So everyone around here has been having blackouts. From Bothell, to Sammamish, and even here in Bellevue. It’s probably due to the high winds and you can hear it pretty well. From Weather.com:
High Wind Warning
/O.CON.KSEW.HW.W.0019.000000T0000Z- 061215T1800Z/ SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-EVERETT AND VICINITY- SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA- TACOMA AREA-HOOD CANAL AREA- LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA- 706 PM PST THU DEC 14 2006
…HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST FRIDAY…
STRONG SOUTH WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 55 MPH HAVE BEEN OCCURRING THIS EVENING. AT 6 PM EVERETT WAS REPORTING A SOUTH WIND OF 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 52 MPH. WINDS MAY BRIEFLY DECREASE AT TIMES THROUGH ABOUT 9 PM. BUT WIND WILL SHIFT TO THE SOUTHWEST AND INCREASE LATER THIS EVENING AS A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL RISE TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 80 MPH IN THE CHEHALIS GAP FROM SHELTON WESTWARD. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL RISE TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH ELSEWHERE…BEGINNING AROUND 9 PM IN OLYMPIA AND SPREADING NORTH THROUGH THE SEATTLE AND EVERETT AREAS BETWEEN 10 AND 11 PM.
My first long blackout occurred while I was at work. My UPS gives about 30 mins of backup time and has an auto clock to turn off my computer when there is about 5 mins left on the battery and my connection died sometime around 5:30pm. I didn’t have my computer set to auto-boot when the power came back on. But when I came back, the power had already returned and my computers were up in no time.
Throughout the night, my power’s been flaky, however, most times, not enough to reset the clocks. Here’s what my APC Back-UPS XS800 performance shows:
Unfortunately, the lowest denominator was for the past week, but 95% of the statistics should be today’s.
Thank god for UPS though, or else my computer would’ve been rebooting over and over again. I have one UPS for each computer, but I’ve realized I need one for my router, switch and cable modem. When the power flickers, most of the time they stay online, but when the flicker takes longer than half a second, they reset, sometimes forcing me to power them off and back on to get them working.
I haven’t seen too many folks online, so I’m guessing they’re not having as much luck as I am. The longest blackout so far (that I’ve been in today) lasted about 2 minutes.
What does get annoying is the fact that whenever the power goes off and back on, APC PowerChute pops up a notification balloon telling me the power has resumed to use AC power. I tried turning off all notifications and sounds, but it still shows up. Who knows.
NobodysGirl IMed me earlier tonight and ask how the flood was, but I didn’t really noticed any flood. However, there is a flood warning on Weather.com:
/X.NEW.KSEW.FL.W.0059.061215T1645Z- 061217T0135Z/ /CRNW1.1.ER.061215T1645Z. 061216T0000Z.061216T1335Z.NO/ 922 PM PST THU DEC 14 2006
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A
* FLOOD WARNING FOR THE SNOQUALMIE RIVER NEAR CARNATION * FROM FRIDAY MORNING TO SATURDAY MORNING. * AT 9:00 PM THURSDAY THE STAGE WAS 49.7 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 54.0 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FORECAST… RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AROUND 9 AM FRIDAY AND CONTINUE TO RISE TO NEAR 55.0 FEET BY LATE TOMORROW AFTERNOON. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY SATURDAY MORNING. * AT 54.0 FEET…THE SNOQUALMIE RIVER WILL FLOOD MUCH OF THE FARM LAND AND SEVERAL ROADS FROM FALL CITY DOWNSTREAM THROUGH CARNATION AND DUVALL.
I’m actually curious what those colored balls underneath “Severe Weather Alerts for Bellevue, WA (98006)” mean. I’m guessing red is bad, and orange is bad, but not as bad as red. Anything with the word severe weather can’t be good.