How is the weather?

[Mozart]

After being pounded by rain and lightning, its a nice breezy day in baja I think we even got inches of rain...

[Lilas Pastia]

Minus 24 and going down. The stars up there shine beautifully.

[Steve]

Minus 24 and going down. The stars up there shine beautifully.

And I thought my cross-town sufferings today in near zero temperatures would garner some sympathy.

-24? Ouch.  (It's 6 in Chicago at the moment)

[Kullervo]

[Anne]

We have -9 degrees F.  Forecast is for 5 - 10 inches of snow today.

[andy]

IMO, anybody living in a "cold" climate needs to have their head examined.
As we develop as fetuses, we are encased in an environment which presumably is at normal body temperature (98.6⁰)F. When we are finally born, we are swaddled in warm blankets or other garments, to preserve the natural state of things. As we grow older and presumably more economically capable, we seek warm climates for the comforts of life (vacations and even the conducting of business).

Anybody that professes to "love the cold weather", only does so because in the back of their minds they know that they can retreat to the warm comfort of hearth and home anytime they wish. They really don't "live" in that cold climate, nor would they choose to do so if they could.
In addition the cost of living in a warm climate is far lower than that for those living in a cold climate. (unless you're an alaskan eskimo). For me the most amenable climate is located in the southwest USA. Warm (even HOT summers) gorgeous comfortable springs and falls, and very mild (even temperate) winters.
No snow to shovel, no heavy clothing to protect you from the cold, easier on your automobile and on your heating bills. All resulting in people in far better moods (year round) than those soured by the need to "fight" the elements.
Nobody moves to northern Canada or Siberia for the climate. But many move to Florida, Southern California,. Arizona or Nevada just for that reason.

Admittedly, humans originally evolved to live in warm climates, but we've evolved since then to adapt to cold climates as well. I grew up in Wyoming, where it's cold, and now live in southern Ontario, where it's cold. I like the cold and hate hate hot weather.

I lived in Phoenix for a while and despised it. People there don't go outdoors, they shuffle from one air conditioned corridor to another. And besides, the growth in the American south is unsustainable. Phoenix and it's 50 mile radius of sprawl will be slums in another 50 years. You think people are going to live there after we run out of oil? Not only is air conditioning every bit as expensive as heating, the lack of water is a big deal. There's not sufficient fresh water to sustain a large population. Living in really cold climates will be difficult too, so we'll all have to move to moderate climates (maybe the American southeast, the coasts and the center of the country).

Someone mentioned that people in hot climates are more social. This is true by and large, but they are also less productive from an economic standpoint. Not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, just pointing it out. The worldwide pattern is that medium cold areas are wealthy and have industry and warm climate areas have lousy economies. It's understandable though. Right now it's -15 C out, so I can't be outside too long. Instead, I'm inside working away watching the snow fall from my window.

[Morigan]

-23 °C, windy and chilly

[Lethevich]

Yesterday there was a rain storm that was the loudest I've ever heard - the rain was being blown so hard against the roof and windows that it sounded like they might break. I've never heard rain anywhere near that loud before - it was like mid-North Sea weather, despite me not being anywhere near the coast.

[Lilas Pastia]

And I thought my cross-town sufferings today in near zero temperatures would garner some sympathy.

-24? Ouch.  (It's 6 in Chicago at the moment)

That was celsius. In fahrenheit it's - 11. Conversion table HERE.

[Brahmsian]

Very hot and humid right now.  Thank goodness we have air-conditioning

33 celcius, and with the humidex it feels more like 43 celcius.

[drogulus]

Very hot and humid right now.  Thank goodness we have air-conditioning

33 celcius, and with the humidex it feels more like 43 celcius.

      Don't worry, the weather is fine. Even though it feels terrible when it's hot and humid, I have it on good authority that everything is functioning normally weather-wise. I do worry about stray asteroids because of what happened in the Yucatan a while ago, but that's probably just hypochondria. I'm not really a hypochondriac; I'm only doing a test run because I'm getting older.

[karlhenning]

It's taken a very nice turn in Boston today.

[petrarch]

It's taken a very nice turn in Boston today.

The best part of the year. What was tough in Boston and NYC for me was the ~5 months of truly cold weather, with the middle 3 very bitter.

[springrite]

I wonder if the weather has been usually cold everywhere. Here in Beijing, the lows has been -15 or so for the past 3 weeks or so. The high has been well below zero. They just predicted a "warming up" in the coming week, which means the high will be around -1 and low in the single digits below zero. Typically, we get maybe one week like this the whole winter.

[Gurn Blanston]

I wonder if the weather has been usually cold everywhere. Here in Beijing, the lows has been -15 or so for the past 3 weeks or so. The high has been well below zero. They just predicted a "warming up" in the coming week, which means the high will be around -1 and low in the single digits below zero. Typically, we get maybe one week like this the whole winter.

Time for an extended vacation in Saigon, I think. 

Our previous year of weather has been very close to the long-term averages. The flipside of that is that we have been divergent from the long-term averages for so long (last 15 years) that 'normal' seems really odd.

[drogulus]

    The weather will never be normal until Bernanke ends QEInfinity....

    Oh wait, wrong Universe....

    It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

    Is it just me or do the squirrels look fat?

    We put a little Christmas gourd out in the yard for a squirrel to eat. It's still there, hours later. Perhaps the face I painted on it is unnerving.

   

    _{Squirrel with non-seasonally adjusted gourd.}
   

[drogulus]

     We brought the gourd back in to spare it further embarrassment. It's glowering at me now.

[ibanezmonster]

That squirrel just got trolled. 

[Holden]

Just about to go into a heatwave here in SE Queensland. For the next 6 days the temp will not drop below 32C and will reach 40 at some stage. For you guys who don't use Celcius, 38C is 100F. The temps in themselves are not remarkable but the continuous period is. Thank God I've got aircon.

[Dungeon Master]

We are bracing ourselves for possibly the worst bushfire day in decades, here in Canberra, Australia. Sydney is expecting 43°C (about 106°F) and high winds.

We have had temperatures in the high 30's (thats about 100 °F for our US friends) for the last week, and the heatwave is expected to last at least a week more.

Tomorrow, high winds will make perfect bushfire condition.

Most of the state is declared Extreme fire danger, with several areas near us declared Catastrophic.

We have our Bushfire Plan in place ("grab children, dog, photos, hard drive and get the ^%$^# out of here")

All-in-all a typical summer's day in climate-change Australia.

If I don't post for a while, you can assume my computer and/or I are out of action.

cheers
Rob