Jay Richards

On any given weekend, it is normal for the boys to have friends over. This past weekend each boy had a friend over. Makes for some serious testosterone running around in the house but like Jonell says, wouldn't have it any other way and what it is all about having kids and plenty of good times and laughs.


And they are always helpful when we ask for help at the lodge.


Jon and Dahlen warming up before Sunday's hockey game. Clearing out the dining room so Jonell and the gals can poly this week.

It has been a most dry Fall. Not unusually warm but one of the driest on record. We are getting deep into November and now the desire for snow is getting more serious. Talk of the first real storm of the year for this coming weekend is hitting the waves. I keep tabs on the weather daily year round but starting November, the scan of various websites becomes more frequent. Two of the places I keep tabs on, West Yellowstone and our old stomping grounds, Essex, MT. have been getting some good snow and the forecasts look favorable the next week for snow. The weather patterns in these places is indicative of weather we might get 7-10 days out, from my experience keeping track. Not the exact same with snow totals generally being higher in MT but cold and precip similar. Alaska is also another state I keep an eye one. Mainly when they are experiencing severe cold weather and usually we can expect that 2 weeks later.

John Dee fires up his forecasts in November and you can always count on John to have a carrot dangle for snow lovers 7-10 days out. He has a text forecast and graphic forecast (below) and I always look at the graphic first to get excited than read the text to see why.

Intellicast is a nice site for looking at surface forecast models. Again, from 12 years of keeping a hasty track, they seem to be pretty accurate on the location of snow and the size of a system etc. 1-3 days out after a forecast is posted. A forecast might say 40% and the models will show where, like the one above for tomorrow, the possible tracking and where it might snow or rain.

Founder and CEO of Broadcast Weather, Paul Douglas provides forecasts for StarTrib and has a bunch of weather info on his blog and one of many meteorologists who keeps global warming at the for front. I do wish he would touch base to NW MN as he keeps pretty metro, central MN and north shore focused. Today, for example, it was snowing and lower 30's despite warmer temps in the above places.

Joe Bastardi, guy is a riot, he also keeps global warming on the forefront but provides statistics and information that shows the earth is cooling. He probably is the most interesting person to follow on twitter. His views on global warming in clip above and below (not sure why embedding twice).





Probably the most level headed forecasters are at WDAY in Fargo, John Wheeler and Daryl Ritchinson. The two meteorologists have a blog that have simple, easy to read, weather related events and information and ground a lot of the weather rumors out there. There is a great post about "green" cars you should check out for sure.

Weather Underground has a nice mobile app with a scientific discusssion that explains things nicely.

Bottom line, weather is extremely fascinating and the information available a person could waste a lot of time. The above links are areas I have narrowed on to and can spend 15 minutes getting an idea and help decide actions for grooming and the day activtities instead of listening someone give their personal opinion on cold and snow instead of simple facts. My favorite course in college was weather and climate. The avalanche training I did in Montana was super interesting learning snow science and understanding weather and how it affects snow pack and avalanche conditions. I am cautious to put much belief in some of the global warming information provided because there isn't record keeping that goes back far enough. Comparing weather events the last ten years to 150 years ago is really nothing when you can't compare 500 years ago the earth could of been much warmer or cooler. That's not to say we shouldn't respect the environment though. Many people who lived in the late 60's and 70's remember winters, in particular, November, being very cold and snowy and will say "not like it used to be" but you have to keep in mind that the late 60's and 70's were below "normal" and maybe not accurate to compare to. A person could discuss this and argue both sides on and on.


Think Snow!