The Weather Thread

[Rommie]

Here we are in the throes of spring, 50s and the tulips are blooming. It was downright summer weather just two weeks ago, though, so now instead of enjoying spring I just wish it was warmer! (This is for practical reasons over just liking nice weather- my normal pants no longer fit, but dresses are fine, so my current wardrobe def expands for summer temps right now and it'd be nice to get out of sweatpants.)

Man, climate change has ruined us. Pretty sure 50s is normal for late April but here I am all annoyed about it.

[Thumper]

Cough cough, it was 38 here this morning. I was sure it was going to snow on us Monday May 1st. Tulips, daffodils, and crocuses are long gong. They came out way early then got blasted by many hard frosts. Lots and lots of dandelions though, I mean lots.

[Rommie]

So, not QUITE weather, but yesterday I woke up in New Hampshire and noticed the sun on the floor was pink even though it was well after sunrise. Wildfire smoke from Quebec has struck, and the sun was a distinct orange circle in the haze all day. Craziest part was wind picked up around lunch, and then by the late afternoon I saw the sky was blue to the East, but still all haze looking West. I guess we were right on the edge of it. Today it doesn't look as bad (down in the Boston area now), but I still opted to drive in over cycling because pregnant ladies have to be more careful, and I figured there wasn't too much wiggle room in air quality in case it becomes worse as the day progresses.

Meanwhile my sister in the DC area is sending pics of a blood red sun, they're telling everyone to not go outside unless you have a N95 mask, the works. Just nuts. I saw they're supposed to get some rain tonight in Quebec though so I hope that helps them- it must be terrible up there!

Guess this is all just practice for when I move out to Oregon though huh.

[pumpkinpi]

So, not QUITE weather, but yesterday I woke up in New Hampshire and noticed the sun on the floor was pink even though it was well after sunrise. Wildfire smoke from Quebec has struck, and the sun was a distinct orange circle in the haze all day. Craziest part was wind picked up around lunch, and then by the late afternoon I saw the sky was blue to the East, but still all haze looking West. I guess we were right on the edge of it. Today it doesn't look as bad (down in the Boston area now), but I still opted to drive in over cycling because pregnant ladies have to be more careful, and I figured there wasn't too much wiggle room in air quality in case it becomes worse as the day progresses.

Meanwhile my sister in the DC area is sending pics of a blood red sun, they're telling everyone to not go outside unless you have a N95 mask, the works. Just nuts. I saw they're supposed to get some rain tonight in Quebec though so I hope that helps them- it must be terrible up there!

Guess this is all just practice for when I move out to Oregon though huh.

This is just crazy. We had similar conditions as you've had over the past couple weeks. And back in 2020 we had it even worse from Oregon fires. But it never got as bad here as I'm seeing in NY.

What I don't think people realize is that the MN air quality and the east coast air quality are affected by wildfires in two completely different regions of Canada--Saskatchewan and Quebec.

I wonder if this might be a tipping point for some peoples' awareness of the seriousness of climate change. A few bad hurricanes or wildfires or droughts are just natural over the course of history, and hit in very localized areas. But this spread to major metropolitan areas, making the sky look apocalyptic, might open some eyes. It's like SF coming true.

[Rommie]

So true story, the Great Fire of 1910 burned down the equivalent of the state of Connecticut on the Idaho/Montana border, and there was so much smoke and ask in NYC and Boston at the time it likely exceeded what NYC is seeing today. At the time Congress was looking to axe the Forest Service but after the fire it doubled the budget. So maybe something like that at play here.

I will say though, by this point I'm pretty sure everyone who still thinks climate change isn't real is just in willful denial. My aunt and uncle were over for dinner a few nights ago and were complaining about how it's been the coldest end of May/ beginning of June in New Hampshire in memory, "but people still pretend global warming is true!" and then literally in the next minute were talking about how ticks are gonna be extra bad this year because it never got true, and how crazy it is to have wildfires so early in the season, etc. So they know the climate is not the same as it was (perhaps even... changing, if you will?!), they just refuse to acknowledge it seriously or that people can play a role in it.

[SciFiFisher]

Ah yes, forest fires, colder temps in the summer, warmer temps in the winter, less rain, more rain, more tornados, more hurricanes at category 5, and etc. The weather seems different but they are SURE it has nothing to do with climate change.

[Thumper]

The early spring was very wet here, then in May it didn't rain for a month and lawns started to go dormant. Then we got more rain in two days in June than the entire month of May. It was quite hazy here last week. Don't know if it was wildfire related or not.

[pumpkinpi]

The early spring was very wet here, then in May it didn't rain for a month and lawns started to go dormant. Then we got more rain in two days in June than the entire month of May. It was quite hazy here last week. Don't know if it was wildfire related or not.

We had one of the wettest December-May on record, and now have had only a quarter inch of rain since May 15 so it's the record driest of that time span. We had be so hopeful we wouldn't have a drought and dead grass for the 3rd summer in a row.

And yesterday was our third round of wildfire smoke. It wasn't orange like NYC was, but the air quality index was above 250. The smoke infiltrated my work building (which supposedly has far above par filtrating) and you coudl see the smoke in our projector beams.

[SciFiFisher]

And now we are breaking heat records all over the place. It's as if the gods are playing with a very large easy bake oven dome and moving it around randomly.

[Rommie]

Yep, record rains here and smoke. Lake in New Hampshire is now so high that the water is lapping through my parents' dock, which has never happened before, and we've got more smoke to deal with (western Canada smoke this time).

It's just the weirdest friggin' conversations with my parents. They keep talking about how weird this year is and how unprecedented... then blame El Nino or something. I confess I'm often tempted to say "yep, almost like the climate is changing- if only someone warned us!" but I just don't see the benefit of getting into that TBH. Might make me a wimp but I don't know what to do about it.

[SciFiFisher]

Yep, record rains here and smoke. Lake in New Hampshire is now so high that the water is lapping through my parents' dock, which has never happened before, and we've got more smoke to deal with (western Canada smoke this time).

It's just the weirdest friggin' conversations with my parents. They keep talking about how weird this year is and how unprecedented... then blame El Nino or something. I confess I'm often tempted to say "yep, almost like the climate is changing- if only someone warned us!" but I just don't see the benefit of getting into that TBH. Might make me a wimp but I don't know what to do about it.

I had a very good conversation with my grand-daughter today about how hard it is to change people's minds when they feel as if they are being attacked or respond as if it is a life or death crisis when you ask them to consider changing their views. It's often best to just focus on the areas where you are compatible and enjoy their company.

[Thumper]

My cousin is in NH and has been talking about the monsoon rains. It's been good hot and humid here in OH. Not hot all the time but always humid. Temps going into the 90's this week, typical July here. Air quality has been on and off bad, still don't know if it's wildfire related. But often times very hazy here.

[geonuc]

We've commenced our annual wildfire season. At least the temperature dropped so closing up the house isn't so miserable (we have no AC except for a portable unit in the bedroom). My homemade air filters are in service.

[Rommie]

Yeah, some advice I got for house hunting in Oregon was to look for one with AC. Because while it used to be that you didn't need it, with climate change that's really not negotiable any more. (Sooo, kinda like New England I guess.)

Been keeping an eye on the AQI out your way too this year, and looks like it's not too serious yet but there's plenty of time before it starts raining. But yea second piece of advice I got for Oregon (and anywhere out west actually) was these days it's probably best to plan your summer vacations in August, because June/July are usually still great and by August you might be stuck inside the house. Oh joys...

[geonuc]

Speaking of wildfires, what happened in Maui is shocking. To lose an historic town like Lahaina (not to mention the loss of life) so quickly and so completely is just shocking. I used to live in Hawaii - graduated high school there - so part of me still identifies with the islands. This is just bad.

[Thumper]

I agree, it's shocking. We've only visited once and spent the entire week on Oahu. The next time(s) we visit, we want to see Maui and The Big Island. I know the islands have different climates, but I just can't imagine wild fires on Hawaii.

[Rommie]

I've never been, but it certainly doesn't sound like something one expects in a tropical paradise, and the videos were downright frightening due to how strong the winds were.

Side note, I wrote a piece for Astronomy magazine recently where I was asked to predict the future of the field in 50 years. link I figured one should write it with the aim of being quoted in 50 years, either for being a visionary who got it right or some idiot who got it all wrong, but did feel obliged to mention that when it came to building new facilities it was assuming we don't run out of resources for big astronomy projects due to catastrophic climate change). Turns out that is the most controversial thing I wrote in the present, based off of reactions the magazine is getting... which seems just so ironic when over 100 people literally just died due to an unprecedented wildfire and abnormal climate conditions! Like what, you think the state of Hawaii is gonna be investing in new astronomy facilities in the next few years over helping these people, and making sure they minimize the next time it happens?! Some people

[pumpkinpi]

I've never been, but it certainly doesn't sound like something one expects in a tropical paradise, and the videos were downright frightening due to how strong the winds were.

Side note, I wrote a piece for Astronomy magazine recently where I was asked to predict the future of the field in 50 years. link I figured one should write it with the aim of being quoted in 50 years, either for being a visionary who got it right or some idiot who got it all wrong, but did feel obliged to mention that when it came to building new facilities it was assuming we don't run out of resources for big astronomy projects due to catastrophic climate change). Turns out that is the most controversial thing I wrote in the present, based off of reactions the magazine is getting... which seems just so ironic when over 100 people literally just died due to an unprecedented wildfire and abnormal climate conditions! Like what, you think the state of Hawaii is gonna be investing in new astronomy facilities in the next few years over helping these people, and making sure they minimize the next time it happens?! Some people

Um, you are in some INCREDIBLE company on that panel, my friend! They should be proud to have you as a part of it!

[Thumper]

Yeah, that was some good stuff in that article.

[Rommie]

Thanks, all! And yeah, holy crap, pretty nuts to be between two Nobel Laureates.

The funny thing is they first asked me what I thought, and I surprised myself by writing a little essay. So then they went out and asked for a few paragraphs from everyone- I think they were just wanting some short soundbites. Well, worked out great for everyone as we got a few hundred bucks for our trouble!

[Thumper]

Thanks for your trouble.

[geonuc]

Thanks, all! And yeah, holy crap, pretty nuts to be between two Nobel Laureates.

The funny thing is they first asked me what I thought, and I surprised myself by writing a little essay. So then they went out and asked for a few paragraphs from everyone- I think they were just wanting some short soundbites. Well, worked out great for everyone as we got a few hundred bucks for our trouble!

One future laureate between two past laureates. Well done.

[Thumper]

Beautiful fall like weather the last couple weeks. Starting to get temp drops in evenings. Lower humidity during the days. I used to not like fall as I was always anxious about school starting and I didn't like to give up summers. But more and more really enjoying experiencing summer's end.

[Rommie]

We had some stupid humidity until it finally broke just a few days ago. The funny thing about weather like this is I very instinctively want to go biking, or hiking, or all the outdoorsy exercise things... but these days if I do a half hour walk on flat terrain, I'm exhausted! So, not this year.

On the other weather front, we did get some gusty winds on Saturday from Hurricane Lee offshore. I didn't think it was that big a deal... until a beautiful ~100 year old tree just on the neighbor's side lost a giant branch the size of a tree in itself, which I saw happen and was quite a shock. Lots of shouting because it wasn't clear if the branch was gonna hit our living room, and I wasn't sure if F was sitting there or not. Thankfully it just barely didn't- house literally just got a scratch on the corner- but now the neighbor is understandably worried about the bigger branches that would fall on their house if other limbs go (we're luckily out of the line of fire now). Soooo might be losing the beautiful tree- doesn't even look that rotten or anything, but yeah, that was nuts.

[Thumper]

Well, that would be scary. Hopefully maybe they can have an arborist look at it and determine most of the tree is still sound. Maybe only minor pruning is needed. That's the trouble with trees close to the house. They are beautiful and provide nice shade right up to the point they crash through your roof.

I have an arborist coming out this week to look at 3-4 of my trees. Usually, my buddies and I take care of them. But they are pretty close to the house, I don't trust them through another wind storm, and we don't have time to get to them before winter.