The long-awaited (seemingly) 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 is here. I’ve been up since a little before 4:00 AM and even at that early hour cars were already streaming into the North 40. If you were looking for curbside parking in the neighborhood, forget it. People decided to camp out in their cars this year. In fact, we have more camping in the neighborhood this year than anyone can remember. That means there was plenty of partying well into the night. Sadly, there was also plenty of gunfire, which is always a bit disturbing.
I’ve not gotten a weather update since 4:00 yesterday afternoon. Looking at the radar, though, that first set of storms is just West of St. Louis currently (ya’ll hang tight over there). That should put the system here most likely around noon. The race is scheduled to begin at 12:45 PM, but at the moment that seems unlikely. Honestly, at this point, everything is kind of a wait-and-see situation. It’s still early and the system is still likely gathering moisture from the gulf. There could still be changes, which is why I don’t expect to hear any adjustments to the forecast from NWS until after 6:00. This system is going to carry severe winds, possibly in excess of 70 mph, rambunctious lightning, and the possibility of hail.
Anticipating rain, IMS brought in extra heaters from NASCAR to help dry the track as quickly as possible. The first system is moving quickly, so the race could, potentially, still be on as early as 2:00. We’re anticipating a clear break of 3.5 hours which should be plenty of time to get an “official” race completed. That doesn’t mean they’ll run a full 200 laps, mind you, and that’s also assuming that they run a clean race with no severe wrecks and few yellow flags. If drivers get sloppy, that could impact whether they finish the race before the second round of storms show up.
When the second round does arrive, anywhere between 5-8 depending on a number of factors, it is going to be a doozy. Chances for tornados on the outskirts of the city, such as around Kokomo and Lafayette to the North, and Spencer and Bloomington to the South, are severe enough that our friends in those areas really need to stay alert. This system is going to pack a wallop and deliver a lot of water. If it arrives before the race is over, we’re encouraging people who do not live locally to hang tight and stay sheltered until the worst of the storm passes.
Is all this over-hype? Possibly. There’s always the chance that we warn of the worst and nothing severe happens. But, I’d rather my friends be prepared than caught by surprise. If you don’t have emergency alerts turned on, grab your phone and do so right now. They’re under Settings>Notifications, or something similar.
As for me, the chemo is kicking my ass this morning, the arthritis is flaring like a mofo, and my glucose level after dinner last night was 165, only a four-point difference from the morning. There’s no hiding in bed this morning. We have to be out taking care of parking and such or it doesn’t get done. Tipper has volunteered to be outside with me a bit. She’s wanting to wear her furry head, so we’ll see how that goes. G is going to take care of things inside, keeping the dogs from going nuts. We have a plan. That doesn’t mean everything will go smoothly, but we’ll do our best.
I wish Kat was here.
No, we’re not talking about last night’s Pacers game. Ugh.
IT’S RACE DAY IN INDY!
The long-awaited (seemingly) 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 is here. I’ve been up since a little before 4:00 AM and even at that early hour cars were already streaming into the North 40. If you were looking for curbside parking in the neighborhood, forget it. People decided to camp out in their cars this year. In fact, we have more camping in the neighborhood this year than anyone can remember. That means there was plenty of partying well into the night. Sadly, there was also plenty of gunfire, which is always a bit disturbing.
I’ve not gotten a weather update since 4:00 yesterday afternoon. Looking at the radar, though, that first set of storms is just West of St. Louis currently (ya’ll hang tight over there). That should put the system here most likely around noon. The race is scheduled to begin at 12:45 PM, but at the moment that seems unlikely. Honestly, at this point, everything is kind of a wait-and-see situation. It’s still early and the system is still likely gathering moisture from the gulf. There could still be changes, which is why I don’t expect to hear any adjustments to the forecast from NWS until after 6:00. This system is going to carry severe winds, possibly in excess of 70 mph, rambunctious lightning, and the possibility of hail.
Anticipating rain, IMS brought in extra heaters from NASCAR to help dry the track as quickly as possible. The first system is moving quickly, so the race could, potentially, still be on as early as 2:00. We’re anticipating a clear break of 3.5 hours which should be plenty of time to get an “official” race completed. That doesn’t mean they’ll run a full 200 laps, mind you, and that’s also assuming that they run a clean race with no severe wrecks and few yellow flags. If drivers get sloppy, that could impact whether they finish the race before the second round of storms show up.
When the second round does arrive, anywhere between 5-8 depending on a number of factors, it is going to be a doozy. Chances for tornados on the outskirts of the city, such as around Kokomo and Lafayette to the North, and Spencer and Bloomington to the South, are severe enough that our friends in those areas really need to stay alert. This system is going to pack a wallop and deliver a lot of water. If it arrives before the race is over, we’re encouraging people who do not live locally to hang tight and stay sheltered until the worst of the storm passes.
Is all this over-hype? Possibly. There’s always the chance that we warn of the worst and nothing severe happens. But, I’d rather my friends be prepared than caught by surprise. If you don’t have emergency alerts turned on, grab your phone and do so right now. They’re under Settings>Notifications, or something similar.
As for me, the chemo is kicking my ass this morning, the arthritis is flaring like a mofo, and my glucose level after dinner last night was 165, only a four-point difference from the morning. There’s no hiding in bed this morning. We have to be out taking care of parking and such or it doesn’t get done. Tipper has volunteered to be outside with me a bit. She’s wanting to wear her furry head, so we’ll see how that goes. G is going to take care of things inside, keeping the dogs from going nuts. We have a plan. That doesn’t mean everything will go smoothly, but we’ll do our best.
I wish Kat was here.
No, we’re not talking about last night’s Pacers game. Ugh.
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