It's been 100 for 3 days here...What a great Labor Day Week.

[Santilli]

Pretty bad when it's already 75 at 5 in the morning.

Weatherbug is fun, since it gives us a chance to track the weather here.

We've dogged the heat bullet all summer, but we got it big time this weekend.

s

 

[Santilli]

Well, the wind just went onshore, and it's going to cool down, but not for awhile...

s

 

[mubs]

82 now (6pm), high of 100 today. Been that way the last 10 days. :cursin: :cursin:

 

[timwhit]

Why is this in the computer section?

 

[Santilli]

Weatherbug is a computer program.

 

[timwhit]

More like spyware.

 

[jtr1962]

Well, it hasn't been quite so hot here, but I'm glad summer's almost over. I couldn't stand to live in a place like California where it never really gets cold. When I go out walking or riding I'm uncomfortable whenever it's much over about 55°F. Summer sucks.

 

[ddrueding]

Weatherbug is most certainly spyware. And I believe the newer versions also manage some popup windows from time to time.

 

[Buck]

I couldn't stand to live in a place like California where it never really gets cold.

That is being extremely general.

 

[sechs]

I couldn't stand to live in a place like California where it never really gets cold.

That is being extremely general.

He's talking about the Serias, where people ski in the winter... you know it never gets cold there.

 

[Tea]

Nice to see sombody else getting hot weather. :mrgrn: My turn will come soon enough. It's already stopped being cold. Tannin has given up wearing his heavy jacket to work. Guess my spring moult will be starting soon.

 

[ddrueding]

Yeah, the Sierras, where there is the tallest mountain in the continental US (Mt. Whitney @ 14,495ft). I climbed it a few times, once in winter...wasn't cold at all :roll:

Just teasing, of course....

100F here today, probably some of the warmest weather of the year. Annual average is 60F with a Std-Dev of 5 degrees through the year.

 

[Buck]

Exactly what I had in mind sechs and dave. Does anyone remember the Donner Party? If I recall, they didn't die of heat stroke trying to make it through the pass.

Anyway, it has been around 100F here too. Saturday and Sunday were the worst days, reaching 105. Good thing my AC works, keeping the house at a comfortable 75F.

 

[jtr1962]

Guys, I was talking about California in a general way. The places where most of the population (i.e. LA, SF, SD) lives are warm all year round, at least by NYC standards. It's always cooler at high altitudes so that's not really a fair comparison. By the same token, I'm sure New York State probably has some areas that are warm all year round, although in general the state has seasons. Every state has it's own microclimates, but in a very general way California, Hawaii, Florida, Texas are places that one thinks of as warm in much the same way one thinks of Alaska as cold (even though some parts may have a tropical climate for part of the year).

Also, temperatures without humidity readings don't give a good indication of how hot it feels. By all indications we've had a cooler than usual summer in NYC but it sure doesn't feel that way with the oppressive humidity (75% on a good day, 100% on a bad one). Even 60°F can feel uncomfortable if it's humid while 100°F can be tolerable if it's dry. And we've had summers with horribly hot days by any standards. I remember a few years ago the temperature hit a record 111°F (officially). A thermometer I had outside said 130°F (the whole microclimate thing I was talking about). It was oppressively humid besides, so it probably felt more like 150. In general weather like this has caused me to hate summers more and more, and to hate the cars causing these hot summers with a greater and greater passion. I tend to think covering as much of the Earth's surface as possible with white plastic or aluminum foil so as to reflect the sun's heat back into space might be a good way to combat global warming since we seem disinclined to do anything else about it. Each year I'm finding it more and more difficult to get through summer.

 

[Buck]

It is true jtr that the majority of California's population lives in a relatively temperate climate. However, that climate is not representative of our State. Thus, when people visit or talk about California they inadvertently describe our State as having generally nice weather. Granted, the coastal locals you mentioned, such as the San Francisco basin, and the area from San Diego up to Los Angeles are beautiful. Included in this garden like area, is a narrow coastal strip that meanders between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Nevertheless, these areas only make up a very small portion of the entire state. East of Los Angeles and San Diego, there is a series of small mountain ranges (peaking only at ~8,000 feet). These mountainous areas protect this small coastal region from a huge desert that consumes ¼ of our state. In this area, the average rainfall is less than 5 inches and the average temperature is disgustingly high (100F+ in July).

Now, the long center section of this State consists of a large flat valley that is a boon for our agricultural industry. The southern portion of this valley has hot summers and cool winters, the northern section is more pleasant and continues up through Glenn county which is in the northern 1/3 of our State.

The agricultural area is squeezed up against the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This mountain range dissects through ¾ of our State and connects with the Cascade Mountains that continue on into Oregon. The weather can be extremely treacherous, and is best enjoyed during the summer months. Any other time of year could see you stuck in freezing conditions. Yes, Lake Tahoe could easily have a light dusting of snow in September; I’ve even seen it happen in late August. However, this is a good thing. Considering what little rain we receive in the southern portion of this State, we rely on the snow pack in the Sierras to feed us with water.

Now, in contrast, the Northern part of our State, such as Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte counties, get lots of rain (annual average of 60 – 120 inches according to the SCAS). Their weather is a bit cooler, averaging 30F to 40F in January. These counties are part of, and are surrounded by the Klamath Mountains to the North and North West, plus they’re hemmed in by the Cascades to the North East.

Is this to say that our State has colder weather than New York or some other part of New England? No, not as a whole, but it does illustrate that our State’s climate is very diverse, and these are not microclimates (although we have those too). Thus, generalizing about our weather is indeed an error. Remember, the land in our State covers roughly 156,000 square miles (according to the US Census Bureau), stretches some 770 miles long and 250 miles wide at its furthest distance. Indeed, ours is an area of contrast, not generalizations.

Just as a side note, we do have some extreme microclimates. California is on record as having the snowiest city, Blue Canyon with an average of 240.8 inches a year, and Greenland Ranch as being the hottest recorded place in the USA (134F on July 10, 1913). Ironically, when the Spanish first arrived, they thought that our area was an Island. The name California comes from a mythical Spanish island ruled by a queen called Califia that was featured in a Spanish romance ("Las Sergas de Esplandian") written by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo in 1510.

 

[mubs]

Thanks for the info, Buck. You're a scholar and a gentleman.

 

[ddrueding]

NORMALS 1971-2000        JAN	 FEB	 MAR    APR    MAY 	JUN	 JUL 	AUG	 SEP	 OCT	 NOV	 DEC	 AVG	 STD-DEV

SAN FRANCISCO C.O., CA	52.3	55.0	55.9	57.3	58.4	60.5	61.3	62.4	63.7	62.5	57.5	52.7	58.3	3.850727991

NEW YORK (JFK AP), NY	 31.8	33.5	40.9	50.1	59.7	68.8	74.8	74.1	67.2	56.5	46.8	37.2	53.5	15.66417453

I don't have humidity information for NYC, but I can cuarantee that our 20% average is a happy thing.

 

[Tea]

Indeed. Very interesting, Buck. Thankyou.

 

[timwhit]

I was just visiting my sister in the hills east of San Diego (Ramona) last week. It was in the 90s or 100s F everyday out there. We would drive towards the coast and the temperature would drop 20 or 30 degrees.

 

[Buck]

I was just visiting my sister in the hills east of San Diego (Ramona) last week. It was in the 90s or 100s F everyday out there. We would drive towards the coast and the temperature would drop 20 or 30 degrees.

Indeed. Ramona is a nice area, but if you drive further East toward the small town of Julian, there is a lovely park and campground called William Heise. It is a beautiful area with the Manzanita trees and gorgeous vistas.

 

[SteveC]

Santilli, if you want a weather program without adware/spyware, try Weather Pulse.

This has been one of the mildest and wettest summers ever for us. We've only had one day above 90 since early June, and it was the wettest July ever for the state, with August not far behind.

 

[Buck]

That Weather Pulse is a pretty nifty program. Unfortunately, it gathers data outside of my town. Maybe I should install a weather station at home that I could monitor from any computer across the Internet.

 

[Santilli]

Yes, we live in the desert. It's cold most of the year, nice about two weeks, and then too hot for the summer.
It was in the high 90's today, and this hot streak is really lasting.

I get off work, want to work out, and remember that I almost died running 22 miles, in 105 degree heat here, when I was in high school.
I go home, turn on the air, and drink Groslach ice cold, out of a keg...
s

 

[sechs]

I find that opening a window and sticking my hand out is a good way to find out what the weather is like outside. Very accurate and timely....

 

[Santilli]

Thanks Buck. Great program for me, and I'll leave the spyware on the girls computer, and delete the junk it sends...like I'm going to do right now.

s