August 1 was Lammas Day, one of the 4 cross-quarter days that traditionally mark the halfway point between solstices and equinoxes (Groundhog Day and Halloween are two of its more famous cousins).  In this case, we're halfway from the summer (June) solstice to the autumn (September) equinox. However, due to small changes in the calendar relative to earth's orbital position, the actually halfway point is today, August 5, at 1708 UTC.

The past few days have been spectacular here, but the heat and humidity return for the weekend and into early next week. But it's clear the days are getting shorter. We've lost about 35 minutes of daylight just in the evening, and it's kind of nice not having to wait past 10.30pm to stargaze.

Yes, come August here, the changing light is definitely noticeable. I can now water the front gardens around 7 a.m. without the sun blazing in my eyes. It is lovely having longer morning hours to work outside in the shade before the sun rises above the trees. And I agree about the lessening evening light, allowing earlier stargazing!  

We have had a few very hot and humid days this month so far (today being one of them, as the humidex is 105.8F ), but there have mostly been really comfortable temps here, as is typical for our Augusts. And this will only increase. It was so cool at night a few days ago (8C / 46F) that I was able to finally go on a very early morning walk again. I am eager to do this regularly once more, instead of having to wait weeks (looking at you, July! ) until those overnight temperatures cool to below 10C / 50F.  

This week will be quite warm, although not as humid as today, until this weekend, when temps drop to seasonal, and nights become very comfy for sleeping without any A/C.

We've had a busy weather day here, and it's not over yet. Today was very hot and humid, with plenty of "juice" (to use a technical term 😉 ) for storms. A cold front entered the state moving quickly from northwest to southeast, firing up a line of severe storms hundreds of miles long (extending from far southwest Ontario through Minnesota into Iowa to the south).  Multiple tornadoes (including some good footage of a waterspout), lots of hail and high winds marked this storm. The sky darkened quickly and a tornado warning was issued here about an hour ago, with lots of trees knocked down south of here. We had a big "thud" on the roof and I had deja vu of a tree falling on my car (I lost a car that way during a storm years ago). The noise was made by a relatively small branch that fell off a tree; no cars were damaged this time. The storm blew through and now the sky is a brilliant golden color (the setting sun combined with storm remnants  that further scatter the usual blue of the sky).

We've had a whole week of such hot and humid weather in the UK that I've been feeling like I'm in Brisbane... in January. (I lived there for a few years — east coast of Australia, in the subtropics. Further north is even worse.) But we've finally had a break in the weather (wasn't that a song??) and it's now down to a much more tolerable temperature — low 20s C — and we're getting some rain at last. This is not the kind of weather I bargained for when I moved to Britain!!

Glad your car wasn't damaged this time, Stargazer, and hope nothing else was either.

It is relatively mild for winter, at about 20 degrees Celsius. We've all got to wear masks. 

Good to see you, @waggawerewolf27!  

Australia has been having snow, as far south as Sunbury (outer northern suburb of Melbourne) a couple of weeks ago. My sister, who lives there, sent us photos of her snow-sprinkled garden! Of course I cheekily sent her a photo of me playing in a HUGE snowfall we had here in southern England a couple of years ago with the caption "That's not snow, mate... THAT's snow."  

Meanwhile, the heatwave here (I just looked back and saw I'd mentioned it in an earlier post, so am editing this to take out the repeats) has definitely subsided and we've been having a lot of rain, which is a huge relief.

After several warm and sunny days, we have reverted to wintry weather, and I've put off a friend who was coming to help me garden today. I've been walking in a park with my friend and her dog, and then came home to warm up!

Yikes, stargazer, that sounds like quite the storm! I'm glad you (and your car) are okay this time. And that sunset sounds stunning!

Haha, Courtenay, I had a good chuckle at the snow photo and caption you sent to your sister. Glad you have relief from the heat now ... and some needed rain!

That cool, eh, coracle? Stay warm!

Speaking of Courtenay's area's former heat, we are in the midst of a mini heat-wave. Being August, these never last long. This one will be a few days, rather than weeks, which July always brings. The temp is in the very low 30sC, with the humidex rising to the mid 30sC. Tomorrow, the humidex will be nearer to 40C / 104F. No thanks. More seasonal temperatures settle in by mid-week, hurrah! Rain will be off and on tomorrow and Monday, with more precipitation coming on Wednesday.

The gardens are all looking so lush as August usually brings the needed rain that July is lacking. And another portent of Autumn (along with the cooler nights) is present: some of my varieties of the stonecrop/sedum's are just beginning to change colour, lovely! Oh yes, and those gorgeous Autumn chrysanthemums are seen around the local markets and grocery stores. ♥

This past week, there were 3 nights that dropped to below 10C / 50F. Marvelous gardening and walking weather. One night went down to 5C / 41F! Really fresh and invigorating!

@courtenay

Yes, the snow went further north than that, maybe as high as the New England area at Armidale. Two of my daughters went up the Blue Mountains last Saturday, as far as Leura, near Katoomba & its famous 3 Sisters, when they found themselves in an actual blizzard & had to turn back home. We do get snow occasionally there but I don't know how we would cope if we got a really sustained snow storm that hung around.

I hope you are still enjoying the rest of summer up there in UK. Down here it feels like the world has taken a chill pill. 

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

I hope you are still enjoying the rest of summer up there in UK. Down here it feels like the world has taken a chill pill. 

Yes, it's much nicer now that the heatwave is over and we're just getting temperatures in the low to mid 20s, plus some much-needed rain. I spoke to my parents recently and they were saying how cold it was there (they're in Inverloch, 150 km south-east of Melbourne).

Meteorological autumn began here yesterday, and though hot days are still possible in September, the change of seasons is definitely noticeable. The days are warm but the nights have been glorious, with temperatures around 60F/15C. The humidity is low and the sky is crystal clear and blue (the California wild fire smoke has left our skies). At night the crickets chirp loudly and the bright full Moon lights the way. The days are definitely shorter (we lose over 90 minutes of daylight this month), and everything seems to speak of fall.  It won't be long before our leaves start changing colors.

Just a couple more days of summer and then the bottom is going to drop out on the warm air. Monday's high is 97F, Wednesday's high is 53F. Time to pull out the hot chocolate and sweaters! We're skipping Fall!  

No, not really, we'll average out after that.  

We're supposed to get a piece of the front. Just knocking it down into the upper 80s instead of the upper 90s with insane humidity. 

That front has arrived, with a bit of a wake-up call across the northern US. We went from heat to frost advisories in just a couple of days. Today's high was 52F/11C, the coldest high temperature for September 8 on record. The next few days will be similar, with temps nearer average (75F/24C) by  the weekend.

No snow yet, unlike areas to the west.

Goodland Kansas got 1/2" of snow yesterday and dropped to 32F, which broke two records: earliest ever recorded snowfall and earliest ever freeze. 

We're not that cold here, but it's certainly chilly for summer. 51F currently, but in a couple days we'll warm right back up again.