This Wikipedia article explains why the weather at our house is often insane. Yesterday, for instance, at noon, in July, it was 59 degrees outside. We were running the furnace. In July. Not that I’m complaining. I’m English. Being able to talk with animation about the weather is a necessary social skill. It’s good to keep my hand in until I get back to the Mother Country.
So how’s the weather in your neighbourhood?
Nicola Griffith 
The weather, always a topic of conversation, has been on my mind quite a bit the last few days. I live in Long Beach, NY and sadly saw someone drown at the beach here Saturday. The water has been extremely fierce the last week, remnants of a tropical storm and howling winds.I grew up in this area and moved to NYC in my mid 20’s. About four years ago I moved back (I am 48) and since I have been here, I am constantly amazed by the wind.There are breezes but mainly the wind seems to swirl and gust with a vengeance. On bright sunny days without warning the wind howls across this strip of land, taking umbrellas and furniture along. We now have tornadoes, which never happened when I was younger. I am sure this is due to Global warming but I am not clear on the how and why.
I live in southern Wisconsin. Right now the weather is hotter than hell and the humidity is about 70%. Under these conditions you never feel truly dry. It cools off in the evening, but you still never feel dry. On the other hand, my lips are never chapped.
rory, how awful. Global warming does increase winds. Warm air rises, reducing air pressure, so more highly-pressurised air rushes in to equalise things. So I’m guessing you’ll be seeing more of the same. Hopefully without anyone drowning. I’m so sorry you were a witness to that.barbara sanchez, the few weeks I spent in Michigan (not too far from where you are) I felt draped in wet cling film that whole time. Ugh. But, yes, you’re right, I never had chapped lips…
I long for real weather. The weather here in Los Angeles is too much the same for my tastes. It just seems to keep getting hotter and drier. My lips are always chapped.It’s not weather, but we here in LA discuss it as such; we had an earthquake yesterday. 5.4. We have had less than our share of these in recent years – makes them feel overdue. 5.4 is large enough to stand up and take notice; it lasts long enough to wonder – is this going to be a Big One? Nothing like that total lack of control one feels while it is happening, …wondering; it’ll either be a killer or it’ll be nothing.This one was nothing; I had a few pieces of glass to pick up when I got home.Until you get back to the Mother Country, Nicola?
I grew up in Duluth, MN and moved away as soon as I was of age, thinking that anywhere else would have better, saner weather.Turns out that after experiencing the heat of the lower Midwest, the temperate drizzle of the Pacific Northwest and now the upper Northeast, I have to say that going back to what I grew up with feels much saner to me.I live in coastal Maine now, which is pretty identical to Duluth, but the lake is a salty ocean with 12-foot tides. I feel obliged to defend Lake Superior’s honor by saying that it has a tide as well–even if it is only 1 inch.I live in a climate that has 4 definable seasons. They don’t seem to be on schedule anymore, but I’m sure Mr. Gore knows why. Although I miss the PNW terribly, winters here are nice and chilly, and we get glorious sun even in the winter and a refreshing diversity of cloud types (I’m a storm-chaser by heart).Summer is much hotter than I remember it being this far north, though. Thank goodness for the wind off the ocean! Except for a week this summer when we had to take out the down comforter and wear sweaters to bed. That was…interesting.Yes, weather is continually a topic of conversation here as well. You must be fluent in it as there’s really nothing else to do but weather-dependent activities outside. I came here well-prepared; as a child, I’d spend literally hours in front of the TV watching The Weather Channel, trying to beat the forecasters at their own forecasting. Did I mention I’m a geek?
It’s 9:15 a.m. where I am writing in Tucson, Arizona, putting off the drive to Phoenix. It is 84 degrees here now and the high is expected to be 101. When I get to Phoenix at noon or so it will be over 100 degrees of course and the high will be 108 by four o’clock or so. (I have in the back of my truck a 100 gallon metal stock tank to put in my brother’s back yard. He said he thought he’d like to soak himself now and then.) If after unloading the tank, I continue on three hours to Flagstaff where I live, I will find my friends and neighbors smiling and relaxed enjoying a day where the high will be 87 and the night will get down to 53. It’s all Arizona, which is all home to me; 54 years in the same state creates patience with all kinds of highs and lows, but faced with today’s drive, I am wishing it wasn’t so many hours to an aspen grove picnic with a sweatshirt handy.
High is 108.I heard this on NPR today about global warming.“Severe heat waves are projected to intensify in magnitude and duration over portions of the U.S. where these events already occur, with likely increases in mortality and morbidity, especially among the elderly, the young and the frail,” Burnett said.”Wheeeeeeee.
I’ve just moved to the Seattle area and have only seen rain 3 times. Although some folks say that the rain is something Seattlites tell outsiders so they won’t move here, I’m also told that this is the “dry” season here. Compared to CO, it is LUSH!
jennifer, I try to get back to the UK every year or two. I’m overdue. And next year is already filling up. So it’s looking like 2010. Meanwhile, gotta stay nimble with the weather witter.janine, thanks for explaining the American obsession with the Weather Channel. I confess I don’t get it. Actually, I don’t watch cable anything, in terms of ‘non-fiction’. I only watch films and dramas, preferably genre dramas: BSG, Deadwood, Rome. Though I admit I’ll be giving Eureka one more try when it comes back.
anonymous, I had no idea that Arizona was so various. But, wow, I envy you living for 54 years in the same state. I hope eventually to make it to more than fifty years here in Seattle. Roots really matter.jesse, oh, yeah, it’s going to get, ah, interesting. Next time we get a chunk of money, I want to put some solar panel on the roof to run the A/C. And I worry about all the people who live in all those huge territories with the almost-drained acquifers. There’s going to be war over water. I look at the snow caps on the Olympics and I thank the Empress of the Universe that I live here.l, it looks sort of dry to a Yorkshire lass. Our lawn is already burnt and dead. (We’re not big fans of watering. It’s a waste–of water and effort.) There again, I know that by the third week of October, it will be lush as a forest dell again.
Yes the winds in Michigan seem more frequent and stronger. But its the heat and humidity that get to me. This whole week and into next its predicted to be high 80’s and low 90’s. Add the air pollution and the humidity and we have what I consider to be really crappy weather. But,this is Michigan, and the weather can change very suddenly.I’m hoping that it cools down and gets dryer for the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival that is going to be happening in a couple of weeks. While I’m not going, I remember what it was like when it was hot and humid. Don’t wish that on anyone.Since my body doesn’t mix well with hot, Nicola, 59 degrees isn’t sounding too bad right now.Rory, what a terrible thing to see. Jennifer-come to Michigan! The ground only shakes once every 10 years or so.duff
duff, have you ever done Michigan (the music fest)? I never have–partly because of the weather.
I’m in south Texas and we had a bit of a “blow” with the recent Hurricane. We did not get as much needed rain as we need where I live and the ground in my yard is as dry as a lizard’s tongue. My lawn is browning and brittle. We have water restrictions so greening it up is a no-no. I am a fall person. I miss the fall weather I experienced in Kansas. I know when fall is near because the light has subtle changes and “dances” differently in the shadows. The sound of the train that travels nearby has a “fall rumble.” Barking dogs echo differently. I am also far more creative in fall and have a feeling of heighten anticipation-for what I have no idea…We do get our share of rain here, though. And sometimes a bit more than bargained for and we flood away.The last “100 year flood” created this :http://www.canyongorge.org/I am scheduled to hike it on 8-9. So the weather did leave something of a gift in the wake of its devastation.lm
linda, that looks pretty amazing. To an English person it also looks kind of unnatural, but amazing…As for sound, yes, it changes with temperature/atmospheric pressure. Sound really *is* different when temperatures and pressures drop just before a storm. I love it.I love storms. I miss the afternoon thunder of Georgia. Here in Seattle we get thunderstorms maybe once a year.
I miss some things about Tennessee weather; I miss thunderstorms and fall. Fall used to be my favorite season too – the way the air feels and smells, the cool temps and the breeze, the sound of the leaves, and of course the colors. And I even miss winter sometimes, but not the kind of winter you have in MI, Duff. And I don’t miss the humidity. Some things are better just to visit. I have often thought of making the trip to the MI women’s festival, but it does sound like a bit of an endurance test.I agree that there is going to be war over water; I want to be long gone before then.
Too many people trying to live in desert. *And* run water-intensive agriculture. At some point, choices will have to be made. Sooner rather than later, I think.
around 40 degress celsius here. and that’s not the highest temperature that was reached this summer. beautiful sun, just right for the pool (especially if you’re my daughter, that’s where she is right now, lol), but waaaay too hot. on the other hand, we have catastrophal floods just across the carpathians, hundreds of families left homeless… last week we too had our share of rain, it didn’t stop from pouring for five full days. and if it goes just like last year, this is going to last until around 20 august, when we’ll have to turn on the heating. the four seasons we used to have in romania when i was a kid are now reduced to two (extremely hot from may to august and rainy and cold for the rest), and we’re lucky if we get a week of snow…living in the era of global warming just sucks sometimes.
horia, I was just saying to Kelley that those lovely in-between climate moments–when the house is open and the air is soft and balmy–seem to be disappearing everywhere. The switch flips and, whap, it’s hot, or, whap, it cold and wet. I miss the gentle transitions.
I live in N. Wisconsin close to Janine’s Duluth, MN. The other day I drove home (away from Lake Superior) and it was 30 degress warmner!!! Crazy. Mostly I wanted to comment that our furnace is turned off until overnight lows are regularly in the high 30’s. I simply cannot imagine turning the furnace on for a moderate 59!!!!
I sit still all day writing. And I’m a wimp. What can I say?