'Round the World Weather Report

[Birdy]

This was the worst 4th of July weather...ever in my life.
It rained all day Sat. And I mean all day. It never let up, except to go from a pour to a drizzle and barely reached 70 degrees. Today, cloudy till 5 p.m.
All outdoor plans were a no-go. We went out for pizza and postponed the cook-out till tonight.
Blah
B

[Birdy]

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day...
...LIKE IN SEPTEMBER.

[knitwit45]

Miss B, we'll be sending you our 80 degree, low humidity, lovely sunshiney days just as soon as we're through with them

[Birdy]

HA, HA, Very funny. We can't even get to 80 lately. Last night the low was about 60, not that I mind that at night, but I do expect the temp to be over 70 in the day in July. I mean, one cool day is a nice break from the heat, but...where's the heat?
B

[Lzcutter]

What we would give for rain!

I was in Las Vegas at a book signing yesterday and it was 115!

When I drove home last night, going through Baker it was 121!

It's cooler here in Sherman Oaks, it's only 100.

I hate hot weather.

[mrsl]

Every now and then I think about that nice dry hot weather we had in Vegas, then I recall with all the new casinos having water displays, and all those mid-westerners who planted grass seed for lawns, and trees which need to be watered, by the time I left, it was a lot more humid than when I got there 9 - 1/2 years earlier.

This week hasn't been too bad, it's been about 85, so open windows and fans cool fairly well, and we don't need a/c to raise the electric bill.

Anne

[Birdy]

Lynn,
I would send you some of this rain if I could.
We're not exactly in flood conditions, but it's just too gloomy and rainy for July.
This has been the weirdest summer ever.
B

[moira finnie]

Well, now I can say that I've been in floods, hurricanes and...a tornado!

Hilly upstate New York is not really conducive to that whirling funnel cloud that bore Dorothy and Toto away, but we had a small one touch down for a quarter of a mile near my home on Saturday.

It didn't last long, and I never saw it coming--I was too busy running around the house closing windows and unplugging electronics to even have the brains to go down in the basement ,(if I'd heard about it coming beforehand).

All I noticed was the strange yellow light, glowering clouds (which have been a constant lately), followed by the darkness and then a huge ka-boom of lightning and thunder followed by torrential sheets of rain (think of those water effects they had in The Hurricane and The Rains Came and you'll get my drift). It was all over in about 10 minutes. Lots of trees were twisted into pretzels, people lost parts of their roof, roads were flooded, two local greenhouses were blasted to smithereens, yet only one person was slightly hurt--a poor carnival worker who fell about 20 feet onto his head into the soft, muddy ground while trying to shut down a ride at a local fireman's fair.

It's been the coldest July here on record, with daily rains, some humidity and now this as a cherry on the sundae of summer. I think August should be interesting, to put it mildly.

[jdb1]

Moira, we had the fallout from that system way down in NYC yesterday, beginning in the late afternoon. It was the monsooniest rain I've seen so far. First we heard thunder in the distance for about 15 minutes. Then the skies opened. The storm came on so suddenly, and the rain was completely sideways because of the strong winds. The streets were flooded within a matter of seconds. That rain passed fairly quickly, but later that evening we had extra-loud thunder, extra-bright lightning forks, and finally extra-hard rain.

I just came in from a lunchtime walk, and it is very windy (and the wind is very chilly). You can see the clouds darkening and growing vertically, as they do when a thunderstorm is forming.

Have you all read the news item about the current lack of sunspot activity, and how some experts are correlating that lack with lower temperatures and more clouds?

[moira finnie]

Have you all read the news item about the current lack of sunspot activity, and how some experts are correlating that lack with lower temperatures and more clouds?

No, I didn't know that we could blame it on the errant misbehavior of the sun! Hey, at least its not entirely mankind's fault this time. Guess we can call off the virgin sacrifice to appease the weather god for now, huh?

Be careful, Judith.
Remember: there was a tornado in Brooklyn not that long ago. Curiouser and curiouser.

[Birdy]

Moira and Judith -
Glad you were both okay.

I was awakened at 1:30 am Saturday with a kicker of a storm. I turned up the tv to block it out, thinking, 'If I don't die, in this, I have to go to work in the morning and so need my rest!' The only thing that worried me, the cat kept pestering me so I was wondering if she knew something I didn't. (My old cats went crazy when a tornadoe touched down years ago.)

The next morning, half a tree was down in my neighbor's yard but luckily, no structure, personal or pet damage reported.

Nancy, did that storm pass by you Sat. afternoon?
You could have warned me! HAHA
B

[jdb1]

I find it surprising that Monty the Cat not only exhibits no fear, but seems completely uninterested in both thunder and lightning. (But if you should snap your fingers unexpectedly, he jumps 10 feet.) However, the tree in front of our windows was flailing around in the wind, and that got his attention. He did deign to jump up on the windowsill to watch it. Generally, he sleeps right through rainstorms. Snowstorms are another story -- I've yet to know a cat who didn't go nuts trying to track the snowflakes as they fell in front of the window. They must think the flakes are little birds.

[TalkieTime]

What's this?

At our house in Portland Oregon it's 105 in the shade on the east side of the house. Since it's only 3:30 p.m. it will go higher. Portland's current "official" temperature is 102 at PDX. It's cooler out there along the Columbia River. It's expected to be even warmer for the next two days.

[knitwit45]

Birdy, we had a terrific storm just east and north of where I am. The rains here were incredibly strong, but at 3:30am in the morning, I just yawned and turned over.....guess I'm getting used to them.

Moira and Judith.....welcome to the midwest!!!! The storm described by Moira is very typical of tornado alley. That yellow or green sky is my sign to pack up and move to shelter. Thunder and lightning don't always mean tornado, but you always stay away from windows, stay off the phone, and grab the flashlight or matches and candles. Sideways rain? Yep! The worst so far this summer/spring was about one month ago, when the rain and wind actually sounded like a living thing, CLAWING at the windows to get in. Very weird, and a little creepy.

Glad everyone is ok!

[moira finnie]

Hi Nancy,
I was hoping that you'd lend your first hand tornado expertise here, Knitty. My deepest respect goes out to you as ever! I'll try to be more tornado-savvy next time, (*gulp*)...


Here's how the funnel cloud looked as it formed nearby. The photographer wasn't going in the basement either. Guess these NYers have a lot to learn about this unusual weather phenom.

Today, the flowers and crops locally are trying to make a valiant comeback from the hale-induced sogginess they just experienced. The world has a fresh-scrubbed look and feel to it similar to that which we have after hurricanes or nor'easters along the coast. It's amazing how much nature can bounce back--though many of the local crops won't be marketable, except as applesauce or feed corn.

P.S. I love your Barney Fife avatar!
My man on that show would have to be Otis, if I could fit his wrinkled white suit and booze-bloated bulk into an avatar, I might just have to add him here for awhile. Love every "in denial" pore of your character, O-man!