Put a Stop to Chaos by Redesigning Your Mud Room

When your home is cluttered and unorganized it can cause for life to get a bit out of hand. Whether it is the kitchen, the bedroom, or the mud room, the old mantra still holds true: a place for everything and everything in its place. Now if only your kids could live by that motto, too. Family life makes a mess, but a well-designed home with clean, streamlined storage can help keep it under control. The biggest offenders for clutter tend to be the bedroom and the mudroom, but there are storage solutions.

You get organized with a couple of different strategies, including reach in and walk in closets, shelving solutions, and cabinets. The best place to start is that part of your house that seems to always be the most unorganized: the bedroom. For too many people, cleaning means cramming everything behind closed doors: that can mean a chaotic wardrobe.

A messy bedroom only adds stress to your busy weeks and daily routines. Walk in closets make the most of both your horizontal and vertical space to create an elegant extension to your bedroom. They are luxuriously made and a way to keep your shoes, wardrobe, and accessories separate and plainly visible. With this added area and extra shelving and storage the bedroom no longer becomes the place you scramble to finish cleaning before guests come over.

If you live in Toronto, companies like Space Age Closets offer customized designs that fit your space, needs, and vision. Walk in closets in Toronto can be specialized to have as much or as little shelving as you need, with a design plan that complements your home’s. They will make your bedroom feel complete and help it to become an organized sanctuary where you can relax and enjoy your down time without the constant nagging feeling that something is out of place.

Another place in the home that always seems to be cluttered and in need of some help is the mud room. It may get its name for a reason, but many still cringe when guests come over and find their children’s boots, shoes, jackets, and coats flung every which way. You don’t want to be tripping over things as you come home from a day at the office, either.

Innovative mud room designs from Toronto’s Space Age Closets offer one solution. By installing benches for taking off your boots, hooks for scarves and umbrellas, and handy drawers for your work phone and your keys, you can keep everything where it belongs. Stop worrying about tripping in the dark or losing your keys. A few simple renovations can change a messy, cluttered room into a luxurious, organized space that everyone will appreciate as they enter the house. Nobody wants to be greeted with a disaster first thing after a long day. Among Space Age Closet’s suggestions for a mud room redesign is flooring that’s easy to clean, such as large format tiles or flooring without grout lines. With a little bit of thought and extra storage space, you’ll find it’s a breeze to keep your home free of clutter.

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Mini Storage Can Help Your De-Clutter Your Home

Your home has the ability to feel like an oasis in the middle of the city – your personal refuge from the traffic and congestion that always manages to clog up Thornhill. Unfortunately, for far too many people, this isn’t the case, as they come home to a cluttered and disorganized space. It isn’t that their homes are dirty. They’ve just accumulated a lot of junk, and too much of it can hinder their ability to let loose and relax after a long, hard day.

Believe it or not, it’s true. Clutter has been found to affect the brain negatively. A recent study conducted by researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found that the average person finds it difficult to concentrate in a chaotic environment. It also diminishes your ability to process information as the visual stimuli of clutter distract your brain. When exposed to clutter for longer periods of time, your brain can suffer from fatigue and result in negative mental experiences.

If you’ve been feeling anxious or frustrated upon arriving home from work, it may be time to consider your surroundings. A simple plan to go through your home and discard what you don’t need is the simplest way to make your home the stress-free haven you want it to be. Dividing this task over several weekends can lighten the load of this responsibility, and you can coordinate with your family to go through and discard items on specific days. It may be hard to cut down on your stuff, especially if you and your family members disagree on what you consider to be essential belongings and unnecessary junk. Luckily, there are self serve storage units in Thornhill for when you end up keeping far more than you had anticipated.

Varying in size, these storage units can be as small as a utility closet or as large as the average garage. When you find the perfect sized Thornhill storage unit, you never end up more for space that you don’t need, making mini storage an affordable solution to your clutter problems. Regardless of how much you stowaway, the best self storage Thornhill has to offer will come with advanced security features to keep you stuff safe.

Once you take the time to go through your things, you can clear out your living space and create an organized, clutter-free home. Best of all, when you use a mini storage unit to store your stuff, you don’t have to make any sacrifices in order to arrive at your orderly home. You can say goodbye to your concentration problems as you relax in your newfound oasis.

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Get Your Lawn Ready for the Summer

Summer time in Toronto is already here, and that means more sunshine, more time outdoors and more lawn care. Our yards are like our outdoor living rooms — especially because we so rarely get to enjoy the outdoors without dealing with snow, ice, rain, and wind — and the lawns are like our living room carpets. The better you feel about your lawn, the better your barbeques, parties, and game days will be. One of the best things you can do to upgrade your family’s experience is get your lawn ready for summer as soon as possible.

There are many benefits to having sprinklers installed. A lawn that is not properly watered is bound to have many growth issues. This kind of landscaping care is important for when you are having guests over. No one wants to hang out in what looks and feels like a wild, bug infested jungle with sand pits sporadically located throughout the terrain. The goal is to have a lovely yard you actually want to sit in and enjoy, not a safari adventure.

Let’s think about children for a moment. We love to see children being able to kick those sandals off and run around freely through the grass without hurting their feet on rocks, gravel, and stiff crabgrass. Children love the feeling of being able to run barefoot in the summer time. If you own a pool, the barefoot experience will be great for not only children but for people of every age who plan on spending time outdoors this season.

Looking into irrigation systems no longer has to mean thinking about breaking your summer budget because of that hydro bill; when you go to EZ Lawn Sprinklers for advice, it actually means saving water consumption and making sure every drop goes a long way. One of the most vital water saving strategies for is to ensure that the thirstiest patched of your garden get soaked during the early morning hours. They require less water at this time because nothing evaporates from harsh sunlight and the roots actually have time to soak up nutrients.

But it’s pretty doubtful that you’re going to get up at dawn every other morning to take care of that garden, right? Having a timed system set up by the experts at EZ Lawn Sprinklers will not only mean that this is taken care of, but it also means that the amount of water used is controlled and measured beforehand. This means your bills are predictable, regular, and low every single month. Another way to save water is to make sure you have updated sprinkler heads. Technology is always improving and moving towards efficiency, so make the most of it!

Other things to keep in mind throughout the summer months:

• Take a few minutes once a month to adjust the timer. The timing of the sunrise and sunset gradually change throughout the year.
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• Once a year, you should regularly tune-up your sprinkler system. When outdoor temperatures dip below zero, you need to make sure the pipes are empty of water so they don’t freeze, and this is a great time to check for other repairs as well. With a good company, all this should be automatically taken care of.

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Local Plumbers Know Your Plumbing Inside & Out

Your hunt for a family plumber should be similar to the search you completed to find your family doctor. You don’t want someone prescribing you medication without knowing your medical and family history first. Why, then, would you allow a technician to attempt repairs without having known the details of your home’s plumbing and drainage past. Without this knowledge, it can take longer for a plumber to arrive at the right solution or – in the worst case scenario – they attempt a flat-out wrong repair for your home. It becomes obvious when you think of it that way: just like you scoured Kitchener for the best family doctor, you should devote the same amount of time and effort to finding the top emergency plumber Kitchener has to offer.

A local plumber who’s completed regular inspections of your home is more familiar with ins and outs of your plumbing, and this background information can help them locate the weak spots in both your system and your maintenance routine. An expert Kitchener emergency plumber can utilize this knowledge to anticipate the best materials and methods of his or her repair, amounting to reliable work that’s both faster and more affordable to complete.

It’s important to call upon a service that supplies only plumbers who are insured and licensed to complete residential repairs in Kitchener. There are plenty of services, such as HY-PRO Plumbing and Drainage, that guarantee these two certificates for every single member of their team because they know it ensures the highest quality work. They also make sure there’s a professional waiting to take your call at any time of the day in case your emergency happens in the middle of the night. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, HY-PRO emergency plumbing services in Kitchener are the best company to call at any time.

Imagine having a reliable emergency plumber ready to take on your emergencies and not-so emergencies immediately. There’s a peace of mind in knowing that your local Kitchener plumber is there for you whenever you need them. Whether it’s a simple clogged drain or a more complex issue regarding your sewer lines, it’s important that someone you trust is ready to help.

Start asking people you trust about local plumbers and hit the websites (like the Better Business Bureau) to complete your own search. By comparing referrals to online reviews, you can narrow down the best emergency plumber Kitchener has to offer. Once you find them, make sure to save their number in your phone, just like your family doctor.

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Upgrade Your Curb Appeal with Stamped Concrete

Perhaps it’s not something we like to think about often, but the fact is that first impressions are important. People do judge books by their covers, construct opinions quickly, and buy houses based on curb appeal. Experts have noted that about 82 percent of home buyers will reject a home or accept one simply based on the exterior. A beautiful porch, patio, and driveway that has been landscaped with careful design contributes to a good “gut feeling” for any buyer.

There are several aspects of a home that are actually thought about and judged later on, like the strength of the foundation, the quality of the materials used, and the acreage of the yard. Yet when it comes to an immediate first impression, all those areas can be overlooked in favour of a stunning house-front. You, too, can dramatically increase your curb appeal —and you should see what Elite Concrete can do for you when it comes to fostering your most creative sensibilities.

Understanding Stamped Concrete

One of the best aspects of utilizing stamped concrete is its significant malleability. In comparison to other options that involve setting individual stones into a walkway, concrete provides an incredible flexibility at a much lower cost. While concrete will never cost you as much as a brick, slate, flagstone, or limestone walkway or driveway, it is capable of holding the exact style and look of those stones without any extra effort.

Essentially, you can pick and choose from variations in pattern, colour, and acid staining or washing for texture and effect without worrying about the cost. Imagine your walkway adorned with brick, which can add a classic touch to your entryway. Or, if you enjoy the antique or vintage look of many older houses, a limestone finish created by experts such as the team at Elite Concrete can provide a rustic style without any of the fragility of an actual stone driveway.

Why is Concrete Better?

Concrete is durable, much less prone to cracking, and low maintenance compared to stones that break down due to impact from vehicles and climate. They’re not made to last long-term, whereas the process of stamping from Elite Concrete includes a few steps that make the material sustainable and tough. The first step includes adding a base color, which is done by adding a color dye hardener to the concrete in its liquid state. The second part involves adding a secondary color that helps bring out natural imperfections of the material that you want your concrete to resemble. The last step involves stamping poured concrete to create a design. The stamp is usually made of polyurethane, which is a polymer that a concrete specialist can use to mold a natural look from concrete, and usually, there’s a final step of sealer which protects it even more thoroughly from weather conditions. As you can see, you can easily increase your curb appeal without having to dig too far into your pockets.

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Get to the Root of Your Property's Pigeon Issues

You own or manage a stunning apartment building complex or condominium that you know is doing great business. You also know that when clients buy this kind of beautiful apartment with an amazing view that overlooks the city, especially in an urban center, where real estate prices are high and maintenance is costly, the very last thing they want to see is pigeon droppings all over their balcony or courtyard.

The fact is that pigeons are extremely well-adapted creatures. The reason they proliferate even in urban areas, which may not seem too hospitable to wild bird populations, is because they’ve learned how to ingest scraps, fight off diseases caught from vermin, and breed incessantly to grow their own numbers. Rather than being stupid, as the term “birdbrain” suggests, they are surprisingly intelligent, and have been shown in tests and experiments to be able to organize pebbles by colour, shape, and size when trained. They’ve also been used throughout human civilization as letter carriers, and fancy pigeons have been bred to develop unique and astonishing physical qualities like large feathers, bushy tails, and so on.

Now, while all this doesn’t necessarily mean that you want them damaging your property, annoying your clients, or causing mayhem in large flocks, it does mean that they deserve respect and humane treatment. To get rid of your issues once and for all in the most humane way possible, look into bird control services with Pigeon Busters, because they have years of experience as specialists in this field.

Some of the ways that professionals will handle your problem is by strategically, professionally, and carefully installing one or more of the following options:

• Nets that deter the birds
• Spikes that keep them from landing
• Bird-friendly glass
• Electrical tracks
• Wires

Because they’re trained to develop the ability to keep birds safe while making it impossible for them to roost on your property, Pigeon Busters are ideal. It could be netting or glass that will fix your problem, but there are more solutions to choose from. Today, there are actually architects and designers who work in tandem with bird control services to design and build structures with the population’s habits in mind. Instead of building ledges into every level of windows in a high rise, or creating tons of glass surfaces for birds to fly into, Pigeon Busters comes up with custom solutions to address the issues at its root. It is not only possible, but preferable, to create beautiful buildings with active architecture that provide bird intervention while making the lives of residents and employees easier.

When you begin to take notice of the pigeons around you, be sure to study the cause of the entire problem rather than only its symptoms, and remember that an issue like this is best taken care of immediately, before the birds get out of control and become even more difficult to manage.

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How to Find Reliable Pest Control in Toronto

Everyone has nightmares about it: the moment they wake up with red blotches all over their skin, and a mattress full of bedbugs; sleepily flicking the lights on in the kitchen one night, only to catch dozens of roaches skittering back underneath the stove or the fridge; or staying awake every night to the click-clack of a rodent scampering across your floors. Nowhere is immune: everything from commercial shops to detached bungalows to apartment units are vulnerable to outdoor invaders.

#1 Don’t despair

When it happens to you, don’t despair, just find an exterminator in Toronto who will make sure your problem disappears and never comes back. Your search should begin with a little bit of time and effort and a checklist of go-to qualities. First of all, a reputable company in the Greater Toronto Area should know how to eliminate most issues common to Southern Ontario, including rodents, cockroaches, bedbugs, pavement and carpenter ants, mice, rats, earwigs, silverfish, spiders, firebrats, sow bugs, and clothing moths.

#2 Get a warranty

The next step is comparing company credentials and quality of services. Only go with firms that employ knowledgeable technicians who are licensed through the Ministry of Environment and can prove so by presenting an Ontario extermination card. A quality pest control company also offers a free evaluation with no obligation to purchase their services. Some simply show up once or twice and then they’re done; others, like Power Pest Control, offer a warranty with their work that is good for a year or longer. One effective way to eradicate your infestations for good is a 15-month plan. If the infestation flares up annually, the exterminator will be on hand to tackle it again. Companies that won't guarantee their work should be avoided because they will end up costing the homeowner more money in the long run.

#3 Stay proactive

Proactive services and maintenance services are also a good thing to look for in commercial properties. The best pest control Toronto has to offer provide different options when it comes to maintenance and routine service. If you’re looking for weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly service, you can contact Power Pest Control to find out how it works. A trustworthy company should provide a variety of packages to keep your property free of unwanted guests.

#4 Learn about insecticides

A homeowner should always ask about the chemicals used in their home and determine how safe they are. Responsible exterminators like Power Pest only use chemicals that are safe for infants, pregnant women, and the elderly. The main concern should be in the safety of the family residing in the home. You can double check the classification of insecticides in Ontario on this index.

With a little bit of time and effort, homeowners can find a reliable pest control service that meets their needs. Reading customer reviews can provide much needed insight on a company’s values and practices. Customer reviews provide a detailed description of the customer's experience. Customers who have had bad experiences usually do not hesitate to inform others, and many are more than happy to share their positive experiences. Do your research and get your infestation under control sooner than later.

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Aluminum Siding Can Extend the Lifespan of Your Home

When you are looking for aluminum siding installation to extend the longevity of your home, there are several key issues to be aware of in your search for a company that can help you. First of all, be sure to hook up with a company that has been around for at least twenty years. If you can find a firm that is family owned and managed, that would be ideal – those two things combined, “family-run” and “long history,” probably means that the company you’ve chosen has great customer service (which is how they’ve managed to stay in business so long). Either that, or they’re a front for the mafia, but you’re probably safe there if they also have many glowing customer reviews.

You won’t get the same service from a large company, many of which are filled with contractors who are new and just getting their bearings in the industry, deciding whether they actually want to work in aluminum installation for the rest of their life. You might luck out and find someone as dedicated to the trade as the family-owned guys, but it’s just as possible you get someone who will be in construction or steel welding before the end of the year. Even if you do find someone reliable, they aren’t likely to stay with that company for long. There’s really no other way to guarantee good, consistent customer service than choosing a small, family owned company with decades of experience – that’s why if you’re in the Toronto area it’s a good idea to stop by Tiptoptrough.com.

One of the reasons a good, honest contractor is so important is because they won’t pressure you to buy more than you need. Rather than hoping to get a temporary boost in their sales numbers or income, they will recommend you only the services and products that your home requires in order to keep your business for as long as possible. They know that you can vote with your money if you’re unhappy and take your business elsewhere – and they respect you as a client as a result.

That’s why you should take some time and research companies before you get your eavestroughs repaired or get something as monumental as aluminum siding installed in your home – if you live in Toronto, a good bet is a firm like Tip Top Trough, which has been family-owned for two decades and has a reputation for their honest dealings with customers. Siding is great for providing your home with insulation in the summer and winter, and in protecting the exterior of your home from damage – which will save you money in the long run (and give you a break on your insurance). But you won’t save any money on your new purchase if you have it installed by a disreputable company that takes you to the cleaners!

Properly installed, maintained, and manufactured aluminum siding from a firm like Tip Top Trough should last you about forty years, and in all of that time your home will be greatly protected from damage. It’s also a responsible option when it comes to the impact on the environment, since it’s usually made from recycled metal. Instead of using up to fifty trees to form wood siding, the aluminum variety can cover the same wall surface area with metal from about six crushed salvage cars. Aluminum’s versatility and recyclability is one of the reasons it is so cheap as a material ­– usually only costs about $3 to $6 per square foot. In any case, when you’ve decided to install new siding to protect your home, remember to choose a family-run business (although not this kind of family) over a corporate one to ensure that your home gets the absolute best service possible.

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Put a Stop to Chaos by Redesigning Your Mud Room

When your home is cluttered and unorganized it can cause for life to get a bit out of hand. Whether it is the kitchen, the bedroom, or the mud room, the old mantra still holds true: a place for everything and everything in its place. Now if only your kids could live by that motto, too. Family life makes a mess, but a well-designed home with clean, streamlined storage can help keep it under control. The biggest offenders for clutter tend to be the bedroom and the mudroom, but there are storage solutions.

You get organized with a couple of different strategies, including reach in and walk in closets, shelving solutions, and cabinets. The best place to start is that part of your house that seems to always be the most unorganized: the bedroom. For too many people, cleaning means cramming everything behind closed doors: that can mean a chaotic wardrobe.

A messy bedroom only adds stress to your busy weeks and daily routines. Walk in closets make the most of both your horizontal and vertical space to create an elegant extension to your bedroom. They are luxuriously made and a way to keep your shoes, wardrobe, and accessories separate and plainly visible. With this added area and extra shelving and storage the bedroom no longer becomes the place you scramble to finish cleaning before guests come over.

If you live in Toronto, companies like Space Age Closets offer customized designs that fit your space, needs, and vision. Walk in closets in Toronto can be specialized to have as much or as little shelving as you need, with a design plan that complements your home’s. They will make your bedroom feel complete and help it to become an organized sanctuary where you can relax and enjoy your down time without the constant nagging feeling that something is out of place.

Another place in the home that always seems to be cluttered and in need of some help is the mud room. It may get its name for a reason, but many still cringe when guests come over and find their children’s boots, shoes, jackets, and coats flung every which way. You don’t want to be tripping over things as you come home from a day at the office, either.

Innovative mud room designs from Toronto’s Space Age Closets offer one solution. By installing benches for taking off your boots, hooks for scarves and umbrellas, and handy drawers for your work phone and your keys, you can keep everything where it belongs. Stop worrying about tripping in the dark or losing your keys. A few simple renovations can change a messy, cluttered room into a luxurious, organized space that everyone will appreciate as they enter the house. Nobody wants to be greeted with a disaster first thing after a long day. Among Space Age Closet’s suggestions for a mud room redesign is flooring that’s easy to clean, such as large format tiles or flooring without grout lines. With a little bit of thought and extra storage space, you’ll find it’s a breeze to keep your home free of clutter.

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Mini Storage Can Help Your De-Clutter Your Home

Your home has the ability to feel like an oasis in the middle of the city – your personal refuge from the traffic and congestion that always manages to clog up Thornhill. Unfortunately, for far too many people, this isn’t the case, as they come home to a cluttered and disorganized space. It isn’t that their homes are dirty. They’ve just accumulated a lot of junk, and too much of it can hinder their ability to let loose and relax after a long, hard day.

Believe it or not, it’s true. Clutter has been found to affect the brain negatively. A recent study conducted by researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found that the average person finds it difficult to concentrate in a chaotic environment. It also diminishes your ability to process information as the visual stimuli of clutter distract your brain. When exposed to clutter for longer periods of time, your brain can suffer from fatigue and result in negative mental experiences.

If you’ve been feeling anxious or frustrated upon arriving home from work, it may be time to consider your surroundings. A simple plan to go through your home and discard what you don’t need is the simplest way to make your home the stress-free haven you want it to be. Dividing this task over several weekends can lighten the load of this responsibility, and you can coordinate with your family to go through and discard items on specific days. It may be hard to cut down on your stuff, especially if you and your family members disagree on what you consider to be essential belongings and unnecessary junk. Luckily, there are self serve storage units in Thornhill for when you end up keeping far more than you had anticipated.

Varying in size, these storage units can be as small as a utility closet or as large as the average garage. When you find the perfect sized Thornhill storage unit, you never end up more for space that you don’t need, making mini storage an affordable solution to your clutter problems. Regardless of how much you stowaway, the best self storage Thornhill has to offer will come with advanced security features to keep you stuff safe.

Once you take the time to go through your things, you can clear out your living space and create an organized, clutter-free home. Best of all, when you use a mini storage unit to store your stuff, you don’t have to make any sacrifices in order to arrive at your orderly home. You can say goodbye to your concentration problems as you relax in your newfound oasis.

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Get Your Lawn Ready for the Summer

Summer time in Toronto is already here, and that means more sunshine, more time outdoors and more lawn care. Our yards are like our outdoor living rooms — especially because we so rarely get to enjoy the outdoors without dealing with snow, ice, rain, and wind — and the lawns are like our living room carpets. The better you feel about your lawn, the better your barbeques, parties, and game days will be. One of the best things you can do to upgrade your family’s experience is get your lawn ready for summer as soon as possible.

There are many benefits to having sprinklers installed. A lawn that is not properly watered is bound to have many growth issues. This kind of landscaping care is important for when you are having guests over. No one wants to hang out in what looks and feels like a wild, bug infested jungle with sand pits sporadically located throughout the terrain. The goal is to have a lovely yard you actually want to sit in and enjoy, not a safari adventure.

Let’s think about children for a moment. We love to see children being able to kick those sandals off and run around freely through the grass without hurting their feet on rocks, gravel, and stiff crabgrass. Children love the feeling of being able to run barefoot in the summer time. If you own a pool, the barefoot experience will be great for not only children but for people of every age who plan on spending time outdoors this season.

Looking into irrigation systems no longer has to mean thinking about breaking your summer budget because of that hydro bill; when you go to EZ Lawn Sprinklers for advice, it actually means saving water consumption and making sure every drop goes a long way. One of the most vital water saving strategies for is to ensure that the thirstiest patched of your garden get soaked during the early morning hours. They require less water at this time because nothing evaporates from harsh sunlight and the roots actually have time to soak up nutrients.

But it’s pretty doubtful that you’re going to get up at dawn every other morning to take care of that garden, right? Having a timed system set up by the experts at EZ Lawn Sprinklers will not only mean that this is taken care of, but it also means that the amount of water used is controlled and measured beforehand. This means your bills are predictable, regular, and low every single month. Another way to save water is to make sure you have updated sprinkler heads. Technology is always improving and moving towards efficiency, so make the most of it!

Other things to keep in mind throughout the summer months:

• Take a few minutes once a month to adjust the timer. The timing of the sunrise and sunset gradually change throughout the year.
• 
  
• Once a year, you should regularly tune-up your sprinkler system. When outdoor temperatures dip below zero, you need to make sure the pipes are empty of water so they don’t freeze, and this is a great time to check for other repairs as well. With a good company, all this should be automatically taken care of.

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Local Plumbers Know Your Plumbing Inside & Out

Your hunt for a family plumber should be similar to the search you completed to find your family doctor. You don’t want someone prescribing you medication without knowing your medical and family history first. Why, then, would you allow a technician to attempt repairs without having known the details of your home’s plumbing and drainage past. Without this knowledge, it can take longer for a plumber to arrive at the right solution or – in the worst case scenario – they attempt a flat-out wrong repair for your home. It becomes obvious when you think of it that way: just like you scoured Kitchener for the best family doctor, you should devote the same amount of time and effort to finding the top emergency plumber Kitchener has to offer.

A local plumber who’s completed regular inspections of your home is more familiar with ins and outs of your plumbing, and this background information can help them locate the weak spots in both your system and your maintenance routine. An expert Kitchener emergency plumber can utilize this knowledge to anticipate the best materials and methods of his or her repair, amounting to reliable work that’s both faster and more affordable to complete.

It’s important to call upon a service that supplies only plumbers who are insured and licensed to complete residential repairs in Kitchener. There are plenty of services, such as HY-PRO Plumbing and Drainage, that guarantee these two certificates for every single member of their team because they know it ensures the highest quality work. They also make sure there’s a professional waiting to take your call at any time of the day in case your emergency happens in the middle of the night. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, HY-PRO emergency plumbing services in Kitchener are the best company to call at any time.

Imagine having a reliable emergency plumber ready to take on your emergencies and not-so emergencies immediately. There’s a peace of mind in knowing that your local Kitchener plumber is there for you whenever you need them. Whether it’s a simple clogged drain or a more complex issue regarding your sewer lines, it’s important that someone you trust is ready to help.

Start asking people you trust about local plumbers and hit the websites (like the Better Business Bureau) to complete your own search. By comparing referrals to online reviews, you can narrow down the best emergency plumber Kitchener has to offer. Once you find them, make sure to save their number in your phone, just like your family doctor.

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Upgrade Your Curb Appeal with Stamped Concrete

Perhaps it’s not something we like to think about often, but the fact is that first impressions are important. People do judge books by their covers, construct opinions quickly, and buy houses based on curb appeal. Experts have noted that about 82 percent of home buyers will reject a home or accept one simply based on the exterior. A beautiful porch, patio, and driveway that has been landscaped with careful design contributes to a good “gut feeling” for any buyer.

There are several aspects of a home that are actually thought about and judged later on, like the strength of the foundation, the quality of the materials used, and the acreage of the yard. Yet when it comes to an immediate first impression, all those areas can be overlooked in favour of a stunning house-front. You, too, can dramatically increase your curb appeal —and you should see what Elite Concrete can do for you when it comes to fostering your most creative sensibilities.

Understanding Stamped Concrete

One of the best aspects of utilizing stamped concrete is its significant malleability. In comparison to other options that involve setting individual stones into a walkway, concrete provides an incredible flexibility at a much lower cost. While concrete will never cost you as much as a brick, slate, flagstone, or limestone walkway or driveway, it is capable of holding the exact style and look of those stones without any extra effort.

Essentially, you can pick and choose from variations in pattern, colour, and acid staining or washing for texture and effect without worrying about the cost. Imagine your walkway adorned with brick, which can add a classic touch to your entryway. Or, if you enjoy the antique or vintage look of many older houses, a limestone finish created by experts such as the team at Elite Concrete can provide a rustic style without any of the fragility of an actual stone driveway.

Why is Concrete Better?

Concrete is durable, much less prone to cracking, and low maintenance compared to stones that break down due to impact from vehicles and climate. They’re not made to last long-term, whereas the process of stamping from Elite Concrete includes a few steps that make the material sustainable and tough. The first step includes adding a base color, which is done by adding a color dye hardener to the concrete in its liquid state. The second part involves adding a secondary color that helps bring out natural imperfections of the material that you want your concrete to resemble. The last step involves stamping poured concrete to create a design. The stamp is usually made of polyurethane, which is a polymer that a concrete specialist can use to mold a natural look from concrete, and usually, there’s a final step of sealer which protects it even more thoroughly from weather conditions. As you can see, you can easily increase your curb appeal without having to dig too far into your pockets.

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Get to the Root of Your Property's Pigeon Issues

You own or manage a stunning apartment building complex or condominium that you know is doing great business. You also know that when clients buy this kind of beautiful apartment with an amazing view that overlooks the city, especially in an urban center, where real estate prices are high and maintenance is costly, the very last thing they want to see is pigeon droppings all over their balcony or courtyard.

The fact is that pigeons are extremely well-adapted creatures. The reason they proliferate even in urban areas, which may not seem too hospitable to wild bird populations, is because they’ve learned how to ingest scraps, fight off diseases caught from vermin, and breed incessantly to grow their own numbers. Rather than being stupid, as the term “birdbrain” suggests, they are surprisingly intelligent, and have been shown in tests and experiments to be able to organize pebbles by colour, shape, and size when trained. They’ve also been used throughout human civilization as letter carriers, and fancy pigeons have been bred to develop unique and astonishing physical qualities like large feathers, bushy tails, and so on.

Now, while all this doesn’t necessarily mean that you want them damaging your property, annoying your clients, or causing mayhem in large flocks, it does mean that they deserve respect and humane treatment. To get rid of your issues once and for all in the most humane way possible, look into bird control services with Pigeon Busters, because they have years of experience as specialists in this field.

Some of the ways that professionals will handle your problem is by strategically, professionally, and carefully installing one or more of the following options:

• Nets that deter the birds
• Spikes that keep them from landing
• Bird-friendly glass
• Electrical tracks
• Wires

Because they’re trained to develop the ability to keep birds safe while making it impossible for them to roost on your property, Pigeon Busters are ideal. It could be netting or glass that will fix your problem, but there are more solutions to choose from. Today, there are actually architects and designers who work in tandem with bird control services to design and build structures with the population’s habits in mind. Instead of building ledges into every level of windows in a high rise, or creating tons of glass surfaces for birds to fly into, Pigeon Busters comes up with custom solutions to address the issues at its root. It is not only possible, but preferable, to create beautiful buildings with active architecture that provide bird intervention while making the lives of residents and employees easier.

When you begin to take notice of the pigeons around you, be sure to study the cause of the entire problem rather than only its symptoms, and remember that an issue like this is best taken care of immediately, before the birds get out of control and become even more difficult to manage.

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How to Find Reliable Pest Control in Toronto

Everyone has nightmares about it: the moment they wake up with red blotches all over their skin, and a mattress full of bedbugs; sleepily flicking the lights on in the kitchen one night, only to catch dozens of roaches skittering back underneath the stove or the fridge; or staying awake every night to the click-clack of a rodent scampering across your floors. Nowhere is immune: everything from commercial shops to detached bungalows to apartment units are vulnerable to outdoor invaders.

#1 Don’t despair

When it happens to you, don’t despair, just find an exterminator in Toronto who will make sure your problem disappears and never comes back. Your search should begin with a little bit of time and effort and a checklist of go-to qualities. First of all, a reputable company in the Greater Toronto Area should know how to eliminate most issues common to Southern Ontario, including rodents, cockroaches, bedbugs, pavement and carpenter ants, mice, rats, earwigs, silverfish, spiders, firebrats, sow bugs, and clothing moths.

#2 Get a warranty

The next step is comparing company credentials and quality of services. Only go with firms that employ knowledgeable technicians who are licensed through the Ministry of Environment and can prove so by presenting an Ontario extermination card. A quality pest control company also offers a free evaluation with no obligation to purchase their services. Some simply show up once or twice and then they’re done; others, like Power Pest Control, offer a warranty with their work that is good for a year or longer. One effective way to eradicate your infestations for good is a 15-month plan. If the infestation flares up annually, the exterminator will be on hand to tackle it again. Companies that won't guarantee their work should be avoided because they will end up costing the homeowner more money in the long run.

#3 Stay proactive

Proactive services and maintenance services are also a good thing to look for in commercial properties. The best pest control Toronto has to offer provide different options when it comes to maintenance and routine service. If you’re looking for weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly service, you can contact Power Pest Control to find out how it works. A trustworthy company should provide a variety of packages to keep your property free of unwanted guests.

#4 Learn about insecticides

A homeowner should always ask about the chemicals used in their home and determine how safe they are. Responsible exterminators like Power Pest only use chemicals that are safe for infants, pregnant women, and the elderly. The main concern should be in the safety of the family residing in the home. You can double check the classification of insecticides in Ontario on this index.

With a little bit of time and effort, homeowners can find a reliable pest control service that meets their needs. Reading customer reviews can provide much needed insight on a company’s values and practices. Customer reviews provide a detailed description of the customer's experience. Customers who have had bad experiences usually do not hesitate to inform others, and many are more than happy to share their positive experiences. Do your research and get your infestation under control sooner than later.

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Aluminum Siding Can Extend the Lifespan of Your Home

When you are looking for aluminum siding installation to extend the longevity of your home, there are several key issues to be aware of in your search for a company that can help you. First of all, be sure to hook up with a company that has been around for at least twenty years. If you can find a firm that is family owned and managed, that would be ideal – those two things combined, “family-run” and “long history,” probably means that the company you’ve chosen has great customer service (which is how they’ve managed to stay in business so long). Either that, or they’re a front for the mafia, but you’re probably safe there if they also have many glowing customer reviews.

You won’t get the same service from a large company, many of which are filled with contractors who are new and just getting their bearings in the industry, deciding whether they actually want to work in aluminum installation for the rest of their life. You might luck out and find someone as dedicated to the trade as the family-owned guys, but it’s just as possible you get someone who will be in construction or steel welding before the end of the year. Even if you do find someone reliable, they aren’t likely to stay with that company for long. There’s really no other way to guarantee good, consistent customer service than choosing a small, family owned company with decades of experience – that’s why if you’re in the Toronto area it’s a good idea to stop by Tiptoptrough.com.

One of the reasons a good, honest contractor is so important is because they won’t pressure you to buy more than you need. Rather than hoping to get a temporary boost in their sales numbers or income, they will recommend you only the services and products that your home requires in order to keep your business for as long as possible. They know that you can vote with your money if you’re unhappy and take your business elsewhere – and they respect you as a client as a result.

That’s why you should take some time and research companies before you get your eavestroughs repaired or get something as monumental as aluminum siding installed in your home – if you live in Toronto, a good bet is a firm like Tip Top Trough, which has been family-owned for two decades and has a reputation for their honest dealings with customers. Siding is great for providing your home with insulation in the summer and winter, and in protecting the exterior of your home from damage – which will save you money in the long run (and give you a break on your insurance). But you won’t save any money on your new purchase if you have it installed by a disreputable company that takes you to the cleaners!

Properly installed, maintained, and manufactured aluminum siding from a firm like Tip Top Trough should last you about forty years, and in all of that time your home will be greatly protected from damage. It’s also a responsible option when it comes to the impact on the environment, since it’s usually made from recycled metal. Instead of using up to fifty trees to form wood siding, the aluminum variety can cover the same wall surface area with metal from about six crushed salvage cars. Aluminum’s versatility and recyclability is one of the reasons it is so cheap as a material ­– usually only costs about $3 to $6 per square foot. In any case, when you’ve decided to install new siding to protect your home, remember to choose a family-run business (although not this kind of family) over a corporate one to ensure that your home gets the absolute best service possible.

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The Summer is a Great Time to get into Leather Furniture

Summer is a great time to start considering updating and improving your home, making it more refreshing and comfortable for yourself, your family, and your guests. Adding new furniture, or simply updating and replacing outdated furniture, can go a long way to improving the quality and comfort level of a home.

One of the best ways to update your furnishings (and home décor) is to replace outdated furniture with new leather furniture. Just about anyone would love to have a new recliner or sofa in their den or living room to be able to comfortably relax while they unwind from the day. If you’re looking for a way to live out that dream in your own recliner or wingback chair, check out this website for a great place to buy a leather chair in Toronto. If you don’t live in Toronto, just do your research and look around! Ideally you want a retailer that provides a wide selection, has been in business a long time, and has a history of satisfying its customers.

Leather is a very high quality material that has always been a gold standard when it comes to comfort, durability, and breath ability. There really is nothing better than relaxing on your new couch with the windows open and a glass of lemonade (complete with a sprig of mint) by your side. A lot of people seem to think that leather is a bad choice for summer, but it’s actually the opposite! It is cooler than your body temperature, and because it breathes so well you don’t end up sweating as much as when you sit in a fabric chair. Just ask the experts at your local furniture retailer, such as the Chesterfield Shop in the GTA, about the advantages of it as a material in the summer months.

In regards to durability, leather outlasts furniture made out of fabric by a ratio of four to one. That’s probably because it doesn’t tear anywhere near as easily, and it is easy to keep clean if you have pets, children, or an extremely messy partner (or if you’re the clumsy one yourself!). It’s also fire resistant and doesn't release any toxic fumes when it is exposed to heat, which is definitely a huge plus.

Unlike fabrics, leather doesn’t wear or fade over time, but actually becomes softer and more attractive, meaning you’re less likely to want to replace it in the future and can safely spend your money elsewhere. If you purchase a new piece of furniture from a quality retailer like the Chesterfield Shop, you can expect to get fifteen-to-twenty years of use out of it, as opposed to the four to five years that someone might get from fabric made sofas and recliners. When you consider what you’re getting and how much you’re going to spend, there’s really no excuse for going with a sub-par material for your new furniture purchase!

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The Summer is a Great Time to get into Leather Furniture

Summer is a great time to start considering updating and improving your home, making it more refreshing and comfortable for yourself, your family, and your guests. Adding new furniture, or simply updating and replacing outdated furniture, can go a long way to improving the quality and comfort level of a home.

One of the best ways to update your furnishings (and home décor) is to replace outdated furniture with new leather furniture. Just about anyone would love to have a new recliner or sofa in their den or living room to be able to comfortably relax while they unwind from the day. If you’re looking for a way to live out that dream in your own recliner or wingback chair, check out this website for a great place to buy a leather chair in Toronto. If you don’t live in Toronto, just do your research and look around! Ideally you want a retailer that provides a wide selection, has been in business a long time, and has a history of satisfying its customers.

Leather is a very high quality material that has always been a gold standard when it comes to comfort, durability, and breath ability. There really is nothing better than relaxing on your new couch with the windows open and a glass of lemonade (complete with a sprig of mint) by your side. A lot of people seem to think that leather is a bad choice for summer, but it’s actually the opposite! It is cooler than your body temperature, and because it breathes so well you don’t end up sweating as much as when you sit in a fabric chair. Just ask the experts at your local furniture retailer, such as the Chesterfield Shop in the GTA, about the advantages of it as a material in the summer months.

In regards to durability, leather outlasts furniture made out of fabric by a ratio of four to one. That’s probably because it doesn’t tear anywhere near as easily, and it is easy to keep clean if you have pets, children, or an extremely messy partner (or if you’re the clumsy one yourself!). It’s also fire resistant and doesn't release any toxic fumes when it is exposed to heat, which is definitely a huge plus.

Unlike fabrics, leather doesn’t wear or fade over time, but actually becomes softer and more attractive, meaning you’re less likely to want to replace it in the future and can safely spend your money elsewhere. If you purchase a new piece of furniture from a quality retailer like the Chesterfield Shop, you can expect to get fifteen-to-twenty years of use out of it, as opposed to the four to five years that someone might get from fabric made sofas and recliners. When you consider what you’re getting and how much you’re going to spend, there’s really no excuse for going with a sub-par material for your new furniture purchase!

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The KPLU Triumph

Sometimes the good guys win.   Today is such a time.

A few hours ago, we learned that Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) has agreed to sell popular public radio station KPLU to a community group (Friends of 88.5) for 7 million dollars in cash, plus 1 million dollars in underwriting.

Against great odds, the Puget Sound community said no to a sale of the radio station to University of Washington's KUOW, which longed for a regional public radio monopoly and KPLU's transmitters/frequency allocations.

This is not just a western Washington local triumph, but an achievement of national implications. 

It is about a community that said no to the loss of diversity in local news and regional programming.   No to the trend of corporatization and nationalization of local content.  Yes, to valued and unique jazz and blues programming.  Yes, to distinguished local news coverage.

A record breaking amount of money was raised while an army of naysayers said it was impossible.

And the community showed the extraordinary power of social media to dissuade bad decisions of even the most powerful local interests.

The story of the saving of KPLU has the breadth and interest to make a compelling novel, with twists that would inspire a Hollywood screenwriter to think about the movie potential.   It has greedy/deceptive villains.  Moneyed and powerful interests wanting to get their way.  Secret deals.  Heroes and heroines.  A Hail Mary attempt to save the station that worked.  Record breaking fundraising.   Covert KUOW emails revealed in the press.  Fight Club. The participation of thousands of listeners and supporters.  The innovative use of social media.  Leadership and staff at KPLU that would not give up.   And even gunfire in a Seattle Public Library branch.

It is a story so unusual and far fetched that most would think it was a tall tale.  But it wasn't a story...it was real.  And KPLU, whatever it will be called in the future, will provide regional listeners and jazz/blues lovers from around the world with the programming they love for many years to come.

Stephen Tan, Chair of Friends of 88.5, and Joey Cohn, KPLU head

For me, the most interesting questions deal with the future.

How will KPLU evolve and grow as it becomes an independent entity, unfettered by their connection with PLU?    KPLU management has learned deep lessons about the importance of community engagement and the value of close ties with its listeners.   I suspect those lessons will have profound effects on the trajectory of the station.

For KUOW, this failed hostile takeover attempt of a valued local public radio station should stimulate deep reflection and reform.  KUOW management worked on a secret agreement to buy KPLU, skirted public meeting laws to keep the public uninformed before a UW Regents meeting, planned on using pledge money acquired for KUOW operations for the takeover bid, and wasted large amounts of money on a jazz outlet meant to put pressure on KPLU.

Perhaps even worse, KUOW management has stripped most of the local programming from the KUOW weekday schedule, filling the hours with bland nationally syndicated material.   It is time for KUOW to reappraise its programming,  bringing back much more local content.  The rich resources of the University of Washington should be entrained into the on-air material, and the management of KUOW improved (clearly the KUOW board has been ineffective at best). And there should be many opportunities to join forces with a resurgent KPLU.

KUOW can become a far better public citizen and regional news organization.   And to do so, it would be advised to follow the model of integrity and listener engagement so evident at KPLU.



from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/298IZBo

The KPLU Triumph

Sometimes the good guys win.   Today is such a time.

A few hours ago, we learned that Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) has agreed to sell popular public radio station KPLU to a community group (Friends of 88.5) for 7 million dollars in cash, plus 1 million dollars in underwriting.

Against great odds, the Puget Sound community said no to a sale of the radio station to University of Washington's KUOW, which longed for a regional public radio monopoly and KPLU's transmitters/frequency allocations.

This is not just a western Washington local triumph, but an achievement of national implications. 

It is about a community that said no to the loss of diversity in local news and regional programming.   No to the trend of corporatization and nationalization of local content.  Yes, to valued and unique jazz and blues programming.  Yes, to distinguished local news coverage.

A record breaking amount of money was raised while an army of naysayers said it was impossible.

And the community showed the extraordinary power of social media to dissuade bad decisions of even the most powerful local interests.

The story of the saving of KPLU has the breadth and interest to make a compelling novel, with twists that would inspire a Hollywood screenwriter to think about the movie potential.   It has greedy/deceptive villains.  Moneyed and powerful interests wanting to get their way.  Secret deals.  Heroes and heroines.  A Hail Mary attempt to save the station that worked.  Record breaking fundraising.   Covert KUOW emails revealed in the press.  Fight Club. The participation of thousands of listeners and supporters.  The innovative use of social media.  Leadership and staff at KPLU that would not give up.   And even gunfire in a Seattle Public Library branch.

It is a story so unusual and far fetched that most would think it was a tall tale.  But it wasn't a story...it was real.  And KPLU, whatever it will be called in the future, will provide regional listeners and jazz/blues lovers from around the world with the programming they love for many years to come.

Stephen Tan, Chair of Friends of 88.5, and Joey Cohn, KPLU head

For me, the most interesting questions deal with the future.

How will KPLU evolve and grow as it becomes an independent entity, unfettered by their connection with PLU?    KPLU management has learned deep lessons about the importance of community engagement and the value of close ties with its listeners.   I suspect those lessons will have profound effects on the trajectory of the station.

For KUOW, this failed hostile takeover attempt of a valued local public radio station should stimulate deep reflection and reform.  KUOW management worked on a secret agreement to buy KPLU, skirted public meeting laws to keep the public uninformed before a UW Regents meeting, planned on using pledge money acquired for KUOW operations for the takeover bid, and wasted large amounts of money on a jazz outlet meant to put pressure on KPLU.

Perhaps even worse, KUOW management has stripped most of the local programming from the KUOW weekday schedule, filling the hours with bland nationally syndicated material.   It is time for KUOW to reappraise its programming,  bringing back much more local content.  The rich resources of the University of Washington should be entrained into the on-air material, and the management of KUOW improved (clearly the KUOW board has been ineffective at best). And there should be many opportunities to join forces with a resurgent KPLU.

KUOW can become a far better public citizen and regional news organization.   And to do so, it would be advised to follow the model of integrity and listener engagement so evident at KPLU.



from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/298IZBo

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Who provides the best weather forecasts?

One question I frequently get is: where can I get the best weather forecasts?   Quality varies substantially and the answer is often different between garden variety forecasts and more difficult rare/severe weather events.

So what about garden-variety weather predictions?  What source is best?  The National Weather Service, Weather.com or Accuweather?  Or what?

There is a web site, weatheradvisor.com, that provides average verification statistics for the last month or year for a large number of locations.  Our independent verification for some Northwest locations suggests that this site is relatively reliable.  

Here is the table for Seattle for the last year.  For temperature, they consider a forecast accurate if it is within 3F.    Precipitation is not so clear, since they consider the forecast as rain if there is any chance of precipitation in the forecast.   So you might dismiss the precipitation evaluation...although all forecasts are verified in the same way.

Considering temperature, the three best are the Weather Channel, the Weather Underground, and Accuweather--I doubt whether the differences are statistically significant.   The Weather Service is a step down.

What about Spokane?  The same three are on top, but this time Accuweather is the leader, particularly for low temperatures.  They are good at low temperatures.  Again, the NWS lags a bit.

Finally, lets look at Yakima, the primary agricultural center of our state.  Same three in the lead, and Accuweather is again better at the low temperatures.

So why do the Weather Channel, Weatther Underground and Accuweather produce better forecasts than the National Weather Service on average?    The key reason is that they generally make use of multiple  weather forecast models (e.g., US GFS, European Center and UK Met Office models), and  then do sophisticated sophisticated statistical postprocessing to combine the forecasts in an optimal way.   The National Weather Service has lagged in statistical postprocessing, depending heavily on a forty-year old system called MOS, Model Output Statistics.    Thus, it the guidance provided to National Weather Service forecasts has been less than state of the art.

Fortunately, this is changing.   During the past year, the NWS has developed the National Blend of Global Models, which statistically combines an international collection of global models and traditional MOS to produce better forecasts.   The results so far are encouraging, with reduced error and lower biases.

With these advances, I would expect the National Weather Service average statistics will move closer to the Weather.coms and Accuweathers during the next year.

The National Weather Service human forecasters do play an important forecasting role, particularly when unusual and extreme weather occurs.  Events in which the models and statistics can fail, but where long experience and physical insights can be critical.  Some private firms, like Accuweather, have also invested heavily in a substantial human forecaster contingent.

The National Weather Service forecasters are positioned in a two-tiered system:  the roughly 120 forecasts offices spread around the nation, and national speciality centers, such as the the Storm Prediction Center in Norman Oklahoma or the Weather Prediction Center in Washington DC.  The first group is responsible for local prediction, while the latter specializes in specific types of extreme events, like severe convection (Storm Prediction Center) and heavy precipitation/flooding (Weather Prediction Center).

The Weather Prediction Center has found that humans can provide positive impacts for very heavy precipitation events over numerical model guidance (of course the humans START with the numerical guidance).  The Storm Prediction Center is absolutely world class, providing the best severe thunderstorm warnings in the world.

The future will be one where garden variety weather is mainly taken care of by statistically corrected ensembles of models, with humans spending most of their time dealing with extreme weather, resolving with model problems, and communicating forecasts to the public and critical user communities.  

Even  today if you are looking for a weather forecast on average day, the forecast from your typical weather app (weather.com, accuweather, etc.) are fine.  But when severe weather is possible, turning to an outlet in which humans are carefully following the situation is advised.

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/28Y7peU

Who provides the best weather forecasts?

One question I frequently get is: where can I get the best weather forecasts?   Quality varies substantially and the answer is often different between garden variety forecasts and more difficult rare/severe weather events.

So what about garden-variety weather predictions?  What source is best?  The National Weather Service, Weather.com or Accuweather?  Or what?

There is a web site, weatheradvisor.com, that provides average verification statistics for the last month or year for a large number of locations.  Our independent verification for some Northwest locations suggests that this site is relatively reliable.  

Here is the table for Seattle for the last year.  For temperature, they consider a forecast accurate if it is within 3F.    Precipitation is not so clear, since they consider the forecast as rain if there is any chance of precipitation in the forecast.   So you might dismiss the precipitation evaluation...although all forecasts are verified in the same way.

Considering temperature, the three best are the Weather Channel, the Weather Underground, and Accuweather--I doubt whether the differences are statistically significant.   The Weather Service is a step down.

What about Spokane?  The same three are on top, but this time Accuweather is the leader, particularly for low temperatures.  They are good at low temperatures.  Again, the NWS lags a bit.

Finally, lets look at Yakima, the primary agricultural center of our state.  Same three in the lead, and Accuweather is again better at the low temperatures.

So why do the Weather Channel, Weatther Underground and Accuweather produce better forecasts than the National Weather Service on average?    The key reason is that they generally make use of multiple  weather forecast models (e.g., US GFS, European Center and UK Met Office models), and  then do sophisticated sophisticated statistical postprocessing to combine the forecasts in an optimal way.   The National Weather Service has lagged in statistical postprocessing, depending heavily on a forty-year old system called MOS, Model Output Statistics.    Thus, it the guidance provided to National Weather Service forecasts has been less than state of the art.

Fortunately, this is changing.   During the past year, the NWS has developed the National Blend of Global Models, which statistically combines an international collection of global models and traditional MOS to produce better forecasts.   The results so far are encouraging, with reduced error and lower biases.

With these advances, I would expect the National Weather Service average statistics will move closer to the Weather.coms and Accuweathers during the next year.

The National Weather Service human forecasters do play an important forecasting role, particularly when unusual and extreme weather occurs.  Events in which the models and statistics can fail, but where long experience and physical insights can be critical.  Some private firms, like Accuweather, have also invested heavily in a substantial human forecaster contingent.

The National Weather Service forecasters are positioned in a two-tiered system:  the roughly 120 forecasts offices spread around the nation, and national speciality centers, such as the the Storm Prediction Center in Norman Oklahoma or the Weather Prediction Center in Washington DC.  The first group is responsible for local prediction, while the latter specializes in specific types of extreme events, like severe convection (Storm Prediction Center) and heavy precipitation/flooding (Weather Prediction Center).

The Weather Prediction Center has found that humans can provide positive impacts for very heavy precipitation events over numerical model guidance (of course the humans START with the numerical guidance).  The Storm Prediction Center is absolutely world class, providing the best severe thunderstorm warnings in the world.

The future will be one where garden variety weather is mainly taken care of by statistically corrected ensembles of models, with humans spending most of their time dealing with extreme weather, resolving with model problems, and communicating forecasts to the public and critical user communities.  

Even  today if you are looking for a weather forecast on average day, the forecast from your typical weather app (weather.com, accuweather, etc.) are fine.  But when severe weather is possible, turning to an outlet in which humans are carefully following the situation is advised.

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/28Y7peU

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Glorious Rain Shaft at Sunset

Sometimes folks send me pictures that are so beautiful and educational that I want to share them.  Such a picture came my way this week, supplied by Tom Keenan, and taken at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge north of Olympia on June 20th.  A solstice meteorological treat and Tom did a splendid job in capturing the moment.

Here is an example of the eye candy Tom sent me.  It show a rain shaft falling out of a cumulus cell near sunset.  Just marvelous.  There also appears to be some light rain falling out of the cloud to the left and mostly evaporating before reaching the ground.  This is called virga.

Some folks confuse rain shafts with funnel clouds, but they are completely different animals, with the rain shaft simply a well-defined area of precipitation produced by the relatively small scale convective cloud updraft.

Below cloud base, rain shafts are usually associated with downward air motion (downdraft) due to two reasons:  (1) the falling precipitation drags air downward, (2) if the air below cloud base is not saturated (relative humidity below 100%), then there is evaporation that produces cooling in the rain shaft.  Cool air is more dense than surrounding warmer air and this results in a downward acceleration.

In the right conditions (very high cloud base, heavy precipitation, low relative humidity) such rain shafts can be associated with powerful downbursts that can produce winds of 50-100 mph as the downdraft hits the ground and spreads out.   Such downbursts (also known as microbursts or macrobursts, depending on size) can bring down large jets (see image).

Fortunately, here in the Pacific Northwest we rarely get strong downbursts.  Our cumulus clouds are low based, Northwest cumulus clouds/convection are wimpy, and we rarely have very dry air near the surface.  In contrast, Denver Colorado often has ideal conditions for such dangerous events.

Finally, it is fun to examine the Langley Hill weather radar imager around 9 PM that day (8:58 PM to be exact).  Look carefully near the southern tip of the Sound and you will see the echo from the cell photographed by Tom.

 There won't be a lot of precipitation action during the next week, but when showers return (and they will) keep your eye out for rain shafts, and particularly near sunset when the lighting is ideas to view them.

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/28UqxdD

Glorious Rain Shaft at Sunset

Sometimes folks send me pictures that are so beautiful and educational that I want to share them.  Such a picture came my way this week, supplied by Tom Keenan, and taken at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge north of Olympia on June 20th.  A solstice meteorological treat and Tom did a splendid job in capturing the moment.

Here is an example of the eye candy Tom sent me.  It show a rain shaft falling out of a cumulus cell near sunset.  Just marvelous.  There also appears to be some light rain falling out of the cloud to the left and mostly evaporating before reaching the ground.  This is called virga.

Some folks confuse rain shafts with funnel clouds, but they are completely different animals, with the rain shaft simply a well-defined area of precipitation produced by the relatively small scale convective cloud updraft.

Below cloud base, rain shafts are usually associated with downward air motion (downdraft) due to two reasons:  (1) the falling precipitation drags air downward, (2) if the air below cloud base is not saturated (relative humidity below 100%), then there is evaporation that produces cooling in the rain shaft.  Cool air is more dense than surrounding warmer air and this results in a downward acceleration.

In the right conditions (very high cloud base, heavy precipitation, low relative humidity) such rain shafts can be associated with powerful downbursts that can produce winds of 50-100 mph as the downdraft hits the ground and spreads out.   Such downbursts (also known as microbursts or macrobursts, depending on size) can bring down large jets (see image).

Fortunately, here in the Pacific Northwest we rarely get strong downbursts.  Our cumulus clouds are low based, Northwest cumulus clouds/convection are wimpy, and we rarely have very dry air near the surface.  In contrast, Denver Colorado often has ideal conditions for such dangerous events.

Finally, it is fun to examine the Langley Hill weather radar imager around 9 PM that day (8:58 PM to be exact).  Look carefully near the southern tip of the Sound and you will see the echo from the cell photographed by Tom.

 There won't be a lot of precipitation action during the next week, but when showers return (and they will) keep your eye out for rain shafts, and particularly near sunset when the lighting is ideas to view them.

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/28UqxdD

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West Coast Contrasts: Cool North/Hot South

The recent weather has been starkly different between the north and southern portions of the West Coast.

Over the Northwest we have experienced weeks of typical June weather:  cool with light moisture. And eastern WA has been cooler than normal with no fires. In contrast, southern CA is burning with temperatures reaching above 100F away from the coast; some unlucky folks are experiencing 115-125F.

Here is the departure from average of the daily temperatures during the past two weeks.   Cooler than normal in the Northwest, particular near and immediately downstream of the Cascade crest.   Warm in southern CA and VERY warm east of the Rockies.

Precipitation?  A bit wetter than normal over much of our region during this period.

One huge difference from last year is the mild conditions over eastern WA.  For example, take a look at Pasco, WA during the past month.   After the warm spell in early June, the cooling hit hard, with many days dropping far below normal...some even near 40F.

Wednesday night brought another cool, wet system to our region, as illustrated by the regional radar imagery at 10:30 AM.   No need to water tomorrow.

In fact, the 72hr precipitation total forecast by the WRF model is impressive (see below_, with some portions of the Cascades and Olympics getting 1-2 inches.  Good for water supplies and good for reducing the fire risk further.

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/28ONb7k

West Coast Contrasts: Cool North/Hot South

The recent weather has been starkly different between the north and southern portions of the West Coast.

Over the Northwest we have experienced weeks of typical June weather:  cool with light moisture. And eastern WA has been cooler than normal with no fires. In contrast, southern CA is burning with temperatures reaching above 100F away from the coast; some unlucky folks are experiencing 115-125F.

Here is the departure from average of the daily temperatures during the past two weeks.   Cooler than normal in the Northwest, particular near and immediately downstream of the Cascade crest.   Warm in southern CA and VERY warm east of the Rockies.

Precipitation?  A bit wetter than normal over much of our region during this period.

One huge difference from last year is the mild conditions over eastern WA.  For example, take a look at Pasco, WA during the past month.   After the warm spell in early June, the cooling hit hard, with many days dropping far below normal...some even near 40F.

Wednesday night brought another cool, wet system to our region, as illustrated by the regional radar imagery at 10:30 AM.   No need to water tomorrow.

In fact, the 72hr precipitation total forecast by the WRF model is impressive (see below_, with some portions of the Cascades and Olympics getting 1-2 inches.  Good for water supplies and good for reducing the fire risk further.

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/28ONb7k