@coracle My sympathies go with you.   So far this winter over the Ditch has been downright miserably cold & wet, from Brisbane to Tasmania, it seems. And yesterday's news said it was just as bad in USA places like Kentucky, as well as Iran, of all places. It seems as if Australia is not the only place "of droughts & flooding rains". This is another La Niña event, but hopefully it will die down when spring comes along in a month or so. 

August is here, hurrah! That means, in general, cooler nights with the dark arriving earlier (and later in the mornings), more comfy days, particularly the latter half of the month as beautiful Autumn approaches. Some of this week, however, is like July weather—hot and humid. We are very dry here, having not had a good, solid rainfall for well over a month. Today there should be storms coming later this afternoon; we all hope so! Poor farmers are crying for rain. In stark and tragic contrast, our hearts go out to the extensive flooding in Kentucky now.  

July happily surprised me, though: I was able to get out for early morning walks a few times a week, whereas usually that month is way too warm for me to do this activity I love so much. Tomorrow night, for example, is dropping to high single digits Celsius, so out I go again (after a warmer humid tonight, at 18C /64F).

We have a good chance of rain on Thursday again.  

July is in the books but summer isn't quite over yet for us. Our high yesterday was 95F/35C, with a heat index of 105F/41C. Going outside was like walking into a sauna. Even at 10pm, when I went outside to look at the Moon and stars (dimmed by wildfire smoke from the western US), the heat index was still 100F/38C - so uncomfortable!

Stormy weather blew through around midnight, though it was a lot of bluster with little rain (which we need, since we're in a moderate to severe drought). Today is still warm (90F/32C) but far less humid. Much more comfortable.

'Tis similar here these days, stargazer. A sauna, indeed. Miserable stuff. Thankfully, we have had some good rainfall in the past couple of days, but, at the same time, that has only increased the humidity. Some chance of more rain today and tomorrow, then a full day of wet on Monday. Very glad for this precipitation. And that day will cool everything down to more comfy summer temps.

The next few nights are hovering around 20C / 68 F with a huge degree of humidity. Not pleasant at all for sleeping. Grateful for A/C to take that edge off! Then Tuesday night will be better at 16C / nearly 61F; Wednesday night is dropping to 13C / 55F, and we're in business from there on in; 11C / nearly 52F for Thursday night ... this is more like it! There will be quite a few clouds around until Wednesday, so at least we don't have the glaring sun burning down on top of the high humidity. However, it still feels like an oven out there, even with the bountiful cloud cover.

No early morning walking for me for these few days now, but only four more sleeps until I can start that up regularly again.  

So, we look to be on the final stretch of the hottest summer weather here, whew! We may have a day or two of heat here and there, but nothing like the longer spells of July and early August.

Spring is on the way & the temperatures are a bit milder.🥶 Though it is nice to thaw out a bit, I still hope we don't have as hot a summer as seems to have been the case in the Northern Hemisphere. A happy medium is so comfortable, isn't it?

We heard on the news that the big underwater volcano near Tonga sent so much water vapour into the atmosphere NASA is worried it might have weakened the Ozone Layer, recently recovered from the holes which beset it back in the 1990's. It also seems the continuing La Niña effect we have been experiencing might have been aggravated by that January 15th volcano blast. 

After a week of surprisingly warm temperatures, our weather has turned back to wintry, with rain and wind. In the next few days there will be low maximum temperatures, perhaps 6 or 7. Perhaps this will be the last bout of bad weather! Maybe in a week or two I will see the spring growth starting - but it depends on the ground being a bit less waterclogged!

Stay warm, coracle!

The past week has been too warm, with no relief (outside) at night: hot and humid, but thankfully with some good thunderstorms too, always a plus. However, yesterday everything changed with the oppressive heat, and this morning I was able to get out for my early morning walk in a week. And I was greeted to a most glorious dawn, with altocumulus clouds dominating the sky. as soon as I stepped out the door just after 5 a.m. and saw that lovely mass above me (dark though it was), I knew I was in for a huge treat! I even spotted the four planets wink in and out amongst the clumpy clouds. No Perseids yet for me though.

Now, the sky is kind of boring and clear at 8:35 a.m., 'though with a hint of the alto cloud in small patches. I find cloudy days enhance the brightness and beauty of all the vibrant flowers, which are in their prime now, whereas the sun tends to distort everything. Our wedding photographer said the same, and I quote, "Cloudy days are much better for any photography, as the sun plays havoc with images. Images are clearer, better defined, and more colourful with a cloud-covered sky."

We are well into August now, and, as expected, as we approach mid-month, the temperatures are coming down nicely. Another summer is over (thank goodness, lol) and we anticipate a colourful Autumn and snowy winter.  

Posted by: @jo

I find cloudy days enhance the brightness and beauty of all the vibrant flowers, which are in their prime now, whereas the sun tends to distort everything. Our wedding photographer said the same, and I quote, "Cloudy days are much better for any photography, as the sun plays havoc with images. Images are clearer, better defined, and more colourful with a cloud-covered sky."

Very true. I've found that in my own rather amateur efforts at photography and been assured of it by more experienced photographers as well!

Meanwhile in Britain, we're braced for another "severe" weather warning as temperatures head towards a possible top of 35 C in the south, later this week. I would have thought these people might have twigged during the last (genuine) heatwave that 40 C is unbearably hot and 35, while not fun, is quite manageable by comparison, but no, I suppose it takes them time to learn...  

(And I shouldn't laugh; I don't enjoy hot weather at all myself and the only reason I'm not finding it difficult is that my flat is on the ground floor and doesn't face the sun directly, so it stays nice and cool in here. If I had to be working outside in the heat, or in a workplace that's not air-conditioned (mine is), it wouldn't be nearly as funny.)

How is that heat, Courtenay? Wow! What a summer England has had! Glad your own flat is comfortable.

Here, we are well into August, with predictably more comfortable temperatures than July, in the mid 20sC / mid 70sF, with little or no humidity. Nighttimes are dropping to around 10C / 50F, lovely for early morning walking and gardening. This is to continue with no heat wave in sight, whew. Autumn is certainly around the corner!  

The garden harvest is really ramping up too, and it is very nice picking, weeding, watering in refreshing temps in the early morning hours.

We have rain starting on Sunday and going well into next week, sometimes off and on, but always welcome.  

Whilst Down Under without Blunder, the general sogginess continues.   Though the cold, at 6C, is slightly less chilly of a morning, than it has been, the air-conditioning is all fixed now, finally, & buds are already forming on our orange tree. In a couple of weeks it will start to get cold again for you up North, I hope.  

Posted by: @jo

How is that heat, Courtenay? Wow! What a summer England has had! Glad your own flat is comfortable.

I've been in quarantine for the past several days — only a very mild case of COVID, no worse than a slight cold, but I tested positive and rules is rules — so I've hardly noticed the heat, because it's still cool indoors here!! So I could be doing a lot worse than I am. I wouldn't want to be out in it for any great length of time. I may be an Aussie, but I never did like the really hot weather and it's not something I miss at all, especially now I'm no longer used to it! (I've lived in England for 10 1/2 years now and only been back to Oz for relatively short visits every year or so.)

Glad your A/C is fixed now, @waggawerewolf27, in preparation for warmer weather. And yes, we are already feeling the first tinges of approaching Autumn. Here, August is, for the most part, a good bit more manageable than ugly-hot July.  

This week the temperature is hovering in the mid 20sC / mid 70sF, with very little humidity. In fact, it's almost tropical in some ways (albeit without the heat), with rainstorms arriving for a few hours each afternoon, and more rain forecast for next week, yay! We are still somewhat dry here, so this is all very welcome. Even as I type now, a lovely thunderstorm is rolling through with gentle rain. The next few nights will be comfortably cool (12 or 13C / mid-ish 50s). I can't begin to express how happy I am July (our hottest, driest, most humid month) is over and done with for another year. We're on the right side of summer now, imho!  

@Courtenay, sorry to hear you contracted Covid, but good to know yours was not a nasty case, and that you have stayed cool!  

The end of summer is in sight here too, much to the chagrin of some of my heat-loving friends. We've lost over an hour of daylight since the summer solstice and the shortening days are becoming quite evident.

Highs have been seasonal (around 80F/27C) but with less of the usual humidity this time of year brings. At night the crickets are extremely loud, another sign of impending autumn. And Orion has reappeared in the early morning sky, another harbinger of cooler weather.

Posted by: @stargazer

We've lost over an hour of daylight since the summer solstice and the shortening days are becoming quite evident. ... At night the crickets are extremely loud, another sign of impending autumn. And Orion has reappeared in the early morning sky, another harbinger of cooler weather.

Hear-hear! Ditto to all this. It is striking how the daylight hours have changed in not quite two months. I love the shorter days/longer nights, so can now look forward to months of this before it all changes again next spring. Yes! Isn't it wonderful to see Orion in the early morning sky?! What a majestic sight!

I am now waiting to glimpse the first signs of Autumn's colour changes on the trees. But, as stargazer mentioned, there are definitely other signs of beautiful Autumn's approach.

Posted by: @jo

@Courtenay, sorry to hear you contracted Covid, but good to know yours was not a nasty case, and that you have stayed cool!  

Thanks, Jo — I'm fine now and going back to work today. Meanwhile, the weather is back at reasonable temperatures again (low 20s at most) and we're getting some rain, which is much needed.