Day 246: I don't stand staring at the monitor for my weather station. I check it every day, record the highs, lows, precipitation and peak wind speed, and make appropriate notes on a paper graph of any significant event such as hail or a thundershower. I've been following this same routine for almost 50 years now using a succession of stations. Until yesterday, none had made me laugh out loud.
Yesterday morning was cloudy, giving way around noon to some sun. It was a pleasant day until late afternoon when in the span of a brief fifteen minutes, the skies turned dark and threatening. The beginnings of a squall shook the leaves of the Japanese maple, set the Mountain-ash to trembling. The Grosbeaks beat for cover, as if they could anticipate what would next occur. Suddenly, a torrent spilled from the grey overhead, so violent that after two or three minutes, my curiosity kicked in. I stood up from working on a jigsaw puzzle and stepped over to the weather station, observing that in those few moments, almost a quarter of an inch of rain had fallen. As I started to move away, the display changed to read, "Its raining cats n dogs." Even as I did a comedic double-take, it switched back to its customary verbiage. The downpour was beginning to abate, but continued until the display had cycled through "cats n dogs" a few more times, long enough for me to grab the camera to record the delightful weather "Easter egg" Davis had included in their software. I'm just surprised I hadn't seen it before in the year and a half I've owned this particular model.
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