Here Comes the Rain Again (and Again)

You've probably heard that Seattle has been a little wet lately with a streak of 24 consecutive days of rain (and it's looking likely to extend to beyond the record of 33 days). I know--non-Seattlites will wonder what the fuss is all about, but it really doesn't get this rainy here. Also, the rain has been much heavier than our typical winter drizzle. According to our local KOMO-TV weather folk, we've received 5.4 inches of rain so far this month, which is 288% above normal and we haven't even reached the mid-point.

Alright, I usually leave all this talk about weather to my Grandfather (who watches over all his children's and grandchildren's weather forecasts from his Minneapolis abode like a hawk), but I do have a news/enviro-related point to this. All this rain could actually be a boon to our electricity production here in the Northwest, and could help to push prices down. From the Seattle P-I:

For four of the past five years, winter has brought little rain to the Pacific Northwest, but it has produced storm clouds of worries about what the lack of precipitation might do to the region's hydroelectric system and rates for utility customers.

The deluge of the first 11 days of 2006 has at least raised the prospect of washing away those concerns, along with the drought that has plagued the hydroelectric system.

[...]

As of Jan. 1, Bonneville [Power Administration] projected that the current water year -- taking into account stream flows and snowpack -- would wind up at 94 percent of normal. With the precipitation since then, the BPA now believes that the water year is at or even slightly ahead of normal. The snowpack in the Columbia-Snake River basin is also believed to be about normal.

The last time the region had a water year above normal was 1999, at 118 percent, Hansen said. In succeeding years, precipitation and stream flows have come in at 94, 57, 92, 78, 81 and, in 2005, 79 percent.

[...]

Having more surplus power to sell could be a financial boon to the BPA and to individual utilities, which, in turn, can reduce the rates local customers pay. The downside is that with everyone projected to have more power, and with prices for natural gas (which can be used to generate electricity) dropping, "the wholesale (power) market is beginning to become depressed," said Bill Gaines, power supply officer for Seattle City Light. "The drop-off in price has been pretty dramatic."

Because of that, officials say it is too early to evaluate the potential impact on their financial picture or customer rates. But water conditions could play a role later this year as the BPA prepares to set wholesale rates for customer contracts beginning Oct. 1.

Speaking of the weather, a couple years back, an old St. Olaf chum of mine gave me a new product that his company had just developed--the ambient orb. An orb, you say? Yes, it's a frosted glass, glowing orb that's actually a cleverly simple wireless device.

It receives data via wireless page towers (which aren't necessarily being used as much as they once were) based on information you set on the Ambient Devices web site for your orb. And it can track data such as movement on the stock market or the forecasted weather and changes color depending upon the current info. For example, if you select to follow the weather in your area, it glows in the color of the forecasted temperature within the next 12 hours (following the temperature color spectrum that USA Today uses on their weather page). And if precipitation is forecasted, it will pulse (which it's been doing continually of late here in the Emerald City).

Mrs. F and I were gifted the orb right at the time that I left Amazon and was starting to freelance, and beginning a gig blogging for the JiWire wi-fi hotspot site on wireless gadgets (it was a test that unfortunately only lasted a few months). I'm sad to say that I didn't give the orb as good a review as I could. I'd only had it in my home for a week or two, and thought that it was a rather superfluous item--more for decoration than anything. As I noted back then:

It is a bit silly, really--especially for a price tag of $150--and it's far easier to get a precise forecast by checking Weather.com on my laptop. But it's got some of mesmerizing, gee-whiz entertainment value...

But I gotta say, Mrs. F and I still have the orb glowing and we really do look to it first whenever we're curious about what the weather is going to be. So, Mr. Rose (of Ambient Devices), please consider this my apology. (As Mrs. F just noted, "It's about time.") We don't know what we'd do without it.