Hurricane Agnes

There's some unstable air out there! And since some of us got some rain overnight, that just added moisture to make it even more muggy and unstable. Just heard Hurricane Schwartz on KYW about 5 minutes ago and he said we're still a few hours from that but the closest are coming into Lancaster County now so they might get here just after peak heating. Today is day 6 of 90+ IMBY!

And here comes Norman, OK -

Well it's currently a hazy 93 with dews in the 70s but it looks like some incoming from the west.

The rain started up here just before midnight, with a peak of 1/2" per hr rates after midnight, giving me 0.01" for yesterday and 0.13" for today (at post time... given more is progged for later today). Currently a soupy 74 and mostly cloudy, with dews in the mid-70s (and you guessed it - steamy windows)!

Well I hit 95 today making it day 5 for the current heatwave. The humidity was reasonable given the temps, but that is supposed to change tomorrow. I do see some action incoming from the west but am not sure if it will hold together to give the plants in MBY a little sprinkle. Currently 89 and mostly cloudy.

Too much of a broken cirrus deck last night and just tried about 30 minutes ago for a pre-dawn attempt and still too much cirrus around here. About the only thing that broke through was Venus and a few assorted and sundry stars (couldn't even make out the Big Dipper through the high clouds ). Currently a "cooler" 76 at post time this morning and dews are down into the 60s. You can feel the difference.

I grew up with a dad who almost exclusively used Kodachrome slide film (he would have been 96 this year) - at least until he discovered the Polaroid Instamatic that he brought with us when we went to London in 1970 (where you snapped the picture, pulled it out the side, let it sit for a minute or so, and then peeled the backing off after it developed, and it could be mounted on thicker stock). I still have boxes of his slides (although me and my sisters did get some converted to negatives and then made prints from those years ago). I even found he had some slides of my grandfather from the '50s that I haven't really even looked at yet. It's on the bucket list. I used to walk around with his camera case around my neck when I was little. As an obs, It is STILL 89 here, and it's 8:30 pm. But apparently the front is coming through and I see dewpoints dropping.

It's amazing how far digital has come although I suppose the debate will forever rage about which is better - film or digital. My thing was basically wanting something to move in sync with the earth's rotation to fix on a certain spot to get a longer exposure (without the obvious "streak" as the star "moved").

At the time, I was building an early Dolby Digital "home theater", pre-DVD era, with "budget high-end" equipment and a laserdisc player and trying to maintain a couple fish tanks (including 2 saltwater ones where one was a reef tank with corals and anemones, etc). I was in a hi-rise with a balcony and an unobstructed view of the W/N/NE sky, where many phenomena fortunately appeared. I did get an Olympus SLR (L-1, early auto-loading/winding 35mm) camera with a tripod and all kinds of telephoto lenses for it and took I don't know how many pics of Hale-Bopp and other things like the Pleides that I like, but still haven't developed them. Also liked to occasionally watch for ISS flyovers and now that I am back down on terra firma, I have seen a couple of those. Looks like my max for today was 95 and it's currently a mostly sunny but hazy 93. Dews hanging in the mid-upper 60s.

I think Comet Hyakutake was a year before Hale-Bopp and that one, although brief, was visible (appearing as a fuzz ball on my 'scopes at the time). I had even toyed around with getting a CCD camera for a 'scope but had too many expensive hobbies back then. Well am back up to 95 and it's starting to get more sauna-like. Am guessing we're starting to get some down-sloping from the "cold" (cool) front that is approaching from the west.

For all the hype about Halley's, it was a complete dud. If anything, Hale-Bopp was historically "unknown" (thousands of years of an orbital period) so that made up for the Halley's disappointment.

I managed to hit 95 so far today just after 1 pm, but before that, I have been getting an on and off deck of cirrus that effectively blocks the sun and drops the temps a few degrees (one such period happening between 11 and 1 pm where the temp dipped to 89 from 93). Currently "down to" 92 and partly sunny and breezy, with a broken deck of cirrus. Seems to be some kind of atmospheric mixing going on because it's not a sauna in my location despite still being hot with dews in the upper 60s/low 70s in the area. I have had some cloud decks during dusk/dawn the past couple days, so little chance of seeing that comet. Still, I think NOTHING will ever surpass the amazing Hale-Bopp. Anything that you could literally see without a telescope, during the light of day as well as at night (where it's orientation would be shifted), and to do so for weeks, AND it had an obvious tail, was enough for me!

Well it hit 90 here around 10 am and currently at 91 and mostly sunny.

Hit my low just after 5 am this morning at 79 with dp 71 and steamy windows, and by 6:30, it was off to the races. Currently a hazy 83 with dp 70, with a bit of a cloud deck that has kept the sun from blazing this morning. I expect as soon as that breaks up, then look out!

Actually made it up to 96 here around 3:30 pm, so will be interesting to see if it exceeds that here tomorrow. This was the 3rd 90+ day here making it an "official heatwave". Currently "down to" 88 with haze.

Just hitting 95 with dews in the upper 60s.

I hit 90 just after 9:30 am and am up to 91, with the dp now at 71. And yeah, it's like this --> out there.

Ended up topping out at 93 here yesterday and even though it wasn't a sauna, it was still blast-furnacey where you could feel the sun burn. Low this morning was 72 but am off to the races now and at 85 here at post time (just before 8:30 am). Dews are in the upper 60s but will probably be on the rise by tomorrow. Heard a cicada this morning and I know THEY know what is coming!

Yeah I know. Current temp is a "cool" 73 with dews in the low 60s. Won't last long though! Excessive Heat Warning lofted for the metro area -

I barely tapped 90 (89.6) as a high at around 4 pm, so that starts the "heatwave clock" here. Currently 85 with a dp of 69. I haven't even stepped outside since early this morning. Currently a hazy 85 and partly cloudy.

I haven't heard any crickets here yet but they'll probably be out imminently! After the soup this morning with the overcast, as soon as the sun burst through the cloud deck (~1:30 pm), the furnace was lit (with a dp of 71 here earlier) and the oven is now on pre-heat cycle. I did watch some scattered showers come across the area but I didn't get any of it. Currently 88 (low was 70 this morning) with lots of cumulus.

Ran some errands this morning and it was a nice, not-too-hot summer day. Humidity has stayed low (dews in the 50s) and only got up to 83 as a high. I even heard my 1st cicada here just as I was coming back from the store and into the house (had already heard one at my Upper Darby sis's house back on July 4). Currently 80 and partly cloudy, knowing there is an incoming furnace. Will be making some batches of frozen margaritas for the weekend.

I ended up getting 0.3" of rain between 11 pm and 1 am (0.21" + 0.09" respectively, at one point with 3/4"/hr rates). So my monthly total is now up to 7.31". Had been watching the front pushing the scattered cells this way before I went to bed and figured I might get hit by some, although I'm surprised they didn't fizzle before getting here. (image below from when the last batch was exiting) It was also relatively "cool" this morning with a low of 69 (had the same yesterday morning). Currently mostly sunny and 78.

I had a mouse rattling around in here late last night before I went to bed and suddenly heard it squeal and then go silent. It was like that Obi-wan Kenobi quote where it must have felt "a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of mice suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." I managed to make it to 88 yesterday as a high and so far got to 91 today, where it wasn't as oppressive as yesterday. Enjoyed an amazing cloud-free blue sky earlier this morning to boot. The puffy cumulus did reappear not long after and it's currently 90 and slowly falling.

I got 0.05"'d by a little pop-up shower at around 5 pm. So that brings me to a 4 day total of 7.01" (a monthly total as well). Before that came through, my temp had hit 88 as a high and it's now down to 78 but dp is 72 so steam bath (it was steamy earlier this morning as it is). Cold front is supposed to drop the humidity for tomorrow.