Slept with the windows open last night and awoke with light rain and the thermometer reading 64 degrees.
Tuesday’s rain, projected heavy at times, should last through the day with some chance of flooding but end tonight with humidity falling to 70% by nightfall and 60% range for the rest of the
A respite from the dog days of July?
Looks like it. The 10-day forecast from the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg shows daytime humidity in 70% territory and back in the 60s in the evenings with overnight lows in the 60-degree ranges.
That is more like the kind of life we expect here in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia.
Looks like good weather for FloydFest this week.
At our house, the break in the hot humid weather could bring a return of open windows and ceiling fans instead of the energy demands of air conditioning — at least into the early parts of August.
If the forecasts hold, we could enjoy relatively dry weather this week with a return to scattered afternoon thundershowers next week with chances of rain the 40s.
That might give us a chance to tacking out-control-yard and other outdoor projects.
This more pleasant weather comes after the hottest and most humid weekend of this summer season.
While our temperatures did not reach triple-digits, the high humidity created weather-related health threats, particularly for elder citizens. Four people died in Maryland from excessive heat and Newe York City cancelled the NYC Triathlon and other events.
In Washington, DC, heat-related power outages left more than 4,600 residents sweating, along with another 14,500 in Northern Virginia.
A massive lightning strike in Clearwater, Florida, injured eight and a heat index of 110 degrees. Florida expected above-average temperatures from August through the fall.
Even baseball — the sport of summer — suffered from the heat. Wrigley Field in Chicago had misters cooling the crowd in bleachers.
In New York City, the company that produced the cancelled NYC Triathlon donated more than 1,90l0 gallons of cold water and Gatorade for distribution to residents in need.
In Braintree, Mass., police issued an unusual request for would-be criminals:
Folks. Due to the extreme heat, we are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday. It is straight-up hot as soccer balls out there. Conducting criminal activity, in this extreme heat is next level henchmen status, and also very dangerous.
Even with the break here in the mountains, the heatwave of 2019 is not over, and future years will be worse, says the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Bu the start of the next century, Boston could have the same number of extreme heat days as Columbia, South Carolina does now,” says the group in a new report.
In Arkansas, 32-year-old Mitch Petrus, former defensive lineman for the New York Giants, died of heatstroke after working outside in his family shop at home in Arkansas.