A Long, Hot Summer

Summer's heat is finally waning and that's a good thing. It has been a long, hot summer here, air-conditioning notwithstanding. A check of climatological data a week or so ago showed that by mid-August we had recorded three weeks more of 90-degree temperatures than we did last summer (which was closer to "normal"). And we had more successive runs of day-after-day of 90-plus temps. But the days are getting shorter and the heat is not building up to those oppressive mid-90 levels one after the other. The nighttime temperatures are dropping into the 60s (rather than 70s) and the humidity is falling as well. You can actually go outdoors in the morning and evenings and not feel like you are wrapped in a warm, wet blanket. And, as we approach September (and autumn), the outlook is for the 90-degree days to fade, fade away. All of this is what is normally expected this time of the year. The seasonal calendar moves forward predictably each year with minor variations, give or take a week or two. But some years you look forward to the change more so than others. This is one of those. The cooler days of fall will be greatly appreciated when they settle in.