Storm Glass

Day 96: One thing you can say for the weather in the Pacific Northwest: it's consistent. My storm glass (a Christmas gift from one of my sisters-of-the-heart) has looked pretty much like this since the day I set it out. The crystals in the bottom indicate "thick air" and/or frost, and have increased or decreased only slightly on any given day in the last month. A mixture of ammonium chloride, potassium nitrate, camphor, ethanol and distilled water, the storm glass was commonly used by mariners in the latter part of the 1800s. The appearance of the liquid is largely a reflection of current conditions, but is also affected by changes in barometric pressure and notable variations in temperature. To that extent, it can predict incoming storms with a certain degree of reliability. I'm still waiting for it to display flakes or small stars, indicating there's snow coming soon.