So, it’s now officially Spring. March came in like a lamb and the first day of Spring has turned out to be quite a nice day. Hopefully, this is a preview of the next few months until summer arrives.

I just checked the Environment Canada website and at noon today the temperature was 10C. This means that Ottawa drivers risk running afoul of the by-law enforcement officers if they’re observed idling their cars for more than three minutes if the temperature is 5C or warmer, taking into consideration the windchill. I don’t recall hearing about anyone being charged since they started enforcing it a couple of years ago, so perhaps Ottawa drivers are turning off their engines when they’re waiting to pick someone up.

What do you think of this by-law?

TAF CYOW 082038Z 0821/0918 25006KT P6SM FEW030
BECMG 0821/0823 VRB03KT
FM090300 07008KT P6SM BKN100
BECMG 0909/0911 09015KT
FM091100 08015G30KT 2SM -SN OVC012 TEMPO 0911/0914 6SM -SN OVC030
FM091400 09020G30KT 1/4SM +SN BLSN VV001 TEMPO 0914/0918 1SM -SN
BLSN OVC008
RMK NXT FCST BY 090000Z=

Looks like it’s going to be windy (30 knots or 55 km/h) and snowy tomorrow, starting about the same time everyone’s going to be driving to work. Whee.

TAF CYOW 300238Z 3003/3024 04005KT 6SM -RA BR OVC015
      TEMPO 3003/3007 3SM -RA BR BKN006 OVC010
     FM300700 02004KT P6SM -RA OVC020
      TEMPO 3007/3009 5SM -RASN BR OVC008
     FM300900 01008KT 4SM -SN BR OVC020
      TEMPO 3009/3012 2SM -SN OVC008
     FM301200 33005KT P6SM OVC040
      TEMPO 3012/3015 4SM -SHSN OVC020
     FM301800 29010KT P6SM BKN030
      RMK NXT FCST BY 300600Z

Looks like there’s going to be some snow tomorrow. Ick.

At the risk of taunting the weather gods, it looks like the weather for the Fall 400 dragonboat festival in Carleton Place this weekend is going to be perfect. The text version of the forecast suggests there will be “a mix of sun and clouds” with a high of 25°C. No threat of rain there.

(Of course, now that I have posted this, the weather will probably consist of rain, wind and waterspouts that will suck the frogs up from the river and cause them to rain down on us, too. Weather gods are fickle.)

Anyways, the Fall 400 is the last race of the year my team, the Algonquin College Singapore Slings, takes part in. It’s held on the Mississippi River in Carleton Place at the Carleton Place Canoe Club every fall. Because the river is very narrow and there’s a bit of a bend, there are only four lanes and the races are 400m, as opposed to the usual 500m. Though the lanes are straight, the bend in the river can make it look like the lanes are actually curved, which can be a bit disconcerting when you’re on the start line.

Another thing I really like about the Fall 400 is the fact that you can stand on the shore anywhere along the entire length of the race course, mere metres from the boats as they race downstream. There’s nothing like racing down a course with people cheering just a few metres away!

So, here’s hoping that the weather gods play nice this weekend and everyone has good races at the Fall 400.

People in Ottawa experienced yet another day with rain. Today’s weather, however, included torrential downpours, lightning and strong winds. I noticed within the span of about 15 minutes that the air temperature dropped by more than 5 degrees, confirming that there was a cold front blasting through. As I drove westwards back up to the cottage, I drove through the front and emerged into relatively clear air. Looking back towards the east, I saw some really impressive clouds trailing along the backside of the cold front, so I stopped to take some pictures. (In fact, a couple of the photos were looking west, but still impressive.)

View Full Album

At least we didn’t experience the weather that people living north of Ottawa did. Mike (VA3MPM) was on his way to his cottage near Maniwaki to check on damage caused by the storm. when I talked to him while en route to Golden Lake. I gather he lost a tree that was holding up an antenna, while one set of neighbours had their house dumped in the lake, contents and all, including some of the people and their three dogs. No one was hurt, fortunately, but their house is a write-off, as are most of the boats on the lake. Another neighbour of his was on the couch when he saw “stuff” normally found in/on a house blowing through the sky à la Wizard of Oz. Yikes!

We’re approaching the last weekend of June and that means that the ARRL Field Day is nigh. Field Day is an amateur radio event which sees amateur radio operators setting up temporary stations in public places so that people can learn about amateur radio, and usually using generators and batteries rather than commercial electricity. Field Day starts at 1800Z (2:00pm Eastern) Saturday afternoon and runs through 1800Z on Sunday.

The Manotick Amateur Radio Group is going to be operating under its club callsign, VE3AIR, as a class 5A station, which means a 5 transmitter, club portable station. Being portable means that we’ll be using generators and batteries. We’re setting up at Long Island Marine (map and directions) in Kars starting later this afternoon.

Historically, the weather for this weekend has been highly variable. The National Capital Airshow used to be held this weekend and I remember weather ranging from face-of-the-sun-hot to cold, wet and miserable, sometimes all in the same weekend. Darin (VE3OIJ) and Bob (VA3QV) have both commented on the weather forecasts, which looked rather gloomy when they posted, but I think (hope) they’re wrong. I checked the forecast this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see this:

The TAF for CYOW shows a 30% probability of overnight thunderstorms:

TAF CYOW 261139Z 2612/2712 30012G22KT P6SM FEW080 BKN140 PROB30
2618/2623 3SM TSRA BR BKN020 OVC040CB
FM262300 33005KT P6SM BKN050 PROB30 2623/2703 3SM TSRA BR BKN020
OVC040CB
RMK NXT FCST BY 261500Z=

Hopefully they don’t manifest because antennas are uncomfortably like lightning rods.

If you’re looking for something to do Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, you can visit VE3AIR at Long Island Marine (map and directions) and see what Field Day and amateur radio are all about.