Category Archives: Weather

Pray for Rain.

And it did rain. Daytime temperatures fell thirty degrees, from the mid-100’s to the 70’s, and overnight temperatures plummeted from the high 70’s down to the low 50’s. Air Quality that had been in the “dangerously unhealthy” range from the Mosquito Fire got wiped away and restored to “good.” And the fire containment grew while the fire ceased advancing and did not grow. Yay! The extended heatwave is over.

Rain!

After weeks and weeks of heat, and smoky rotten air from the Mosquito Fire, and I forget how long ago one half-day of rain in early August…we awoke to some rain again. That should knock down the particulate matter and improve the air quality.

Actual Heatwave

Don’t let the pretty clouds fool you. It’s 7:23PM in the evening of Labor Day, and the temperature has cooled-off to just 100-degrees, from a high of 110 earlier in the afternoon. Tonight the temps will even dip into the mid-80’s.

This whole week is going to be in that range, and has been since Saturday’s 103 and Sunday’s 105 – leading up to today – and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. So with a cooler (by recent standards) morning, we got out to walk the dog by 6:30 sun-up while it was just in the mid-70’s…

I have a little RainBird sprinkler on a stake that you shove into the lawn, and have I set to rotate in a short arc and cool off the hot concrete at the garage-end, to keep from scorching the dog’s paws. It all helps a bit, but a dog that would more readily come when called, and get in out of the damn heat would help more!

UPDATE: 114 yesterday (Tuesday), but forecast ten-degrees cooler today at just 104. Meanwhile, a forest-fire started up in Foresthill (where we used to ride dirtbikes) last evening is being aggressively attacked – from the air – because that’s the only way to get at it, the location is so remote and difficult.

Indian Summer

The Sun is coming up later, and the days are getting shorter (by 2 minutes and 23 seconds), but this week a ridge of high pressure over Vegas and a Jet-Stream turned up into Canuckistan means it’s gonna be hot up here. Not as bad as The Valley, but I need to get more block-ice for the doggie pool.

Weird Weather

It’s 3:00PM and 102-degrees Fahrenheit, with overcast/high clouds – and just 14% humidity (and dropping). This is just weird, but better than yesterdays 105-degrees. The clouds offer some benefit I guess, they must reduce the temperature with no added humidity. It was 70-degrees when I got up at 6:00AM so it never really cooled-off overnight. Doggy doesn’t quite know what to do about it, while I add block-ice to her pool to keep things cool, and she enjoys her favorite pop-up sprinkler when it magically comes on.

Shocker!

Awoke at 5:40 to the ping-ting…of rain hitting the downspout! Then it really started to come down. The dog is curious about this sky-water stuff, and annoyed at all the noise on the deck canopies. I put my rubber boots and raincoat on – and my Stetson – and we went for a sniff around the field. It does smell weird and a bit “tangy.” It’s been a long couple-three weeks of in the upper 90’s and 100’s temperatures, so this cool morning is unexpectedly welcome!

Unsettled Weather

78-degrees at noon is unusual after a week of consistently high 90’s, but we’ll take it! It was a low of 67 at 7:15AM, then barely climbing – and when the sun broke through the cloud layer it jumped up to 83 by 1:30PM…

71-Degrees at 6:30AM

Last week ranged in the 100’s except for a stray 98 on Thursday, and this week’s forecast is more of the same. The main thing is it doesn’t cool off at night very much, and we’re not getting much “Delta Breeze” from the ocean coming up the river. So yardwork is curtailed and the main focus is keeping the dog cool – and where to go walking in the early part of the day.

Fortunately the dog has discovered the refreshing joy of playing in the lawn sprinklers, and has attuned herself to when they go on in the afternoon – and thusly eliminated my need to wash her or add more block-ice to the dog pool.

UPDATE: 81-degrees by 9:00AM