Stargazer, thank you. Last night about 8.30 pm I did see Scorpio about half way to the zenith of the sky in the east of here. Scorpio, like Orion, has those three stars in a row, though Scorpio has its line of three in front of the curve that makes out its body and tail. Scorpio and its opposite, Taurus, are the most distinctive, and easiest to pick out of the 12 signs of the Zodiac, and, I think, they can be seen in most parts of the world.

Years ago in January, 1986, we went to Beijing, with a stop-over at Guangzhou, which is the Chinese name for the place formerly known as Canton. When we landed there, at about the same time of evening, Orion was clearly visible at that time of year, but upside down from the way we see it in Sydney, facing east. Orion, with its distinctive belt of three stars, is another constellation which seems to be visible from most of the world, except maybe from the extreme north or the extreme south.

When Orion appears in the sky I will try to remember that Sirius will be high in the sky, no doubt enjoying the festivities over Sydney. We normally have the party at home, where it is easier to see the fireworks on TV than struggling to find a good vantage point along the admittedly large harbour, and then having to get home anyway. It is still very chilly here, especially of a morning, though also very dry. It is good hibernation weather.

wagga, as you might imagine, Scorpius is a summer constellation here (I'm not sure why astronomers use that name and astrologers use Scorpio), but it's never very high in the sky as seen from this latitude. I know it's a spectacular constellation when seen above the horizon murkiness, and would like to see it high in the sky some time.

I'd also like to see Orion upside down, which for me would be the view you usually have. (incidentally, some good friends of mine went to Guangzhou years ago to adopt their little girl).

The rain continues here with flash flood watches and warnings up for the area (an area east of here received 6 inches/155mm of rain in a short time yesterday). This is a heavily vegetated area with lots of lakes and rivers, but even here we can get too much rain.

That storm also spun up a few small (EF-1) tornadoes, damaging buildings and blowing semi trailers over, but no injuries were reported.

We're right on the line between cooler air to the north and the furnace that is the central US right now, so storms just keep firing up over the same area. Some forecasts are calling for severe straight-line winds later today (possibly even a derecho event with hurricane-force winds over a large area).

You know it's hot when the local weather lady talks about a cold front coming through that will drop our high temperatures down to 95F.
It's 11pm here and still almost 90F. Crazy.

We've had a hugely wet couple of days in New Zealand: a low pressure system that went southwards, bringing heavy rain, was followed by a band of rain that went northwards up the country, adding to the buildup of clogged land, flooded streets and water-invaded houses. https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/95005138
My street is quite low at each end, so we had deepish surface flooding yesterday morning and again overnight (only on the road as houses are a bit higher). Today I had to get out to help at a children's theatre show, so my only solution was to drive along the footpath [sidewalk] round to the higher part of the street, to get out. When I arrived I parked along the river as usual, but later on moved it as the river has been bursting its banks! When the show was over, I drove home and found the water was too deep on my street - so my car is parked a small block away, I had to wade in my gumboots to get to the house.
The good news is that it should ease overnight, and tomorrow morning we can expect to see sunshine!

After a July in which there were precisely two showers of rain, the second one, somewhat heavier, August continues the dryness, sunny of a daytime with average maximums of 20C, and freezing nights, often as low as 6C. It is snowing in the Snowy Mountains, though, with quite heavy snowfalls, and the wind coming from that area (Charlotte Pass, Thredbo, Smiggins Holes etc.) cuts like a knife of ice. In fact it isn't just snowing Down South, it has been blizzarding Down South. Skiers of the world can rejoice!

How's things Up North? Nice and balmy, one would hope, as Summer draws to an end.

Ooh, snow!

Our seasonably warm and humid weather has been replaced the past few days by much cooler and drier air. There was almost a feel of autumn in the air this evening! The 'nation's icebox,' International Falls, has had lows around 42F/6C of late.

The Pacific Northwest, on the other hand, has been unseasonably hot, with highs exceeding 95F/35C in Seattle and Portland. That's not high by some standards, but is unusual for them. Many houses (including my brother's) do not have any form of air conditioning so it's a bit toasty.

That, 'gazer, is because Washington state has sent all their smoke to us, instead of sending it south. Which is actually welcome--five to ten degrees cooler at this time of year is really a boon. Night temperatures have been dropping to 20 C, very unusual.

Mind you, we have smoke enough of our own. Fire season started early this year, and shows no sign of ending any time soon. Rain, where are you? A little bit of that blizzard would be most useful just now, wagga.

The Pacific Northwest, on the other hand, has been unseasonably hot, with highs exceeding 95F/35C in Seattle and Portland. That's not high by some standards, but is unusual for them. Many houses (including my brother's) do not have any form of air conditioning so it's a bit toasty.

I can imagine. Seattle and Portland are quite far up on the North American coast, and surely about the same distance from the Equator as Melbourne, well south of here, about 40 degrees latitude, off hand. Which Pacific Ocean phenomenon usually causes such temperatures there? La Nina or El Nino?

Mind you, we have smoke enough of our own. Fire season started early this year, and shows no sign of ending any time soon. Rain, where are you? A little bit of that blizzard would be most useful just now, wagga.

Actually we wouldn't mind the rain, ourselves, a good eight hours or more further up the Great Dividing Range, especially here. Canberra, in its own separate jurisdiction of Australian Capital Territory, is roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, due to rivalry between the two, and it takes at least 3 or 4 hours to get there from Sydney, and then only if the roads are clear.

Good point about the smoke, aileth, though shortly after posting my comments I heard a news report that the wildfire smoke was actually helping keep the temps down in Seattle and Portland.

That smoke hasn't made its way here yet but I know from the past that it tends to block both sunlight and starlight, making the sky a dull color rather than its usual blue.

wagga, Seattle is at about 47.5 degrees north latitude. I'm not sure if it's an oceanic phenomenon giving it this heat; the weather people talk about a large northward bulge in the jet stream allowing the heat from the desert Southwest to bubble all the way up into southwest Canada. The same bulge sags southerly over the US Midwest or Ohio Valley, which means it has been comfortably cool (for August) here, with highs barely cracking 80F/27C lately.

It seems Seattle in the north, in Southern Hemisphere terms, would be about the same latitudes south as Kergulen and Macquarie Islands. Bleak little places more noted for wildlife and scientists than residents.

So far the weather remains exceedingly dry. As a precaution, and in anticipation of a very hot summer, a lot of backburning and clearing of undergrowth has been undertaken. The weather, therefore, has had poor air quality due to smokiness.

Early autumn weather is here! So gorgeous out ... around 20C/68F, days; 6-8C/43-46F, nights. Grrreat walking and gardening weather! The coming week, in fact, is going to only be in the early 20sC during the day. Love it. This summer has been amazing for cooler temperatures, lots of rain, and spectacular clouds and storms. ♥

Whereas last summer we had a goodly number of days over 30C, this summer we have only had 1 in August and probably 2 in July, if that. 'Normal' for us in July is a long stretch (10+ days) of heat, humidity, and no precipitation, causing everything to be brown and dry. July this year was the exact opposite.

Thankfully, 'though we had high cloud on solar eclipse day, it was still very visible, and, actually, the thin cloud cover gave the view (through solar viewers) a further mystery and intrigue to the eclipse as it began progressing. Then when 75-80% of the sun was covered (our max here in SW Ontario), the skies cleared. Not the same as totality, I know, but still, a gorgeous and unforgettable sight.

I was really sorry to hear of all the wildfires.

Yup, I'm pretty sure you've stolen all our rain this summer, jo. We've been nearly two months without. Which is kind of ironic, seeing that we had an extraordinary amount of precipitation in the spring, with a significant amount of flooding. Oh well, feast or famine!

I cannot get over the near perfect weather we had this past week during the moot. In Missouri, it was admittedly a bit too humid, and we weren't terribly comfortable, but thankfully it was only in the 80Fs. Meanwhile it KS it's been in the 80Fs with no humidity and a light breeze the whole time. Stargazer and I were reminescing when everyone was here in 2011 and we hit 111F with a fairly high dew point. Horrible, horrible weather. This was SOOO much better.
Cymru (for those who remember her) posted on her FB page the other day that this is the best August weather in her whole life and I concur.
Here's hoping this weather holds for the Kansas State Fair coming up in a couple weeks.

Eclipse day was the most uncomfortable day in the past week...and it was in Missouri - and even then it wasn't blazing hot, just pretty humid.

The Kansas weather was quite pleasant.

We're in need of some rain...ironic considering how much Texas and Louisiana have received.
Rain aside, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous here, especially for August! It feels like Fall, which is weird because it usually doesn't until halfway into the season.