Let’s talk about the weather
There’s an old New England joke that we’ve got two seasons here: winter and the Fourth of July.
But not this year. This year, folks, we’ve got a real summer, one that would do any place proud. It’s been sunny and hot nearly every day, mostly in the mid-80s to 90s. But, unlike most hot summers here (and we’ve had plenty of them), it’s not been humid, and there haven’t been tons of thunderstorms.
And this really nice summer weather has gone on day after day after day. Do you know how rare this is around here? And how pleasant? Usually when it’s in the 90’s in New England, everyone is highly uncomfortable and sopping wet.
And if it gets too hot, there’s always this:
Do you know how rare this is around here? And how pleasant?
Oh yes. Every minute I was in New England I wished I were back in California. All winter I vowed I’d never complain about being hot ever again. All summer I vowed I’d never complain about being cold again.
But this summer isn’t humid there? Truly, these are the End Times.
Occam’s Beard: we’ve had one humid day so far, by my count.
Currently 96 degrees here, on its way to a forecast high of 99. Same for tomorrow. Heat index has been running around 110.
Had to install some storm windows yesterday afternoon. Awful. Last night I felt like my skin had been baked.
I’ll take 105 degrees over 5 degrees any day.
“”Yeah, the water is cold but I’ve been in
Baby, lose the laundry and jump on in
I mean all God’s children got skin
And it’s summer again””
On the other side of the continent in Puget Sound we have had exactly 78 minutes of temperatures above 80 degrees thus far. My wife is wearing sweaters every day as the high temps are in the 60s most days. This morning it was drizzly and 55.
Weather, it’s what we talk about. Glad NE is having such a nice summer. Wish I was there – at least this year.
Ahhhhh! How nice to sit at the beach and let the ocean waves carry away every concern.
The nice thing about 90 degree weather in New England is that it cools off at night, which is less likely to occur in areas to the south.
“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”
I will take a humid 93 over a dry 103 any day.
Occam’s Beard
The payment for the pleasant California coastal climate is California politics. I’ll take a hundred degree summer day with a sensible government over a 75 degree summer day under the government of the State of California.
A neighbor of mine goes to school in Boston but spends summers back home in TX. I told her that one definition of a masochist was someone who spends summers in TX and winters in New England. She agreed.
“…two seasons here: winter and the Fourth of July.”
Wrong.
Wrong.
Wrong.
WRONG!
The two seasons of New England are winter and “Road Work.”
The payment for the pleasant California coastal climate is California politics. I’ll take a hundred degree summer day with a sensible government over a 75 degree summer day under the government of the State of California.
That’s misgovernment of the State of California, thank you very much.
I agree, and that’s one reason we’re thinking hard about fleeing the People’s Republic before the deluge, with AZ and TX the current frontrunners.
After living in a broad expanse of the US, from Hawaii to New England and the Midwest, with a long stretch in Europe thrown in there, I moved the earth to come back to my beloved California to live out my days … only to find that over the intervening decades California had degenerated from a world-beating powerhouse with conservative politics to a liberal-infested bankrupt basket case.
The fury I feel beggars my ability to articulate it.
Neo, I don’t know what part of New England you’re in, but here along the CT coast, it has been humid as well as hot. I got up early yesterday to go for groceries; got home by 10 a.m. and was already dripping by the time I had the stuff hauled upstairs and put away. Pace Gringo, it doesn’t cool off much at night here either; it was 85F in my kitchen at midnight last night. (Maybe we’re too close to NYC!)
Apropos of Texas heat: my dad spent some time in Texas courtesy of the U.S. Army prior to being sent to North Africa in 1942. He used to quote Sherman’s words about the state: “If I were the Devil and owned both Hell and Texas, I’d live in Hell and rent out Texas.”
I will take a humid 93 over a dry 103 any day.
I dunno. There are days when I swear that the atmosphere is condensing directly on my skin when it is humid. That is when it is truely hot. I feel much better if my sweat is evaporating and giving me a bit of cooling…
vanderleun,
I used to live on the Swiss border, and travelled regularly to my husband’s family near Cologne. The seasons I identified were winter, roadwork, and Niederlé¤ndische Wohnmobil (camping trailers), which tied up the Autobahn for the entire summer.
You all can send me a few of your extra degrees. (I’ll take Farenheit if you don’t want to worry about the exchange rate.) I’ve been curling up in a sweatshirt for the last 6 weeks, but actually it’s better than Mid-Atlantic heat and humidity.
Actually, I am in Seattle and the big weather story here is that somebody figured out how much summertime Seattle has had this “summer.” The definition of Summer is any time when the temperature goes above 80 degrees.
Total summertime in Seattle to date?
78 minutes.
Yes, seventy-eight MINUTES.
Its starting to cool down a little bit in the midwest. Today the temp topped out at 96 with a heat index of 103. Prior to today we had 6 days of high temps peaking two days ago with a temp of 110 and a heat index of 131. But I’m not complaining, we’re acclimated to hot, humid summers and blustery cold winters and I agree with SteveH, too hot is more bearable than too cold.
Regarding the cooling effects of the ocean in New England, yesterday the air temp was a toasty but not unpleasantly humid 88 degrees in the late afternoon (95 today) and my husband and I jumped off our little boat into 60-degree water at high tide in the Hampton-Seabrook marsh. Breath taking. Then, out of the water and we let the hot sun evaporate the cool water from our skin, leaving a fine dust of salt behind. Almost nothing feels that good.
Total summertime in Seattle to date?
78 minutes.
Yes, seventy-eight MINUTES.
Didn’t know Al Gore had moved to Seattle.
The way I heard it, here in the chilly North we have FOUR seasons, not two: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
We are around 24 days in a row with triple digits -actual temp-not heat index-here in East Texas with a total of 36 days of triple digits.
I’ve been painting and caulking the outside of a customers two story house since last week- no fun.
Mrs. Whatsit: “The way I heard it, here in the chilly North we have FOUR seasons, not two: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.”
Well, road construction plus hungry cougars, bears and mosquitos. Not for nothing in our western Great White North do we grant greens, yuppies and hippies full access to our wilderness parks. Have an interesting hike, guys!
A fan right on the face or air conditioning for me. The normal is 95 degrees, which easily rises to 105 the nearer you get to the Negev Desert. As for taking to the beach, it’s a good idea, but don’t get your hopes too high on the prospects of Med Sea surfing. Better to concentrate on how to avoid the jellyfish; if you hear the crowd shouting “Medusa! Medusa!” then it’s advisable to dash to some other part of the water, or stick to the shore for a few minutes. Ah, what the heck, I prefer swimming pools anyway…
The seasons here are a long summer and short winter, with a spring and fall that ride their coattails.
(Thank goodness for the built-in unit conversion facility of Win 7’s calculator. I haven’t used U.S. units in decades.)
I don’t know where you are, neo, but yesterday in Worcester the dew point was 75 deg, which according to Live Weather Blogs is on the cusp between “oppressive” and “awful.” It’s about the same today. If you’re in a better location, that’s good.
Georgia has been hovering between 85 and 95, with one heat index of 110 last week.
It’s not too bad, except when the sun is up and there are no clouds blocking it. Then you really feel the heat.
I have a cool Surge machine blowing right beside me and another fan cooling the PC. So I can basically have air conditioning to within 5 or 10 degrees of the outside and still be good.