Today is June 5th. Happy birthday to me. I'm turning the big 3-2 this morning at 9:54 a.m. I was born in Albemarle, NC in 1974, two months after the Super Tornado Outbreak. This would be the point at which I would insert a photo of me as a baby, and I'm sure I have one somewhere, but not here at work. So check back later for the obligatory baby photo.

That's right, I'm at work today, on my birthday. Many people take their birthday off from work, and some companies (like where my wife works) even give you your birthday off. Don't think I wouldn't have done the same, but Wednesday is Radon Mitigation Wednesday (woohoo!) so I'll be at home that day. Today, I'll try to take it easy and do some "fun" work.

PHOTOSHOP ADDS BIRTHDAY HAT, TV ADDS FEARS, APPARENTLY

So what am I doing to celebrate? Well, I waited 35 minutes in construction on my way to work this morning, which really is its own reward. But mostly I'll be waiting for the arrival of my "real" present -- a new digital camera. Back in, oh, 2002 probably, I got a 2.1 megapixel camera with 3x zoom at our local Kmart for half price (still $250) when they went out of business. Yesterday, I ordered a 6.1 megapixel camera with 10x zoom for the same price.

I've always been an amateur photographer, and as the leader of the AccuWeather.com / WeatherMatrix Photo Gallery, I've always wished I could contribute better photos. However, the residents of State College should prepare. Murphy's Law dictates that a major photogenic weather event (given the time of year, I'll wager an F-5 tornado) will strike the city in the few days it takes Amazon.com to deliver my gift.

My daughter also got me a lighted, animated flamingo, which will add to my growing collection of flamingo paraphernalia.

NON-LIGHTED, KIND OF ANIMATED
FLAMINGOS AT N.C. ZOO IN '03

My Birthday in Weather History:

So what kind of wild weather have we seen on my birthday in past years? According to Almanac.com: "A foot of snow fell at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in California, 1993." That's pretty incredible for June, but then again Mammoth Mountain got 100" of snow on New Years 2006.

AccuWeather's comprehensive almanac lists these major events in history for June 5th (among others, complete PDF list here):

1816: Temp rises to 92, drops to 43 in Salem, Mass.
1859: Frost from Iowa to New England, Snow in Ohio
1916: Tornadoes kill 125 in Arkansas and Missouri
1937: 32" of snow fell in Bighorn Mountains
1951: 16" of snow in Calgary, Alberta
1966: To-Be-Hurricane Alma devlops
1992: 6-8" of rain in West Virginia
1995: Hurricane Allison makes landfall in Florida
1998: Snow in Denver & Cheyenne
1993: Snow in Nevada

This is interesting stuff -- I have access to the AccuWeather Almanac on our Intranet, and I've asked if we can release the daily information on the Internet.

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