Total Pageviews

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Interesting About Fog ~ German Potato Pancakes ~ National Pie Day

  


Good 26º frozen morning. 
 
Yesterday we started frozen, 30º, and finally the sun came and the ice was "steaming" off the barn roof...
 

The day was nice and we topped at 63º.

 
Picture of the Day...perfect timing 
 

 
Interesting about fog....
 

The scene can be as spectacular as a view from above showing only the tops of city skyscrapers poking through or as disorienting as a sheet of gray directly in front of you.

While common in some locations, fog can simply amaze us.

According to the Glossary of Meteorology from the American Meteorological Society, fog is a collection of water droplets suspended in the atmosphere in the vicinity of the earth's surface that affects visibility. Specifically, fog reduces visibility below 1 kilometer (or 0.62 miles). 

 


The most common form of fog, known as radiation fog, typically occurs on clear nights as the earth's surface cools moist air immediately above it. If just enough light wind is present – a couple of mph, at most –  this chilled air can be gently stirred through a deeper layer, forming a deeper radiation fog. 

Often in the fall, you'll see morning fog hug lower valleys of the Appalachians. This valley fog, really just a type of radiation fog, results from cold, dense air draining down mountain slopes at night, collecting in the valley floors, then forming as any other radiation fog described above.

Incidentally, let's dispel a myth. Fog does not burn off, per se. 

As solar energy heats the ground near the fog's edge, vertical mixing brings drier air into the fog's edge, evaporating it. A typical ground fog will dissipate first at its edges, where its depth is more shallow, working its way toward the thicker center of the fog. 

Sometimes fog forms when warm air moves over a cold surface. Warm air moving over snow-covered ground in winter and sea fog drawn inland over a cool land surface along the West Coast are two prime examples of so-called advection fog.



Unlike radiation fog,

advection fog can sometimes be seen as moving laterally along or near the ground.

When surface temperatures are below freezing, water droplets in a fog are supercooled, waiting to freeze on contact with any subfreezing surface. These freezing fog events can be dangerous not only for a reduction in visibility but also for a light accumulation of ice on roads, particularly bridges and overpasses.


At even colder temperatures, fog made up solely of tiny ice crystals will form. This ice fog is common in the winter months in parts of Alaska's interior, among other locations closer to the poles.


You may also notice steam fog from some lakes in the fall or early winter. Cold air overlaying warm air near the warm lake surface is an unstable configuration, lending itself to rising air. The mixing of cool air chills the warmer, more moist air immediately above the lake to allow condensation and a cloud to form. You can typically see wispy, vertical currents of fog rising from the lake.

The Appalachians, parts of northern New England and the Pacific Northwest each typically see at least 40 days a year with dense fog (at least one-quarter mile visibility or lower). Of course, morning fog makes up the lion's share of these days, after which late-morning/afternoon sunshine is plentiful.

Parts of the northern Gulf Coast and California coast can also have frequent fog, if not always dense fog.

In winter, valley fog can hang stubbornly in lower elevations of the Great Basin, as well as California's Central Valley, as the combination of warmer air aloft moves over an area just soaked by the storm. Add an Arctic air mass spilling over the Continental Divide into the Great Basin, and this so-called "inversion" fog can hang in for days in places like Salt Lake City

 and Boise, trapping pollution near the ground, as well.


What about the least foggy location in the Lower 48 States? That would be the Desert Southwest, from southern Nevada and southwest Utah into Arizona and southwest New Mexico, averaging only a few days a year of dense fog. 


 
 
 
 
 
From Mr. Food
 


We use real potatoes in our German Potato Pancakes to make sure we get that classic potato pancake taste we know and love. Whether you serve these up for a family breakfast or serve 'em on the side of dinner, we know the gang'll go crazy for them!

 

  • 4 baking potatoes (about 1-1/2 pounds)
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

 

  1. Coarsely grate the potatoes and put them and the onion in a strainer. Press down with the back of a large spoon to extract excess moisture. (If they're still watery, wrap them in a clean dish towel and squeeze to extract moisture.)
     
  2. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onion, and egg; mix well. Gradually add flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper; mix well.
     
  3. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1/4 inch oil. Using about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, add batter to the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. 
     
  4. Fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden; turn and fry an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until cooked through. Add more oil as needed until all batter is used. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
 
 
 
Historically this date.....
1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000. HOLY COW!



 
1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Morayregent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.



 
1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States' first female doctor



 
1968 – North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo (AGER-2), claiming the ship had violated their territorial waters while spying.



 
1973 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.



 
 
2002 – Reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in KarachiPakistan and subsequently murdered .

 
And births this date include....
1898 – Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1Da5wD6tiCdk28eYpl09C54Yqzz6DZPT-L5xT1oZMmwmkZQXbnc68Mb3h-Pf6zJJVgNAE-RLbMVBWrxZqV00EL_R0f3QS2-fRAc2SySDepbZNQ-rwhCy3wM_DD9SY1yA5cXqHoV4HJ8/s1600/randolphscottMA28929622-0012.jpg
 
1919 – Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (d. 1962)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEity_HCwakm0X4IDWizJJyEdzkMOcv-_iz9jKo_FOFuOAvP5DdyVfT8b7XSR2lMgbQicnINw96iWRUDhLOFN3xeuWuvhuTMs15aePpJ7lQzH67FTVvJOvgswLp53xdCFBpwIBZFkgRe0LY/s1600/erniekovacsMA28929622-0013.jpg
 
1951 – Chesley Sullenberger, Captain of US Airways Flight 1549, a flight that successfully ditched into the Hudson River
 
 
 
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ppvGlBfGtziRmL6FB7VIseA4_PTNhi7iR4HVoihnhOGMbYFagA28472AjSGI9J6W94uIsxkd3jBi6Qg0pTGVJxR4xfSrM4SoVniuDSra6lBDhzXKYn2g8S5PymGNbIM0BKtdHLesoIk/s1600/carolineMA28929622-0015.jpg
 
1964 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK2IcoGwSKCRzwMqZyKdZme0FfKeu57x_Re3Tbg8zURTE__8Z0XHMF6Dh_v1CVSYnb1RLNgL-Tu-8m3P3Oer48FL4vKWdha6Bu5v2DhOtUt8k0CEihFf8TDUAcFpklcW9wpgyBfrkeqM/s1600/mariska-hargitay-layered-bangsMA28929622-0016.jpg
 
 

 
All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Sunday. Ciao.
xo Sue Mom Bobo

 
National Pie Day on January 23rd celebrates one of the Nations’ favorite desserts. No matter how you slice it, pie in just about any form makes a crowd happy. Fruit pies, berry pies, cream pies – they’re mouth water servings of homemade goodness.
National Pie Day was created simply to celebrate the pie.  It is a day for all to bake or cook their favorite pies.  Even more importantly, it is a day set aside for all to enjoy eating pies!
The first pies appeared around 9500 BC in the Egyptian Neolithic period or New Stone Age.

NATIONAL PIE DAY HISTORY

The American Pie Council created National Pie Day in 1986 to commemorate Crisco’s 75th anniversary of “serving foods to families everywhere.”