December 16, 2016
No track tomorrow – Q&A on buying bikes, swim & swim gear, winter dress… now @ 10:00 AM
NOAA upgraded their Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Advisory. Try to get your track workout in today, if you can. If not today, you could try to get it in after 11/12 when the temps will be above freezing but the rain will still be falling”¦helping to melt everything pretty fast. Just be super careful and test your surface before starting hard work. That means ”“ take 1 or 2 very slow and cautious laps of the track before you try to get into things.
- No Team Track Workout on Saturday
- The Q&A will start at my house at 10AM. The subjects for the Q&A are: “how/where to buy a bike, what drives cost and how do I set a budget”, “where and what to buy in terms of swimming gear, and which pools are best for me to get my sea legs”, and finally “what should I wear when riding or running outside. What can I get away with NOT buying, and what is essential?”
- The Bike Maintenance Clinic will remain at an 11:15 start at my house. The only things you should bring are your front wheel, your pump, and your saddle bag (and only if you have them already ”“ don’t go buy them today until you hear us discuss them).
A full explanation for all weekend events will be provided immediately following this note ”“ and it will reflect changes due to the weather. The email will include directions for tomorrow’s (the two clinics) and Sunday’s (clinic, boot camp, and fun/easy recovery spin watching a movie) can be found here (Coach Ed’s Email List) or here (“Coaches Comms” Blog post ”“ narrow it down by selecting weekend updates/events).
Please vote on this poll to let us know if you are coming to all of the events this weekend. So helpful in planning!
===============================================
Want to learn a little more about weather forecasting terms?
Weather advisories are issued for people that live normal lives, not who are silly enough to be running outside on a track. The track will freeze before the roads, the rain will freeze on it very fast. Even if that was not the case ”“ chat with someone who’s seen a slick track. In some cases when all of the snow (or whatever) has melted off of everything (including the track) you could still skate on it. Normally this is residual water you can’t see b/c the track is porous. It would melt in the sun but as the day progresses and temperatures drop there is this invisible re-freeze ”“ but you could skate on it. Visible accumulation of anything on a track and its not even worth the thought. The big variables that make this call super easy”¦.
- The chance of “some type of water” falling between 3 am and 11 am is almost 100%. The air temps have been in the low teens to mid 20’s for almost 2 days before that water will hit the ground. Whatever falls is going to stick. The amount of the water falling is pretty big (1/4 to 1/3 of an inch of rain).
- The forecast for tomorrow just changed from sleet/snow/freezing rain to 100% freezing rain. 1 tenth of an inch of ice is expected.
- A winter storm watch is “we’ll keep an eye on this, there’s a chance this is what will happen”.
- A winter storm warning (in terms of snow) would typically mean that the weather is already here, and it is severe. In our region ”“ I read on the internet that a warning for snow is around 7 inches or more in a 24-hour period. Winter Storm Warning for Icing ”“ this would be a severe and heavy amount of accumulation of ice due to freezing rain that will down trees and power lines.
- A winter storm advisory is issued for a combination of snow, sleet, and/or freezing rain. Advisories (in general) mean that the weather conditions are expected to cause significant inconvenience and may be hazardous. But the situations are normally not life threatening if caution is exercised.