Week's Weather/Lightning Safety/Gerald Ford's Birth Name

WEATHER
As I write this post late Sudnay evening, a cold front is moving across the central US. On Monday, there will be some thunderstorms over the southeast US and some over the desert Southwest. There will be some snow showers over the Great Lakes and in the Denver area. Highs will be in the 20s across the northern and central Plains and Rockies. 50s, 60s and/or 70s for the west coast, southern states and southeast states.

Houston, a cold front is arriving early Monday. It will still be mild with highs in the low 60s. But, look for rain and highs only in the 40s on Tuesday. Tuesday will be a tricky day for travel north of Houston. Looks like there will be some snow as far south as College Station but not as far north as Dallas. Dry air returns to Houston during the day on Wednesday. Look for more rain on Friday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do lightning as in bolt of lightning, relámpago, pronounced ray-LAM-pah-goh. How do stay as safe as possible when relámpago threatens. See the AND MORE section, to find out.

Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble near you....our award winning Spanish DVDs for children...volumes one and two of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. You can also order them from http://www.frankandpaco.com, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.bestbuy.com, or http://www.ebay.com/. Our ESL (English as a Second Language) version can be found at http://www.frankypaco.com

AND MORE
LIGHTNING SAFETY
Today is the first day of Severe Weather Awareness Week in southeast Texas. Lightning has always fascinated me. It is extremely important to take the right steps when lightning threatens.

I like the 30/30 rule which works like this. When you see lightning, start counting. If you hear thunder, before reaching 30, you should seek shelter. The 2nd 30 stands for the 30 minutes you should stay in shelter after the last crack of thunder.

Want to know how close the lightning is...each 5 seconds you count from the time you see lightning to the time you hear thunder corresponds to 1 mile of distance.

Best place to be is indoors. If you can't be indoors, get into a vehicle and avoid touching anything metallic. If you can't get into a vehicle, get to a low point away from water and tall objects (like trees). If you are the tallest thing around, squat down on the balls of your feet. If you are indoors, don't get into a bath or shower and avoid touching appliances. Also, keep your distance from glass doors and windows in case a nearby lightning strike creates flying debris which could break glass.

To learn more about severe weather, go to the this link from the Houston National Weathe Service:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/?n=severe_weather_awareness

3 Month Temperatures and Precipitation Outlooks
The Climate Prediction Center has released its latest 3 month temperature and precipitation outlooks. Temperatures are supposed to be below normal over the southeast US including the Houston area. Rain chances will be above normal for the southwest US. To see if your area is expecting above or below normal conditions or neutral conditions (plains white), see the figures at right.

President Gerald R. Ford's Birth Name
I learn so many fascinating things while helping Sarah with homework. For example, she is working on a project about an assigned president -- her's Gerald R. Ford. Well, I was absolutely fascinated to read in the book Gerald R. Ford our Thirty-Eight President by Sandra Francis, that he was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. Apparently, his birth father was not the nicest guy and Ford's mother left him when Ford was only 2 weeks old. Later, at a church social, Ford met Gerald R. Ford (Senior) and he married her and later adopted her son, Leslie. They were very close and later, people started calling Leslie, Gerald R. Ford, Jr. The stepdad eventually adopted him and later Leslie legally changed his name to Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Ford's mother had 3 more sons with her new husband.

Please keep my sick family members in your prayers. My aunt is improving but still in ICU. As you can imagine, that has not been a very pleasant experience for her or her family.

Have a great week everyone.
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman