[psmith2.0]

I'm not in the U.S. Southwest, but we are experiencing temps in Southeastern Tennessee (and I'm sure drew is as well, just 90-120 minutes down the road from me) that we typically don't see until well into July/August...mid/upper-90's, with obnoxious humidity and triple-digit heat indexes (indices?). True "summer" weather. We've not eased into it this year, it's like someone just threw a switch. Our spring wasn't as crisp and pleasant as usual. Naturally I was out in it for a couple of weeks, painting about 40 million square feet of fence and decking. But I finished that some while back, so that's good.

Seems to be hovering over the lower part of the country. My friends in KC are having the same numbers, warnings, etc. And my friend in Gilbert, AZ, just outside Phoenix, sent me two pics within the past four days, her car digital thermometer showing the outside temps at 112 and 115. Granted, she's in the desert and all ("move, goofball...nobody's making you live in a desert!" ) but even she said that's a bit early for such nonsense.

I can take one - heat or humidity - but when it's both (and higher than they should be for mid-June)...ugh.

And it's dangerous. I have to mow a yard this week (Mom's), but I'm tweaking my schedule/work frame a bit and I'll be going over right about this time (8:30am) Thursday morning, so I'm completely done by 10:30. I'll be miserable and sweaty, but that's just par for the course...I won't die or heat-stroke out or anything. It'll be relatively "cool", possibly even cloudy, the way her yard/trees are situated, I'll be mostly in shade at those early hours if it's not cloudy. I ain't doing anything outside in the afternoons, not this week.

Those of you in it, you know the drill...shade/AC, lots of water, avoid strenuous outdoor activity in the noon/afternoon hours, look in on those who may have an extra tough time (the elderly, those without AC, etc.). Make sure they're okay, and do what you need to make them so, until this thing lifts/passes.

And, just speaking to everyone in general, for the love of all that is holy and righteous: DO NOT be leaving your kids and/or pets in the damn car at times like this. No, not even "for just a minute or so". Every year, there's a cluster of ignorant low-renters and grade-A oblivitards who somehow never seem to get the memo - or see the PSAs, read the tragic stories in the news, etc. - and will do this. There is no excuse at this point. Everyone is well aware of how hot a parked, turned-off car gets in this kind of weather, and how quickly it can do so. Any morons leaving their poor dogs in such a scenario while they "dart in" to get a few groceries (and always some cigarettes, this bunch) need to have their worthless, clue-starved asses kicked up and down the Safeway sidewalk.

Absolutely no excuse. Leave your dog at home if you need to run errands; this isn't the week to be driving them around and leaving them sitting in the parking lot as you shop, do some banking, pick up dry-cleaning, buy meth or whatever the hell it is you plan on doing. As with so many other things, in 2022 nobody can claim they didn't know not to do this. The word has been out for a good long while, decades even. The "ignorance" card has been completely played out on this...

[turtle]

Yeah it is 79 right now at 0900! That is hot already and I'm not looking forward to the near 100 temps that are being expected. I'm even more north of Drew!

Thank God my A/C system is new and I don't have to worry about it at all.

Still, I have work I want to get done outside before the spring growth turns from a clean up to a full land-reclaim needing heavy equipment!

[kieran]

We just moved up to CT and it has been incredibly cool so far.

I spent a few hours putting in window air conditioners last week when it was supposed to get up to 90, but we only ran the AC for a few hours overall. The last few days we've actually been chilly in our house.

Global warming is nuts.

[turtle]

Almost noon here and up to 96 at my house. Heat index is 103! Ahhh... spring in the south.

[psmith2.0]

92 here, but same 103 heat index at 12:30pm. Even warmer tomorrow and Wednesday.

Saturday and Sunday will be a brisk, comfy 91 and 90.

[turtle]

So far today, FREAKING HOT FOR SPRING.

[709]

Only 87 up here, we won't hit mid-nineties until tomorrow. BUT weather.com says "Damaging winds and large hail with some storms today. Have a plan and be prepared.", so I got that going for me.

[kscherer]

We've had a very wet spring. Been cool and pleasant.

March: "Idaho is in a drouth!"

2 months later. "Never mind."

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by 709 Only 87 up here, we won't hit mid-nineties until tomorrow. BUT weather.com says "Damaging winds and large hail with some storms today. Have a plan and be prepared.", so I got that going for me.

We're supposed to get some storms here as well, but it's just so unpredictable. Hard to really ever know. But it's kinda clouding up outside, so maybe. They'll probably be pretty violent.

As of 3:40pm ET, we're now at 96 with a heat index of 110. It's pretty toasty out there, and the humidity is really making it bad. I've been to Arizona, pumping gas in my car in 114 degrees. But I was stunned at how bearable it was, in the shade and with some wind. Yes, it's hot. But I wasn't sticking to myself and coated in sweat, and I felt like I could actually breath. Give me 110 in Arizona over 90 here in Tennessee, any day.

It's the humidity that makes all the difference.

[turtle]

It ended up REALLY toasty here. This is actually from a weather station at my house.


I can tell you, that 40% humidity felt a lot higher.

Today is supposed to be even hotter. It is right now 78 already.

[drewprops]

Our humidity is 80% at 8:20am and we're already at 81°F. I went outside to feed some stray cats I'm taming for adoption and I need a shower now.


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[turtle]

We are at 89% right now. Yesterday it was similar. higher humidity until the sun baked it all out. I'm HOPING today is the same. Then again, I don't *HAVE* to do things outside today so I likely won't.

[psmith2.0]

It’s awful. Our numbers keep climbing. 97-99 days for the next 10 days, 10-12 higher than mid-June normally is.. 😵😩

I don’t think mowing at 8:30am Thursday is going to help much, but it has to be better than 2pm. Either way I’m gonna die to death. 🥵🥵

[turtle]

Sunrise is about 6:15 now....

[psmith2.0]

Believe me, I’ve considered getting over there and going at 7. Any neighbors not up and readying for work can just deal with it. It’s right at a 90-minute job, give or take, and I want to be completely done well before 10. Sure enough, I think I will start at 8am. I never mow before 10am, just as a courtesy to her neighbors…but screw it. They’ll understand, this one-time(?) exception.

[drewprops]

I don't mow my grass in times of extreme heat because I'm afraid of dehydrating it. Is that weird?


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[psmith2.0]

I don't know. I'm just on a two-week cycle and it absolutely needs it, for sure. We had some rain last week, so it all sprouted up real good since my previous mow...long grass and those white clover and dandelions all over the place. I don't have the blade down to its lowest setting, so I'm not scalping it. I'm pretty sure, after Thursday morning, it will go a full two full weeks without any excessive growth (heat and no rain). I'll see how things look at the end of June. If this heat goes away and we get some rain, then I'll be looking at a June 30 (I like to do it on Thursdays).

But it needs it now and is just this side of looking a little ratty, which I don't like. Makes her whole house/property look less than. Plus, if I let it go too long/get too high, I run the risk of encountering critters I don't want to (the long, slithering type). Indiana Jones ain't got nothin' on me in that department...

If it still looked low/good, and not in need of cutting, I'd certainly let it go this week (believe me, I'm dreading the shit out of Thursday ). But its last mow was June 1 and it has grown quite a bit since then. Typically, I'm on an every-two-weeks thing during March-June (rain, sunshine and it truly needs it). Then it usually slows down in July-August, with less rain and things sometimes getting a little brown and crunchy and it may not actually need it at the two-week mark. I'll play it by ear and only mow when needed. There have been years where I've only mowed once each in July and August. And then it seems to kick back up against in September and October (and I usually finish out the season by the second week of November).

[Brad]

One of my team members lives in India, and over the last month, he's regularly reported temperatures around 110-115°F. His stories have made me grateful that we've only been seeing highs in the 90s approaching 100°F here lately. 😬

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, it’s all relative, huh? My friend in AZ reports those numbers and I think “it could be worse”. But I still think she’s got it a little easier, with the non-existent humidity. She can handle those 110-115 temps, but if she visited here she’d lose her mind.

“I can’t breathe, and how many $&@#% showers do I have to take in a single day?”

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Brad One of my team members lives in India, and over the last month, he's regularly reported temperatures around 110-115°F. His stories have made me grateful that we've only been seeing highs in the 90s approaching 100°F here lately. 😬

After spending a summer floating in the Persian Gulf I can assure you that high temps are relative. My deployment was March through September, to the Gulf. Misery outside. True hell on Earth. In August the water temp is in the 90s. That isn't even the surface air temps! I don't recall exactly what it was, but they said it was around 140 on the yardarm of the ship.

Yesterday was cooler than Monday. Today is shaping up to be a scorcher though. Almost noon and it is 95.8 right now and climbing.

[turtle]

Got pretty freaking hot here today! Storm/squall coming in now so the temp dropped down to 93 as of right now. Feels so cool compared to earlier.

[drewprops]

Holy crap. There's a storm skirting us right now, and I'm afraid it's going to miss us. SO CLOSE.


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[psmith2.0]

We may be getting one on a bit and it’ll knock us down from 95 to 80. Hope it hits.

[drewprops]

Wow. We actually got a smidge of rain. Not NEARLY enough.


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[crazychester]

Laughs in Australian.

Buckle up boys, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

"Here comes the future and you can't run from it......."

[drewprops]

Things are gonna slide, in all directions, won't be nothin' (nothin') you can measure any more.


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[crazychester]

Originally Posted by drewprops Things are gonna slide, in all directions, won't be nothin' (nothin') you can measure any more. ...

At least Billy Bragg is hopeful. But if you're going to go all dark on me drew, I'll see your Leonard Cohen and raise you some William Butler Yeats.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Source: The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (1989)

[drewprops]

I am watering parts of our yard today. I have not done anything like this in the 21st century. It's been hot and deadly dry here. I'm concerned that we're going to have a dirt yard if I don't intervene.


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[psmith2.0]

This week, while still warm, has seen slightly lower temps and lower humidity. It’s been nothing like last week, when I nearly got sick just from the 98+ temps and 85%+ humidity.

In fact, it’s quite pleasant right now (8:20pm ET). And our temps look to be dropping starting tomorrow, back down to highs in the mid-80’s, 10 degrees less than what it’s been for 12+ days. Yay.

Atlanta looks to be getting the same, with some good chances for rain in the next 7-10 days. Hang in there. I wish it would rain for 2-3 days straight here. Very dry outside.

I saw a dingbat toss her lit cigarette into the landscaping bushes in the Bojangles* drive-thru Monday morning. Damn thing started smoking and my car about three feet away. I told the girl at the window they might want to send someone out and pour a jug of water on the bush to douse it, due to the grade A idiot in front of me. She was like “are you serious?! How does she not know how hot and dry it’s been?! She IS an idiot!”



*Mostly Southeastern-based Cajun-spiced fried chicken/biscuit fast food joint. Think Popeye’s, with less marketing (but better biscuits).

[drewprops]

My dad planted a 3 foot square patch of zoysia in the front yard back in the early 1980s and from that time it has slowly spread to engulf most of the front yard. Zoysia is a drought-resistant Asian grass. It's turning white now but should snap back when it gets thoroughly watered.

The drought conditions that they're facing in the southwest must be pure hell.

The best thing to happen on Wednesday was that we did NOT hit the predicted high temperature.

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