Well, the sun keeps coming out and then leaving, and the rain comes in violent spurts that last for about an hour and then peter out. I actually kind of enjoy overcast days, especially on days I go to our nearby swamp (which looks SO COOL on a misty day), but I kind of wish the weather would pick a mood for the day and stick with it.

Who else is missing winter? I've been wanting snow really bad for some reason the last few weeks... and summer hasn't even technically started. I'll probably want it to be summer as soon as the weather turns cold.

After a drought of half an hour
We had a most refreshing shower,
And then the most curious thing of all,
A gentle rain began to fall.

If only it was even this much for a day or two !!! It is winter, here, & freezingly cold for a change. Yes it is passingly overcast, with the very odd drop of rain but you could run around the block between each odd drop. Even a threepenny stamp would stay dry if we still had them. Hardly worth taking in the washing over. The winter solstice will be tomorrow or the next day. Depending on what tomorrow or the next day means to the rest of you in the balmy northern Hemisphere.

Did you know that Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth? All that snow like a humungously large round iced cake, with rocky bits peeping out along the Trans Antarctic mountain range & the inverted ice cream cones of volcanos like Mount Melbourne, & of course Mt Erebus, far closer to the South Pole. Yet it never gets any rain. My husband & I once went there on a Qantas plane, on New Year's Eve, 2006, returning by 6AM the next morning. We were served ice cream near midnight that night. All that snow outside, & that is what everyone wanted to eat.

I too enjoyed the poem Coracle. With all the off-and-on precipitation we have been enduring my grass seed has been doing quite well compared to past years. I might just have enough to mow behind the house after near a decade.
The sump pump has finally stopped it's near constant flow since it started in April. As a result some patches of the front lawn have started the seasonal browning. Time to make use of the rain barrels installed this past spring
the Mrs. did notice something peculiar when she arrived home this afternoon. A yellowish-orange mold, or fungus was growing up in the grass where an old stump had been After a diligent search of the electronic sort I discovered that it was rather harmless though it might re-occur. I also discovered it was edible. I think I'll pass
More of the wet stuff to fall the next few days. My luck it will continue into next weekend when I have an encampment.

Great poem, coracle!

This week is the first true week of summer here in terms of the heat and humidity ramping up. Considering we had a cool, wet, late spring, this is quite the shock.

With all the rain and periodic sunshine, the gardens are bursting. Although, sad to say, some of the farmers are only getting around to planting their fields now, at least a few weeks later than usual.

There is a chance of thunderstorms over the next few days, with the final two days in our Canada Day long weekend dropping to lower humidity, yay! Good weather for campfires (and fireworks, for those who indulge).

After a generally cool spring, the first heat wave of the summer has arrived (at least by northern standards).

Heat index values were close to 95F/35C today and could exceed 105F/41C tomorrow (Sunday). When the dew point closes in on 80F it's humid by any standard.

I was just out to stargaze at 0145 local DST and it is still stifling out there - welcome back to 'air you can wear.'

Big storms tomorrow night may take the edge off the heat and humidity but there is a flood risk. (Training thunderstorms southeast of here the past few days have flooded large areas, closed highways, and even washed away livestock; some areas received about 8 inches/200mm of rain in about 6 hours).

Flooding is what was experienced this morning stargazer. at least in the small scale at the encampment I was attending ( more on that in the appropriate thread ) After the second wave of rain, and wind in a five hour period I, and several others in the field we were in found ourselves standing in several inches of water with lightening strikes coming close enough to cause worry
The ground was saturated from the first deluge, and in any place flat it had nowhere to go. A nearby man made pond rose a few inches I am sure.
The straight line wind took it's toll as well with several tent awnings going down, as well as three tents that I know of.
I know someone in Fargo North Dakota who sent the Mrs., and I a video of what must have been 50+mph wind blowing with heavy rain.
Has any one been watching for the animals traveling two, by two?

Well, it's summer. The rain and floods FINALLY left. It's hot. But compared to almost all of the previous years I've lived here, this is a very mild hot. We had a playdate this morning with our homeschool co-op and it was GORGEOUS outside. Almost unheard of for July.

When I look at the extended forecast on accuweather (which may or may not be terribly accurate ) there is not a single 100F+ day on there. Hottest I see is 98F, but most are in the low to mid 90Fs. Not complaining, just very, very surprised.

Our nice weather is over, heat is here, in the 80s and heading towards the 90s, but we're coping. Mainly by staying inside for most of the day, I don't do well in the heat anymore. I haven't checked weather forecast lately, not really sure I want to, either!

The heat is on!

Statistically we're entering our hottest time of year, and after a relatively cool and wet year it's living up to that billing.

It's currently 91F/33C with a heat index of 97F/36C, with several more hours of heating to go. Tomorrow will be even hotter.

Not hot by some standards, but unpleasant for us polar bears!

The heat is on!

Here too, it sure is! Tomorrow may be the hottest day of the summer, with an air temperature of 34C/93F, and the heat index sitting swelteringly at 45C/113F. Oh, joy! Today, I just read, is 91% humidity.

We had a long, lovely rainfall all yesterday morning, which was needed, and with this unstable weather now, thunderstorms are likely to develop later each day. We are to get relief from this oppressive weather on Sunday. Thankfully, this is not one of those 10 day, 2 week heat waves that often accompany this hottest of our months. In fact, next week is supposed to be quite comfortable. Quite amazing for us here in July. Sunday through Monday should bring a fair bit more rain, yay!

Lovely to hear you are sufficiently warm in the middle of summer. . Though 45 degrees C does sound a bit too hot for Canada.

Meanwhile, in a continent far away, crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn, in states like Queensland, Northern Territory & Western Australia, up along the Great Dividing Range, as far north as Toowoomba or Kingaroy in Queensland, & even further north, there are temperatures of -10C, -9C, -7C & colder. Your nicely typical North American weather, I presume. Wow! 2C down here, which is a degree colder than yesterday at 7.00 am. Snow in the Snowy mountains actually, which is something to be happy about, the only place where skiing is possible here. But not a trace of a shower, snow or anything else, unfortunately anywhere. Drought is a horrible thing. At least it is too cold for what water storage we have left to evaporate uselessly.

Sorry to hear about your drought, wagga, but those temperatures sound lovely.

The heat index here today is one of the highest temperatures I've ever experienced, at least here in Minnesota. The high July 19 was 35°C (95°F). With a near-record dew point of 27°C (80°F), the heat index was 46°C (115°F). Whew!

At least the heat will break here soon, unlike areas to the south that may have more days like this.

Hope you have some relief soon wagga.
The heat has broken
At least for today.
The Mrs., and I enjoyed a pleasant evening out side birdwatching of all things. We have a very active pair of Cardinals as neighbors, and the fellow does enjoy breaking into song on occasion. We had a rabbit come rather close while we simply enjoyed the 75F temps with a faint breeze to keep most of the flying pests away. If the weather people are accurate we shall actually see mid 50'sF tonight.
Alas. It will slowly come to an end as the week progresses. The climb in temps to the mid 80's, with humidity is to culminate in storms on Friday

The spectacular thunderstorm last Friday night barely missed this area, though I had the interesting sight of watching lightning flash all around but seeing stars overhead.

There were 5 tornadoes in the area yesterday afternoon, a little unusual since one of the usual drivers (heat) wasn't really present. But there was plenty of moisture in the air and spin aloft. They were determined later to be EF-1.

One of them went through a small town near the state park we'd been visiting just hours before. No injuries have been reported yet.

The storm then moved into western Wisconsin where more tornadoes damaged areas that had been hit just days before.

This evening we were subjected to a somewhat vehement thunderstorm which managed to cause an hour-long power outage... which in turn caused us to have to devour an undercooked roast (that had unfortunately been sitting in the oven when the lights went out) in order to keep it from going to waste. Eating underdone roast in the dark isn't my idea of a fun night, but I'll admit it was interesting!