Hot enough for you?
It certainly is in New England – hot enough, that is.
And muggy. The air is incredibly heavy, and thunderstorms threaten. I haven’t been outside today and maybe I’ll just stay indoors.
I went out yesterday, though, when the weather was very similar. As I stepped outside, I was reminded of a passage from a book I last read many many years ago and liked very much at the time, Arthur Koestler’s The Lotus and the Robot, a 1961 work about India and Japan. Here are the opening sentences:
The sewers of Bombay had been opened by mistake, I was told, before the tide had come in. The damp heat, impregnated by their stench, invaded the air-conditioned cabin the moment the door of the Viscount was opened. As we descended the steps I had the sensation that a wet, smelly diaper was being wrapped around my head by some abominable joker.
There’s no sewer smell here. But a heavy wetness in the air? Yes indeed.
Tell me about it. Taking a walk outside is like swimming through soup.
It was 85 here on Cape Cod. It normally doesn’t get that hot here.
Down here in SoMo it can get so humid you literally cannot see any detail further than a mile because of the haze. The first week I moved here it was around 103o and high humidity for a week. Then, of course, in the winter we had an ice storm of over .5″ that dropped thousands of tree branches and stranded some of us rurals for a month because while you could go down a gulch, you could not climb back up, Hiways Mo 14 and 181 being prime examples (named Devil’s Backbone locally).
To keep perspective, this is Missouri July Temperature by Year for 1895 to 2023. Warmest July in Mo history? 1934 Coldest? 1950
It wasn’t that long ago I noticed the radar maps shifted the red and purple down 5-10o.
https://x.com/TheMaineWire/status/1803760710637257101
Yes, there is a dew point of 70 degrees in Portland ME. Dew points in the 60’s are uncomfortable and once you get into the 70’s it’s pretty unbearable.
Dew point is a much better measure of humidity than relative humidity, which can be very misleading. People say things like “90 degrees with 90% humidity” which simply doesn’t exist in the real world. The numbers just don’t work that way. Actually 90 degrees with a 60% RH would be pretty uncomfortable — that would be a dew point of 74.2 — but doesn’t sound as dramatic.
What most people don’t understand is that temperature and relative humidity have an inverse relationship. I.e., assuming the amount of moisture in the air stays the same, RH% goes down as the temperature rises during the day and then increases as the temperature decreases during the evening.
The first time I flew into Mumbai (Bombay) was before the airport was air conditioned. As soon as the plane doors opened the overwhelming smell of mold that permeates Mumbai hit me. And the drive through the slum is a shattering experience.
It was quite hot here today in my area of southern Maine (94 degrees F, or so) but so far we haven’t broken any temperature records for this day – until they adjust the historical record downward. Btw, temperature differential between where I live – a couple of miles inland, as the crow flies – and the beach was 17+ degrees (cooler at the beach). Ocean temp is still in the upper 50’s.
Pretty warm in northern VT. Not as bad as Mississippi, which is where I moved here from, but still warm. And dang near unbearable for the locals.
Pretty average day for Florida. After 3.5 years here we’ve adapted well to the climate. If it gets below 60, no that is the new definition of uncomfortable.
At Weather Underground, I saw 95 degrees in East Boston. Yes, that’s hot for NE. But growing up in NE, I recall that one could expect two weeks of 90 degree weather. And that was 50-60 years ago. Probably warmer today.
Ironically, here in TX it’s a bit cooler than usual. Instead of 95 high, an 89 high. And it was in the 70s all night, instead of being 84 degrees at midnight. (R
The tough part about a heat wave is that your body isn’t accustomed to it. I recall my mother lining the windows with newspaper, to keep out the sun, during a NE heat wave. No air conditioning back then.
“Heat Wave”, Ella Fitzgerald . 93 degrees , dixit Irving Berlin and Ella, is a heat wave. In TX, 93 is cool in the summer. If you think I am full of it, try experiencing days of 100+ degrees, where it is 89 degrees at midnight.
Steve Walsh, my brother and his wife live a quarter mile from the Maine beach, so cooler for them.
}}} a heavy wetness in the air? Yes indeed.
Welcome to Florida, PAL!!”
😀
Where I am, the humidity STARTS at 70%. Balance that with temps in the 80 to 90+ degree range.
When I got into woodworking more, and doing glueups, I quickly learned that, in Florida, you MUST use Titebond III rather than Titebond II for such. I did a glueup, and literally 48h later, it wasn’t fully set — pulled apart easily and the glue was still tacky. (8-X
That’s when I learned that TB2 works by releasing moisture into the air. When the humidity level is 50% plus even in winter, that dog don’t hunt.
Whereas, TB3, on the other hand, works by absorbing moisture from the air. Works like a charm.
There are only a few places in the USA which rival where I am for average humidity levels.
FL sucked even more back before the 1980s, as AC only became commonplace as the 1970s burned through.
Hot? Here’s real hot: Horrifying video shows bodies being loaded onto trucks and Hajj pilgrims passing out in the streets after 1,000 died in searing 50C heat during religious gathering in Mecca
Had to look up 50C – says 122F…hotter than I’ve never been in.
Early this week, it snowed in the mountains in southern Montana. While the Bridger Range north of Bozeman was nearly clear of snow except on a few ridge tops and north facing ravines, it was white for two-thirds of the way down to the valley floor. There was even a story in the local paper about the university football team practicing in a snowstorm. But you probably didn’t have the -30 temperatures back in January. PS — arranging a hiking trip with Vermont friends in August. They mentioned that a glacier travel would feel pretty good given that it was 94 the day we talked.
JohnnyB
Early this week, it snowed in the mountains in southern Montana.
I talk every month or so with my cousin in Montana. We both joke about the TX cockroaches. One June, thinking I was making a joke, asked about how much it had snowed in Montana that week. My cousin replied that yes, there were places in Montana it had snowed that week. Having seen snow-capped peaks in Glacier National Park in July, I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised.
ObloodyHell, what impressed me about Florida humidity was that my shirt would get soaked with sweat even when I was walking in the shade.
It was 46F at 5:30am when I got up, it broke 82F this afternoon. It was unpleasant. Also windy. I can’t work in the yard at temps over about 65F. Currently 77F on the way to a predicted overnight low of 50F.
Today the real problem is that it’s not cooling off at night. Earlier this week I closed the windows before going to bed because it was the temperature at which I turn the heat on inside. Today? I’m leaving the AC on all night
A couple of years ago we had an extreme hot spell in June. We hit 106F. It was awful. All my barn swallows left and bunch of cliff swallows showed up. They started building these big football sized mud nests high above the doors. Not good. Then the weather cooled, the mud footballs started falling like bombs, the cliff swallows left and the barn swallows came back.
Temperature is a matter of perspective.
https://notthebee.com/article/the-mirror-goes-mega-viral-for-saying-uk-will-be-blasted-by-78-heatwave-
https://notthebee.com/article/new-york-governor-hochul-declares-unnatural-heat-emergency-for-90-degree-summer-temperatures
Here in Wyoming we had peak temperatures of 65 F on Tuesday, 75 on Wednesday, and 80 today.
Very nice weather for the youth trekkers.
We will get up into the high eighties in July and probably higher in August. The granite mountains along part of the trail will make things worse.
Of course, during the blizzard of 1856 that our site commemorates, the emigrants were very glad to have those heat sinks surrounding their campsite!
But sometimes, the weather is just — “Too darn hot”
Kiss Me, Kate (1953)- with Ann Miller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS_YAKZH3lw
I don’t remember our High School production in the late sixties being quite so racy; but then, Ann Miller wasn’t a student there at the time.
If someone asks “Cold enough for you?” when the temperature drops, you may need some Steam Heat — Carol Haney and cast on the Pajama Game (1957).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0szHqIXQ2R8
Here 90s all week and looked all next week. Worse is a T-storm a week agomissed me. Chance of them through the weekend, can only hope not missed again. I use a 50 gal rain barrel to water the garden and it’s almost dry.
Where I am right now, it’s 87% humidity. It’s supposed to get to 95 today and I plan to stay inside. Thank you Willis Carrier for inventing the air conditioner and may the wokies fail miserably in the efforts to take it away. As it is, I have to keep my AC on 78 to keep the bill at a reasonable cost. I grew up in Kentucky with no AC for about 15 years and summers were quite miserable. Still, I can stand it better than below zero cold.
Ah, that’s where the heat wave is. I live on the east coast of Virginia and I keep hearing about this terrible heat wave.
The temps have been a bit warmer than usual for this time of year, but the humidity has been lower so it’s actually been beautiful here. Warm and sunny for pretty much the past two weeks.
So, basically, New England has stolen our humidity. Please, keep it. We don’t want it back.
Here in northern FL, our problem is not the mid 90s and the humidity that occurs every day here normally, it’s our lack of rain. Unlike south Florida we, according to the local TV weather, have an almost 4″ deficit. We may get a small tropical depression come through which would be great, but the odds are going down. What we are missing is our usual 4-6pm afternoon pop-up T’storms. The culprit is the Bermuda high which is suppressing our T’storm development and at the same time pumping all that Florida air up into New England.
I do remember just waiting for those Bermuda highs to set up while living in CT. For a few weeks it actually felt like summer. It is usually short-lived, as by the first week of August one could sense the change happening as fall was making its appearance.
I understand why New Englanders hate the heat waves. One, they are not adjusted to it. Second, the vast majority of people I knew there literally hated summer. So, they are mentally predisposed to not dealing with heat. I said they certainly chose the correct area of the country in which to live.
physicsguy
When I was a little kid 7-8 say I did not like NE summer. As I got older I tolerated summer more, probably because I wore shorts more as I got older. Jeans are not comfortable in summer. Re wearing shorts, I recall playing soccer with neighbors in 35 degree December weather wearing shorts, but well insulated above. Sorry about that, Ann Althouse 🙂 . October was my favorite month. Not a bad month in TX, either.
Being a young U.S. Army soldier 1966-70, int he days of long ago, I have not so fond memories of that honey-wagon smell when the doors are opened on the airplane and warm, not-so-fragrant, moist, hot air comes wafting in and it doesn’t smell like home in the USA.
Last night I was with friends at a restaurant that features “Hot Chili Nights” on Thursday nights 6 – 9. The event name refers to the hot band they have playing on their large outdoor deck during chilly nights.
It was probably about 57 deg. though the air was still, and they have radiant gas heaters. People come bundled up, but some layers come off as the dancing heats up. Around 8:30 there was a light cold mist was falling on our faces from the dense fog overhead.
Cool temps. courtesy of the Monterey Bay canyon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDbKaQOrgPo
OK…is the heat wave over? Because I just went outside for the first time since early this morning and normal Virginia June weather is back….meaning it’s not as warm as yesterday, but the humidity is back so it feels way more oppressive today than it did yesterday.
Darn it! I was hoping this would last a bit longer.
I lived in South Carolina for 18 years, so I do know what ‘hot and humid’ feels like.
I’m in OH now – normally quite pleasant this time of year, but horribly hot just now (mid to high 90s). Not all that humid, but it seems really hot to the Great Lakes residents.
On the positive side, the extreme weather uncovered a problem with our AC. We’re making do with a couple of window units and some fans, while dithering on the replacement quote we’ve been given.
We should make a decision today. The cost should just about wipe out what’s left of our emergency fund (in just 6 months, we’ve replaced our roof, and waterproofed our basement – it’s been an expensive year).
I can verify the Dew point vs relative humidity argument. A few days ago it was 110 in the Phoenix area. Relative humidity was 35 percent or so. Dry heat, eh? No. Dew point was 63 and while not comparable to south Texas, it was quite uncomfortable.
Bar patios and outdoor venues have misters. They do not work well on such days.