Weather

[William]

Roger, your description of your weather today is what I'm experiencing here in Michigan today. I went for a bike ride, and it was gorgeous. I will take this weather year-round.

Bill

[walyfd]

I was just thinking about winters past. The winters of 93 and 96 were EPIC in nepa. We had a 130 inch snow pack at one of the cemeteries.

In the 70s and 80s, snowmobiling was a huge sport. We used to ice fish and skate on the lake at my grandmother's farm. The last decade or so, there hasn't been enough snow to snowmobile and it takes until January for the lake to freeze enough to even walk on it. Lake Wallenpaupack is a huge draw for rich city peeps. Used to have winter golf tournaments on the frozen lake. I don't think they've had one in maybe 7 years now. The lake never ices over now...

Now that I'm WFH, I don't rush to shovel. I used the snowblower once last year. Yet I remember neighbors would take our coal ashes years ago for their cars.... snow tires, chains, full tank of gas, load the trunk with cinder blocks... oh, the good old days of RWD AND they didn't plow like they do now...

We had that legendary Valentines Day storm around 2008... I worked in scranton and the office didn't close. Everyone called off but me. Somehow, me and my trusty rwd 90 Brougham plowed through.

I miss those days.

[Motorola minion]

I have to echo what Firedome said, we have great weather here since saturday. 82 high and 47 RH is a rarity in SEPA in August, normally weeds and bugs are flourishing under this Zone 6 muggy blanket of haze. Weather here this time of year is what John Updike aptly described as "steamy...useful only for making things grow" , after he moved to Cape Cod.

1993 and 1996 late winter blizzards were epic as noted for NEPA, had a Semi-detached 1909 brick SW Lancaster then and owned just a Zenith Z940 console along with my Onkyo, Dynaco, Pioneer and Kenwood. Having off-street parking on a one way street my 77 Impala preceded the 93 Ranger, both tanks in snow. A 83 GTi never ventured out in snow, it was useless FWD. The city wouldnt plow through our street, so all the neighbors shoveled. Going Skiing just 2 hours north of here around Scranton was a given option every winter. Took my 7k mile, then 10 Y.O.Yamaha SRV snowmobile to upper New Hampshire to run trails, some of which ran to canada.

No use for snowblower last "winter". Bought right when we moved here 26 yrs ago, absolutely necessary with a 200 ft driveway and outbuildings.

[Firedome]

Maryland had those mega-snows in '93 and '96 too, in '93 we got around 30", and iirc '96 was even more. Carroll County schools were closed for 5 days, and the hospital where my wife worked sent out a 4wd Cherokee to our house pick her up since she was considered a vital employee. We didn't have a 4wd then, and we had a 900' driveway, by the 3rd day had to pay a guy $100 to clean it after we'd left the car on the road out front and had hand shoveled 1 shovel width the 900' out to the street just in order to get out as soon as the storm was over. 2 week later we bought a big 8hp Troy-Bilt snow blower, but of course the next year we had almost no snow, 3 or 4" just one time. But it did come in handy in '98 when we moved to VT, and our son there is still using it!

Gorgeous today, 76 and low humidity, sunny & fluffy clouds. Fairly typical of much of the summer in the NorthEast generally and almost always in Vermont, no need for a/c today and many days.

[electra225]

34 days this summer above 110, 27 of those over 115. We have had to water our cactus and citrus to keep from losing them. You don't want to over-water either, they are hearty desert plants. The top of the grapefruit tree turned brown and is shedding leaves. New ones are coming out. The arborists say this is the way citrus handles too much heat, it's a protection measure. The fruit still looks good. I water deeply each week. The cactus is turning yellow at the top, a sign of heat stress. The next stage is wrinkly brown. That stage is generally an indication of death from heat. Watering turns our cactus back to green. We lost a young sago palm and one of our desert plants. Of course, the geraniums gave up and turned crispy brown, so they were done. This has been an unusual summer.....

[19&41]

Bad storms this afternoon. Torrential rain and some of the worst thunder and lightning I've ever heard. One stroke lasted over 35 seconds and sounded like it hit a gas storage tower. It's supposed to be 92 with thundershowers the rest of the week.

[William]

I'm sorry Rex, that does not sound like fun.

Bill

[TC Chris]

I just talked to my aunt in TX and told her to send me about 20 degrees of their heat. I woke up this a.m. and heard an odd noise. What's that? So I got out of bed to investigate. It was my heating boiler, heating. In August. I'm tired of being cold. I want to sweat some.

We've had consistent north winds all summer, an odd phenomenon for this area. Last week, all rain & north winds. Sat. and Sunday, north winds. Tuesday and today, north winds. I wore long pants and long-sleeved shirt to work today, really the first time this summer. (Yay for Zoom). And on the bike this morning I was cold. Not exactly overheated on the way home either. And all this in a year when the globe as a whole has set new temp records. Send me part of it, please.

I did make myself go sailing tonight. The north wind was decreasing so the waves would be diminishing, and I wore three layers on top and it was not bad. In fact, it was a lively evening for a fun sail. (The whole idea of making myself do something is that usually the experience is better than anticipated). Really,though, I would rather be taking layers off than putting them on.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

It was only 111 here today, according to the weatherguesser babe. You guys in Michigan may be getting snow in less than a month. It is alleged to be cooling off and raining some here the next few days. I need to clean the BBQ grill. If I take it apart to let the parts soak for a few days, it is sure to rain. Or if I polish my car. I can't drive a clean car even the first day after I wax it. It will start getting nice here in about two weeks, around the middle of September. It's about time to get the Buick out of its rest and see if it will run.....

[TC Chris]

Well, if you sent me 20 degrees, you'd be down to 91 and I'd warm up into the mid 80s. Sounds like a deal.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

That sounds like a deal to me.....

[William]

I'm with Chris, please send at least a 10 degree increase during the day. I had 69 for a high yesterday with that cold NW wind, and it was windy. I got up this morning at 5:30 and I had 47, yes that is correct 47 and its still August. The windows were open all night so it's 62 in the house, but no heat as I had mine turned down as low as it would go. Remember, Chris, we live in Michigan, so anything is possible including snow.

Bill

[19&41]

Be careful what you wish for, with the high temps and rain over the last few weeks, it's been bad enough to steam wienies in one's shirt pocket.

[electra225]

You guys "up north" need to get your snow blower out and all tuned up. It's gonna soon be time to get all the old cars out of storage and on to car shows around here. Our "summer" is about over. The monsoon is a no-show as far as rain is concerned. We got dust and a busted flag from the monsoon this season. And I have been driving a dirty car for three months. The car detailers will be doing land office business for the next couple of months.

[TC Chris]

After my heat came on yesterday morning, I cranked the thermostat down a bit (I do not run the heat in August, thank you). Late last winter, after boiler service, it had advanced to about 70°F from its usual 66°. I kinda liked being toasty and figured that spring was near and left it there. But when the heat comes on in August, its time to take matters in hand. Again this morning, even at the lower setting, the boiler was firing when I woke up. Now I know why we call it "climate change" and not "global warming." You guys all get the warming and I get the change.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

We have dust storm warnings out until 8 pm our time. It's coming up from the south. I'm getting tired of cleaning up the dirt. That dust will actually permeate concrete. You have to use a pressure washer to get the dirt out of the concrete. If we get dust, we will get a "six inch rain" with huge rain drops, six inches apart, just enough to turn the dust into mud.....

[walyfd]

Again. I think this was a beautiful summer in nepa (that's an oxymoron for many reasons).

It's been warm, not stinko hot. We're expecting our first heatwave this weekend. My lawn is green and lush. Not charred like usual. It was so thick, I had to mow parts of it twice yesterday.

People are complaining it's too wet and gardens aren't doing well. Yeah, I'm getting ripe tomatoes now instead of late July but... the ac hasn't been needed for over 3 weeks. Humidity has been low.

Honestly, it could be like this forever BUT the snowball bush is in full bloom, goldenrod is blooming and some bushes are already turning red. I spread 3 ton of topsoil 2 weeks ago and the new grass is beautiful. If it were like years past, I'd be watering every day.

Winter's coming and I need to finish outside projects FAST.

[TC Chris]

We're scheduled for higher temps this weekend ("might hit 90" they said) and I'm headed 140 mi. south, so it will likely be hotter there than it will be up here in the northland. Yeah, winter is ahead, so I took off early from work today to do some repairs on my back-room isulation. The room was new when I bought the house and both unheated and uninsulated. The washer is back there so I insulated, stapling up kraft-paper-backed rolls of fiberglass between the trusses and then adding another layer or two on top of that. The paper is getting a bit fragile and one stretch had busted loose on one edge and drooped. (Time to find a drywall crew and get the room finished). Today I took some very heavy paper--bags for bird seed--and stapled them up as supports. Best to do it while it's warm. The room stays warm enough in the winter (always above freezing, usually 40s) just from the escaping heat from the old part of the house.

Chris Campbell

[walyfd]

Went for a walk in the woods today. The birch trees are shedding and some other species are oranging. No matter how great or poor the weather's been, the indicators never lie. It's September and the trees are ready to sleep.

[electra225]

They put out flood warnings just west of here. We got nary a drop of rain.