☁ ☂ Weather XXII ☼☄

The previous thread was three years old and only had 19 posts. So I'm starting another.

We've got waaay below normal temperatures here, and we've had barely any sun for days. (This after we had several days of 90s in Mid-May.) I haven't even bought my veggies yet, much less planted them.

What's happening in your various corners of the world?

May I suggest also mentioning what corner of the world we're speaking from?

I'm in Northern California. We're officially past the drought, but I think most of us are still very water-conscious. Our lawn is turning brown in places; we haven't got the sprinklers going yet, and I'm still hesitating. We had some heavy rains a while back, but things have pretty well dried out since then.

And everything is early. The jacarandas are in full bloom, and they usually come out in June. My lilacs were about two weeks early, and so were the almond blossoms. This despite the fact that following a few hot days we went right back to cool weather (pleasantly springlike but not summery) and chilly nights. Everything just seems to be kind of off its rhythm.

Is that an asteroid in the header? I hope that's not what the weather is bringing! (I'm reading The Last Policeman now, so I can't help thinking about that.)

Here in southwestern Ontario, January and February were exceptionally warm, then it got cold and yucky. Now the temperature is seasonal, but crops are going in fairly late because of rain. My own garden just consists of a few zucchini seeds this year, because there's a big pile of excavated dirt covering my garden dirt. Don't have the time or inclination to garden now, anyway.

There is an interesting cloud formation outside my window now:

Here in Seattle we had some nice summer weather over the weekend. Back to soggy today... ;)

Here in central Oregon we have finally warmed up! It's been a cold spring. Today we had a thunder storm go through. Hopefully it didn't start any fires. We've already had our first forest fire of the season.

>2 Meredy: I'm in New England, North Central Connecticut to be more exact.

>3 SylviaC: Lovely cloud! Yes, it's a meteor for a meteorological thread. ;o)

>4 ScoLgo: At least your weekend was nice!

>5 catzteach: Glad to hear it! Hope that warmth migrates Eastward.

Here in central Alberta we're having a heat wave. It was 28 C today. I love it, except my rain barrels are dry and I hate using city water to water the veg gardens. Still, sitting in the shade with a book and a glass of ice water is wonderful, and I'm getting lots of work done in the garden, which is also fun for me. It's supposed to cool down a few degrees this weekend and rain on Monday, which is okay, too.

Coming into winter here in Durban, where it's cold (by our standards -- 9 to 22 °C) and sunny. We were set for a drought, but instead had floods earlier this month, so 5 times our normal monthly rainfall, but all in one weekend and mostly between the dams and the sea, which did nobody any good. The Western Cape is having a crisis-level drought. They should be having winter rain, but nothing so far and only sand in the dams.

I'm in southern NH, and it's been grey and rainy for the past week, which unfortunately coincided with my brother's visit. I was hoping for some blue skies. We went to the beach on Friday but it was only 50 and the rain and wind were cold. He didn't mind too much though - he said it was a nice change from the desert conditions in his home in eastern WA.

>6 clamairy: North Central CT = Reins Deli!

Whoops, didn't see this thread before posting in an old weekend thread. :)

I live in even Northerner California than Meredy, in the north end of the Sacramento valley, almost in Oregon.

I loved waking up to a sprinkly rain shower today! A couple of cooling off days between our 90 and 100° temps would be a lovely summer, but it won't keep up. We always have a bit of a cooldown the first two weeks of June, and usually a bit of rain. My garden is very happy that the triple digits haven't settled in for good yet, although we've had a few days of them.

I've been working on my pond, growing water lilies from seeds, which I'm rather puffed about. Intend to transplant some local water irises into it this next weekend. They are already living in a submerged kiddy pool I put in years ago when I had ducks.

Planted two chili pepper plants (ghost and Fresno), two tomato plants for my mom (cherry tomatoes 100 super sweet and chocolate!). I have two kinds of oregano in pots, one in the yard. Not sure what the one in the yard is, but the ones in pots are Greek and Spicy. I planted about six basil plants also, and put my lemongrass back outside.

Put in some marigolds to keep pests off of my peppers and bring sunshine to my mom's doorstep, along with deep blue and deep red petunias. Those are not my favorite flower plants, but they require little from me and do well in our hot sun.

I planted a hibiscus bush, hoping it does well where I placed it. I may have to watch it if we get a cold winter, and I'm not sure it will get enough sun where it is, but we shall see. Generally plants which say "full sun" prefer a little afternoon shade here. I want to get a banana plant and see if I can make it grow so I will have lovely banana leaves to play with in my kitchen.

All of these plans are easy to make right now when the temperature is in the 80s to 90s, and in the 60s at night. When it starts the 110s to 120s with a low of 85°, I will not be so enthused about my garden.

Lovely here in wine country. We've had some foggy cool mornings but warming up after the fog burns off. On impulse, I bought a six pack of Diablo peppers from a lady selling them on the side of the road. After a rough start losing some to bugs, I sprinkled others with diatomaceous earth and they are doing fine. I asked her, "Caliente?" She replied, "MUCHO Caliente!" I'm growing them mostly for my daughter's boyfriend who likes hot stuff.

>9 Darth-Heather: Yes, it's awesome! If I have lunch there I do not need dinner. :o)

>12 clamairy: It's about a 3 hour drive from here, but my Yiddish father-in-law would never accept deli food from anywhere else. Even when he was in hospice, he still insisted I go get him matzoh soup :)

We usually fill up on pastrami and then bring bagels home...

>13 Darth-Heather: It's the only place of its kind in this part of the state. I'm sure there are similar quality delis in the part of CT that is closer to NYC. I spent the first 13 years of my life on Western Long Island, on Nassau/Suffolk county line and there were delis every where: Jewish, Italian, German, generic. We went to the one that specialized in what we had a hankering for at the time. I haven't lived within walking distance of a deli for almost 30 years, and it's one of the things I miss most about being in the sticks. No pubs within walking distance, either. :o(

We had boomers last night! :o) I sat on the front porch and watched until I started getting wet because the rain was blowing sideways. LOL

We had decent gardening weather yesterday and it's holding for at least another 36 hours before the next stretch of rainy days moves in. I'm trying to get everything I bought planted, but my mojo is not what it used to be.

In the meantime, please enjoy this timelapse video of thunderstorm "supercells."

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/05/fractal-a-magnificent-supercell-thundersto...

(Best on a wide screen, but still looks and sounds great on a decent phone.)

It's raining here today, which is great - everything's getting a good soaking and I won't have to water. There's a patch of new sod in our back yard where the utility people had to dig part of it up to replace the gas mains, so it's going to give that a good start, too. And the next couple of days will be hot and sunny so everything should explode with growth :)

I'm going to go shopping, since I can't spend time in the garden. Groceries, cat litter, a new pair of shorts, and maybe some books.

>16 tardis: Maybe? :o)

>15 clamairy: Thanks for that link. I've seen other thunderstorm videos but those supercells were really impressive.

After the driest May since 1971, and a significant lack of moisture, we had a thunderstorm roll through southern Saskatchewan last evening. Still not even close to the amount of rain we need. Our soil is so dry, and the plants are suffering. My poor plants are wilting, even with daily water. And the only people with green grass are those with fake turf.

It's going to be in the high 20's/low 30's for at least another week. I'm hoping for some more thunderstorms so we can get some moisture. There's no significant rain in the forecast for the next two weeks. I'm certain that can change, but because we want it to, it probably won't.

>15 clamairy: If you are like me, when faced with plants at the nursery, I'm always buying more than have the energy to plant when I get home. Plants, food, books, our brains just don't understand portion sizes when it comes to those things.

We've had an off-and-on sort of spring. February was warm, and we thought spring would be early, but March was cold and snowy; April was back to warm, but off and on. May was pretty good, but aside from a couple of days of heavy rain near the beginning it has been dry. This week we had an amazing thunderstorm Monday night, but it didn't rain a lot and it started about 16 forest fires. Thankfully they are not close to anything and are now mostly out. Rain was forecast for the last few days, but we only had a little yesterday, and a bit more today. It isn't enough to soak things so I'll have to start watering this weekend.

>20 MrsLee: I actually showed some restrain for the first time in years when I did my plant shopping the other day. (I did NOT have to put the seats down in my Murano to fit everything in!) But yeah, the mojo is sorely lacking. I just spent six hours digging, rototilling*, planting & weeding and I can just about move.

I have a rechargeable one, not one of those gas-powered biggun's.

I spent a couple of furious days planting, and we're back to the cold rainy crap again. Our high today was 53 (11 C) and we're going down into the upper 40s (8 C) tonight. And yet I see a couple of days in the low 90s (33 C) in the long-range forecast. Can't we just have some pleasant 'windows open' weather for a couple of weeks?

>23 clamairy: Come to California! :)

Being in the Mid-Atlantic region, I'm seeing the same predictions of a three--day stretch of above-90-degrees weather that clamairy is seeing. This will be the second heat wave of 2017 (technical definition being 3 days of higher than 90 degree temps). Spouse and I were talking about the need to pull together the room air conditioners in our upstairs in order to cope.

I'm with clamairy on requesting a few more weeks of the open window weather. We're not even halfway through June yet. (Of course I do recall June graduations when the heat & humidity were already up in the upper reaches of 80s and 90s.)

It snowed here yesterday. Snow. In June. I'm so over it. We are supposed to be back in the 70s by mid-week.

Here in northern Wisconsin we just had a biggish thunderstorm roll through. No hail though and the power didn't go out. It did yesterday when the winds were fiercer, but it was sunny and much warmer so go figure.

Mid Atlantic here, roasting in the 90s. Glad that the fiance has a pool in her yard. LOL

Well, one of our room air-conditioners was the subject of a mechanical recall. This would make a heat-wave really bad, but the nice company is sending a little man tomorrow to replace whatever it is that caused the problem. For this I am grateful.

I spent the weekend in NYC, and while it was toasty yesterday it wasn't terrible. Today was another story altogether. It wasn't much better when I got home to CT, but at least I didn't feel like I was inside a brick oven while walking the dog this evening.

We've had heat warnings here for the last few days. We need to be very careful about our well water usage because the chickens drink a lot in this weather, and they get first dibs.

We could really use rain, too. There was too much rain in late April/early May, which meant that the crops went in late. Now that they're in the ground, there's been nothing.

And this is what all that rain dumped on my dock this morning!

Here in San Jose, at 11:00 a.m., it's overcast and in the mid-fifties, and it's been like this for days. It looks and feels like November, not June. I'm really ready for some warm weather, even though I know I'll soon long for it to cool off.

Durban still the same as in #8. The rains have started in the Western Cape at last, but Cape Town's main dam is still only 15% full, and they are trying to come out on 100 litres (say 25 gallons, less in Imperial gallons) per household per day.

We had a surprise bout of showers, and we're back to our usual weather.  Temperatures will be elevated in the coming week, before cooling off, again.

Nothing beats this weather report. https://youtu.be/lV3GI-tIdWs

>35 justjukka: And you are where?

Ah, Silicon Valley, like yerself.  I'm never ready for warm weather.  Lived in Georgia for a couple years and never acclimated.

>37 justjukka: Oh! Well, we just had one little sprinkle here the other night, enough to leave muddy splotches all over my car, and that was it. We must occupy a smaller pocket than I thought. Anyway, the warmer weather is coming on now, for the moment: a pleasant 82 this afternoon.

It's 108° outside right now. Supposed to get hotter. When I got up at 5:30am, it was already 80°.

I grilled everything this morning for the next week of foods which will probably be eaten in salad, or cold.
Steak, with spicy rub
Chicken drummettes marinated in pineapple white balsamic, lemon olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper
Pork cutlets marinated in pineapple tepache, peanut oil, garlic, fresh oregano, sage, red pepper flakes, salt and comino
Shrimp marinated in chili oil, rice vinegar, fermented honey and garlic, fresh lemongrass and lemon juice, sea salt
chicken Andouille sausages
mushrooms, sweet onions and baby squash tossed in avocado oil and berebere seasoning
baby carrots and kohlrabi tossed in avocado oil and magic mushroom seasoning

Also made a spelt and cabbage salad. Good, but boy does it take some chewing!

Then I put up a gallon of cucumbers to ferment into pickles, which is crazy because fermenting temperatures should be cooler than the 78° I keep my house. My solution is to put the crock in the ice chest with an ice pack and change it regularly to monitor the temp. You don't get a choice as to when the cucumbers are ready at Farmer's Market! Sadly, one vendor had an herb marked "dill" and I was so excited I didn't even think to look closely at it. Glad I tasted it before putting in my pickles, because it was anise, not dill! I am hoping that my substitution of caraway seeds and some dried dill will do the trick.

It's only 86 here today. Tomorrow, though, it's supposed to get into the 90s. Which would be fine if school was out. Unfortunately, due to all the snow days, school is in session four more days. My classroom is not air conditioned and I have one window that is three feet by four feet. Tomorrow is going to be brutal.

It rained an inch yesterday, and the temperature has moderated. Things are turning green again. Today was a beautiful day, and we went for a nice Father's Day walk on the boardwalk at the beach. I would be quite happy to have more weather like this.

It's hot.

>39 MrsLee: Go you! That is dedication!

>40 catzteach: That is also dedication, just a different sort. Best of luck with your kids and that brutal heat.

>41 SylviaC: Things had started to go brown?

>44 SylviaC: Yes, over half of the grass was brown, and it's not even summer yet. And there were cracks wide enough to stick my finger in opening up in the lawn. Hopefully we go on getting a reasonable amount of rain. Last year was very dry, and the crops weren't good.

Here on the Gulf Coast of Florida we have eyes on the Gulf and the Caribbean. Two potential tropical storms have 90% chance of forming. And they are talking about heavy rains for the next few days.

We've been in a rainy weather pattern for awhile, up here in the Florida Panhandle, although parts of central and southern Florida are close to drought at least they were until last week when they had some of the rain we got.

It's too hot in London. Over 30 Celsius and nowhere has air conditioning :-(

We've been expecting thunderstorms and a cool down for three days. So far late afternoon sprinkles but nothing to cool us down.

Here's hoping the thunder and rain actually hits tonight.

When I left work today, my phone said it was one hundred and eleventy oneth degrees (now it says 112°), but my car said 117°.

The mechanics who work in the tin roofed area said their thermometer was up to 120°.

I'm thinking that tomorrow I should take a brisket with some bacon, onions, garlic and smoke flavor wrapped in foil and set it in the sun. By the time work was over, dinner would be ready. Who needs a crock pot?

>48 MrsLee: I can't even imagine...I've never encountered that kind of heat in my life. I hope it isn't humid, too.

>48 MrsLee: Ugh.... You have my sympathies! As Sylvia pointed out I hope it's dry-ish. What is your humidity?

I think it was close to that temperature when I was in Tuscon, AZ many moons ago. But the humidity was single digits, and so my sweat dried before I even realized I was sweating. It didn't feel bad at all, but then I started to see little stars where there weren't any and decided to seek some air conditioning.

STAY HYDRATED!

>46 Sakerfalcon: that's pretty hot for London, isn't it?

>48 MrsLee: yikes! That's way too hot!

We survived the day! Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 80s, a wee bit more tolerable.

Humidity 20-25%, more than usual.

It's a dry heat, like a crematorium.

>48 MrsLee: The mechanics in the tin-roofed area might just know this trick that appears in one form or another in every 4x4 guide published around here. You wrap your uncooked meal in enough tinfoil with the edges crimped securely enough to be absolutely watertight. Then open the bonnet of your vehicle and place the package on the engine block. Close up and drive 100-200 km down the road. Find a convenient picnic site, open up and enjoy. A long-ago episode of Voetspore* filmed their attempt at this while they were in Niger on an expedition from Casablanca to Cape Town. Their variation involved making pizzas by filling locally-bought baguettes, then flattening them by driving over them, before cooking them. The results, apparently, were edible.

*Voetspore is a local TV series about a group who undertake expeditions int all manner of off-the-track places in Africa. As it's all in Afrikaans I'll spare you a link to their web site.

And closer to home, the winter rains have started in the Western Cape at last. Cape Town and surrounding areas are still suffering ferocious water restrictions, but at least the aggregate level of dams supplying the city has started to rise, and now stands at just above 20%.

>53 suitable1: Lol, that's about it!

>54 hfglen: I am dubious as to that cooking method, but I'm not sure you would even have to drive that far to get it cooked if you tried it here this week.

Here in central Texas, we've had a wetter than usual June, which made up for the dryer-than-usual May. It rained yesterday, so it was a bit cooler than the 99 degrees the previous 2 days, and the next few days are forecast to be in the high 80s---practically cool by Texas standards.

>46 Sakerfalcon: - urgh. London's too hot and muggy at the best of times I dread to think what it's like today.

Hot in Manchester too, but at least I could have lunch in a park. (in contrast to MrsLee it is still go about outside weather) The weekend's train travels were far more comfortable than expected, with function AC both ways - almost unheard of.

>46 Sakerfalcon: & >58 reading_fox: I don't know how you can function without ACs when the hot weather comes. I realize these kinds of high temps aren't your 'old' normal, but now that it is happening with more frequency do you think more ACs will be installed in public places?

Ugh. Went out at 5am for a walk this morning and it was a muggy 85°. Turned around and came back in the house. Our community center has been set up for folks whose A/C is nonexistant. Ours was fussing yesterday, it didn't want to cool below 80°. It did get down to 75 last night though, so I'm not sure whether it needs fixing or was simply overwhelmed. Triple digits the rest of the week, but in a couple more days the low at night will be in the lower 70s and even 60s. It's manageable when the night cools down.

>59 clamairy: - businesses will (and already do) choose to, but it's unlikely that funding for public buildings would be made available - how do you AC a library/townhall that's 100s of years old? Houses again unlikely to warrant the cost or inconvenience of installation. It really is only for a few days on most (not every) year. Today's the last of this spell with thunderstorms due tomorrow to mark the start of festival season.

>61 reading_fox: A few years ago the Powers That Be managed to get split-unit AC in a (Victorian) listed building in the establishment I used to work in. It can be done discreetly, at least sometimes.

>61 reading_fox: I hear ya. There is a newish discrete (mostly, there is still some narrow exterior piping required) AC system that work beautifully and efficiently. My brother had his house done a couple of years ago. The system is rather expensive to install, but then you can chose to cool your entire home or only one room at a time. These really benefit older buildings where knocking out holes in ceiling and walls for venting isn't a viable option.

A friend of mine posted from Phoenix, Arizona where he is attending the Special Libraries Association meeting. Yesterday in Phoenix at 4pm, it was 120 degrees Farenheit. Once the sun was down (like around 9 pm), the temperature was listed as 107. (BTW, what part of Farenheit did I misspell? That squiggly little red line that tells you something is wrong is appearing on my screen...)

I may not be sweltering in Phoenix but we're hitting the upper '80's in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

First h is sort of silent: Fahrenheit. (I can't spell it either; I just right click on the word to get the right spelling.)

Hope everyone in the route of Ms. Cindy and Mr. Bret are staying safe out there.

>65 Taphophile13: most humble thanks.

Pouring here.
Again.
That's all it ever does in Wisconsin it seems.

>66 gilroy: Ditto.

Cindy breezed through the Gulf Coast with quite a bit of flooding and some tornadoes. Most of the heavy rain stayed west of us, but as it was we got 6 inches of rain and there is localized flooding here in the panhandle of Florida.

Its remnants are heading up toward the east coast.

>70 majkia: as storms go, that's not bad, eh?

Fortunately the UK heatwave has cooled off somewhat following yesterday morning's thunderstorm. Of course I went into the office Tuesday & Wednesday - the hottest days of the year in the UK so far, and both days my train home was delayed, Wednesday rather badly. Guess which side of the train I ended up on... (At least I can apply for compensation.)

Denver: High nineties (Fahrenheit) on Wednesday; sixty-five and rain forecast for today (Friday).

Yeah, we've had much wider swings in temperature than usual. Very odd.

BTW, I have a couple of friends in Arizona who are trying not to melt. Horrible heat out there.

OTOH, it has warmed up to 15°C / 59°F here in Durban, though it feels colder than it did this morning, when it was only 13 / 55. Heavily overcast throughout but no rain. What's it doing in Oz?

We will swelter through Saturday, then it is supposed to get down in the 90s, with 60s at night. Heaven!

I had a weird little malaise on Wednesday that sent me home from work. The temp was 112F, my house temp was 79°, and I was perfectly cool. In fact, I was tired, I went straight to bed, didn't want food (!) and even used a blanket! Unheard of. I knew whatever the ick was, that it was on its way out at 4am because I suddenly got hot.

Still, either age is changing my metabolism, or I'm adapting, because I truly am not miserable. Now if the A/C goes out, I will be singing another song. ;) Poor husband is taking the brunt of watering the yard. It has to be done at night, and it is a big yard, with several levels. I'm glad it stays light until 9:30 right now. He also gets up with me at 5am to water.

Now that it started raining, it won't stop. It's been going on and off all week, sometimes with hail and thunderstorms, then last night there was an unexpected downpour. We were lucky, and only got 2” overnight, bringing the week's total up to about 5". Much of the region had 3-6" overnight, on top of what was already there, and there is widespread flooding.

There's no medium anymore. We just flip between drought and flood.

>77 SylviaC: They have been saying for decades that this would be the new normal, this cycling from one extreme to the other. :o(

We will be at 100 degrees tomorrow. Ugh. But then only the 70s for a few days.

It's probably time for a weather update - how is everyone doing this season?

NH is doing pretty well for mid-summer; last year at this time we were experiencing the worst drought in decades, but we seem to be making up for it now. Plenty of precipitation in the spring, and so far summer has been bringing frequent rainstorms, some of which have been severe. Not great weather for campers, but at least the lawns are green!

Heat wave rolling in for DC starting today and lasting... probably until Mid September. :)

>80 Darth-Heather: Same here. It's been mostly good. I still have to water my veggies, but nothing like I did last year.

>81 gilroy: Hows that humidity?

We have been having higher than average temps. It's been in the 90s for the last couple of weeks. The really unusual thing is that it's not cooling off at night. And fire season is definitely in full swing. We have a 2,000 acre fire about 30 miles from here.

>82 clamairy: Well, I'm south of DC and we're averaging about 80% humidity. So 70s in the morning is already feeling rather hot and sticky. Suspect we'll have our run of 100 degree temps come August, like every year.

>83 catzteach: Being in the same general part of the world as you, we've had temps in the triple digits for all of July so far, no end in sight. Woke up yesterday at 5am to 76° temp. Not very refreshing, but better than the 80s it was a couple of weeks ago. Fires are starting up here, too.

Funny thing is, it isn't bothering me as much as it has in previous years. I'm hoping that perhaps my hormones have settled down and figured out how to handle it. Been sleeping with the thermostat set at 79° instead of the usual 75°, but perhaps the humidity is just low. Not sure. Weather channel says it's at 53% is that low?

Whenever someone says 'it's a dry heat' I always say, 'so is a crematorium'.

>85 MrsLee: Depends on where you are. Here it would be, but in the Kalahari it would be unheard-of wet. (They usually get 20% or less.)

>85 MrsLee: 53%!? Yikes! That's a lot for where I am. It was feeling stuffy the other day and the humidity was around 30%. We haven't been in the triple digits too much yet. Maybe one or two days. We usually don't get triple digits till August. And then it's only for a week or so.

by comparison, I would love a nice "dry" 53% humidity day; right now it is 85F outside with humidity at 75%. It hasn't rained since Sunday, but the puddles haven't shrunk at all.

I keep my dehumidifier set at 50% in the summer, and it doesn't ever turn off (except when it ices up and I have to defrost it).

We had a nice week to get a good chunk of wheat harvest done, but now it is rainy. When it isn't rainy, it is so humid that I just feel soggy all the time.

We are starting a hot spell. The next week is supposed to all be triple digits. Unfortunately, I can't spend every day at the lake.

Supposed to be 117° here today and tomorrow. Already too hot for walking before work, so I'm giving myself a break on the walking. I don't feel very good anyway. Not sure whether it is the smoke in the air (the fires are far away, but the smoke loves the valley), the heat, or my exhausting weekend, but my body say stop, so I stop. For a bit.

We won't be getting that hot, thank goodness! We've been getting smoke, too.

It has been absolutely beautiful here for a couple weeks. After the wet, cold, nasty May and June we had, summer has finally given us a break. 80-ish degrees with low humidity and lovely, southerly breezes. It doesn't last long, but Wisconsin gives good now and again.

The Seattle region is now a week away from setting a record for the most days without measurable rainfall. If we manage to hit the 52-day mark on August 7, it will mean nearly two months without rain, which is unheard of for this area. We saw a lot more rain (and thunderous lightning) while vacationing in Florida back in June. While we were there getting rained on, Seattle was dry and summery.

>96 ScoLgo: two months!? That's an eternity for Seattle!

** and on a side note, auto correct turned "two months" into "two men nuts"! Ha!

>97 catzteach: Bwaa haa haa!!!

Sorry for all of those suffering with heat and drought. We're actually doing okay here, except that we had a cool wet Spring so most of us didn't get our gardens in the ground when we usually do. My tomatoes are way behind where they usually are this time of year.

>98 clamairy: You would think that our wet spring would have made for a great growing year, but most of the gardeners I've spoken with say their plants are not fruiting as well as usual. I thought it was just me to blame for my pepper plants being non-productive. I'm wondering if that means that we will have a long dry fall?

We've been having thunderstorms the last couple of days. Lots of lightning strikes. Which means today lots of fires. We have 7 new fires in the area. :( It is very dry and they will grow quickly. We are supposed to cool down into the 70s over the weekend. That will feel cold after so many days in the high 90s.

I got nothing compared to those enduring Harvey right now, but it amused me yesterday when I got in the car to come home from work at 5pm. The temperature was one hundred and eleventy-eleven degrees. I gave the sun a lecture on how it needs to recede and relent now as autumn is coming soon.

Yeah, mine doesn't compare to Harvey either. But we have three new fires in the area. One has closed the Hwy that goes over the mountain pass. It's so smoky here, we are being told to not go outside. When we do go outside, it feels like walking into a campfire. The visibility is maybe 1/4 of a mile. If it's like this next week when school starts, we will be having indoor recess (in 100 degree heat).

Ooh, are we talking about the weather?

Singapore calling; its hot and humid. The internet tells me it's 32°C with a 20% chance of rain.

Friday: 105 F (40.5 C) at 5 p.m. here in the South Bay (California). Very unusual for this area. And dry, dry, dry. Unfortunately, that's not unusual.

Same old same old, over here. 32°C (what's that? 100F on the dot?) and - oh! - 30% chance of rain. There may be isolated thunder showers, which means the poor old macaw next door will be frantically singing "Happy Birthday" to all and sundry.

Dreary weather today as the remnants of Harvey amble through. Temps are only to hit the middle sixties here.

Rainy, gloomy, and not above 70 degrees here today. I'm seriously considering turning on my heat in my house... This is COLD for this time of year around me.

Feels like fall here in southwestern Ontario. It's sunny enough after a wet summer, but cool, especially at night. The thought of turning the heat on has also crossed my mind, though it seems ridiculous this early.

Supposed to hit 113°F here today. Tons of smoke. I'm doin' nuthin'

>105 humouress: 32 degrees C is a mere 89 F. I think everyone around here would welcome that right now. We've been having a fairly cool, even chilly, summer, but the past two days have pretty much driven that from memory.

>110 Meredy: Of course it is! Sorry - I was being too lazy to do the calculation, but I remembered 32 was something exactly. It's 32F that's 0°C :0)

Graaff Reinet was barely 5°C this morning, but soon warmed up to 33+ and windy -- well over 100 km/h at the viewpoint overlooking town and the Valley of Desolation (pictures coming in a few weeks). Knysna is balmy and blessedly still.

ETA PS: I see Knysna hit 41°C (about 106°F) today. Fortunately the forecast is for reasonable temperatures the rest of our stay.

>102 catzteach: We spent last week travelling around Minnesota. We were fortunate with clear weather, although the fires to the west made for hazy backgrounds to the scenery.

Yesterday was interesting.

Woke up to a huge thunder/lightening show. And it RAINED! Felt so good after 3 months of temps over 100°. It only got up to 85 yesterday, but was muggy, still felt divine.

The lightening took out a transformer about a block away from my house at 5:45am, so no power, but it wasn't a problem. We still had power where I work which is about a mile away.

I did shower during the storm; I couldn't remember whether that was a no-no or not. Turns out is is. 15-20 people are shocked in the shower each year doing that. Another 20,000 are shocked getting out of the shower when they look in the mirror. Okay, I made that last one up.

It was one of the best lightening shows I've seen in a long time. Sometimes it would circle around and around in the sky, others it traveled like a train across the clouds. One time, the train was actually passing by, sounding its warning, while the lightening seemed to travel with it. Both were thundering and the house and windows shuddered. Impressive.

>114 MrsLee: I've always enjoyed thunderstorms and that one sounds spectacular. As for mirror shocks—well, let's just say there have been times I have wished I could be a non-reflective vampire.

We finally got some rain, too! It didn't last long, though, and had some lightning with it. Sure was nice to have fresh air for about an hour. Then the smoke moved back in. :(

Thankfully, our weather hasn't been as dramatic as in many places, but it keeps on raining. We had close to 5" in the last couple of days. It's not good for the crops.

Our county is hosting the International Plowing Match in a little over a week, which is a pretty big deal. It has a tented city, roadways, parking lots, campgrounds, stages, hydro poles, model homes, and heavy machinery displays, as well as plowing plots. But the site is just a muddy mess right now, so they are having trouble getting in to set stuff up. The land on the host farms will be so messed up that it will take years to recover.

But at least we are fortunate enough not to be dealing with fires or hurricanes.

>114 MrsLee: I've been wondering about showering during a lightning storm; now I know. Of course, every building in Singapore has a lightning conductor built in, since thunder showers are common here (to the extent that my kids have never seemed to notice thunder but my cousins' kids overseas are scared of thunder), but still.

As for the mirror, I usually avoid looking.

That is a fantastic description of tge thunder and lightening. You make sound like a horror version of the place in My Cousin Vinny - nit just a train hurtling past but a thunderstorm to boot.

Coiniidink. I can hear a train in the distance as I type.

We had a lot of rain yesterday. One of my colleagues asked if it was because of Irma. I had to remind her that Irma is 4500 miles away, and hadn't yet made landfall in Florida, let alone south-west England.

>117 SylviaC: I can't wait to hear more about the International Plowing Match. You must take pictures and share!

>121 jillmwo: I'll try!

Here in Southern New England in October we're sweating it out. I had the AC on for several days after I got home from my vacation. I turned it off when we had seasonable weather, which only lasted about a nanosecond. Today I'm fighting the urge to put the AC back on. It's in the mid 70s F, which probably sounds great to many of you, but the humidity has been very high as well. (Right now it's 94%!)

I see that back up in an earlier post I bemoaned my plants going into the ground late because of the wet Spring we had. Well I have still have about 75% of my tomato plants producing, despite the lack of sun they're fond of. The extended forecast shows no significant changes afoot, either! So I'll leave you to it and get back to making a big pot of sauce.

I hope no one has been negatively impacted by Nate, BTW!

I don't think it's Nate's fault, but we sure have had high winds today and variable. My neighbor's tree blew over onto his house and put out the electricity for a few hours. All is good now, the winds are somewhat calmer hopefully this won't go on much longer.

>124 MrsLee: Just think that in between you and Hurricane Nate there is Winter Storm Aiden dumping snow on several states.

We've just come out of a heat wave, when we had all the heat that didn't come over the summer. Now the temperatures are more reasonable, though still a little warmer than usual for October. And it's getting rainy again.

>125 clamairy: Are we naming our winter storms now? I shall call my wind "Alyssa."

>Pleasant days for us this next week. 40s in the night, low 80s and high 70s in the day. Husband read an article which said California has twice the number of homeless that other states have. Well, duh.

>127 MrsLee: Only the Weather Channel names the winter storms. :)

Though I'd rather call my wind Squishy.
(Sudden flashback to Finding Nemo... GAH!)

>128 gilroy: It's not just The Weather Channel. Here in Connecticut the TV stations have been naming the Winter storms for about 45 years. It can get confusing. For example, the Snow-Pocalypse of October '11 here in New England had two different names. The newspapers and local stations were calling it Alfred and The Weather Channel was calling it something else. (I can't remember what now, as Alfred is the one that stuck, according to Wikipedia.)

MrsLee, I hope the fires aren't anywhere near you...

>130 Marissa_Doyle: No, I live much further north, at the top of California. Thank you for asking. My nephew is safe, as are my cousins, although my cousin's new wife lost her home she was renting out. Thankfully the renters are safe. One gets a false sense of security living in a town, that in these modern days it won't burn up. So very sad. The winds are what made it impossible to control. Not too long ago, a town north of me burned up.

The monsoon this year seems to have hit extra hard - to the extent that even I’ve noticed the difference from normal weather. Usually it dumps down a heavy shower and an hour later, you’d never know it had rained. The only difference from normal is that it rains every day instead of once in 2 or 3.

But this year, it’s been constant, heavy rain and overcast all day with temperatures as low as 24°C, which is something like a 30 year record. Though we’re lucky not to be in the El Niño belt, maybe we’re catching the edge of typhoons and so on that are hitting the Philippines?

Dang, another snowstorm is hitting New Hampshire. Which, since I work outdoors, kills today and most of tomorrow because of cleanup. Looks like my weekend is starting early...

So we're getting the edge of this bombogenesis storm around here. Living closer to the coast meant that I saw lots of wind and over 3 inches of snow on the ground at my house. At work, Since it's northwest of my house, barely an inch on the ground, less wind.

Seriously wish I could call in snow today, but I work for a utility. We don't get snow days. *sigh*

We're inland to some extent so that while we're seeing snow, the startling thing this morning has been the wind strength pushing that snow. It's not "gently falling" -- it's driving snow. The accumulation isn't dramatic (maybe 1" - 1-1/2" so far) but it is messy out there.

And >134 gilroy: thank you for the work you put in during these periods!

It's only -2 F this morning. Practically t-shirt weather.

No snow on the near horizon for us. Damn. My skis are dusty.

>133 BookstoogeLT: yep, we are expecting 10+ inches in Milford. I'm not worried about fluffy snow so much as the strong winds predicted to come later. I really should learn how to set up the generator...

Here in northern Florida we've had 5 days of below freezing nights, and highs in the 40s. A few hours to our east they had snow. Weird weather.

>137 Darth-Heather: Hahahahaa. Small world. Do you like the pumpkin festival? We go every year...

Whereas in California it is a balmy 51°F. We have had another long dry winter, which doesn't bode well for the coming summer. Did get a spattering of rain last night though. It was very welcome, although, I'm not sure my cats feel the same.

>139 BookstoogeLT: Actually I usually avoid it. I used to live near the Oval, and got fed up with the pumpkin thing and the holiday parades pretty quickly. It's fun if you are a visitor, but not so much for locals who have to defend their one parking spot from the 8 thousand people trying to use it.

I hope when you next go to the pumpkin festival that you find the Monadnock Oil and Vinegar stand - they make wonderful flavored vinegars and infused olive oils.

We do make it a point to attend the Hampton Seafood festival and Hopkinton fair and Hillsborough Schnitzelfest every year. I always seem to find activities that involve food...

Funny. I used to work in Wilton and one of my old co-workers still plays at the Pasta Loft. Gary Young. Check him out. Also any band that has Pete Smith in it. Another former co-worker.

>141 Darth-Heather: We live about a mile away, so we usually park in the new cvs parking lot and then walk on down.

>142 Bookmarque: We prefer the Cafe on the Oval to the Pasta loft, but since Cafe isn't open in the evenings *shrug* Well, whatcha going to do? :-)

However, there will be no restaurant visits today, not with this snow...

On the edge of the bomb cyclone (that sounds so ominous) but we're only getting some wind and an inch or two of snow. Fortunately my pipes thawed yesterday — the dripping hadn't been enough to prevent freezing. I now have a steady stream of water going. The next three days are supposed to be around 12° F.

We, on the other hand, have been offered maxima up to 42°C / 107 °F over the next two days. I gather Australia is already getting them.

It was 20 below 0 F this morning. It's about 10 above now. Tomorrow we might hit 20! Woo hoo! I think I'm going to get out while I can. Should be bright and sunny and a beautiful day to walk by the Wisconsin. That's the plan anyway.

>145 hfglen: yeah we hit 47C in parts of Sydney last weekend. I'm betting we top 50C in the next year or two. Ridiculous.

>147 MrAndrew: You have my sympathy.

It's snowing and cold (-18C, with wind chill feels like -28C). The forecast was for 10-12 cm of snow, but I'll be surprised if we get that much. Although because it's blowing around, it's hard to be sure. I had to take the cats to the vet for a check up this morning, and now I'm happy to be indoors with tea, snacks, books, and blankets. The cats have even forgiven me, or at least they appreciate the warmth I provide :)

Wishing everyone a delightful May Eve. What's coming from the skies in your part of the world?

>150 Darth-Heather: Rain! But not as much as forecast. Last weekend we had temperatures of 29C; this weekend was 20 degrees cooler, which was an unpleasant change. We've gone from spring to winter without passing summer; it's like that bit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Well, today topped out at 65 degrees (Farenheit) but no precipitation. By Friday of this week, we are told we might hit 90.

Typical Central Oregon spring: 70s one day, 40s the next. Hail, rain, thunder, snow, sunshine. We are supposed to warm up to the 70s by the end of the week.

Pretty much same old same old, over here in the tropics. But we did have a spectacular thunderstorm apparently (I wasn’t at home) and a tree behind the opposite house seems to be split in half now. I’ll have to check it out tomorrow if I get a chance.

We've shot from early March type weather right into late July. Once again we seem to be skipping right over Spring. :o(

Ha! I knew I could find this thread.

We have a full blown blizzard coming up the East Coast, and I know there are a few of us here in it path. As of now we're expecting between 12-24 inches of snow, with 60 MPH gusts. Should be fun. Best of luck to all!

(Edited to add I am no longer in CT as stated above, but on the Northeastern tip on The Isle of Long, in NY.)

I do not miss nor’easters! Be safe everyone.

>156 clamairy:
Keep safe.

The same to everyone in the path of the storm.

I'm in NJ and it's not supposed to be that bad around here, but that could change if the storm shifts to the west. Either way, the ride home from work in the morning is going to be fun.

>157 Bookmarque: Me either! I think we've had a least a dusting of snow here in WNY for the last week at least, after the 24" we got earlier in the week.

Pretty sure Marissa_Doyle is going to get the worst of it, unless she packed up and left the cape. I think Darth-Heather might be, too.

>157 Bookmarque: & >158 pgmcc: Thank you.

>159 rastaphrog: Yikes. Be careful!

>160 Karlstar: Ouch.

>161 clamairy: Wishing you all warmth and safety! I see the BBC news story this morning is headed with a picture of loads of snow shovels in all primary colours in a hardware store.

Here we had 31°C this time yesterday, 23° today, same high humidity both days. It rained during the night.

>156 clamairy: We got the edge of it as it passed, so I'm looking at 4 inches of snow right now. The flag on the golf course's 10th green is waving in the steady wind, but it isn't horribly hard.

>161 clamairy: we are far enough inland that we are not in danger of the winds they are getting at the coast. just a bunch of snow, which my snowshoes have been waiting for so I'm actually glad of it! today we will binge watch and eat snacks, and tomorrow clear the driveway and run around outside :)

>156 clamairy: At the moment, where I am, we've got about 4 inches of snow in the yard and the wind is really picking up. The storm is supposed to continue through to about 3pm but then will clear out. I can see a few vehicles moving outside the house but nowhere near usual levels. Of course, it's only about 8:30 on a Saturday morning so many people may not even be up yet.

For me it's not entirely a free day as I have a few work-related things to clear up. But I always find snow days to be a huge relief. I know where everyone is and as long as they're dry and fed, life is calm.

I'm still here on the Cape, and hoo-boy it's blowing out. Definitely blizzard conditions here. Fortunately we have a generator hooked up to the gas line--which came on about ten minutes ago, so we'll stay cozy. No idea if the internet will go out, though.

Yep, I was right about the drive home. Road right by work was great! Black curb to curb, until I hit the town/county line. Then it was all white, or just one lane cleared to black, including on the state highway.

Also fun, that I forgot about when making my post, was all the call outs. We were up to almost a dozen when the office gal came in and started answering the phone and adding to the list.

Normal service here on the other side of the world; hot and humid.

Here in the Florida Panhandle, we got down to freezing, and have 30 mph winds. No biggie. Staying cold for a few days.

tardis and I are still in Nova Scotia, and the storm is starting to ramp up here. We just walked Jack the dog, and it is very snowy and blowy. I think this is my first experience of an east-coast storm. Very "refreshing!"

We are heading to the airport tomorrow with our brother, and are hoping it has mostly blown through by then.

>164 Darth-Heather: Yes, I'm hoping to use mine for the first time since I moved here!
>165 jillmwo: Enjoy!
>166 Marissa_Doyle: Hope you stay safe and warm. I'm glad you've got that generator!
>167 rastaphrog: Glad you made it home safely.
>169 majkia: Bundle up!
>170 NorthernStar: I hope you're able to get home tomorrow. Last I heard the storm wouldn't end for you until tomorrow.

I hope it passes soon for everyone and doesn't cause too many issues. A friend of mine moved back to Boston early last year, and it seems like ever since he did, it has been just one long nor'easter after another.

I received two short vids from my brother who lives about 40 miles west of Augusta, Maine. The one recorded at 10:30 shows high winds more than it did snow, but it was clear that it was snowing. The temp was 11° F.
The second was from a bit after 14:00; couldn't see the trees just a hundred feet off his back porch. They're expecting 3-4" per hour for the next several hours. Just the sight of it made me want to get my fireplace going, and it's 69° here in central Texas.
Stay warm, folks!

I've just been watching online reports on the WBZ site (my old favorite local radio news station--Carl DeSuze, Dave Maynard...). It was kind of fun to hear everyone saying "prowa" just as they used to, as in "40 miles prowa."

Scituate is getting beaten up pretty hard, and the Boston Common is heavy and blowing but still recognizable as an arrangement of benches and streetlamps. My roots are in Quincy, right on the Bay. I used to love a good nor'easter. Night temperatures here in San Jose have been in the thirties lately, but clear, and I've been shivering. Have I gone and turned into a California hothouse flower after all these years?

Snug, warm thoughts (with plenty of bread, milk, eggs, and orange juice laid in--and paper products) go out to all you folks in snow country. I hope you don't lose power ("powa"). Do you have candles and Coleman stoves and lanterns ready to go?

>174 Meredy: I did not lose powa. (Which is how we say it down here, too!) Tomorrow I will use my 'blowa' to deal with the mess. I measured 14 inches at 1:30 PM, and it was snowing for another 7 hours after that.

>175 clamairy: I measured 14 inches at 1:30 PM, and it was snowing for another 7 hours after that.

WOWA!

>175 clamairy: What Peter said. It’s sort of odd to think that both Peter and I live further north than you do, yet we seldom see any snowfall.

Keep safe and warm all of you in the path of the storm. Here in London it only takes an inch of snow to shut everything down, so respect to those of you dealing with many times that amount!

>178 Sakerfalcon: "But it's the wrong kind of snow" -- the favourite excuse of London Transport and SR back in the day when better half and I were there.

ETA: In all fairness, I have to record that it's only in the last week or 2 that I learned what stands behind the "leaves on the line" excuse: The Victorians cleared the vegetation from the trackside; BR and its successors economise on this. I now have a little sympathy with them, knowing what a pain lineside vegetation is to the preserved line that Railwaysoc is associated with (not to mention the eejit who felled a tree across the line without telling anybody).

>179 hfglen:! Yes, that's a classic! Along with "leaves on the line"!

>180 Sakerfalcon: & >179 hfglen:
The Dublin - Sligo line often had delays due to cows on the line. I haven’t heard (or herd) that one since the 1980s. I presume they got all the gates secured.

>179 hfglen:, >180 Sakerfalcon: It's a common problem for third rail electrification systems. Apparently, it's to do with the 'shoe' getting clogged and breaking the connection with the third rail. With leaves, it's because they get ground into mulch, with snow, it's because the UK gets 'wet' snow which turns into ice.

Overhead electrification has different problems - excessive heat causing the lines to droop too far or wind blowing trees into the lines and bringing them down or branches fouling the lines.

We enjoyed the big storm on the East Coast on Saturday, and had no problems flying home on Sunday (although we hired a car service to get to the airport as road conditions were still poor), but a few hours after we got home a big storm started up here. We won't get the accumulations of snow that the East gets, but it's very windy along with the snow so I'm very thankful that our plane got in when it did and that the drive home was not affected.

Looks like there's another storm coming through the Midwest/Northeast this week, though not as bad as the last one.

>184 Karlstar: I saw that. Well, it won't be as bad for me, but some people are getting an ice storm. Never a good thing.

By the way, my total snowfall was 18 inches. (45.72 cm.)

Well, we ended up without power and internet for just under 36 hours--so thank goodness for the generator, because it got cold--around 12 degrees F--after the storm blew out. I think we got about the same amount of snow, clam--but the wind was howling so hard that in some places there's an inch or two, and in others a 4-foot drift. I think we'll get mostly rain in the next storm. At least, I hope so.

Arctic front expected in central Texas tomorrow and for may be two days (more or less) afterward. Wind chill will hit 0° at times. Hope it's not a repeat of last February. I tend to not believe the governor when he says we're prepared for this -- or more to the point, I rarely have reason to believe him when he says anything that doesn't affect him directly.

>186 Marissa_Doyle: I'm glad you were able to stay warm! I had drifting, but luckily nothing in the 4 foot range. I had a couple of bare spots, too. We've got freezing rain predicted Friday night. With all the melting going on the next few days it's going to get very slippery.

>187 WholeHouseLibrary: Best of luck with that. How long is the cold expected to linger? (I have older siblings in Florida who've been very chilly this past week.)

>188 clamairy: It's actually quite warm today and will be for the next few days (mid to upper 40s), but the air mass that came in the wake of the storm was frigid.

>189 Marissa_Doyle: Yeah, that second part of the reply was actually meant for WHL. LOL (We have pretty much identical weather to The Cape here this time of year, so I know what's going on there. Lots of melting, thankful!)

Since you asked... It's currently 57° F- the warmest it's going to be for the next several days. The cold front arrives here later this afternoon, but will remain above freezing until the middle of the night. Freezing rain, possibly snow comes Thursday and the temps will drop into the 20s and teens by Friday, at which time, the winds will drive the wind chill effect to single digits and below zero in what we call the "hill country."

My house is about 45 years old. Building codes back then required that a house only needed to consider temperatures down to 20°. I live in an all-electric neighborhood; not even allowed to have those 500-gallon propane tanks. Got my fireplace all set to go, plenty of firewood stacked in the garage. Just have to figure out some way to sleep in the living room (to tend the fire overnight) without laying on the floor. No couch in my sunken living room, so that's where the coldest air accumulates.

When the glacier came through last February, the thermostat was set to heat to 74°, but could only manage to get to 68 (five feet up from the floor in the hallway, where the thermostat is. Large windows on two walls in the kitchen, and it was 61° there. The living room floor -- 55°. If I hadn't given away all of my camping equipment ten years ago, I wouldn't be writing this.

>191 WholeHouseLibrary: Have they actually done anything to address the power grid failures caused by the cold last year?

Good luck, I hope you don't lose power and stay warm!

Of course not!
Well, they've got new management at the top of ERCOT, there have been cursory inspections, but it's the same old same-old. They fill his coffers and he makes up excuses for them.

In November, he claimed "I can guarantee the lights will stay on."
Yesterday, he said that ice on power lines could cause the power to go out. I'll give him that one. That's a reasonable expectation. But he followed it up with, "No one can guarantee that there won't be a load shed event."
Load shed event is electrical power jargon for "too much demand" which results in rolling blackouts.

All that being said, at least in central Texas, this won't be anything like last February. We'll get only enough ice and slush to make the roads dangerous, so I don't expect much in the way of downed power lines except those that are the collateral damage in auto accidents. Only brief periods where it'll be above freezing until Sunday -- just enough time to make the roads all slick again before the wind chill makes another layer of black ice.
As for the rolling blackouts, "We'll see," said the Zen master.

>193 WholeHouseLibrary: Hope you manage to stay warm, and not on the floor, either...
Hopefully people won't try to drive. (Said she who realizes how foolish it is to have such a hope.)

>193 WholeHouseLibrary: IF they'd done their winterization and proper maintenance as scheduled by ... no wait, I can't finish that sentence without going political. :)
(Sorry. My bill pay job is part of an electric utility and we have seen all the talk about what went wrong last year.)

I've lived in states where it snow a lot my whole life and I'll tell you, no power company is prepared. Even if their maintenance and upgrade programs are robust and well-applied. It happens. Of course it could be a lot worse for states that only occasionally get snow, that makes sense, but none are terribly good at it.

Which brings me to my generator - similar to Marissa's, it runs off our propane tank and comes on and goes off automatically. LOVE it. Mostly we lose power during big thunderstorms in the summer, but as it's MINUS 12 right now, I'm glad I have it if something screwy would happen.

Just below freezing for the past 7 hours (more or less) and yesterday's rain has frozen to the tree limbs; and now it's a steady, but gentle rain of tiny ice pellets. And the temperature is only going to drop for the next two days.
Just had breakfast and my first mug of coffee, so it's time to get the fireplace going. Should have replace all my thermopane windows (and their aluminum frames) five years ago, but priorities were elsewhere.

>196 Bookmarque: True, no one is truly prepared for the worst weather the area has seen in ... decades. BUT proper maintenance and upgrades can reduce outages and make restoration faster...

>196 Bookmarque: >198 gilroy: I think some are better prepared than others. Back in 2011 we had a snow storm in Connecticut while there were still leaves on the trees, and we lost power for almost a week. Utility trucks from as far away as Texas came to Connecticut to help us get our power back, and the story was that these crews were reporting pieces of equipment that were over 30 years old and barely functioning but still in use. Meanwhile the executives at the power company in Connecticut were getting big fat salaries and bonuses. They ended up being fined for not upgrading or maintaining the grid they way it should have been.

Edited to add: I guess they didn't learn much. I just did some googling and found out they got fined again last year for a lack of preparedness for that big wind storm in 2020.

>199 clamairy: I'm guessing that they count the fines as the cost of doing business, cheaper than actually doing the maintenance, much as Big Pharma treats the fines and settlements they pay for their many and various violations of regulations: they make enough from their improper practices to cover the fines and then some.

>200 Meredy: Sadly, I think you're right. Although they did seem to try to get their shit together after 2011. I saw a lot more trucks out and about regularly.

Tuesday night they were predicting only about 8 inches for us ( Northern side of Western NY), however it's been snowing all day today and I would guess we've gotten about 8 inches or more already. The news this evening said for us to expect another 7.2 by the time it stops.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Cyclone Batsirai continues spreading a trail of destruction towards southern Africa. Simultaneously, the mother of all cold fronts has swept across the Western Cape, and the weather bureau has issued a Level 4 warning for the Eastern Cape: severe thunderstorms, high winds (trees uprooted), hail and lightning. The two systems are expected to meet in the Mozambique Channel.

gosh, it's almost as if severe weather events are more frequent and extreme than in previous years, globally. Go figure.

>204 MrAndrew: I wonder if there might be such a thing as 'global warming' (to coin a phrase).

>205 humouress: It's almost as if the planet is bipolar. :P

Blizzard here last Saturday, yet today it's 51°F (11°C) with rain and that snow is almost completely gone. North and West of me they are getting >202 Silversi:'s heavy snowfall.

>203 hfglen: Stay safe!

>197 WholeHouseLibrary: You're awfully quiet!

>207 clamairy: Hi Clam! Didn't want to dominate the thread.
No loss of power, but a double failure of the downstairs heat supply. There's a heat pump (outside) for each floor of the house (zoned heat). I had them installed 8 years ago, and the downstairs one has failed to perform well whenever the temperature drops below 30°. So, I switch it over to "Emergency" electric heat and watch the three rightmost digits of my electric meter blur. But I stay warm, mostly. The heat comes from the the evaporator/blower unit in my garage.
I also slept on 3 kitchen chairs I lined up in the sunken living room. No couch, and the cold air pools there. It got down to 55° during last year's glacial incursion. So, although it was toasty warm upstairs, I had a 22"-diameter section of tree trunk in the fireplace, and it needed me to occasionally add smaller chunks around it to keep burning. Couldn't just let it go out. I don't recommend kitchen chairs as a regular sleeping routine. But, I'll be doing it again tonight. And I suspect that by noon tomorrow I'll be done with the firewood. Alas.

I switched back to the heat pump when it hit 30°. It got up to 36 this afternoon, but will drop into the low 20s tonight. But I can't go back to that "Emergency" electric heat. A diagnostic appeared on the thermostat and the AC tech was here 14:30. Some circuit board in the inside unit bit the dust, and they're going to have to get a replacement shipped to them.

On the positive side, the tech has a workaround for the outside unit. When the issue happens again (as I'm sure it will tonight,) all I have to do is get dressed, go outside, yank the fuses from the box mounted on my wall near the unit, wait two minutes (not sure why) and pop the fuses back in, effectively, resetting the logic boards.

"We'll see," said the Zen master.

>208 WholeHouseLibrary: Sounds like a fun time. :o( I think it is warmer here right now.
Perhaps one of those folding cots might be a better option for 'next time.' Hope you stay warm enough by MacGyvering everything until it gets fixed.

>208 WholeHouseLibrary: Two alternatives with the kitchen chairs:

1. Straddle one, and park a pillow on the chair back. Cross your arms on the pillow and rest your head on them. Good alternative when you have a deep cough or other lung problem and can't stand any amount of pressure on your back. Yes, it's possible to sleep that way.

2. Lay the chair down on its back so that the back support extends forward on the floor, and stack a couple of pillows in there. You can lie there or half sit up. Better than being directly flat on the floor. I slept like that in my husband's hospital room until Security came and threatened for the fourth time to kick me out.

Do the kitchen chairs have cushions or upholstery? Lucky you.

Hope tonight goes better.

>208 WholeHouseLibrary: I can't work out (or have forgotten) why you'd want to sleep so uncomfortably in the coldest part of the house instead of your nice warm bed upstairs. Greetings from Singapore, by the way, where it is currently a cool 25.

Degrees C, that is. Usually it should be 27ºC at night but we've had a lot of rain and overcast today with less sun than usual.

>211 humouress: I could be wrong, but I thought he was tending the fireplace to keep it going because some of his standard heat sources had failed.

Greetings from central Texas, where it is a sweltering 65°F (18°C - did that in my head), at least in direct sunlight. There are still areas of my lawn that have a layer of ice on them.
There's a generally warming trend going on -- no more sub-freezing temperatures expected for the next 10 days at least. It may hit 70 on Friday afternoon, and nighttime temperatures will mostly be in the 40s.

>210 Meredy: Thanks for that. I've actually done the first suggestion a number of times - mostly when I've had pneumonia (which I've had far too often in my life.) As for Suggestion #2 - not an option in this case. As I mentioned earlier, I've got a sunken living room - a "feature" of mid-70s house architecture here in gawds country. Cold air collects there. And whereas my thermostat read 74°, the floor-level temperature of the rest of the ground floor read 62°, but 4" below - the carpeted living room floor temperature was 55°. (23, 17, 10mm, and 13° for all you Celsius- and Metric-oriented folks.)
Opting for Suggestion 2 would have likely necessitated me needing to use Suggestion 1 later this week. (My mother's side of the family referred to my paternally inherited predilection to respiratory issues as "Lynch Lung." Makes me wonder how any of them ever took up smoking.

>211 humouress: and >212 clamairy: The main reason for sleeping in the living room was a matter of both safety and "convenience." I could have slept upstairs, true, but normally, when I got the fireplace going, I could heat up the entire house without the heat/AC systems ever kicking on. But, all of the thermopane windows I replace some 33 years ago (when I bought the house) have lost all of the effective R-value of inert gasses, rendering the windows near useless to preventing thermal loss. So, I use the fireplace to supplement the work the heat pumps do. The downstairs unit works much harder in the winter because, well, heat rises.
There was one chunk of wood I was particularly interest in burning. It was the section of a large-diameter tree in my yard that had mostly died, and its direction of fall would have taken out my electric line. Back in 2014, I put my training from my Forestry degree to good use and was able to fell the tree without loss of power - good thing because it was an electric chain saw.
I cut it all up into fireplace grate-sized pieces (I thought - was off by 4".) and stacked the trunk and larger-diameter limb pieces vertically under the eaves, mostly because they were way too heavy to lift onto the wood rack, which was mostly full anyway. It wasn't until 2019 that I finally had enough room in the wood rack to consider splitting the tree trunks.
That one chunk of wood I mentioned at the beginning of the previous paragraph - it was the section that had the scar from the removal of a large limb I had to remove back in the 1990s. The wood grain ran in all directions, plus there was that ring of growth around that wound I made from decades earlier. I was able to split off a few "slabs" of the piece, but it took hours to do it, mostly because the wedges and splitting grenade either couldn't remain in the wood or got stuck and wouldn't budge - either farther in or get loose. I spent more time working on this one piece that all the rest combined. Last week, I had another go at it and was able to free the grenade. Lesson learned.
After I got the fire going for a few hours - to build a base of hot embers - I hauled in that big chunk of tree trunk and laid it on the grate. The problem with massive pieces of wood is that you have to periodically stack smaller pieces around it and break off the chunks of charcoal it makes (which you add to the base) just to keep the damn thing burning. Had I slept upstairs, I'd have to get up every hour to check in it, or most likely, the fire would have gone to cool embers - and then I'd have to remove this large, very hot, very sooty chunk of wood to clear out the ashes and then prepare the fireplace for another fire. There's this other issue of sparks actually getting past the fireplace screen. If that happens (and it has in the past,) I'd prefer to be there to address the issue rather than burn the house down. Fire extinguisher always at the ready. I opted for recoverable discomfort and safety over major inconvenience the possibility of the house catching fire.
As far as the downstairs heating system failure is concerned, that made keeping the fireplace going mandatory.
I'm definitely going to consider getting a couch, though.

Yikes! I'm chatty today!

And...today it's 73 degrees under a clear blue sky.

It's either 76 or 80 (official vs: my thermostat) outside right now.
Yet, even with my thermostat set to 74, I'm shivering and have wrapped myself in a fleece blanket.
That symptom, plus the fact I've been turned down twice (in two weeks) for a blood donation (something I've done on a fairly regular basis since I turned 18 - we used leeches back then ((tic))), makes me pretty sure I'm anemic (again). Granted, off topic, as it's not a weather issue, but there it is.

Except for Saturday night (drops to freezing), lows to be in the 40s, and highs in the 60s and 70s. I can deal with that.

Yesterday was cold, here. Looking at the weather online, seems that the temperature yesterday was below that of the night previous - and now I have a cold because (at 24ºC) my husband still needs to run the fan and/ or air conditioning. Probably because of the 110% humidity (and, yes, it rained all day yesterday too). Not a very happy bunny.

I was talking to my sister yesterday evening. She has two daughters living in New Zealand/Aotearoa, and had just come off facetime calls with them. They were complaining about the 32C temperatures they are having at the moment. Neither my sister nor I had much sympathy for their complaints. Snuggles up to the heater.

:-)

>217 pgmcc: I feel that you are indirectly directing that at me :0)

>218 humouress: Or me; it's warm here too. Was 32C a few days ago, but is now 27C and overcast.

We are having unusually warm weather where I am. It was 70 degrees yesterday. The frog goes are coming out of hibernation. We should be cold and snowy. This does not bode well for fire season. But it was nice to ride my bike.

Very weird weather for us this week. Started with rain/snow mix, got up to 70 yesterday, headed to 60+ again today... then rain/snow mix overnight to only reach a high of 35 tomorrow.

It's 51 F (10.5 C) in central Texas, the wind had picked up, and it started hailing about 10 minutes ago. Tiny, little things you could barely see, and now they're the size of BB pellets. Thought I was done with this stuff!

>222 WholeHouseLibrary:
Remember you are in The Green Dragon. BB pellets here are book size and shape. That is heavy weather you are having in GD terms.

>223 pgmcc: Really? I don't recall any mention of that - ever, but there were a couple of instances when I've had to remove myself from LT (and life in general) altogether for extended periods, so maybe I missed the announcement.

Just glad it's not raining tomes.

>224 WholeHouseLibrary:
There have been book bullets,BBs, flying around the threads for years. I am surprised you have not been hit or had to take cover. There are quite a few book snipers lurking around the threads. Be careful out there!

(heh heh heh)

Urp!

It's a stormy day here in the UK. Eunice is battering most of the country, causing havoc to homes and infrastructure. Even London was on a red warning for high winds for much of the day. Sensible organisations closed down. My place told us that on-campus teaching was cancelled and not to come in .... but the message went out at 9.30 am, by which time I and my team had already arrived and opened the library. Some students had come in as well. As the peak of the storm was predicted to be between 10am and 3pm we decided to stay here and will travel home when it's safe again. Although rail services to and from London have now ceased ... interesting times!

>228 Sakerfalcon: Stay safe! I was following the news about this storm on the Weather Channel app. Hope no one gets hurt. It seems like we're all getting the "Storm of the Century" every couple of years now.

>228 Sakerfalcon:
I hope you and your colleagues remain safe and avoid any problems from the storm, but I cannot help but think your post would make a great opening paragraph for a horror book. The next paragraph would simply be:

“This is how it all began.”

>228 Sakerfalcon: Apart from a brief power outage, we didn't get hit apart from some loose bits blowing round the garden (some plastic cloches, a seed tray from the rack, and some loose flowerpots). I also shifted my moon rocker to the lee of the shed. I'm still working from home anyway, and we're just to the north of the Eastern red area. We'd moved the bins to under the sitting room window yesterday evening, and I'd moved the garden table right against the chair stack to stop the cover blowing off.

London Borough of Islington had told people not to come in yesterday, and told front-line staff to stay inside council offices 10-3. Basically, no staff were to go outside until the storm had gone over. My boss was supposed to go into the office today but decided to work from home instead. Fortunately, the colleague who was visiting family in Turkey got back to England yesterday!

>228 Sakerfalcon: Stay safe! We were told to expect power outages today and take appropriate precautions; in fact we had wild storms on Wednesday, snow yesterday, and so far today is quiet..

>228 Sakerfalcon: - I thought my institution was living dangerously by announcing our campus closure shortly before 5pm yesterday. Good to know that the ability of large organisations to get their act together in a crisis seems, ahem, largely unchanged by the travails of the last two years. Why move at speed when you can go glacial? I hope the situation improves where you are.

Sunshine, wind, racing clouds, wind, rain, bigger rain, wind, hail, bigger HAIL! We have truly had several seasons in one day today here in Bristol.

My aunt in Pinner posted photos of a tree that fell against their house. Fortunately there doesn’t seem to be much damage (except to the poor tree) and everyone is safe.

Stay safe there!

>234 humouress:
I had a aunt who lived in Pinner. That was a long time ago.

>235 pgmcc: Then I doubt it’s the same aunt. Mine only moved there several years ago.

Yes indeed, an interesting day. We in Bicester were at amber alert, in a gap between the red zone in Wales and the south-west and the other red zone around London and the south-east. When Mrs H and I went to the stables this morning, the stable roof was rattling alarmingly and a couple of small trees had come down across the B4100 road, but the police and emergency services were right on it and no great problem. At home, one panel of our side fence now has an interesting lean that it didn’t have yesterday but that’s the full extent of our damage. To our great relief.

>236 humouress:
There are so many aunts. It is hard to keep track of them all.

One of the best lines I read in a Wodehouse novel had Bertie lamenting that had Aunt calling to to Aunt and now he was in for it.

Found the exact quote -

As a rule, you see, I’m not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James’s letter about Cousin Mabel’s peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle.

"A gust of 122mph - measured at an exposed point on the Isle of Wight - set a provisional record for England."
From the BBC

I am watching the Sky news and it is showing the storm damage and reporting the progress of the news. Three people in Britain and one in Ireland killed by the storm. It is frightening.

>241 pgmcc: Death toll has climbed to eight, and I suspect it might rise as this storm crosses the continent. Definitely frightening.

>239 Bookmarque: Great minds think alike :0)

>240 clamairy: Does it get a medal?

>241 pgmcc: >242 clamairy: Pretty scary.

I heard that the floods in China in the last couple of years were a result of fewer pollutants in the air due to the pandemic causing a reduction in industry. Usually, in the past, the pollution has caused droughts.

Stay safe.

It's good to hear that everyone has come through relatively unscathed. I had to take a creative route home last night and ended up walking the last 2 miles, but made it safely. There has been a lot of damage across the country though, and many people are still without power.

>244 Sakerfalcon: I am glad you got home safely.

Here we go again - storm Franklin currently making the telegraph wires bounce alarmingly and rain splattering at the windows. This time we're not directly in the firing line and it appears to be less severe than Eunice (no red warnings associated with Franklin as far as I can tell).

I can also tell that it is less serious because headlines about the weather are now playing second fiddle to ones about the Queen's Covid on the BBC news.

I heard this is the first time that there have been three named storms within a week since they invented the current system of naming storms - which I think wasn't very long ago so that's not a particularly noteworthy milestone, perhaps?

>246 pokarekareana: Interesting! I wonder what the criteria are for naming Winter storms. Here in the US it started as a Weather Channel thing, and then caught on.