Musings on office snow-closing

Yes, there is snow in the forecast for today - late afternoon/evening through about midnight (estimated accumulation in Amherst of one to two inches). So, of course, people are already wondering about snow closings.

Which brings me to this superlative Dilbert comic strip. A special shout out to everyone trapped at work, wanting to go home and watch the snow fall (when it finally does, that is).  Enjoy!

Return of the UFO from three years ago?

So, has anyone seen this???? A few days after our blog post about the Amherst UFO sightings three years ago, we received the following reply, about A VERY SIMILAR SIGHTING, this time in Conway, last week. Please share - either we are getting repeat visitations from something extraterrestrial, or there are indeed unmanned fairly sizable drones populating our skies. (Or maybe both!). What do you think is going on?

Here's the posting we got:
"I read this article yesterday (the one by Rebecca Everett) for the first time and my jaw dropped. I am SO happy it was posted!!! I live in Conway, MA, and on 1/5/16, I had an identical experience to what the people saw in Amherst, with a diamond shaped vessel that SLOWLY went over our house, flying VERY low. My husband and I both saw it. I called the Chicopee and Westfield Airforce bases the following morning, which both denied having any unmanned drones. The only reason I called them was because it looked like 2 people could ride in it, or either be an unmanned drone- the size of 2 cars or a small plane. It was around 8:45 at night, and I was watching the fish in our newly set up tank next to our sliding glass doors. My son was sitting in my lap, and I happened to look out the large window of the door and saw lights coming towards our house through the trees. I immediately said "Hey, there's a plane that's about to fly over our house!" I picked up my son (as he loves planes) and opened the door. No sound of a plane. I put him down in the chair, stepped out on our porch, and called my husband over. The thing flew so low, so quietly, right over our garage and mudroom. It had four white lights and was in a diamond shape. It was dark out, but it appeared to have a slightly rounded curve on it's belly that went from one wing to the other from the shadows cast on itself from the lights on it's wings and nose. It happened so slowly, but so fast- I wish I had taken a video or photos of it with my phone! None of my neighbors saw it unfortunately. I had to file a report with the Chief of Police in Conway after discussing the matter with the Air Force base in Chicopee about inquiring with my drone question, which they both denied. My husband thinks they are lying. My neighbors think it's a UFO, and I honestly am just so baffled and obsessed now at finding out what the hell it is/was!"

UFO Sightings Across Amherst Three Years Ago Tonight

Screen Shot from WWLP 22 News

Three years ago tonight, Head in the Clouds Amherst was the first to report news of multiple UFO sightings across Amherst in the early evening. We followed that initial report with several subsequent updates. To this day, those UFO-related reports remain our most popular posts, with some 20,000 viewers having checked them out since 2013. Click here to read our first report on the matter.

Cold morning just got colder

Yup, that's about right. 4.6 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside right now!

I thought it was definitely cold this morning. And then I looked at the reading from our outdoor sensor. Single digits, 4.6° F. Now I'm freezing. (And I'm still inside a warm house, just to be clear.)

Bundle up, everyone. It's cold out there. 

On the up side, it gets warmer after today through the end of the week. Then something comes our way this weekend. Too soon to tell what exactly, although rain, freezing rain, and snow are all possibilities. Stay tuned.

First Winter Weather Advisory of the Season

Photo by Matt Holiner

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is now in effect from 8 PM Monday evening through 7 PM Tuesday evening for Franklin, Hampshire, Northern Worcester, Central and Northern Middlesex and Western Essex Counties of Massachusetts for 2-4" of snow with locally higher amounts, and around one-tenth inch of ice accretion with up to one-quarter inch ice accretion in higher terrain locations.

Keep in mind that snow and ice amounts and precipitation type changeover and timing will fluctuate as future model runs get a better handle on these items. It is possible that a prolonged period of freezing rain could develop in any of the advisory areas, and in particular the higher elevations of Western and Northern Massachusetts and northwest Hartford County in Connecticut.

Plan accordingly, people!

Yanked into Winter

First Snow at Cushman Brook, 12/2013
Photo by S. Vardattira

The National Weather Service has posted a “HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK” for Monday night into Tuesday for the Amherst area (as well as Northern Connecticut, all of Massachusetts except Berkshire County, and Rhode Island). This is one of those situations where storm track makes all the difference and there are still a lot of unknowns to consider. On the one hand, our prolonged period of well above-normal temperatures means the ground is not yet frozen in many places. This will make it tough to accumulate snow if the snow doesn’t fall quickly enough. Moreover, with the temperature rising above freezing on Tuesday, the big question (in terms of snowfall amounts) is the extent to which the snow falls while the temperature is still low enough to support snow, and before a dry slot moves in aloft and “deactivates the ice nuclei.” So depending on those and a variety of other factors, conditions could favor snow or more of a wintry mix of sleet or freezing rain.

At present, it seems most likely that the brunt of our snowfall will occur from midnight to 7 am on Tuesday. Then the transition to a wintry mix begins from Connecticut, moving north to our area. This could make for a messy Tuesday morning commute. The Tuesday evening commute should not be as bad, as any lingering precipitation should be in the form of rain at that time. Specific snow and ice accumulations are not yet definitive, but we will probably get at least a few inches of snow overnight from Monday night into Tuesday morning. Of greater concern is the strong likelihood of sleet and possibly freezing rain early Tuesday and Tuesday morning. It takes only a trace of snow and/or ice to make untreated roads slippery. Additional amounts only magnify the impact, but with this kind of event, even light precipitation can be hazardous.

And then, of course, there’s the emotional impact of our being suddenly yanked from our balmy winter into something more… well… like New England in winter.

Oh, yeah, another storm is headed our way for Thursday. What exactly that will turn out to be (snow, rain, mix) is still up in the air. Literally. Pun intended.

Dandelions in December

Dandelions in December, Amherst, MA - 12/26/2015
Photo by Barb Bilz

A smattering of local Amherst dandelion pics are popping up across Facebook, this one taken earlier today by friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst, Barb Bilz. Unbelievably, I've also seen pics of Cherry Blossoms on Cape Cod. All courtesy of our unseasonably warm weather. But don't put away those winter coats just yet. By Monday, temperatures dip down into the 30s (for highs) and something wintry - snow, sleet, freezing rain, and/or possibly a mix of all of the above - comes our way on Tuesday. A few inches of snow, at most, but the potential for a mix of precipitation may keep this interesting. Stay tuned.

After Tuesday, high temps hover in the high 30s /low 40s (still not crazy cold, it should be noted), with no storms in the forecast, at this point anyway, through at least January 9.

I must go in, the fog is rising...

Farm in fog, 12/10/2015, Amherst, MA
Photo by S. Vardatira

“I must go in, the fog is rising.” 
                                                                                  Emily Dickinson (born 185 years ago today, December 10, 1830)

December on Puffer's Pond

Geese on Puffer's Pond - 12/5/2015
Photo by S. Vardatira

12:15 pm: Now months removed from the summer's onslaught of swimmers, Puffer's Pond has returned to the waterfowl, as it does every fall and early winter. Although today's sun is pouring down out of a cloudless, blue sky, it is a brisk 40 degrees near the water, not as warm as all that light would suggest. And still, the birds seem unperturbed by the chill in the air. I have noticed that the ducks and geese never co-mingle even though they are only a few hundred feet apart. Right now, the geese are bobbing, almost motionless, where the ducks usually reside, near where Mill River flows into the pond. From a distance, they look like grey/white puff balls balanced on the surface of an slightly fuzzy mirror. The ducks, I assume to avoid the geese, have moved to the southeast corner of the pond near the bridge. They are particularly noisy this morning, complaining about this and that (I imagine about the geese, mostly). A woman with two dogs passes by on the upper walking trail. "Stay... heel... slow down." Her training commands, calm and steady, interrupt the ducks' quacking and flapping. A squirrel scampers, vertically, up a nearby tree trunk, and I head towards home.

Atkins is now carrying the 2016 Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar!

Keep an eye out for our calendars at Atkins Farms, Amherst Books or Hastings, but call before you go over just to make sure the store has calendars in stock (in the past, stores have tended to run out of calendars by mid-December). Amherst Books is located at the center of downtown Amherst at 8 Main Street. Hastings is also downtown, at 45 South Pleasant Street on the Common. Atkins Farms now has two stores, the flagship store near Hampshire College, at 1150 West St., and Atkins North at 113 Cowls Road in North Amherst. 

Please let us know if any of these stores are out of stock (sometimes they forget to tell us!). And you can always purchase the calendar online right here for speedy delivery. Even better, Amherst residents who want to avoid the shipping and handling cost of purchasing the calendar online are welcome to contact us directly to arrange for separate payment and pickup. 

We promise you will not be disappointed! 

You may contact us directly by sending an email to: 
cloudsamherst [@] gmail [dot] com
The [at] and [dot] are done to keep email addresses from being collected by spammers and harvesting robots. You just have to replace them for [@] and [.] when you write your e-mail..

Black Friday through Cyber Monday SALE at Head in the Clouds Amherst

Sure, the weather is lovely for shopping, but we have an even better idea. First, order your Head in the Clouds Amherst Wall Calendar online HERE, ditch the box stores, and instead take to the Robert Frost Trail for a serene/invigorating weekend. And to give you just a little taste of "Black Friday," we are discounting online orders now through Cyber Monday by 20%, to $11.20 per calendar. We've only got about 40 calendars left in stock, so don't delay!

I'm headed off to Puffer's right now - where will you be spending your day?

2016 Head in the Clouds Amherst Wall Calendar - Now Available!

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Actual calendar photos and daily entries are high resolution, 
much sharper than the images shown here

If you are looking for a unique Amherst gift that will keep giving all year round, look no further than our new Head in the Clouds Amherst 2016 Wall Calendar. This year's calendar features beautiful, seasonal nature photos taken in Amherst by twelve different photographers, both professional and amateur (scroll down this page for the names of our photographers). Each photo includes location captions, and the daily entries highlight over 50 major weather events that occurred in Amherst and New England between 1660 and 2015. Printed on high quality, glossy paper, this one-of-a-kind calendar also notes holidays, as well as astronomical events visible from Amherst with the naked eye - full moon, new moon, meteor showers, and more. 

This is that perfect gift for Amherst residents and tourists, expatriates, college students here or away, writers and poets, and nature lovers. This calendar will have them (and you) falling in love with Amherst month after month. Full size when open is 17" high and 11" wide. 

Price is $14.00 per calendar purchased through this website (slightly higher at local stores).

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ONLINE NOW: 

You can also purchase our calendar at Atkins Farms, Amherst Books or Hastings, but call before you go over just to make sure they have calendars in stock (it's not unusual for the stores to run by mid-December). Amherst Books is located at the center of downtown Amherst at 8 Main Street. Hastings is also downtown, at 45 South Pleasant Street on the Common. Atkins Farms now has two stores, the flagship store near Hampshire College, at 1150 West St., and Atkins North at 113 Cowls Road in North Amherst. 

For questions or special requests (including arranging for pick up in Amherst), please mail Sharon at CloudsAmherst[@]gmail[.]com. 
The [at] and [dot] are done to keep email addresses from being collected by spammers and harvesting robots. You just have to replace them for [@] and [.] when you write your e-mail.

Gull Pond ~ Old Farm Road, Amherst ~ Photo by Amy Bush

Woman on Puffer's Pond ~ North Amherst ~ Photo by Joshua Wolfsun

Sure sign of spring ~ North Amherst ~ Photo by Sharon Vardatira

After the Storm ~ North Amherst, looking towards UMass ~ Photo by Meg Rosa

Berries Ripening at Bramble Hill Farm ~ Amherst ~ Photo by Margaret Wright

Visit the golf course for everyone ~ Cherry Hill Golf Course, North Amherst

Photo by Jill Paul

Evening Mist ~ North Amherst ~ Photo by Ryan Willey

Mount Pollux in South Amherst, with Mount Norwottuck and the

Holyoke Range in the distance

Photo by John M. Cushing Jr.

Libraries - full of unexpected treasures ~ Jones Library Garden, Amherst

Photo by Marian Wolfsun

Perfect Reflections ~ Between Fort River and the Robert Frost Trail, Amherst

Photo by Ben Harper

Falling Down ~ North East Street, Amherst ~ Photo by Baer Tierkel

Sunset Dog ~ Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst ~ Photo by Mindy Domb

Cool, crisp day, freeze at night

Random tree by the side of the road, Easthampton MA
Photo by S. Vardatira, 10/17/2015

What a beautiful, cool, crisp fall day here in the Valley. Cold night, though - if you haven't heard already (or felt it in the air), there's a freeze warning in effect overnight. So, um, too late for harvesting now....

Cumulus to the Rescue!

Cumulus Clouds (among others) over Hadley, MA
Photo by S. Vardatira

"The weather threatened to ruin the day: there was a completely clear blue sky throughout the morning. Luckily some fair-weather Cumulus came to the rescue and arrived just as we were breaking for lunch."  

From a recap of the 10th Annual Cloud Appreciation Society International Gathering in the UK on September 26. (Cloud Appreciation Society October 2015 e-newsletter)