a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
There’s a heat wave in Tokyo (102°F/ 39°C); it’s hot and dry in Northern Europe, and in the southern United States as well. Even here in Seattle the forecast says we are in for a seven-day stretch of day temperatures exceeding 88°F (31°C).
The weatherman says we’re going to hit 86°F (30°C) on Sunday.
July & August are dry months in Seattle with ¾ in. of rain each, on average. (As much as 5 or 6 in. of rain may fall each month from November through January).
The little patch of lawn in front of my house is already dry and mostly yellow. I only water the beds and potted plants in the backyard; not the lawn.
There is widespread snow in South Africa – always a novelty in a country with a sunny climate, sunny even in winter.
I never saw snow up close while growing up in South Africa. Yes, one would see it far away on the mountains some winters, and my mom told would tell me that when I was 5 years old, there was snow at my grandparents’ home in Johannesburg.
My hydrangea is still going strong, and its beautiful summer flowers are coloring up.
We have had summery weather this May. It has been drier and hotter than normal all month here in the Pacific Northwest.
Residents of Cape Town recorded a record low water usage of 505 million litres (133 million US gals) for the city per day for last week. Still, the target is 450 million litres per day (50 litres/ 13 US gallons per person per day).
Day Zero (no water for faucets) continues to be pushed out, and the winter rainy season has started – but it is still uncertain how much rain it will bring.
The day temperature got up to 82 °F (28°C) on Thursday, tying the calendar day record for Seattle set back in 1947. But now our little Indian summer is over, and we will drop back to 66°F (18°C) on Friday, and even lower over the weekend.
It was a beautiful Monday here in Seattle, and there is more sunshine ahead in the next few days, say the meteorologists.
Washington State Dept of Traffic recently tweeted a picture of State Route 20 at the Early Winter Spires. The road is closed for winter, but they will evaluate next week what needs to be done to start clearing the road. I compared their picture with mine, which I took on a road trip last year.
There is another dusting of snow on the ground tonight. The city of Seattle gets an inch (or more) of snow in February, in about 1 out of 4 years .. so looks like this would be one of those years.
Thu morning 2/22: My unofficial ‘snow gauge’ shows that an amount just shy of 1 ½ in of snow, fell on Wednesday night.
We had a little sleet and snow mix here in the city today – somewhat unusual for February – and the temperature only went up to 38 °F/ 3°C. There was bright sun with clear blue skies in the afternoon. I ventured out for a walk, but the icy wind made me turn around and go home after a few blocks.
P.S. It’s a white Christmas in Seattle, with an inch or two of snow falling overnight in the city. White Christmases are rare in Seattle, but in 2008 four inches of snow blanketed the city on Christmas Day.
A series of cloudy and rainy fronts weather is set to roll over Seattle the next several days.
So when the sun came out from under the clouds today, I said to myself: get out of the house now! go get some sun!
Scarf weather is definitely here! The high was only 44 °F/6°C today, with the winter’s first snow on the lawn this morning. Later in the day, big fluffy snowflakes sifted down, some of it sticking to the surface of the deck in my backyard.
We had windy and rainy weather today here in the Puget Sound: not too bad in the city (0.8″ rain at 10 pm), but elsewhere there were some power outages, as well as a few cancellations of ferry sailings (between Port Townsend and Coupeville).
Here’s a little collection of fall leaves, that I picked up in the street and just put in a flat bowl with water. It shows off the reds (anthocyanins) and oranges & yellows (carotenoids) in the leaves.
Man! Hurricanes, floods (and Las Vegas) have already made 2017 an annus horribilis. Even so, Sunday and Monday brought more disaster : one of the most destructive fire emergencies in California’s history. Some 15 fast-moving wildfires have now scorched 94,000 acres (146 sq mi) and destroyed 1,500 buildings. At least 10 people were killed, over 100 were taken to hospitals, and some 20,000 were forced to evacuate.
Here’s a collage of pictures from my random walk around Seattle downtown this afternoon. It was sunny but only 60°F/ 15°C, so ‘light jacket’ weather. ‘Scarf weather’ is coming, sometime in November.
I am trying again to add greenery to the front of my house, and my gardener recommended astelias (‘silver shadow’). I have to keep an eye on them and keep them watered, since the rainy season is not yet in full swing here.
It’s getting cooler here in the Pacific Northwest, and the first big weather system will move in this weekend, bringing rain to the parched forests on the Olympic Peninsula and lawns in the cities (such as mine).
Meanwhile, the very long road to recovery for the flooded and damaged parts of Texas and Florida, and the devastated islands in the Caribbean has started.
Newspaper USA Today reports that for the first time in 300 years, there is not a single person on the tiny island of Barbuda (pop. 1,800). Every last one was evacuated, after 95% of the structures there, had been destroyed by hurricane Irma.