News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
What’s is hoar frost? That is snow that forms on surfaces that are colder than the frost point in the air around them, so water goes straight from vapor to solid. It’s often the kind on tree branches, telephone wires and other skinny items exposed to the chilly air.
So what is graupel? That is what happens when snowflakes fall through a cloud that contains supercooled water droplets. The droplets freeze onto the snowflakes and form misshapen, lumpy balls.
Happy winter.
Republican incumbent Dan Truitt was 80 votes ahead in the initial count in the race for the 156th District Pennsylvania House seat but when all the votes were counted he lost by 25.
The Democrat replacing him on Jan. 3 is West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta.
Truitt’s defeat was an anomaly and a searing rebuke to the Chesco GOP leaders as Republicans did very well throughout the state.
Political organizations modeled after restrictive country clubs are doomed to failure. Good leadership does not demoralize citizen activists.
Winter 2016 Starts Now — Today, Dec. 21, is 2015’s winter solstice which is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight during the whole year.
If this website’s clock is properly synched it is 5:44 a.m.. EST. and that means winter has started.
The word solstice comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “to stand still.” As per the Old Farmer’s Almanac: In the Northern Hemisphere, as summer advances to winter, the points on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets advance southward each day; the high point in the Sun’s daily path across the sky, which occurs at local noon, also moves southward each day.
At the winter solstice, the Sun’s path has reached its southernmost position. The next day, the path will advance northward. However, a few days before and after the winter solstice, the change is so slight that the Sun’s path seems to stay the same, or stand still. The Sun is directly overhead at “high-noon” on Winter Solstice at the latitude called the Tropic of Capricorn.