Hurricane season is like Russian roulette

Not long after North Carolinians stopped worrying about Hurricane Earl we’ve got more fun lining up in the Atlantic. Hurricane Igor has grown to a strong storm with 140 MPH winds at the moment. Igor is bearing down on North Carolina as of now, though it will be a week or so before it reaches its closest approach. Most likely it will be pushed aside the way Earl was by the high pressure sitting over us.

Following Igor is “Tropical Depression Twelve,” which is expected to become a tropical storm very soon. Life near the Atlantic is always full of excitement!

Fall-like fun

After yet another few high-90s days earlier this week we’ve had two days of absolutely gorgeous weather. Hurricane Earl was rebuffed by a dry cold front that moved through. The temperature Friday was 98 degrees at one point but the relative humidity was a scandalously-low 19%! The weekend temperatures were about 8-10 degrees cooler with the same low humidity, which is a tantalizing taste of fall (though falls are cooler yet).

We spent most of Saturday just getting some yardwork done. Mowing, weeding, trimming, and leaf blowing were all carried out under sunny skies. Then there was music practice and other fun tasks until dinner. After dinner, we joined our neighbors on the driveway for beer and roasted marshmallows. One of our neighbors across the street got married yesterday and they held their reception in their backyard. We enjoyed people-watching and listening to the 80s-era wedding dance tunes.
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Earl twirls

Got a call from my aunt in Florida today, checking in on us as she had seen the news about Hurricane Earl approaching North Carolina. I should say that Earl is hitting a brick wall of high pressure as it approaches the state. The air has been hot and dry for us all week and this high pressure dome will keep us from seeing any precipitation from Earl. Raleigh is about 100 miles inland, so there’s really no threat to us this time around.

Here’s the forecast discussion from the local National Weather Service office:

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/…
— Changed Discussion —
AS OF 230 PM THURSDAY…

LITTLE CHANGE REQUIRED TO THE GRIDS/FORECAST.

HURRICANE EARL MOVING TO THE NORTH WITH LEADING EDGE OF CIRRUS ALONG THE HIGHWAY 1 CORRIDOR. THIS LEADING EDGE SHOULD DISSIPATE AS IT MOVES FARTHER WEST INTO THE MID/UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE APPALACHIANS AND ITS ASSOCIATED DRIER AIR. AS EARL PARALLEL THE COAST TONIGHT…NEAR SURFACE WINDS OVER THE REGION WILL BACK FROM A NE TO A MORE NLY DIRECTION. WHILE MOST LOCALES WILL SEE WIND SPEEDS 10 KNOTS OR LESS…AREAS EAST OF I-95 WILL LIKELY SEE SUSTAINED WINDS AROUND 15 MPH WITH FREQUENT GUSTS AROUND 25 MPH. BEST CHANCE OF RAIN WILL BE ALONG THE EASTERN FRINGE OF THE FORECAST AREA BUT ONLY A 1:5 CHANCE. MIN TEMPS VARYING FROM THE MID 60S IN THE WEST TO NEAR 70 INT HE FAR EAST WHERE WIND AND CLOUD COVERAGE WILL RESULT IN WARMER TEMPS.

Summer winding down

There’s barely a week left in the kids’ summer vacation. The mornings and evenings are considerably darker than they were just a month ago. Though it is still quite hot, I can feel the summer slipping away and fall approaching.

I look towards this fall with a bit more curiosity than those before. Not sure why, really. There’s no specific event that attracts me, I guess it’s just the concept of a season where it’s actually pleasant to be outside. It’s true that I’m starting a new job soon, and while that certainly is exciting there’s more to the season I guess.

Maybe we will get a hurricane or tropical storm or two. And I’m looking forward to how the kids adapt to their new classes. Regardless of what takes place, I’m looking to close out our year on the best note possible. I don’t exactly know what that entails but I look forward to finding out.

Our weather ain’t got nothing on Moscow’s

Raleigh’s temperature is expected to reach 92 degrees Fahrenheit today, with a steady breeze moderating that a bit. While that’s warm, it’s a far cry from the weather Russia’s dealing with right now. Central Russia is experiencing an unprecedented heat wave, with temperatures up to 108 degrees. For a country more accustomed to extreme winters, this is a catastrophe. Wheat crops are withering, peat bog wildfires are raging, and people are dropping like flies because air conditioning is uncommon.

To make matters worse, the peat bog fires have made the air unhealthy in Moscow. So either Russians sweat it out indoors in buildings with no air conditioning, or they open the windows and breathe heavily-polluted air. Not much of a choice!
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Record-breaking hailstone

Hailstone from Vivian, SD storm

The largest hailstone ever recorded in the US fell in South Dakota on July 23rd. It weighed almost two pounds! NOAA scientists estimate the updraft required to keep it aloft exceeded 160 MPH!

During the late afternoon and early evening hours of 23 July 2010, thunderstorms developed over portions of central South Dakota. Several storms quickly became severe in an environment favorable for supercell thunderstorms. In particular, one very strong supercell thunderstorm moved southeastward across portions of Stanley, Jones, and Lyman counties. One of the hardest hit locations was the community of Vivian, South Dakota, where extremely large hail, destructive winds to 80 mph, and a brief tornado were reported.

A record setting hailstone was ultimately discovered in Vivian, measuring 8.0 inches in diameter, 18.625 inches in circumference, and weighing in at an amazing 1.9375 pounds!! This hailstone broke the previous United States hail size record for diameter (7.0 inches – 22 June 2003 in Aurora, NE) and weight (1.67 pounds – 3 September 1970 in Coffeyvile, KS).

via July 23rd Extreme Hail Event.

(h/t Mike Moss at WRAL)

June was hottest ever for Raleigh – Durham

The National Weather Service says June 2010 is the hottest on record for Raleigh. Let’s hope the rest of our summer isn’t like the miserably-hot summer of 2007.

…WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD FOR RALEIGH AND GREENSBORO…
…RALEIGH-DURHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…

June 2010 at the Raleigh-Durham international airport was the warmest on record as long as records have been kept at the airport going back to 1944. June 2010 was also the warmest on record for the entire Raleigh area with records going back to 1887.

The monthly average temperature for June 2010 was 81.5 degrees breaking the previous record of 80.7 degrees set in June 2008. The top 5 warmest years on record for the Raleigh area dating back to 1887 are as follows:

81.5 degrees – 2010
80.8 degrees – 2008
80.4 degrees – 1943
80.0 degrees – 1952
79.2 degrees – 1939
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Back from Virginia

We arrived home from Virginia yesterday afternoon after spending some fun time with Kelly’s parents. Kelly took the kids up in the middle of last week, with me joining them Saturday morning. I took the train up to Fredericksburg, where Kelly met me for some food and sightseeing in town before we headed west to Warrenton. The Oskar Blues Gordon beer at the Capital Ale House was quite tasty!

Sunday, we participated in the Leesburg Independence Day parade, with the kids on bikes and dog in tow. Rocket’s tender paws didn’t enjoy the blazing asphalt we encountered on that hot day but the rest of us had fun.

Monday was spent underground at Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia. It was quite a respite from the heat wave, where temperatures have been in the mid-to-upper 90s.

Good to be home now, though I’m already looking forward to the next holiday!

Hot weather slows us down

We took a family train ride to Durham today, then rode our bikes around the city for two hours. It was fun but, boy, were we all soaked with sweat by the time we had lunch. After our ride we drove over to Ridge Road Pool but didn’t even get out of the car before the thunder cleared the pool. Then we didn’t even get cooled off by the thunderstorm because it never got near us. Thanks for nothing, storm!

I was planning to get in another ride Sunday morning with my neighbor and brother but the heat index Sunday will be 102 degrees. No thanks! I think I’ll pace myself during outdoor time tomorrow.

During breakfast I found my mind wandering in an effort to escape the heat. I daydreamed of what it must be like in the San Juan Islands right now. Then I made the mistake of checking the forecast.

High of 67 degrees today. Arrghh! I so wish we could afford to jet up there again for another week of cool weather and gorgeous scenery. It was almost cruel to think about.

Lightning strike

We had a massive, city-shaking lightning bolt strike somewhere within a few hundred yards of our house at 3 AM this morning. I fully expected to smell smoke after that one.

The storm rolled up quietly in the night and as I dozed I figured it was a typical summer storm, where there’d be a few low-amp bolts and that would be it. There wasn’t even much rain falling. Instead, I suddenly saw a series of connected flashes as the feeders probed the earth. Then the flashes merged into one hugely bright flash, followed by immediate thunder that sent my already-skittish dog running for cover.

The kids and I spent 15 minutes hunting for the lightning’s unwitting conductor this morning but we haven’t found it yet. Something must have gotten cooked by that bolt! Thank goodness I disconnected that yet-ungrounded satellite dish I was playing around with yesterday!