The Weather Thread

[Rommie]

It does get hot in Poland. The problem in Eastern Europe though is they're obsessed with making as little air circulation occur as possible. Hope the roomie is overall net better though than the last one was!

But yeah, just brutal. I'm working in the guest bedroom right now because as a quirk of the house currently it's the only one with an AC unit. I think if you can manage one room that's a manageable temperature it makes all the difference in the world when it's so brutally hot- sure there's all this other house that we aren't using right now, but man this AC unit is great!

[Rommie]

It has literally rained every day so far this month, in enough rain that most of NH has been lifted out of its drought it's been in since last year. Kind of crazy after all the extreme heat of June! I remember when I was a kid we'd have rainy summers on occasion, but it's definitely been awhile.

I will say though, what I definitely enjoy about working from home is if it's the one day of the week where it's not going to rain, I can rearrange my schedule and go hiking on it. (Might as well work Sunday when it's gonna be raining and in the mid-60s for the high!) Ended up doing the highest hike I've done since I've started doing it more seriously- into the high alpine zone above treeline!- so while it was muggy down here it sure was nice up there with the breeze. Also, kinda cool to see how over time you get stronger in hiking- I was tired yesterday from a big hike, but not dead tired, which I'm sure I would have been a year ago!

[pumpkinpi]

We've had about 3" of rain since the beginning of June. I've never seen so many brown patches of lawn in Minnesota. I remember one or two summers growing up in Michigan when our entire lawns went brown and we had major water restrictions. No restrictions in my area yet. It drives me crazy to see people watering their lawns--the grass isn't going to die. Just be patient!

[Thumper]

Yeah, the grass just goes dormant. It comes back. Very hot and very humid here the last week. Good thing I've been outside every day building a deck...Lot's of sweating, lots of water drinking. But just enough rain to keep the grass growing. I haven't had a week off from mowing all summer.

[Rommie]

I think I've mentioned this in the past, but I feel like I can no longer enjoy unseasonably warm weather. This past week I spent all week wearing summer dresses because it was legit that warm. Yesterday it finally cooled down enough for long pants/ too cold for sandals, but frankly it's probably gonna still be warm enough later this week to sneak in my radio telescope dress for my colloquium at Amherst. And we are getting into late October but the leaves are still just starting to turn in the Boston area.

It just amazes me that there are still people out there who insist the weather isn't changing.

[pumpkinpi]

I think I've mentioned this in the past, but I feel like I can no longer enjoy unseasonably warm weather. This past week I spent all week wearing summer dresses because it was legit that warm. Yesterday it finally cooled down enough for long pants/ too cold for sandals, but frankly it's probably gonna still be warm enough later this week to sneak in my radio telescope dress for my colloquium at Amherst. And we are getting into late October but the leaves are still just starting to turn in the Boston area.

It just amazes me that there are still people out there who insist the weather isn't changing.

It's more the swings that drive me crazy. It got cold enough to turn on the heat late last week--61 inside at one point. It bottomed out at 39 yesterday morning. Right now it's 77 and sunny and I forgot to turn off the heat.

[Thumper]

It appears the weather here has finally turned toward fall. After a lengthy Indian Summer the leaves are turning, the temps are finally coming down, and the rains are picking up. However the grass has not slowed down. At this rate I'll be mowing until Thanksgiving. I agree with Pi. Some mornings I'm ready to turn on the furnace, and I saw frost on some roofs. Later that day or next, it's 75 again and I'm opening the windows back up.

[Thumper]

Rain rain rain...

[lady_*nix]

It's getting chilly... I just put in my storm pane today. Also ordered a bunch of weather stripping, since many windows here don't have storm panes, and I doubt I can count on the management co to fully deal with the situation... Plus with heating bills sometimes upwards of $500 (that I wind up paying all of because my roomies are poor as fuck), any little bit helps.

[pumpkinpi]

I saw flurries yesterday. This is actually pretty late in MN to see the first flakes. Nothing had been predicted, it's just the right temperature and atmospheric conditions for the snow to decide to come every now and then. It was so light, it almost looked like ashes blowing in the wind around a small fire.

[Thumper]

Below freezing the last two nights. I could have seen flurries last night! I put on long pants yesterday...First time since April, sigh.

[SciFiFisher]

We had some rain last week that was about 7 inches in about 24 hours. We are still having a drought but the rain does help.

[Thumper]

Wow, 7 inches. But you're right, sometimes a bunch of quick rain during a long drought does not help as the ground can't absorb it. It was 70 here yesterday then a front came through. Not sure how much rain we got but it won't get past 50 today. Snow flurries predicted for Sunday.

[Thumper]

See saw continues. Sunny and warm last weekend. Down to 15 and a little snow the last couple of days. Heading back up to 65 this weekend, then back into the 20's by Monday. Tough to get acclimated to the cold when it keeps doing this...

[pumpkinpi]

Same here. We bottomed out at 3 yesterday but may hit 50 next week.

But the good news is snow is here! It helps so much with the early sunsets. I had been really grouchy about the darkness until last Saturday when we got just enough of a coating that it brightened things up. That's definitely one benefit in the winter of being in a climate where snow stays on the ground*. We could get a big storm tomorrow, that might not even all melt if we warm up to 50.

*Unless we have a thunderstorm on Christmas, which happened a few years ago.

[Rommie]

First real snow of the season! (We barely hit an inch in December but it was gone by end of the day, so IMO doesn't really count.) Woke up to about 6" on the ground, and it's still coming down strong. Pretty excited because I made sure we have some sleds this season and we live near a reservoir with a steep pitch the kids all use for sledding, so I'm totally taking my sled up there this afternoon- the hot chocolate just doesn't hit the same if you didn't play in the snow first.

Also, since I mentioned it, I finally finished my cross stitch temperature chart for 2021! You can see it here. I'm really tempted to do it again because frankly it was fun (and got popular on the Boston subreddit- even hit the local news!), but decided to wait until end of the month before I decide for sure. I guess the real trick would be waiting 5 years, but odds are high with academic life that we won't live here any more.

[SciFiFisher]

So...lake effect. We had about 14" of snow a couple of days ago. I think the high predicted for this week is 40F. Buffalo Weather

[Rommie]

Not sure what you expected with moving to Buffalo- in winter no less!

Next up on the docket: extreme cold tomorrow, with maybe 12F as the high or so. Think that's the coldest it's been since I moved here a few years ago.

[pumpkinpi]

Not sure what you expected with moving to Buffalo- in winter no less!

Next up on the docket: extreme cold tomorrow, with maybe 12F as the high or so. Think that's the coldest it's been since I moved here a few years ago.

I was supposed to travel to a middle school in Brainerd MN last Friday to do some planetarium-y stuff. I cancelled the travel and talked to them remotely, because I really didn't want to breathe air from 150 middle schoolers all day. Weather wise, it's a good thing I cancelled because the air temperature in Brainerd was -35F that morning! My car would have died overnight in the hotel parking lot! The teacher was surprised they didn't cancel school. Usually when the temp is below -25F rural schools close. I guess they are trying to get as many in-person days as possible if they have to close for covid eventually.

It was only about -20 here in the Twin Cities at that same time. Mild.

[SciFiFisher]

Pumpkin Pie wins the coldest place reported contest.

It is 3F this morning. Last night we took the dogs out to do their thing and the snow was so cold and "dry" that it squeaked when we walked on it. Almost like walking on styrofoam. It's only about 2" of snow at best.

[SciFiFisher]

Not sure what you expected with moving to Buffalo- in winter no less!

TBH I knew what I was getting into.

[Rommie]

8F here this morning, -4F with windchill. Cannot report what the snow is like because hell if I'm gonna go outside and check.

[pumpkinpi]

Pumpkin Pie wins the coldest place reported contest.

But it's a dry cold!

[Thumper]

So you three are saying I can't complain because the temps dropped into the teens last week and 10 this morning?

I usually don't mind the cold temps, I get acclimated to them over time. But they have been fluctuating so wildly the last month is is impossible to acclimate. 65F on Christmas day, down to the teens, back to the 50's, and now 20 in at the warmest part of the day.

[SciFiFisher]

8F here this morning, -4F with windchill. Cannot report what the snow is like because hell if I'm gonna go outside and check.