Wow! I don't remember this being so extreme from other summers since I've known you. Is this more a rarer occurrence than not?

Every few summers we get the smoke from fires in western North America, depending on things like the jet stream and severity of the fire season. But this year has been particularly strong. Local authorities compared Sunday's air quality here unfavorably with that of Beijing.

Today, in contrast, was clear and crisp with low humidity and clear skies. There was almost a hint of autumn in the air this morning, and I loved it! (Locales in northern Minnesota reported lows close to freezing this morning).

The next 10 days or so are statistically the warmest of the year here, and this weekend is going to take a run at 100F/38C...not quite ideal camping weather. *sigh*

Local authorities compared Sunday's air quality here unfavorably with that of Beijing.

Yikes!

And as is the pattern, we have your cooler temperatures today. Indeed, it almost feels like autumn. So beautiful and fresh. I even got on a walk earlier this morning, which I can't handle in that humid air.

Ugh for the very hot weather to hit while you're camping. Not surprising for July, though. Later in the season is so different for outdoor activities, isn't it? Our family would take off for the wilderness during those last couple of weeks of August: bugs were not a problem anymore; temperatures—both nighttime and daytime—were much more pleasant.

Our humidity is to build again on Saturday. Keep breathing, Jo, keep breathing (in film Gimli's voice ).

Thank you for the advice about pipes, stargazer. Yes, swimming pools are more common here due to hot summers. But it is winter now, and Antarctica is just the other side of the Southern Ocean. We are about to get a visit from an Antarctic blast the weather man says will be the strongest since 2007. Snow is predicted up and down the Great Dividing Range up as far as Southern Queensland. Snow is rare here, but it has happened once before in the 19th century.

The fact that your seasons are opposite ours, wagga, is one of the many attractions I find to vacationing Down Under (someday, I really hope to). The thought of missing a few of these hot, humid 40C days and getting something a little closer to comfort is mighty appealing (not to mention the winter nights are longer, allowing for more viewing of those southern stars I've never seen).

That's the downside of being a polar bear. Sure, winters are easier to bear (pun intended ) but times like this weekend, with dewpoints over 70F/22C and heat indices over 40C...ouch.

Stargazer, unless you go to Antarctica, itself, Chile, or Southern Argentina, you might find even New Zealand quite mild if you are looking for really cold weather. New Zealand is picture perfect with snow to match. Queenstown and probably other places in the South Island would have good places to ski at. I went to the South Island once for summer holidays, in January, and was intrigued that a mountain range near Christchurch had a good covering of snow on it. It is distinctly cooler there, but even Invercargill, at the bottom end of South Island, is only 47 degrees of latitude south, about the same as is the Canadian/USA border north. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through Rockhampton and Longreach, in Central Queensland, Alice Springs, and Newman in Western Australia. Sydney and Auckland are less than 35 degrees south.

Normally the Southern Ocean, encircling the globe with little interruption, has a moderating effect on the weather, isolating Antarctica and the Southern Ice-cap a little. You also have to take into account ocean currents and volcanic activity around the Pacific.

Two nights ago my home town had a tornado touch down to the northeast of the city. It was just so bizarre for a number of reasons. First of all, we only had 20% chance for thunderstorms and I don't think they were listed as severe. Second, there was NO warning whatsoever. My sister-in-law heard thunder, went out to move her car into her car port, and saw the tornado about three miles through the trees, talk about unnerving. Third, the tornado moved from northeast to southwest, which is VERY unusual, but in this case, it was a real blessing because otherwise it would have gone right through the city.
Tons of pictures were posted online. It even made the national news last night.

We almost never get tornadoes this time of year because by July, the humidity is gone and it's dry and windy. Not this year, it's been extremely unpleasant due to the humidity sticking around much longer than normal. Heat warnings all over the place. There's another round of storms predicted for this weekend so we'll see what happens. In the meantime I'm just staying indoors with a cold drink.

That would be unnerving to be so close to the tornado. Glad you're all safe!

Interesting that your humidity is usually gone by now. July and August are the most humid months here. Last weekend was a good example - dewpoints close to 80F/26C and effective temperatures around 100F/40C. This weekend will be even worse. "Air you can wear" *sigh* 😉

But then it is the warmest time of year here, statistically.

Thanks for the info, wagga! I live at 45 north latitude, so in that sense I'd be right at home on the South Island. But the climate is far more extreme here in the middle of North America, away from the moderating influence of the ocean (-35C in the winter and 35C in the summer. Our summer temps are held down a little by the high humidity, since all that water vapor takes energy to heat).

Second stargazer's feeling about your close call fantasia_kitty. It is one thing to see them on TV, but that sounds a tad too close.
We just had one of those little thunderstorms over us that just does not move, but keeps dropping rain. We had almost 4 inches fall in about an hour in a half.
Upside is I don't have to water the grass seed for awhile.
Downside is I have to mow the lawn tomorrow right after work before it rains again.

The fact that your seasons are opposite ours, wagga, is one of the many attractions I find to vacationing Down Under (someday, I really hope to). The thought of missing a few of these hot, humid 40C days and getting something a little closer to comfort is mighty appealing (not to mention the winter nights are longer, allowing for more viewing of those southern stars I've never seen).

That's the downside of being a polar bear. Sure, winters are easier to bear (pun intended ) but times like this weekend, with dewpoints over 70F/22C and heat indices over 40C...ouch.

Oh I hate 40C, the thought of those days, oh January is the worst. It reached 0C in perth last week, and when it gets to 0C in perth you know about it, with the complaining people do or the over excitement of others, hahaha. I have no heating in my house, so i can see my breath in the morning when I wake up at the moment.

fantasia, that tornado was incredible, especially given the bizarreness involved, wow! Thankful for safety for all, that's for sure.

That's a good amount of rain, friend Wiggle. Ahh, yes, the balance of natural watering and somehow fitting in a lawn-mowing before the next storm comes.

No heating, IlF? Brrr! I hope that changes for you soon ... and I totally agree with shuddering at the thought of 40C/104F days, which we will nearly be hitting this weekend, ugh. Yesterday and today have been so very pleasant (low 20sC/low 70sF), with very cool nights ( ), but tomorrow the humidity will build up again to the point of even the weatherman saying it's going to be 'brutal' for a few days and into next week. Then some relief comes mid-week, I think. I hope!

No heating, IlF? I've always lived in a rather cold climate so I have trouble wrapping my mind around such a thing. But even this polar bear doesn't like waking up to frost on the pumpkin indoors...which we came close to several times a couple winters ago when the heat kept failing here.

Today was cool (for July) with light rain much of the day. But the sauna comes back on tomorrow and for the weekend, with heat indices around 40C.

(But hey! Less than 2 months to the beginning of our possible snow season!)

It will change for a week when i go stay with my parents, 2 hours south of perth. I was thinking of buying a small heater for my room but I am not sure what that would cost electrically, i would only have it on just before i go to bed and before i go to work/uni in the morning.

Plus, I hate the summer because I have to carry an umbrella about, because I am too pale for such whether and I get heat stroke even if i drink a heap of water.

Yep, we're in the sauna now. It will ease a bit tomorrow—still very warm, but without the humidity—but as for today, it feels like 40C/104F. Ugh. Thunderstorms should be arriving later this afternoon to change the air mass. Still, it's July, and it will stay warm for awhile yet.

Yet we are receiving such a good balance of rain and sun this summer, more unusual for July than not. But everyone is grateful for this, especially the farmers.

I awoke to the tornado sirens this morning, bright and early at 0700. (Kind of unusual; usually tornadoes strike after the heating of day stirs things up. It was only 68F/20C). I checked the TV warnings and discovered it was a Doppler-indicated storm just north of my location in southern Minnesota, but the storm was moving to the southeast and would miss my location.

It was quickly downgraded to a severe thunderstorm warning but there was damage to trees (we had winds around 100 km/hr) and localized flooding on Interstate 35 due to torrential rains (over 3 inches/80mm fell in less than an hour).

By noon the sun was out and the dew point was back...heat indices again were around 98F/37C. Ugh.

Wow, 'gazer, that would be an unnerving awakening. Glad it missed your area. But, still, that's a good bit of rain and very high winds!

While this past week was warm for us (high 70s), there was no humidity and often a nice breeze. This has all changed today: the humidity has set in (it could feel near 40C/104F by Monday , which may last much of next week. That's miserable, but thankfully there will be showers periodically so the ground/crops will not get too parched. Still, it's hibernation weather.

These days it's even too warm for a campfire. Looking forward to those nights in August and the autumn that are pleasantly cool and great for sitting around a beautiful blaze.