The better than 80 degree weather we’re seeing today has broken the previous high temperature record for March 12 of 80 degrees in 1996. With a high so far today of 83, and yesterday’s high of 81, this is the warmest weekend of the year so far, and a great temptation to go outside and do some gardening.

However, the warm weather is unlikely to last. After another warm day on Monday, temperatures will return to their normal highs of around 60, and lows of around 40, at least for the next week or so.

We’re seeing the beginning of the summer pattern change. Massive low pressure systems like the ones we saw for so many weekends this winter are now passing to our north. This weekend, areas along the Illinois-Indiana border are under flood warnings, as a band of rainfall and snow stretches from South Dakota to Maine. The low is drawing warm air from the Gulf into the Old South, with temperatures in the 80s from Texas to Virginia.

Now, we’re more likely to see thundershowers instead of steady rain, more typical of a summer pattern than a winter one.

It has been a busy ten days since I last posted - partially because I was out of town at the Philadelphia Flower Show, and partially because I have been working on some major enhancements to this website. Now, you can get forecasts for any location in the United States. I’ve also added a new radar pages for anywhere in the country, a satellite page, and other features. There are probably still some bugs to be worked out, and still more changes in the coming days. I hope you enjoy them.

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In an effort to make the Lawrenceville Weather website more useful, I decided to add some additional maps which provide current weather conditions and a graphical five day forecast. A sample is shown below.

On the Current Conditions page, you can view national maps of temperature, humidity, dewpoint, barometric pressure, heat index, wind chill and more. The Five Day Forecast page shows expected high and low temperatures, and probable precipitation amounts. Finally, you can view yesterday’s high and low temperatures on the US Cities Forecast page.

I hope you find them useful. The company that produces these maps also offers weather radar and maps of watches and warnings that I may add in the future. However, these maps aren’t free, and I don’t really want to pollute this site with lots of banner ads that might help pay for the graphics.

If you find these maps useful, please consider making a donation to help defray their cost. There is a link to the right that will allow you to make a credit card payment through PayPal.

Thanks for your support.

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This post isn’t strictly about the weather. Consider it my Christmas card to all of the folks that have kept up with LawrencevilleWeather.com over the last year.

This Christmas lights video is an actual movie of a house in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. The owner of the home, Carson Williams, began putting up lights in early October. He uses a computer to control 88 circuits that switch the lights on and off in time with the music, which is broadcast over a low-power FM frequency so people can listen to it in their cars without bothering the neighbors. It takes about 3 hours to program one minute of music. The tune is by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

I hope this video brightens your Christmas season.

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Over the last few days, it has become obvious that the destruction caused by Katrina to New Orleans, Mississippi, and the Gulf Coast has gone from bad to worse. The Internet Community is responding by declaring September 1st through 5th as Hurricane Katrina Blog for Relief Weekend.

The idea is that each blogger will recommend a charity for donations to Katrina relief. In my case, I’m recommending the Atlanta Red Cross. If you would like to make a donation, click here. I have made a generous donation, and I encourage you to donate what you can.

If you prefer, you can select another charity for your contribution; Instapundit maintains a comprehensive list.

Hurricane Katrina is going to rank as one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the United States. You just don’t think of Americans being called refugees. The Atlanta area is already becoming a major destination for people fleeing the wrath of Katrina. Several hundred sick and injured people from New Orleans hospitals were flown into Dobbins Air Force Base today, and will be taken care of by Atlanta area hospitals. Colleges and universities in Georgia have announced they will accept students that were planning to attend school in the storm affected area.

People in Gwinnett will certainly make their contribution to the Katrina relief effort. You can help by making a contribution to the Atlanta Red Cross.

Technorati categories: flood aid and hurricane katrina

If you make a contribution, make sure you log it here.

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I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, and a post I read on the WeatherSurge Blog reminded me of the subject. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania introduced a Senate Bill 786 that would limit the data that the National Weather Service could provide to the public. Essentially, the bill says that if weather information could be provided by the private sector, then the weather service is prohibited from providing it directly to the public.

The argument is that private weather services, such as Accuweather.com and Weather.com provide day-to-day forecasts that duplicate Weather Service efforts, and for that reason, the weather service should concentrate its efforts on reporting hurricanes and serious weather events.

On the other hand, the practical effect of the bill would be to limit weather data from being provided by the weather service, leaving a virtual monopoly to the weather giants who rely on advertising for revenue, and don’t like seeing free competition.

This site gets much of its data, including the weather forecast, from feeds provided by the NWS. In addition, I get ideas and information from the weather service that is published on this blog. If this bill were to be passed, I might no longer be able to do that.

But, it’s not only hobbyist sites like mine that could be limited. General aviation pilots, school systems trying to decide whether to declare a snow day, and sailors could be required to subscribe to a provider like Accuweather.com in order to get the weather information they need in order to make decisions.

Keep in mind that you, as a taxpayer, are already paying for this information to be gathered. Even if this bill passes, you will still be paying for the information to be gathered; you would have to go to a third party in order to get it, and will be charged for it, either by paying a fee, or through advertising.

You can read more about this issue in this article from the Palm Beach Post. If you want to get involved, you can contact your senator and congressmen, and let them know what you think about the bill.

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