like Matthew will be rolling in with that. Be thankful he's not getting here ten days later when the predicted King Tide will have the water levels a couple of feet even higher than normal.
I guess all the bullshit babble around "Climate Resiliency Planning" will have to get actually real, real fast.
Know your Zone!
(puts on public safety hat)
MEMA has all the maps of all 81 coastal communities in MA subject to storm surge.
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/agencies/mema/emergencies/hurricanes/hurricane...
That includes even inland places like Arlington and Watertown.
MEMA also has some excellent advice and checklists for planning ahead for extreme weather events. Worth a look now, and some family and housemate discussion, before all the bread, milk, ginger beer, and rum are gone from the shelves: http://www.mass.gov/eopss/agencies/mema/emergencies/hurricanes/
(safety dance over, soothing music hat on)
I don't know if anyone noticed this
but there was some glitch on WGBH radio Wednesday morning around 6:30 when announcer Bob Seay usually gives a weather update. He began to talk about a snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic states, heading our way, and projected to drop 3-4 inches of snow on Boston. Not yet sufficiently caffeinated to be alert, I initially panicked & wondered why I had heard no mention on the 11 pm news before I went to bed. I then I checked here and, seeing no French toast alert, knew something was wrong. Seay's snow announcement faded out, followed by a moment of silence, then the live weather update. Cue the Twilight Zone theme....
In the eye of the storm
Timing
Interesting how September was National Preparedness Month ...
https://www.ready.gov/september
*slips tinfoil hat on*
Pure Statistics
September and October are our peak months for cyclonic mayhem. No tinfoil necessary. ;-)
Well
It is the Official Website of Homeland Security.
Some conspiracy theorist will find something in there ...
errrr?
Yeah, they should have hurricane preparedness month NOT during the start of the time when we get hit by them. Like handing out snow shovels in July...?