The Mrs., and I hope to be enjoying some time around the fire tomorrow night with our Bible study. The little front that moved through the state earlier was unbelievably sporadic. I was talking on the phone with some one just a few miles away, and they were getting hail. Dry as a bone here. The Mrs. Had a ladies study just a little while ago. She was not a mile away, and it poured for a few minutes. Did we get anything here? Not a drop.

Ahhh, campfires. We're enjoying them too. I can't get enough of sitting together with family and friends, chatting, toasting marshmallows, reveling in the dancing flames and beautiful embers. That's cool (or warm ) you have your Bible studies around the fire, friend Wiggle (first typed 'friend Giggle' ). Those must be special times.

Whereas winter has officially started down here. But the coldest day so far was about 29th May, with minimums of 0C and 2C.

2C sounds so refreshing right now.

Hear-hear, 'gazer. That does sounds mightly lovely, wagga. Quite different from our corner of the world, of course: our Saturday's warming up, then Sunday the heatwave hits. Early next week could be record-breaking for this time of year here in SW Ontario possibly feeling near or over 38C/100F, with nighttime temps around 20C/68F, with humidity, ugh. This is a far cry from our near freezing overnight temps a week or so ago, which were SO refreshing! Anyway, suck it up, Jo, because summer's only beginning. *counting the days until autumn*

We have had a very decent amount of rain this spring. In fact, it was so wet that the farmers are only able to plant their soybeans in the last week, which is quite late. However, cornfields are already sprouting 2-3" high. So cute.

Unfortunately the study was cancelled. But fear not my good hobbit. We will try again this Thursday (weather permitting ).
On that topic. We had quite a blow come through Sunday morning. Trees are blown down, though mostly in the southern part of the state. Power is still out in some places.
Most of the local news stations were showing pictures from people. One neighborhood near the twin cities had nine inches of pea sized hail on the ground. Road crews had to bring out the snow plows to clear the streets.
Tomorrow the for cast is for high temps In the 90's f. Following soon after is another line of storms coming late that night, or early Wednesday morning. I must remember to check the canoe.

You're right, Puddleglum. We were treated to quite the show Sunday morning, with winds whipping trees around, lots of rain, and some hail (minimal compared to other areas of the Twin Cities, though my friends' garden did lose some tomato plants).

Northern suburbs like c**n Rapids (where I lived until last year) broke out the snowplows to take care of the hail filling the streets, and social media lit up with pictures of house and tree damage, as well as some video clips of people using snow blowers to clear out their driveways.

It's been unseasonably warm, with temperatures Saturday reaching 96F/36C and heat indices over 100F, so the big storm isn't too surprising. It's in the mid-90sF again today with more thunderstorms likely overnight.

Now that summer is officially here, I don't feel right complaining about the heat, but up until now, it's been unseasonably warm. Of course, when this happens, the weeds in my garden completely take over and I don't feel like going out to deal with them.

Here in the exact spot where I live, we've been getting hit by lots of tiny pop-up storms. My sister lives in the same city as me, just on the opposite side, and those same storms miss her. The same is true vice versa. We took the kiddos to the zoo on Sunday, when there was a 20% chance for storms. We ended up getting rained out. (What??) At least we brought umbrellas. We would have stuck it out too, except they brought all the animals indoors. Ah well.

Summer came in with highs in the upper 60's. . . and lows in the lower 40's at night. That's close to frost

This summer has been a summer of extremes for Ohio! We have several weeks go by where we get no rain, then we get a week of nothing but rain (torrential, roads-washing-away, cars-swept-out-parking-lots type rain. . . ) We've had stretches where it's in the 90's, and now we're in this cooler patch.

I could definitely get used to this cool weather. . . . Almost like October

*dreams of fall*

Our weather is very similar to yours, Digs. The past weekend was quite cool and pleasant, with occasional torrential rains coming during the past couple days.

Tornadoes were reported east of here earlier this evening, part of an apparent tornado outbreak covering a half-dozen states. There was some thunder here, but nothing like the winds and large hail reported nearby.

I expect you'd love the weather down here. Tasmania is snowed under it would seem. Victoria and parts of South Australia are as chilly as Antarctica-facing states could be, and even Canberra is reporting minimums of -6C (20F). It isn't much better here, and this morning we have had fog as well as the heaviest morning frost so far. Minimums of 0C-3C, around here.

If a marsh-wiggle could melt it would have happened today. Humidity was high, and though the outside temps were hovering around 90f it was definitely higher in the factory. Watching the major league baseball team for our state on the television right now, and am wondering how they can move through All the humidity.

Yup, we're back to 'air you can wear.' Ugh.

Nature added a lot of fireworks last night to the man-made ones launched for the Fourth. Heavy rain followed the thunder and lightning later that evening.

Today is just plain old hot and tomorrow will be hotter, but it should be slightly cooler by the weekend.

We're in the 'dog days' of summer now.

And what exactly are the "dog days of summer"? Surely down here it would be the "dog days of winter"? When the wolves howl? By the way, despite the torrential rain in China, Japan and India, it is quite dry here. Frosty, but rather dry.

And what exactly are the "dog days of summer"? Surely down here it would be the "dog days of winter"? When the wolves howl? By the way, despite the torrential rain in China, Japan and India, it is quite dry here. Frosty, but rather dry.

Well, now, that's quite a Sirius question! I suspect it might dog you for a while. Do you have the equivalent of a dog star in the southern hemisphere?

We have gone from too much water, with unprecedented lake levels and flooding, and lots of rain, to dry as a bone, though the lake levels are still higher than comfortable. Two grass fires in our area within the last week, and several more up the valley. The only good thing about it? Once a spot is turned to cinders, it won't burn there again for the rest of the year.

Nice wordplay, aileth!

The 'dog days' is indeed a Northern Hemisphere thing, related to how the brightest star in the sky, Sirius (the Dog Star) was thought to add its heat to that of summer since it is in the same direction as the sun right now. Apparently it's an old idea, dating back to the Greeks and Romans. The Iliad includes a reference to Sirius as an omen of heat and suffering.

Strictly speaking, Sirius itself is a southern star as it lies south of the celestial equator, even though it is winter Down Under right now.

Well, now, that's quite a Sirius question! I suspect it might dog you for a while. Do you have the equivalent of a dog star in the southern hemisphere?

Siriusly yes. I sometimes see low in the sky a blazing, shining star that really could be Sirius. But I am not sure exactly what time of year it appears here. When it is hungry, probably. Maybe it is too cold and cloudy at the moment for dog stars. The stars that shine in summer are the ones in constellations like Scorpio, Taurus, Orion and, of course, the Southern Cross.

Did you know that when the First Fleet arrived here in January 1788, that the two navy ships in charge of the expedition were called HMS Sirius and HMS Supply?

wagga, Sirius is roughly opposite the sun on January 1 (that is, when you leave your New Years party at midnight, it is at its highest). It is an evening object the first few months of the year.

It's well-placed then as seen from Sydney (for example), very high in the sky. The belt of Orion points roughly in its direction, and it's unmistakable as the brightest star in the night sky.

It was hot and humid today, with more of that 'air you can wear.' With dew points exceeding 73F/23C, heat index values were around 100F/38C.