The Scientist

As a scientist (inspired by Coldplay's song with the same name), you observe. I remember back on February, 2011 when we had a few flurries in Monterrey, (as well as the coldest air in many years, that was when Dallas hosted the Superbowl under a heavy snow blanket) and wondered why was snow not accumulating if it was below freezing. All I could think of was that the ground stayed above freezing. Was it the sun and the dry ground?

Almost two years later, we get hit with two different ice storms (with a little snow mixed in) in late November and early December in Odessa, Texas. Both winter storms brought below freezing temperatures for more than 72 hours in a row.

Back in November, ice began coating cars, trees, grass, and shrubs right away, but it was not until the second day after the sun had set that streets began to ice. During this time, the temperatures were nearly steady in the upper 20s (-1˚C or -2˚C), but part of the ice melted during the day even though it was cloudy. Why?

Last week was not as icy, however, temperatures reached the teens and the lower 20s (-6˚C to -9˚C) during the daytime, and ice did not melt. It was cloudy as well.

The sun heats the ground and then the ground heats the air above it. So, apparently, what keeps the snow from accumulating and what keeps the ice melting during the daytime, when temperatures are below freezing is the sun's radiation. That must be the reason why the ground gets very hot on a summer day. Eventually it can get cold enough to keep the snow or the ice from melting despite the sun's rays. I know that under cloudy skies, snow and ice should not thaw if it is -6˚C or less. Would this happen on a sunny day too? That remains to be seen.

I doesn't matter if you're a teacher, once you've completed a bachelors degree in science, you will remain a scientist forever. In fact, who could teach science if it wasn't for teachers? Knowledge is worthless when it dies with you. 

Did I mention this? We had freezing fog on Tuesday morning, but flurries mixed in and accumulated right away, but only on some spots. These pictures were taken before going to school. 

Violet Hill

"Was a long and dark December

from the rooftops I remember

there was snow

white snow

Clearly I remember

from the windows they were watching

while we froze 

down below"

excerpt from Colplay's song "Violet Hill" 

But this is actually Odessa, Texas

At noon, December 6th, 2013 it was -5°C (23°F)

Porqué los “Jelly Beans” de Jelly Belly en General no Valen la Pena

Son de los más caros, una bolsa con unos 200 de esos puede costar $3.50 dólares más impuestos (unos 50 pesos). A pesar de eso, hay algo que los hace especiales. Probablemente son los únicos que están hechos con ingredientes naturales siempre que se puede, además de los saborizantes artificiales. Puede que sea por mercadotecnia el hecho de que así lo digan, pero al parecer les funciona.

Son 50 los sabores oficiales, pero tienen además los sabores no oficiales, que llevanotros nombres. Tienen cinco sabores “Snapple”, seis “chocolate dip”, cinco “superfruits”, seis de algún sabor de soda (tres de ellos son sabores oficiales), cinco de nieve “Coldstone”, seis “cocktails” (tres de ellos son sabores oficiales), cinco “sour” (uno de ellos es sabor oficial). Sin contar los seis sabores de los que son para deportistas, sumando todos los sabores nos da un total de 81 sabores distintos.

Para ver objetivamente (para uno mismo) si valen la pena o no, hay que comprar una muestra de todos los sabores, al menos los oficiales. Después de probarlos todos, marqué con verde los que están muy buenos, en azul los que están bien para cuando traes antojo, y en rojo los que tienen un sabor que mejor ni describo.

Los que verdaderamente están buenos son: zarzamora, lima-limón, mora azul, cereza, Dr. Pepper, manzana roja y cereza ácida.  Esto me dice que no hay necesidad de comprar los Jelly Beans de todos los sabores. Afortunadamente tengo un roomie que se come todos los que dejé. Los de manzana verde acida y los de uva acida también están buenísimos, pero eso hay que comprarlos en la bolsa de los sours (ácidos). Vale la pena comprar solo los sours (ácidos) y regalarle los de naranja y los de lima a Paulina, que se los come todos. Realmente esto depende de los gustos de cada quien. Queda pendiente una visita a la fábrica de estos dulces cuando vaya a California. 

Viajando Solo

Cuando vas con gente es más divertido, pero a veces necesitas tiempo para ir a tu propio ritmo. 

A veces no te queda de otra y viajas solo de todos modos. 

En Casa

Solo por dos días gracias a la helada esa, pero se siente rico estar en casa. Probablemente nunca regrese en la semana de Thanksgiving. Lo bueno es que aunque fueron dos días menos de lo planeado, los pendientes urgentes quedaron resueltos.

Es curioso esperar a comer una hamburguesa Del Río con las mismas ansias con las que antes esperaba comer una Whataburger.  

Es increíble el ver que es difícil encontrar restaurants mexicanos auténticos en Texas, siendo estado vecino a México.

A veces las ideas salen de la cabeza a la computadora para no aburrirse tanto en lo que se espera la salida del avión. 

A Winter Storm Kept me Grounded in Odessa, but not for long

It was about a week ago when I talked about how hopeful I was about leaving today. A cold spell was expected, but nothing really serious, right? Wrong! 

When a shallow layer of freezing air is overrun by warmer air (above freezing) it causes rain to freeze upon impact with the ground, especially on leaves, grass, and cars. But the worst thing is that bridges are the first to freeze. Occasionally, rain may freeze before reaching the ground. This is known as ice or sleet, as shown on the picture above. This only lasted a few minutes, as most of the time all I saw was plain rain that froze:

Update November 24th: It was mainly freezing rain, but sleet (ice pellets) and a few snow flurries fell at times. Pictures are worth more than 1000 words, so here they are:

November 25th: I must say that the most beautiful pictures were not taken due to safety reasons (hey, you don't stop to take pictures in the middle of a busy highway then you're driving over snow!). It all began like this:

After temperatures reached the mid 30s (about 1-2 degrees Celsius) and the sun began coming out I took the car and drove away from Odessa. Southern Ector county was buried in snow, and a gray purple sky made it look like a true winter wonder shrub-land. There was snow on the highway, in between the two lanes, and right in the edges. After Crane there were white hills, but on the other side, after having a gray-purple sky and a white ground it turned to yellow-orange ground, green-yellow shrubs, blue skies and white clouds in 5 minutes!

There were a few spots of ice and snow all the way up to Ozona, as the semi-desert slowly changed into a forest. Fall colors began showing up around Junction, and they were even better in Kerrville (where H-E-B began), but it was too dark to take pictures. Cowboy Steakhouse (in Kerrville) was really nice and cozy:

I'm safe and sound in San Antonio, I'll be in Monterrey tomorrow.