How is the weather?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Hi PD,

I haven't seen the governor's plan for Barre - I'll have to dig around. And I'm not sure about Burlington - I hadn't heard that it was especially hard hit this time. The nearest community that was clobbered Wednesday night was Essex Junction, where the Winooski River reached 2 feet above major flood stage. Pictures showed a real raging torrent.

I guess I'll learn today if there are any issues in Burlington - I have an optometrist's appointment there in about 2 hours. I'm going to leave earlier than I normally would because it's been raining here all morning - nearly 12 mm (0.5") so far.

How were things in Burlington?  And what was the drive like?  What did you notice re flooding?

PD

[krummholz]

How were things in Burlington?  And what was the drive like?  What did you notice re flooding?

PD

Hi PD,

Thanks for asking! I saw no flooding in Burlington. There was lots of construction in Burlington and I was glad to get the hell out of there, but the city did not seem to be hard hit by the storm from what I could tell. On the drive, there was definitely standing water in a field at the I-89 Richmond exit, so it was easy to believe the earlier pictures showing that the exit itself had been underwater. The main problem I encountered was on the way back: southbound I-89 between the Middlesex and Montpelier exists was backed up due to construction. Not just backed up, but totally stop and go (mostly stop). The delay was about 30 minutes in all, for *maybe* a 0.5 km stretch of traffic narrowed from two lanes to one. If I had known about it, I could have easily avoided that stretch by getting off at Middlesex. Normally, VT-Alert warns of such things, but nothing came through on Friday. My guess is they were too busy putting out flood-related alerts to bother with trivial issues like construction delays.

[Szykneij]

I haven't seen the governor's plan for Barre - I'll have to dig around. And I'm not sure about Burlington - I hadn't heard that it was especially hard hit this time. The nearest community that was clobbered Wednesday night was Essex Junction, where the Winooski River reached 2 feet above major flood stage. Pictures showed a real raging torrent.

A bit off-topic, but I recall spending a weekend in Essex Junction on a high school orchestra field trip back in the 1970s. The mention brought back fond memories.

Back on topic, it is currently 93 degrees (F) here with no prospect of cooler weather in the near future. I just came back from a week out of state and, fortunately, my water sprinkler on a timer kept my vegetable garden in good shape. Many of the other plants on the property are stressed, though, and I'm hoping for rain.

[SonicMan46]

Hi Tony - same here in Winston Salem, NC, 92º F at the moment (we're at about 800 ft) - just returned from a 4-night trip to the mountains (Banner Elk, about a 2 hr drive) - rented the cabin below with the fabulous deck view of Beech Mountain; temp was in the low 90s when we left home and was a breezy and cool 78º F on our arrival (altitude was 4240 ft) - in the 70s our entire stay - returned to mid-90s heat!  Dave

[Szykneij]

Hi Dave - Awesome view! You must have dreaded returning to the heat.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Hi Tony - same here in Winston Salem, NC, 92º F at the moment (we're at about 800 ft) - just returned from a 4-night trip to the mountains (Banner Elk, about a 2 hr drive) - rented the cabin below with the fabulous deck view of Beech Mountain; temp was in the low 90s when we left home and was a breezy and cool 78º F on our arrival (altitude was 4240 ft) - in the 70s our entire stay - returned to mid-90s heat!  Dave

Cool (no pun intended)!  I know that you've done various trips to the roughly nearby mountains before.  What do you like to do while you're there?

PD

[SonicMan46]

Cool (no pun intended)!  I know that you've done various trips to the roughly nearby mountains before.  What do you like to do while you're there?

PD

Hi PD - depends on the area visited, your interests, season (e.g. skiing in the winter), and age/physical condition - we're in our 70s now and cannot do some of the activities did in our younger years, such as the hiking trails - if you are young and fit and enjoy hiking then tons of opportunities.  In the Banner Elk area, Grandfather Mountain is near, several wineries (such as the Banner Elk winery); if you're in the Asheville area, then the Biltmore House is a must but plenty of other things to do - I could go on but if interested take a look at my travelogue in the iPad Forums HERE (I'm 'giradman' there) - about a dozen years of many of our trips to the NC mountains and plenty of pics.  Dave

[Spotted Horses]

Coastal California has been pleasantly normal. Drive inland for an hour and you reach the heat dome and the record breaking heat.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

It's a bit cooler here--thankfully.  80's vs. 90's.

PD

[krummholz]

Our heat wave is finally over! Expecting a high of 25ºC today (77ºF) - though it's already 24º so the temperature will probably overachieve. The humidity is way down though - dew point is 13ºC. Comfortable at last!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Our heat wave is finally over! Expecting a high of 25ºC today (77ºF) - though it's already 24º so the temperature will probably overachieve. The humidity is way down though - dew point is 13ºC. Comfortable at last!

Hurrah!

PD

[LKB]

I'm back in Kansas for a week, and already questioning my own sanity.

Today's forecast features a high of 99°F, with a heat index of 111°.

My brother's house has AC and there's no real risk to any of us old farts, but I'll have to go shopping at some point today and I'm not looking forward to the conditions, even for a short while.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I'm back in Kansas for a week, and already questioning my own sanity.

Today's forecast features a high of 99°F, with a heat index of 111°.

My brother's house has AC and there's no real risk to any of us old farts, but I'll have to go shopping at some point today and I'm not looking forward to the conditions, even for a short while.

Well, if I had seen this earlier, I would have encouraged you to go early in the day--as in when the stores first open--and get back before it's hotter than Hades.

PD

[LKB]

Well, if I had seen this earlier, I would have encouraged you to go early in the day--as in when the stores first open--and get back before it's hotter than Hades.

PD

Sound advice, but after ten hours of playing airport, preceded by five hours of sleep, l was whipped last night. I was in bed for thirteen hours, and got up 45 minutes ago.

Anyway, my sister-in-law is helping me out later, l won't have to to any walking except in the parking lot. I should survive. 

[krummholz]

Last night, Vermont's Northeast Kingdom (NEK) got hammered with torrential rain from storm cells sitting overhead for hours, resulting in massive flash flooding, especially along the Passumpsic River. Some areas received nearly 200 mm (8") of rain, roads were washed out, a couple homes destroyed. Fortunately, I didn't hear of any deaths. The damage was confined to three counties only: Caledonia, Orleans, and Essex.

Luckily for me, I don't live in any of those counties - I'm about 40 km (25 mi) from the nearest impacted location. We had a quick 6.1mm (~0.25") downpour yesterday evening, but just light sprinkles other than that.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Last night, Vermont's Northeast Kingdom (NEK) got hammered with torrential rain from storm cells sitting overhead for hours, resulting in massive flash flooding, especially along the Passumpsic River. Some areas received nearly 200 mm (8") of rain, roads were washed out, a couple homes destroyed. Fortunately, I didn't hear of any deaths. The damage was confined to three counties only: Caledonia, Orleans, and Essex.

Luckily for me, I don't live in any of those counties - I'm about 40 km (25 mi) from the nearest impacted location. We had a quick 6.1mm (~0.25") downpour yesterday evening, but just light sprinkles other than that.

  I'm so sorry to hear that!  Is this unusual for that area--I suspect so.  (Thankful, though, that you're o.k.).

PD

[krummholz]

  I'm so sorry to hear that!  Is this unusual for that area--I suspect so.  (Thankful, though, that you're o.k.).

PD

Thanks PD. I think it's going to be the new normal, unfortunately...

[JBS]

I'm back in Kansas for a week, and already questioning my own sanity.

Today's forecast features a high of 99°F, with a heat index of 111°.

My brother's house has AC and there's no real risk to any of us old farts, but I'll have to go shopping at some point today and I'm not looking forward to the conditions, even for a short while.

I never imagined Florida becoming the sort of place to invite Northerners/Midwesterners needing a place to beat the heat.

[It is rather hot--we just finished a string of heat index over 100 days--but not that hot!

[DavidW]

Last night's thunderstorm was so intense that it knocked out the power and the internet. The power came back after a few hours, but the internet outage persisted. I went into the office to check the forum, news, etc., in case I didn't get the internet restored at home.

But the nice thing is that on my walks, the temperature was in the low 70s—it felt cold!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Last night's thunderstorm was so intense that it knocked out the power and the internet. The power came back after a few hours, but the internet outage persisted. I went into the office to check the forum, news, etc., in case I didn't get the internet restored at home.

But the nice thing is that on my walks, the temperature was in the low 70s—it felt cold!

Cool! 

Glad that the power came back on fairly soon.  Trust that you didn't try and open your fridge/freezer during that time?

We had (what I think was) the briefest of brownouts recently.  I was in the bathroom and noticed that the lights went off briefly.  My computer had shut down, but my surge protector for my stereo didn't show any power surge (That was good!).

PD