Static Weather/Casualty on the Lake/Job Training for Disabled

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Atlantic is quiet. There is an area of disturbed weather in the tropical Pacific about 1400 miles east of Hawaii. According to the National Hurricane Center, it has less than a 30% chance to develop. Will keep you posted.

Upper pattern has flattened a lot...so much so that an asssociated frontal boundary has drawn up mostly stationary over central Arkansas causing training of rain cells and flooding. This pattern will change little over the next few days--with minor flucuations in the north south position of rain producing storms.

On Thursday, there will some severe storms in west Texas (see figure at right). Highs will be in the 90s and 100s in south Texas and much of the desert southwest. The west coast of California will be in the 60s. The rest of the country will be in the 70s and 80s. Much of the country will have rain.

Houston will continue hot and very humid. Look for scattered thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday (Friday being cooler due to more cloud cover and rain cooling). Over the weekend, there is only a slight chance for rain. But, it will still be hot and humid.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do camera or cámara, pronounced CAH-mah-rah. Find out what happened to my cámara in the AND MORE section.

We used a different kind (and much more expensive) cámara while shooting our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,
www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Well we had our first casualty of the trip...on the dock of a restaurant called Campbell's, I was doing my 2 handed still camera vs. movie camera when I dropped the still camera. And although I thought it would stop below my feet, it rolled and skidded right into the water. Now I don't care that much about the camera...but I had snapped about 20 photos...many of which were very meaningful. I watched it sink as the turtles and huge fish (catfish?) tried to nibble at it. The camera was ruined the minute it hit the water, but there is always the hope that the memory stick might retain the photos. No point in thinking about it--it is dangerous and too deep to dive for anything in the dock water. Besides, I'll be some of those fish are 3 feet long.

We drove into Branson yesterday. Sarah loves the arcades. We also decided to stop at The Toy Museum. There was an amazingly large number of toys (more than 1 million come to find out). They claim to be the biggest toy museum anyway. Made me feel a bit old as I say some things on display that I had played with. Worth seeing at least once.

I am so proud of Megan, my step-daughter. She did not get to make this trip as she is completing finals for becoming a veterinary technician. You see, we set up this reservation a year in advance because these places book up. Poor girl has been checking in with us frequently. This is her first year to miss ever. She is making the grades!!! Monday will be her last exams. You go girl!!!

Started a new book (thanks Mary Ann--that's my mother-in-law). It's called The Shack (by William Paul Young). Will let you know what I think.

My good friend Leslie has written another fantastic article for the Chronicle. This one was especially of interest to me because it discusses how to train disabled young adults so they can get jobs and make a living--it's called SUCCESS. Please share this with your friends who have children with disabilities like autism, mental retardation, Asperger's
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/fortbend/news/6550990.html

Don't forget to answer the poll about you are economizing.

Gotta close and visit with the family. These times are too few and too fast.

Have a terrific Thursday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Rain all over/Table Rock Lake

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Atlantic is quiet. In the eastern Pacific, there are two areas of disturbed weather with a low chance of development (according to the National Hurricane Center). Will keep you posted.

Lots of locations in the US have a shot at rain on Tuesday. See Storm Prediction Center figure at right. Highs in parts of the Intermountain Region, desert southwest will be in the 90s and 100s. There will be 80s and 90s in the southern plains and southeast. Elsewhere, highs will be in the 60s and 70s.

Houston, there will be another round of showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday. Rain chances drop a bit on Wednesday and more substantially on Thursday. It will be hotter in the afternoons as rain become less prevalent. Conditions will continue muggy regardless.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do lake or lago, pronounced LAH-goh. We are having one at a very nice lago near Branson, Missouri. Find out more in the AND MORE section.

It's fun to swim and do other kid friendly outdoor activities. That's why we including an entire chapter with Spanish words about play in our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,%20www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Spent the day out on the lake (see photo at right)...Table Rock Lake extends from southwest Missouri to northwest Arkansas. It has 800 miles of shoreline and is a favorite for skiing and fishing. The lake is manmade...formed (in the 50s) as a result of a floor control project which included Table Rock Dam. The lake is a little cooler than other summers because it has yet to hit 90 degrees here.

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Rain for Many Areas/Toad Suck Park/Table Rock Lake

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Atlantic and Pacific are quiet.

Ridge is beginning to flatten and retrograde as a trough begins to dig southward into the central US. On Monday, highs will be in the 90s and 100s across the southern plains and southwest with highs in the 70s along the coastal sections of California. Highs will be in the 70s and 80s across the rest of the country. Many locations will have a chance for thunderstorms but no severe storms are predicted by the Storm Prediction Center.

On Monday, Houston will have some thunderstorms Monday and Tuesday. Chances decrease middle to later part of the week. But there will still be a few Wednesday through Friday. Highs will be in the low to middle 90s early in the week and middle to upper 90s later in the week.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do restaurant, or restaurante, pronounced rehs-tair-RAHN-tay. Check out the AND MORE section for the name of a restaurant that we think is unique.

Speaking of eating, your kids will love learning the spanish words for several words associated with eating (and drinking). They are presented in a fun, musical way in the first volume of our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,%20www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
We're staying in Aunts Creek Resort, which is near Reeds Spring and Kimberling City, MO (outside of Branson) on Table Rock Lake. On the 12 hour drive from Houston, we usually stop at a restaurant in Hope, Arkansas called Dos Loco Gringos. Well, first of all, if that name was correct it would be Dos Gringos Locos--2 crazy white men. But, anyway, we find the Mexican food interesting and tasty and we stop there almost every time we make the trip. I asked Anthony (one of the waiters) how that name came to be. He said that years ago, the two men who bought that restaurant, already owned 2 other restaurants and their friends said they were crazy to buy another one...since they were "white" guys, they came up with the name "Dos Loco Gringos"--literally translated--Two Crazy White Guys. Now you know.

For years, we've seen the exit for "Toad Suck Park" outside Conway, Arkansas. And we've always wondered what in the world it was all about. Come to find out it is a recreation area run by the Corps of Engineers. But we wanted to know the origin of the name. And I pulled the following from the Conway Chamber of Commerce web site.

"Long ago, steamboats traveled the Arkansas River when the water was at the right depth. When it wasn't, the captains and their crew tied up to wait where the Toad Suck Lock and Dam now spans the river. While they waited, they refreshed themselves at the local tavern there, to the dismay of the folks living nearby, who said: "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads." Hence, the name Toad Suck. The tavern is long gone, but the legend and fun live on at Toad Suck Daze."

Hi, it's me again. Toad Suck Daze is a festival Conway has in the spring. Check out these sites for more information.

http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/parks/toadsuck/index.htm
http://www.toadsuck.org/

It has been rainy on and off for the past week in the Table Rock/Branson, Missouri area. But after the morning fog lifted, we had a spectacular day. Check out the photo at right--the view from the deck of the cabins we are staying in.

Have a great week everyone!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weather Pattern Change/Road Trip War Stories/Economy

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Tropical Atlantic and Pacific are quiet.

Jet stream/upper pattern still has strong ridge over western US. But on Sunday, the ridge begins to retrograde to the west and that will all troughiness to develop in the central US. That also means that locations further west will get rain and that there will be more rain in the south and midwest.

On Saturday, there could be some severe storms from Missouri to New York. On Sunday, severe weather threat is further east of there and just east of the Rockies in Colorado and New Mexico. It will be in the 90s and 100s across the south, especially Texas and the desert southwest. Mild along coastal California and the northeast, Great Lakes and even Ohio Valley.

Houston will be hot and humid through the weekend with some isolated showers or thunderstorms. Some locations will get heavy rain on Monday and possible Tuesday but clouds and rain will help cool things down a bit.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Let's do bathroom or baño, pronounced BAH-nyo. When you are on a road trip, sometimes you just need to stop and find a baño. See the AND MORE section for a related story.

Since finding the baño is so important, we put that term in the first volume of our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,%20www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.



AND MORE

Our poll about demands on your energy has closed. 58% said that work outside the home demanded the most energy. 28% said children demanded the most. 14% said volunteering took the most. No one said that work inside the home, spouse or other took the most energy. Only one answer was allowed. Thanks to all who participated.



Our new poll is about economizing. What measures have you taken because of the poorer economy (or have you taken any)? More than one answer is allowed. Thanks in advance for answering this poll.



Since I am on the road again (as I write this), I am reminded of some childhood roadtrips we took. Now, there were 8 of us altogether, piling into a station wagon. One year, we put our clothes in trashbags (so we could squish everything into the back). You just can't fit that many suitcases in a station wagon with 8 people. Besides, I don't know if we all had suitcases anyway.



I remember our air conditioning going out...but I don't remember feeling hot. Bet Mom and Dad were though.



But this is one of my most memorable recollections. As we made way in the dark late one night, my little brother work up and had to use the bathroom really bad. We were in the very back of the station wagon. My parents didn't want to pull over. So, my mom handed me a plastic cup and said to have him use that. Well, he had to go a lot! The cup was about to overflow and mom and said throw it out the window. So I reached ahead to the second row of seats window and tried to throw it out. Well, you probably know what happened...yep...several of us were all wet. Ewwwwww!!! Adventures in traveling with a bunch of kids. I think I was pretty mad at the time. But, we just had to deal. We were good at that.



Here's hoping your road trips are dry ones.



Happy Weekend!

Cecilia Sinclair

Wonder Weather Woman

More rain expected/One lady's success at becoming author

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
No tropical development in Atlantic or Pacific.

Well the jet stream/upper flow continues it's ridge west and trough east pattern. By early next week, the pattern shifts to more of an omega pattern--ridges west and east coasts and trough in the middle US. This will bring more rain/storms to the central and south-central US in the coming week.

Friday will be hot from Texas through the desert southwest highs in the 90s and 100s. Look for some thunderstorms Texas and Florida and some potentially severe weather Iowa. northwest Illinois and Wisconsin. Highs will be in the 60s and 70s west coast of California, Great Lakes and northeast. Elsewhere, highs will be in the 90s.

Houston will be steamy on Friday with a few thunderstorms possible. There were so heavy downpours on Thursday--Bellaire picked up almost 2 inches. The grass is loving it. There will be a few showers/thunderstorms through the weekend and the upcoming week looks rainy as the upper trough moves into position over the central US.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do author or escritor, pronounced ehs-cree-TORE. Do you want to be an escritor? Find out how one woman did--see the And More section.

Authors love words/language. And one way to help your children learn language structure is to expose them to more than one language. A good start is our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,%20www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
For all you aspiring writers, I have a story for you...a while back I was introduced to the mother of a friend. I found out she is a much published author. But I had never heard of her. Well, about 4 decades ago, she had written some children's books and a novel and approached a publishing company (about getting them published). They said they liked her children's books but they had way more than they needed. Then they asked her if she would be willing to try her hand at writing biographies for children. Well, she decided to give it a try. And, she succeeded! From then on , she made a career of writing biographies for children--she found a niche. She is still writing today (even though she is in her 80s). I am enjoying one of her books right now--a biography of Abner Doubleday. She said she never did get that novel published, but she has had a very successful writing career.

Happy reading and writing!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

More Rain/No Sales Tax Weekend

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
In the Atlantic, two areas of disturbed weather are close to land. In fact one will bring heavy rains to Puerto Rico and Hispanola early Wednesday. According to the National Hurricane Center both have less than a 30% chance of developing.

On Wednesday, it will be very hot in the Intermountain Region and desert southwest--100+. Pleasant along the west coast. South will be warm and humid with highs in the 80s and 90s with thunderstorms. Mild in the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast with highs in the 60s and 70s and low 80s.

Houston, I think there will be some showers in the morning...from the outflow from storms to the north late Tuesday. There is a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms through the weekend with a better chance early in the coming week. Temperatures will be warm and conditions muggy.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do shopping or compra, pronounced COHM-prah. Thinking about back to school compra -- you might want to plan it for the no sales tax weekend--find out when that is in the AND MORE section.

Shopping for educational products for your children can be overwhelming. But when it comes to learning languages, here's a product that has received awards from people who know about educating our little ones--it's our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,%20www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
In Texas, if you are thinking about back to school shopping already...you might want to wait until the 2nd to the last weekend of August (right before most public schools are starting). Since I have retail sales, I got a notice from the state saying this is when the no sales tax weekend is.

Happy Shopping!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

More rain/Lightning Safety/What is a severe storm?

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
There is one area of disturbed weather east of the tropics. Odds of development are low. Looking at the long range steering pattern, I do see an important (if only temporary) shift coming up. According to at least one long range model--at the end of July, the ridge (which is now over the western US) looks like it will shift eastward so that it is positioned over the southeastern US. This is not good news for Texas as anything that moves/develops in the Caribbean/Gulf could be steered toward Texas. So, I will watch this very closely.

On Monday, the ridge continues to bring 100+ weather to the southwest, Intermountain Region and interior Oregon. West coast of California will still be nice and mild with highs in the 70s and most of the northeast, Great Lakes, northern plains will have highs in the 70s and 80s. The southeast and Texas will have highs in the 80s and 90s. Look for some severe weather mainly in the central US. There will also be some thunderstorms in the southeast.

The Houston area has enjoyed beneficial rains this weekend. There were more rain totals over one inch on Saturday. As I write this, the totals are not final yet for Sunday. There will be scattered storms Monday in the Houston area. Highs will be in the low to middle 90s.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do squat or agacharse, pronounced ah-gah-CHAR-say. In which type of weather, should you agacharse if you can't get to a safe shelter? See the answer in the AND MORE section.

Lightning has electricity and our bodies have electricity. In fact it's those little electrical impluses in our brain that fire when the brain is doing its work. You can stimulate the development and function of those neurological pathways by stimulating it and one of the best ways is through language learning. Give your kids this kind of stimulation. Order our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1 is just the ticket. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,%20www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, go to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
Thinking about stormy weather reminds me of a funny incident from when I worked at in TV weather. We were having tremendous thunderstorm activity--unbelievable amounts of lightning--like a strobe light. There were no severe thunderstorm warnings being issued by the National Weather Service because technically, this kind of storm did not meet the description of a severe storm. One viewer called and complained--asking why no severe thunderstorm warnings were issued. I told him that the storms did not meet severe criteria and he responded--but this storm has VERY SEVERE lightning. Well I had to agree with him on that one. But in case you were curious, here is the official definition of a severe thunderstorm pulled from the Storm Prediction Center web site:

The term severe thunderstorm refers to a thunderstorm producing hail that is at least penny size, 0.75 inches in diameter or larger, and/or wind gusts to 58 mph or greater, and/or a tornado. Although lightning can be deadly, the NWS doesn't use it to define a severe thunderstorm. If it did, every thnderstorm would be severe, by definition. Also, excessive rainfall may lead to deadly flash flooding, but heavy rain is not a severe criterion either. The flood threat is handled through a separate set of watches and warnings from your lcoal NWS forecast office.

For more information, go to their FAQ page.
http://www.spc.ncep.noaa.gov/faq/

Remember, if there is lightning, the safest place is in a non-metal structure--1st floor, away from windows and doors and stay out of the tube/shower, off land line phones and plugged in appliances. If you can't get indoors, a vehicle is a good alternative--just don't touch the metal parts of the car. If you can't get into a car, get to the safest low spot, away from water and tall objects. Squat down (with as little of your body in contact with the ground as possible), making yourself as small as possible.

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman