We are getting early effects of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Alex. It is shoving tropical moisture on shore even as far north as the upper Texas coast. This storm is quite large and even though the main core is aiming south of Brownsville, we are getting a lot of rain this week from it.

wow starkat! Happy Rainy season there! (i think?) haha. I hope it would not be that bad. I don't like stormy weathers.

LoL! We are actually over 7 inches behind in our rainfall for the year. Its been really really hot on top of that. We're having late July early August temps here. Hopefully we'll get enough to catch up a bit.

oh. haha, so it's summer there? I didn't know much of the weather in other countries. So where's your place again?

starkat, so glad to hear you'll be getting rain!

Do you get a lot of storms where you are, sandy?

Tonight where we are (Ontario, EST), there was a lovely sight in the sky—three planets in a row (with a star in between). Starting in the west and moving to south-west: brilliant Venus, Regulus (the brightest star in Leo), red-tinged Mars, and ringed Saturn. Really cool to see them all lined up like this.

Today and tomorrow are simply lovely (for summer ): high of 20C/68F with a brisk breeze. People even had light jackets on today (but not I). The heat and humidity build as the week progresses until by the weekend we'll be in the mid-high 30sC/95-100F. Ugh! Ah well, I'm thankful for this reprieve now. We've had an abundance of rain lately, but now none is in the forecast until early next week ... if that.

EDIT Wed. morning: I just saw that thunderstorms are in order for six days hence. Now, often the forecast will change as the time draws closer, but I'm hoping this one won't: by then we will need that rain.

I'm in Texas in the U.S. Fairly near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. So while others get tornados, earthquakes, and snow, we get tropical storms and hurricanes. Of course tornados show up sometimes too, but not as frequently.

I'm in the 'other' half of Texas, the western tip to be exact. Last night we got blasted by our first monsoon of the season. It really only dropped a little less than an inch of rain, but heavy rains and lightning wiped out our power from 900am. When power goes out for us, it's worse than for most. Not only do we lose our AC, fans, and lights, we lose our water. We have our own reverse osmosis plant, so we get the equivalent of bottled water out of our tap. But when the power goes out, so does the pressure pumps.

Today appeared to give us more rain, but by mid afternoon, it all but cleared out. It dumped just a few miles south east of us, but nothing here. There is wind out there now, which might bring in something, but I'm not holding my breath. At least we don't have to worry about blowing dirt for a few days.

whoa! I haven't experienced hurricanes and tornadoes but I don't want to experience it even. haha, I'm scared of nature.

johobbit: yes, but not frequently, and I'm happy it stays that way cause I am totally scared of those.

Eh. As long as the hurricane stays at a mid range Cat 2 or below and keeps moving it isn't that big of a deal except for right where it hits shore. Even at a Cat 1, hurricanes aren't "that" bad. I've been through a couple of Cat 1's, several tropical storms, been brushed by a Cat 3 (Rita), and then there was Ike (a Cat 2).

Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Ike were the only two storms that I remember that wreaked massive damage. Allison was bad because it was "The tropical storm that would not go away". It moved in and just stayed for like 5 days. We still compare flooding to Allison around here. Even the Houston Medical Center was hit badly by flooding.

Ike was a Cat 2, but the storm surge was at the same level as a Cat 5. Which means a LOT of water. The coast was slammed hard. We lost power for 10+ days in most areas even many miles inland. It was a great time to get to know your neighbors though.

I wouldn't want to ride out anything much stronger than a weak Cat 3. If anything like that heads hear, we are very likely heading straight out of town and come back later to pick up.

I have apparently ridden out a Cat 3 before with Hurricane Alicia, but I was all of 2 at the time it hit, so I can't say I remember anything about it.

My closest exposure to hurricanes is when they become large low-pressure systems that travel up the Mississippi River and bring lots of rain.

As July begins, the weather here often becomes warm and humid, but this week has been quite pleasant, with temperatures only peaking around 75-80F/24-27C, and relatively low dew points. I celebrated by enjoying a fire in our backyard firepit earlier today (Charlie Murphy's cooking Johnsonville Brats! )

The nights have been cool and pleasant, perfect for stargazing. I've reacquainted myself with the International Space Station and Iridium flares as of late.

...there was a lovely sight in the sky—three planets in a row

They are pretty, aren't they? And my recent ISS passes have begun in that same area of the sky.

As the summer wears on, Venus and Mars will gain on Saturn, and the three planets will group together over the next month or so. Keep an eye to the sky (and another on Sky and Telescope's This Week's Sky at a Glance) for all the action.

Oh yes, stargazer. I am glad the dirth of ISS passes and flares is over now. 'Tis great to see them again, and anticipate at least one of each every clear evening.

Your fire in the backyard sounds lovely. And what a day for it. Like I said above, if summer weather was like this all the time (for us, nearing 70Fwith a lovely breeze), I wouldn't dread it so much.

Lately it's been around 70-80 degrees and sunny, and I haven't noticed many mosquitos yet, only one bite so far, so pretty sure this is awesome

I'll be glad to send you some mosquitoes, TheGeneral.

Though they really haven't been bad here in town, after some of my late-night stargazing sessions I'm still ready for a blood transfusion.

The warm and humid weather (at least by Northern standards) has hit us this week. Going outside is like walking into a curtain of thick, heavy air. And I just heard a clap of thunder so we're going to get wet soon - everything around here is so green and lush this summer.

Still, only 71 days till the start of the possible snow season. Ahhhh....

*chuckles at the mosquito-related/blood transfusion funny*

Ditto here, stargazer. Our heat index has been 43C/109F (!!!) for the past few days, and this is supposed to continue the rest of this week. Yep, it's like walking into a dense wall of air. Whew! Very unpleasant, to say the least. There are daily warnings for young children, those with respiratory problems, and elderly folk to stay indoors in a cool spot as much as possible. Thunderstorms are forecast late every day, but none have come yet, 'though in the north-western sky this evening I saw some beautiful, ominous clouds ... sadly I think they're going to miss us tonight. Relief looks to be in sight on the weekend with precipitation, finally bringing more seasonable temperatures (25C/77F) and much less humidity.

*also counts the days to the beginning of the snow season*

The latter half of June we had such good rains, but for the time being that has ceased. Things are becoming quite dry.

Hey Johobbit, is it normal to have that kind of temperature this time or was it the first time??