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.

The best buy for you is one of the Dimplex style heaters. These are on wheels, and are oil heaters inside a ribbed style frame, sort of like old-fashioned central heating. They are also safer, as small electric heaters not only gobble up the electricity but can also become a fire hazard if anything falls on them. Make sure you keep the instructions booklet so you know how to use timers and temperature controls. That way you can set it for those times when you need it, such as shortly before you get home from work etc before going to bed, and from shortly before you get up of a morning to when you plan to leave. A clothes horse is a good idea also as whilst the heater is on, washing can dry as well.

We've had a few days but now it has stopped raining the weather is getting exponentially warmer by midday. Soon it will be time to reset air conditioners for summer and get the electric fans out of storage. Those storms and tornados sound bad. Is it really usual to get tornados so far north as Minnesota and Canada with variations from year to year in intensity? Or is it a case of the weather getting hotter than it used to be? We get the occasional willy willy or tornado, but nothing like what we hear about in North America.

I was reading in the news where scientists say the Sun will get dimmer for about 15 years.

We received a Severe Thunderstorm Watch last evening, but nothing came of it, although there were billowing dark clouds in the distance. I had hopes they would dump some needed rain on us, but ... nope. And the heat and humidity and dry, sunny weather continues. Looks like the hose will have to be pulled, after all.

I really miss my morning walks, but I cannot abide being out in this mugly weather. Many hurrahs for A/C!

Is it really usual to get tornados so far north as Minnesota and Canada with variations from year to year in intensity? Or is it a case of the weather getting hotter than it used to be?

I don't have statistics offhand for years gone by, but we have had to watch out for tornadoes each summer for decades now. Although I don't remember this being the case when I was a child, but then one's little mind is occupied elsewhere, often in play, and not concerned about those sorts of things.

Is it really usual to get tornados so far north as Minnesota and Canada with variations from year to year in intensity? Or is it a case of the weather getting hotter than it used to be?

*puts on weather geek hat*

Tornadoes have always been a summer fact of life in the southern half of Minnesota for as long as I can remember - certainly nothing like Tornado Alley, but still fairly common. (I think we get more of them than johobbit does despite the fact that I live slightly farther north than she does, probably due to the topography of this region, in the northern plains). A few memorable events:

- One of my strongest childhood memories was in April 1967 when an F4 tornado ripped through the small town I grew up in, killing 16 people.

- Long-time Twin Cities residents still talk about the 1965 Fridley outbreak which killed 13 people and destroyed some 25% of the homes in this northern suburb. There were 4 tornadoes rated F4 and another F3.

- A tornado outbreak hit southwest Minnesota in March 1998 - rather unusual since there's usually still snow on the ground then, making tornado development difficult. This one also had an F4 tornado. Trivia note: after this event, we found an undamaged cancelled check in our front yard. It had blown in from the small town of Comfrey, some 138 miles (220 km) away.

- In a lighter note, the F2 'white tornado' of 1986 hovered over the Springbrook Nature Center (again in Fridley) for some 16 minutes and became famous for providing some of the earliest long-term live TV helicopter coverage. (You can watch a video of the live broadcast here). The park still has a display about it.

I was reading in the news where scientists say the Sun will get dimmer for about 15 years.

Interesting! Could you provide a link? I haven't seen news of this.

Interesting! Could you provide a link? I haven't seen news of this.

I've given you a Daily Mail link since I read it in the print edition of the Daily Telegraph (Australia) a week or two ago, and it may have already been used to wrap up the garbage. 2020 is only four or five years away, so there is a good chance we will be around to see if it is true or not.

Interesting you have a Springbrook in Minnesota. Same name as a Blue Mountains town almost to Katoomba from here, where they had a lot of bushfires two years ago. Springbrook can be somewhat chilly this time of year and was one of the places that actually did get some snow earlier this month.

Oh yes I have read about this. Hopefully in five years we will be discussing whether it is happening or not, oh and thanks about the heater advice. I should be able to make it through this winter because I will be moving early next year hopefully.

Muggy about here as well. The experts are saying that we have storms coming through tonight, and tomorrow ahead of a cool front. Cooler in this case meaning drier as well, we hope.
I remember watching the helicopter footage of the tornado over Fridly. I'm not sure, but I think they got some award for that.
One thing I have learned when it comes to the weather is always play it safe. The Mrs. and I were out fishing in a canoe one day when we saw a cloud coming, and growing. We no sooner made it to shore when the wind picked up. Pulled the canoe on shore, and ran to the van as the rain started. By the time we got in we were drenched.
To make things a little scarier about two, or three minutes later the wind suddenly changed direction. Yep. Gets the adrenaline pumping.

Thanks for that link, wagga. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this.

More torrential rains and heavy thunder yesterday morning, with some areas getting several inches (75mm) in less than an hour. Flooded freeways wreaked havoc on the Twin Cities rush hour (the storm hit around 7 am local time). This hot humid weather alternating with storms is typical for summer here, but this is more rain than usual (this is the 7th wettest July on record).

The dewpoint has dropped from 70F yesterday to 50F today - that means there is only 25% of the moisture in the air today compared to yesterday. So nice! Windy however.

Glad you made it to safety, friend Wiggle, albeit barely.

Yes, thanks, wagga. This will be interesting to follow.

Here, we have a very high heat index (but not unknown for July) at around 40C/104F. Thunderstorms could descend upon us tonight, removing the worst of the humid air. So, while it will stay warm over the next week or so, the humidity will be much, much less. Whew! Showers should be intermittent on Sunday, but more steady on Monday. We really need rain, so, yay!

'gazer, we should be getting that nice wind tomorrow.

Hopefully your humidity is more tolerable, jo!

Today is about as good as it gets for July in Minnesota: temperatures around 80F/18C, low humidity, a clear blue sky dotted with some fair-weather cumulus clouds...perfect for a picnic.

So I headed out to a county park to grill some brats. But it being a glorious Friday afternoon, lots of other people had the same idea. It was still quite enjoyable.

It's still high summer and we're surrounded by the lush vibrant green of the season - except for some maples at the park which were showing a surprising amount of fall color, about 2 months early. (Dry conditions can spur this sort of thing, but we're coming off the 7th-wettest July on record so that's not it).

However, last night's ISS observation was accompanied by clouds of mosquitoes. Can't wait to lose those!

So I headed out to a county park to grill some brats

Grill some brats? There must have been a lot of naughty children at the park.....Personally grilling some real "brats" might be easier at the local shopping centre. Anywhere where the "brats" play up on their parents and on everyone else. There are also usually sausage sizzles around outside hardware and electrical goods stores on Saturdays to raise money for charity, so they would do, surely, if you mean sausage-like "brats"?

Still have those horribly cold mornings and evenings, and another Antarctic blast is on its way, now August has started. But it has been dry. The first bushfire of summer, a good two months early, is blazing in the Blue Mountains.

Yesterday (July 31st ) was a blue moon, ie the second full moon in a month. In Celtic folklore July 31st is called Lammas, at a midpoint before the Autumn equinox, in the Northern Hemisphere, of course.

I wonder if "Grill some brats" is a great plains USA thing. I never thought twice about typing it out, but I sure get the above reaction a lot when I do. Maybe I don't think about it as the sausage is pronounced differently than the irritating small child.

So, it's hot here, but we're not getting the crushing temperatures this summer like we normally do this time of year. I remember a few years back when I hosted several of the mods at my house, we were pushing 110F/43C if I recall correctly. We might have even been hotter than that. But this year we've been hanging out mostly in the low to mid 90F/33Cs.
On the flip side, we've had a lot more humidity than we're used to because we're continuing to have the occasional storm that likes to dump loads of rain on us. Love the moisture, hate the humidity.

I wonder if "Grill some brats" is a great plains USA thing. I never thought twice about typing it out, but I sure get the above reaction a lot when I do. Maybe I don't think about it as the sausage is pronounced differently than the irritating small child.

Maybe it is more us than you. It is even funnier if you realise down here the police may "grill" people (ie give them a caution, or ask a lot of questions) if they are caught doing something wrong. There is a variety of sausage called bratwurst, available at delicatessen counters, and I'm wondering if that variety is the sort of "brat" you might mean.

We have all sorts of sausages here, some of them luncheon sausages such as salami, as well as plainer, less spicy varieties. We also have frankfurts, chipolatas, chorizo sausages, pepperoni, cabanossi and a lot more. Of late our butchers have become more inventive with charcuterie (the art of making sausages) and have been trying different sorts of sausages, flavoured with all sorts of herbs and spices, as well as aboriginal condiments such as pepperberries or bush tomatoes.

Well the cold weather didn't turn up. It missed us entirely, except in Tasmania, where it is still snowing. The weather was quite pleasant, today, and I'm thinking of packing away heaters as soon as I can.

Yes, "brats" are short for "bratwurst." Just like around here everybody says "kiwi" in reference to the food, and then coracle has to come around and correct us that it's "kiwifruit", which we know, but nobody ever calls it "kiwifruit" in this part of the USA. It'd probably be different if we had birds or native New Zealanders around to confuse it with, but we don't, so yeah...

Anyhoo... now that I've gone way off topic here.

Storms in the forecast for tomorrow. Here's hoping we get some rain! Although, we need to mow our yard and I'm not sure we'll be able to get that done before the rain gets here...

I just lost my original post, so here goes again ...

Hopefully your humidity is more tolerable, jo!

It is, very much so, thanks. The worst of it went away last Tuesday, I think it was, and while we have had some hot days since then, they have not been muggy. But tomorrow things are changing even more, as we enter a week with very comfortable temperatures in the low 20sC/70sF. August is here! Not to say we couldn't have hot days this month still, but not usually to nearly the same extent that we have them in July. I can see autumn in sight!

However, last night's ISS observation was accompanied by clouds of mosquitoes. Can't wait to lose those!

Ugh, no kidding.

*chuckles heartily at the brats conversation

Maybe I don't think about it as the sausage is pronounced differently than the irritating small child.

Curious. How is the pronunciation different?

I remember a few years back when I hosted several of the mods at my house, we were pushing 110F/43C if I recall correctly.

Yep. But even still, such great memories!

Glad spring's in sight for you, wagga. What are your first spring flowers that come up? As for me, I'm greatly anticipating autumn.

*drools at the succulent sausage descriptions

Hope you get some rain, fantasia; hope you get your lawn mowed too.

So, all of southern Ontario had powerful thunderstorms pound through our area last night. The lightning display alone (from our front porch) was spectacular as there was almost constant flashing behind towering cumulonimbus clouds! Severe thunderstorm watches were in place all over, and, in some area, tornado watches, which did come to fruition in a few spots. Thankfully, no lives were lost, but there was much property damage. And thousands of people lost power (not in our area).

Here is a link to some fantastic photos of the cloud mass that came in from the west: http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/severe-summer ... -1.2499369. I hope the slideshow comes up okay. The first few are of Georgian Bay, which is very near to where we go hiking in the falltime—around the Bruce Peninsula, which divides Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, a very beautiful area of the province.

Your post made me chuckle, wagga. Even as I was typing up my comment about grilling brats I couldn't help wondering how it might be interpreted. As fantasia noted, brats are indeed bratwurst (and we do occasionally hear about cops 'grilling' suspects here as well).

Today is even more gloriously pleasant than last Friday, with dewpoints only in the 48F/9C range. Almost crisp weather reminiscent of my favorite season, which is actually just around the corner.

I remember that toasty visit to your state, fantasia. Now that was hot! Still a great time, of course.

The next few days should be quite pleasant, and there's a camping trip on tap this upcoming weekend. There's a chance of rain but temps should be nice, topping out around 80F/27C.

wagga also mentioned Lammas, the cross-quarter day coming in late summer. Loss of daylight here at 45N latitude is accelerating and becoming noticeable now, with sunset coming barely after 8.30 pm local daylight time. We're going to lose a lot more before the earliest sunset of the year comes in December.

EDIT: Those are amazing pictures, jo, especially those clouds over Georgian Bay.

How is the pronunciation different?

The misbehaving child 'brat' rhymes with 'rat.' The sausage rhymes with 'rot.'