SMOKE, SMOKE and MORE SMOKE...

(Icon borrowed from the NWS)...SMOKE FROM SOUTHEAST GEORGIA WILDFIRE CONTINUES TO SPREAD ACROSS THE LOCAL REGION...

THE PLUME OF SMOKE FROM A LARGE WILDFIRE IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA CONTINUES TO SPREAD FROM EAST TO WEST ACROSS THE LOCAL TRI-STATE AREA. VISIBILITIES IMPROVED IN MANY LOCATIONS THIS AFTERNOON AS EASTERLY WINDS HELPED TO DISPERSE THE SMOKE. HOWEVER... AFTER SUNSET... THE SMOKE (BECAME) TRAPPED NEAR THE SURFACE AND (BEGAN)TO REDUCE VISIBILITIES ONCE AGAIN. EASTERLY WINDS (LAST) NIGHT PUSH(ED)THE BULK OF THE SMOKE ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST GEORGIA...AND THIS IS WHERE VISIBILITIES ARE EXPECTED TO BE LOWEST... DROPPING AS LOW AS 1 TO 2 MILES AT TIMES. VISIBILITIES WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE ONCE AGAIN BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS THE EASTERLY WINDS MIX THE SMOKE OUT OF THE SURFACE LAYER.

PERSONS WITH ASTHMA...MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY AND OTHER RESPIRATORY AILMENTS THAT CAN BE TRIGGERED BY THE SMOKE SHOULD CONSIDER STAYING INDOORS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING. PROLONGED PERIODS OF INHALING THIS SMOKE CAN BE HAZARDOUS... ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ALREADY SUFFER FROM RESPIRATORY AILMENTS. RELIEF SHOULD COME EARLY NEXT WEEK AS WINDS SWING AROUND TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SENDING THE SMOKE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Keep checking this link if you're interested in updates... right now, it just says what I posted.

Welcome home, right? So far, it has not impacted mine or Mini-Dew's asthma, which is good, but I have stayed inside because my NOAA Weather Radio told me to... and I follow directions well. The strong smell of smoke was obvious upon my arrival back in South Georgia though. I am pretty certain that the smoke was responsible for making Mini-Dew sick Friday and yesterday. Right now with the deep layer ridge, which seems to have taken root in our area, the wild fire in Ware County is the big weather story... Just exemplifies how desperately we need rain. Several folks at this point have lost their homes and many have been evacuated. With it this bad here, I can't imagine how bad it must be there. I'm about an hour from Waycross. We need rain... we just need it. Forget about severe stuff, just a nice steady rain to wash away this fire... and help my yard, which is looking sad, sad, sad.

Oh, and as a courtesy to my family, I stayed off the computer yesterday (even though there was a storm out in the plains that I could have arm chair chased. BTW, my friend Tony, out of Colorado bagged 4 in Texas, yesterday...) When my family finally arrived home yesterday after I got here (yes, folks, I was greeted by no one), I was in the living room and hubby disappeared after looking at my pics and souviniers... I found him at the computer logging in gas prices... no biggie, so I sat in the computer room with him, so I could be near him after being away... picking up my exacto knife (scrapbooking) to pass the time while we talked... and while we were talking, he sets up to play his stupid killing game. I was appalled! This hubby of mine has some nerve. I let him know exactly what I thought, and he apologized. He was about to hop on that stupid killing game, not 10 minutes after seeing me, after a week of not seeing me. Boy, did I feel the love... NOT!

Anyway, happy Sunday. I'm off to get ready for church.

Ciao,
~Dewdrop