Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Transoceanic Vision, More Crane Info

Hey, Matt: Last year that weatherman on Channel 9 (KUUUUUSI) said that, under the right, very unusual weather conditions, it was possible to see Hawaii from Del Mar. He said it was due to inversions or something like that. He said this was true, not a joke. I have never heard anything about this before or since. Is it possible, or is this guy just hallucinating? — Mark in Santee

We had to give this one to Grandma Alice. Usually she doesn’t want anything to do with us (though she has agreed to bake lots of pies to help keep our energy up). But when she heard that we were calling John Coleman (Mr. KUUUUUSI), she flew into the office, grabbed the phone out of my hand, and laid on her most alluring Grandma voice. John Coleman makes Grandma’s heart go pitty-pat. She wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. By the end of the conversation, Grandma was giddy as a schoolgirl. Too dizzy to think. We helped her back to the kitchen, toweled her off, and made her a cup of tea. We haven’t seen her this crazed since Kenny Rogers winked at her in the middle of a concert. Grandma insists he did wink and it was aimed directly at her.

Luckily, we got enough information out of her to shed some light on Mark’s question. KUSI’s weatherperson admits that no one has actually seen Hawaii from Del Mar, but based on scientific scribblings it just maybe, might possibly, theoretically happen. And, he says, it’s because of superior mirages. Those aren’t mirages that are a whole lot better than other mirages; they’re images of objects that appear to be above their actual physical location. Think of old sailors’ tales of seeing ships flying through the clouds. The ships are on the sea, but atmospheric conditions make them appear to a viewer as being well above the horizon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

How to explain this. Well, first of all, think of the earth as being wrapped in layers of atmosphere. As you move from the outer layer to the inner layer, each is denser than the last. Second of all, when light rays pass through each layer, the change in density makes the light bend. And remember, any objects we see are visible because of light rays bouncing off the object we’re looking at.

So, say there’s a fierce temperature inversion going on around your house. That is, cold air is trapped under layers of warm air. Any light passing through the inversion would be bent downward once it hit the denser cold air. So under the right conditions, if you’re gazing off to the horizon, light from an object beyond the horizon could be bent enough around the curve of Earth to appear in your field of vision. And it’s a real image. If you were lucky enough to have a camera with you, you could click it and post it with your tweet about the event.

We tried to find the Guinness Book record for the distance of superior images, but no luck. The best we could do for confirmed sightings was a cityscape with a tower and flashing red light viewed across Lake Michigan. The viewer was on the lake shore in Michigan, looking west across the very cold lake. After some investigating, it was confirmed that the image he saw was downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 75 miles away. That would place the original image well beyond the viewer’s horizon. So that’s how we might maybe see Hawaii from Del Mar, but don’t waste too much time looking for it.

One last Grandma note. Her conversation ended with John Coleman giving her KUUUUUSI lessons. Turns out the secret is starting out with the proper squeak in the back of the throat. Grandma’s in the kitchen every day refining her technique. It’s very annoying.

Erection Lasting More Than Four Hours!

[re crane construction, July 16 column] I was involved in this specific project, and the “construction” (erection is a more appropriate term) of these cranes was far, far different than you describe. In fact, it was quite a story…! The cranes were erected using a ringer-type crane. But first, the soft soils at the site had to be reinforced to support the ringer. The actual cranes were shipped in parts from another country. Getting the parts ashore was even problematic because the piers at the shipyard did not have the strength to support the parts of the cranes. But to their great credit, the men and women at the shipyard “got ’er done!” — Bob Garner

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Eurovan man can

Best services
Next Article

Clikatat Ikatowi returns to the Casbah for October 8 show

Venue saw the band’s last performance over a quarter century ago

Hey, Matt: Last year that weatherman on Channel 9 (KUUUUUSI) said that, under the right, very unusual weather conditions, it was possible to see Hawaii from Del Mar. He said it was due to inversions or something like that. He said this was true, not a joke. I have never heard anything about this before or since. Is it possible, or is this guy just hallucinating? — Mark in Santee

We had to give this one to Grandma Alice. Usually she doesn’t want anything to do with us (though she has agreed to bake lots of pies to help keep our energy up). But when she heard that we were calling John Coleman (Mr. KUUUUUSI), she flew into the office, grabbed the phone out of my hand, and laid on her most alluring Grandma voice. John Coleman makes Grandma’s heart go pitty-pat. She wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. By the end of the conversation, Grandma was giddy as a schoolgirl. Too dizzy to think. We helped her back to the kitchen, toweled her off, and made her a cup of tea. We haven’t seen her this crazed since Kenny Rogers winked at her in the middle of a concert. Grandma insists he did wink and it was aimed directly at her.

Luckily, we got enough information out of her to shed some light on Mark’s question. KUSI’s weatherperson admits that no one has actually seen Hawaii from Del Mar, but based on scientific scribblings it just maybe, might possibly, theoretically happen. And, he says, it’s because of superior mirages. Those aren’t mirages that are a whole lot better than other mirages; they’re images of objects that appear to be above their actual physical location. Think of old sailors’ tales of seeing ships flying through the clouds. The ships are on the sea, but atmospheric conditions make them appear to a viewer as being well above the horizon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

How to explain this. Well, first of all, think of the earth as being wrapped in layers of atmosphere. As you move from the outer layer to the inner layer, each is denser than the last. Second of all, when light rays pass through each layer, the change in density makes the light bend. And remember, any objects we see are visible because of light rays bouncing off the object we’re looking at.

So, say there’s a fierce temperature inversion going on around your house. That is, cold air is trapped under layers of warm air. Any light passing through the inversion would be bent downward once it hit the denser cold air. So under the right conditions, if you’re gazing off to the horizon, light from an object beyond the horizon could be bent enough around the curve of Earth to appear in your field of vision. And it’s a real image. If you were lucky enough to have a camera with you, you could click it and post it with your tweet about the event.

We tried to find the Guinness Book record for the distance of superior images, but no luck. The best we could do for confirmed sightings was a cityscape with a tower and flashing red light viewed across Lake Michigan. The viewer was on the lake shore in Michigan, looking west across the very cold lake. After some investigating, it was confirmed that the image he saw was downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 75 miles away. That would place the original image well beyond the viewer’s horizon. So that’s how we might maybe see Hawaii from Del Mar, but don’t waste too much time looking for it.

One last Grandma note. Her conversation ended with John Coleman giving her KUUUUUSI lessons. Turns out the secret is starting out with the proper squeak in the back of the throat. Grandma’s in the kitchen every day refining her technique. It’s very annoying.

Erection Lasting More Than Four Hours!

[re crane construction, July 16 column] I was involved in this specific project, and the “construction” (erection is a more appropriate term) of these cranes was far, far different than you describe. In fact, it was quite a story…! The cranes were erected using a ringer-type crane. But first, the soft soils at the site had to be reinforced to support the ringer. The actual cranes were shipped in parts from another country. Getting the parts ashore was even problematic because the piers at the shipyard did not have the strength to support the parts of the cranes. But to their great credit, the men and women at the shipyard “got ’er done!” — Bob Garner

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Clikatat Ikatowi returns to the Casbah for October 8 show

Venue saw the band’s last performance over a quarter century ago
Next Article

Frank Zane has already won

But don’t call former Mr. Universe retired
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader