Hot Sunday

Data from the LSC weather station around noon Sunday reads:

Time: 12:35 EST
Temp: 84.3 °F
Dew Point:67.2 °F
RH: 55.8 %

Summer is not a time of year that starts at the June 21 summer solstice and ends September 21 at the fall equinox. Summer in New England happens when southerly winds advect in a marine Tropical (mT) air mass from the Gulf of Mexico.

Clicking on the the mesoscale analysis of temperature at left (see NWS website for updated map) shows the effect of elevation on these temperatures. Temperatures on top of Jay Peak and Mount Mansfield are 79 F, whereas low elevation stations in the southern Connecticut and Champlain valleys are already in the 90's.

Everyone knows that 84 degrees F is hot in the noon day sun. What about a dewpoint of 67 F? What does that feel like? Well, you might note that it makes working outside a sticky experience. The humidity index chart shows that this humidity (corresponding to 57% relative humidity) makes 85 F feel more like 90 F and 90 F feel more like 100 F.

My personal weather gauge, Spooky the Cat, has climbed down from her current warm spot on the sofa and is sprawled out on the floor wondering when this will all end; she wants to go back to flushing out the small burrowing mammals attacking my cabbage patch. I think this means that it's uncomfortable for all species. More on why this is happening on Mondays blog.