When the heat can't be beat, a.k.a let's talk about weather

[Velar Fricative]

When the heat can't be beat

As much of the country sweats through a string of record-setting heat waves — it’s the hottest summer ever in some Texas cities, parts of Oklahoma haven’t been this hot since the Dust Bowl, and places in the normally temperate Pacific Northwest are seeing triple-digit temperatures — people are beginning to refashion their lives simply to survive the ultramarathon of misery that now defines the white-hot American summer.

Some are turning nocturnal, venturing out for jogs or dog walks before the sun rises or long after it sets. Some keep their curtains closed at all hours of the day, or head out into the steamy world with a frozen water bottle. A florist in New Jersey threads silk flowers into outdoor arrangements, because natural lilies wither in the sun. People with limited incomes are cutting back on other essentials so they can keep the air-conditioner running.



This summer feels especially intolerable because every escape from the heat comes with a catch.



Want a road trip to the mountains? Average gas prices might be coming down, but they’re still about $4.30 a gallon, a dollar higher than last summer. Want to fly somewhere cooler? Europe just wilted under a record-setting heat wave, Asia is no better, and air travel is a snarled nightmare of canceled flights and delays.

[Velar Fricative]

I don't care about the dry heat in Vegas or Phoenix, that shit is not for me, let alone the humid heat in the South. Even NYC summers without heat waves are intolerable for me. But, this will be our new normal (or better than what will be normal soon enough).

Cold and snow 4evah.

[glw]

Jul 28, 2022 12:03:19 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Cold and snow 4evah.

Seconded.

This will likely be our last summer with no central air-- our house was built in the 20's and has lots of great features to deal with the heat sans air conditioning, but they're not cutting it anymore. 

[TR]

It's terrible and feels worse than ever (I'm in N Dallas). But then my Timehop app has reminded me this week that 5 years ago and 3 years ago I was complaining about it being 113 and 108. I hate it here.

[Jalapeñomel]

DH and I were just talking about how the weather has been unusually decent around us, but then we thought maybe it’s just because we’ve had such horrible heat waves in previous years.

[eddy]

I am in the midwest and we are having a pretty good summer with weather. We are certainly having heat waves, but they always break. We have been in a period of one week of heat and the next week of pleasant temps. This week is pleasant. I just returned from a hike over the noon hour and it was really comfortable at low 80s.

[chickadee77]

Jul 28, 2022 12:34:15 GMT -5 TR said:

It's terrible and feels worse than ever (I'm in N Dallas). But then my Timehop app has reminded me this week that 5 years ago and 3 years ago I was complaining about it being 113 and 108. I hate it here.

Ugh, I moved to DFW in 2000 - 46 days over 100 degrees. I was younger and didn't mind as much, but as I get older I realize I prefer milder climates.

[goldengirlz]

I follow the weather in NY because my family is there and ouch. It’s been a brutal summer.

It’s been pretty hot inland here, I’ve heard, but gloriously cool in the city. Summers are usually glorious though; it’s fire season (fall) I worry about. Our seasons are a bit different from the rest of the Northern Hemisphere so we’re a couple of months behind for the extreme heat. And we’ve had such little rain this year, I’m getting sick of sunshine. Never thought I’d say THAT.

[waverly]

Midwest here. We had a couple of really bad weeks in June, but otherwise it's been OK. A few 90's in July, but not as bad as June so they felt better. I was concerned because some people/ workers etc. were outside all day, but they did a lot of cooling clothes and water, and rotated through air conditioning, so it all worked out.

[dcn]

We moved from the southeast to Kentucky and I’m so much happier. The summers were so brutal down there and I was so sweaty all the time. I hated it. I hope we never have to live somewhere super hot again.

[pumpkin]

I’m in the greater Seattle area and this is tough for us since most don’t had AC. And this year we didn’t get a spring.

I feel lucky to have gotten a portable AC last year. When it’s this hot I set it up in my guest room and work and sleep in that room since it’s comfortable. Otherwise, it’s 88* in the rest of my condo right now and it’s not yet noon.

I’ve lived here most of my life and while it’s been getting warmer I’ve time I feel like that last couple years have been huge weather jumps, but with heat and snow.

[dancingirl21]

Jul 28, 2022 13:09:48 GMT -5 dcn said:

We moved from the southeast to Kentucky and I’m so much happier. The summers were so brutal down there and I was so sweaty all the time. I hated it. I hope we never have to live somewhere super hot again.

Seconded about that area of South Carolina, having lived there only one month. DH calls it the hellscape. He hates it.

We are both born and raised in the Midwest. That southern heat is not for the faint of heart.

[spindle92]

There is a reason I live in MN. I LOVE THE COLD!!!!!

[dcn]

Jul 28, 2022 13:23:00 GMT -5 dancingirl21 said:

Jul 28, 2022 13:09:48 GMT -5 dcn said:

We moved from the southeast to Kentucky and I’m so much happier. The summers were so brutal down there and I was so sweaty all the time. I hated it. I hope we never have to live somewhere super hot again.

Seconded about that area of South Carolina, having lived there only one month. DH calls it the hellscape. He hates it.

We are both born and raised in the Midwest. That southern heat is not for the faint of heart.

We lived near Savannah before SC and that place was just hostile between the heat and the bugs lol. Give me winter and snow any day over that! We’ve lived in Alabama and Texas as well and they were also insanely hot. Alaska and Colorado were our happy weather places ha.

[Pom]

I feel so sorry for all the species in the extreme heat and drought.

[shauni27]

New England has been brutal this year. I am terrified to see our electric bill (we only have window AC units) next month, especially since the cost of electricity in NH doubled in July this year.

I can handle the heat when it cools down at night a bit, but it has been in the 90s during the day and the mid 70s at night. It is miserable.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 28, 2022 12:51:56 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

I follow the weather in NY because my family is there and ouch. It’s been a brutal summer.

.

I think it’s been pretty mild here!

[macmars45]

Central WA state is in the 100s this week. Today & tomorrow will be 110. Thankfully next week we dip back down to the upper 80s. I am so thankful for central AC.

Last summer we got up to 116 which was a record by a lot. It's worse and worse every year. The wind gets stronger every year too. I'm scared for the future. It'll get so hot and windy here that wildfires could wipe out my entire city very easily.

[penguingrrl]

I’m in NJ, which has been intolerable. At work we actually had a heat-related closure last week because we couldn’t safely open. It’s been in the 90s for far too long, with basically one day of low 80s to break it up. No significant rain in weeks, which is unusual for us.

[pixy0stix]

Did those of you proclaiming it's mild actually read the article? Or are you being purposely dense? I'm sincerely asking here, because millions of Americans are going to have to move or die within the next decade and y'all are just flipping your hair.

[pixy0stix]

Look, I know I'm cranky. But ffs, is this all we can do is discuss our particular weather and whether it's been ok or not? This is what climate scientists have been screaming about for decades, but whatever if you live in a northern climate right? Oh, until you're impacted by climate refugees who can afford to flee to your climate and they start taking over your area that isn't equipped for the influx.

This is so.much.worse than anything we can imagine and in a decade it's just going to seem mild.

[goldengirlz]

Jul 28, 2022 14:24:29 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jul 28, 2022 12:51:56 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

I follow the weather in NY because my family is there and ouch. It’s been a brutal summer.

.

I think it’s been pretty mild here!

I’m not on the ground, obviously, but I don’t remember days and days in the 90s (especially not in the spring like this year!) when I was growing up or as a young adult. Sure, we had heat waves — just like we’ve always had fires in California — but it’s the scale and intensity that’s changed.

This climate report says average temps in NYS have gone up 2.4 degrees since 1970.

www.dec.ny.gov/energy/94702.html

[msmerymac]

If I win the lottery, I'm moving to Maine before everyone else does. Because in 25 years it will be like the mid-Atlantic. Which means central air. Which just contributes to climate change. Ughhhhh.

I'm also going to Italy in September for a bike trip and I'm super pumped to be in 90+ degree heat with no AC. :/

[Velar Fricative]

Jul 28, 2022 14:07:30 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

New England has been brutal this year. I am terrified to see our electric bill (we only have window AC units) next month, especially since the cost of electricity in NH doubled in July this year.

I can handle the heat when it cools down at night a bit, but it has been in the 90s during the day and the mid 70s at night. It is miserable.

What I have clearly noticed through the years is that it is not cooling down like it used to in the olden days at night anymore. That's a huge problem for, well, everyone. 

[Velar Fricative]

I know we're mostly talking about the heat, but the flooding in St. Louis was insane too. Seems like one half of the country will just be a perennial drought while the rest will have too much damn water. Not a shock, but that's where we are.

[pixy0stix]

Jul 28, 2022 14:58:46 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Jul 28, 2022 14:07:30 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

New England has been brutal this year. I am terrified to see our electric bill (we only have window AC units) next month, especially since the cost of electricity in NH doubled in July this year.

I can handle the heat when it cools down at night a bit, but it has been in the 90s during the day and the mid 70s at night. It is miserable.

What I have clearly noticed through the years is that it is not cooling down like it used to in the olden days at night anymore. That's a huge problem for, well, everyone. 

CO definitely had this happen this year. A scientist on the news very forcibly said how much of a problem this was.

Eta new link - www.9news.com/article/weather/weather-colorado/summer-nights-getting-warmer-colorado/73-187c422d-1a38-4466-bb54-3ce5b423e376

[Patsy Baloney]

I live in the Midwest, too, and I wonder when people are going to start moving here. Weather has always seemed extreme to me, though I can acknowledge it’s hotter now and we do have more extreme weather events than I can recall in my lifetime. Our highs are HIGH and our lows are polar vortex dangerous.

The only thing I like about that is that it kills the invasive stink bugs off pretty well.

But because weather has always been on the side of extreme, our houses are outfitted with central air and we have the infrastructure to handle ice and snow. Warming and cooling centers are not an afterthought. This is the first year the local power company has been warning that they may institute rolling blackouts if energy use continues to climb, but it hasn’t come to fruition. I’m hopeful wind farms and encouragement by the state to install things like solar in homes will help.

I’m equal parts hopeful and concerned. I know those who have the money will never care. But there has to be a breaking point, though the death toll while getting to that breaking point is probably higher than I could ever imagine.

[AJL]

I'm in Austin. I have left the house probably 5 times in the last three weeks. Each time was to pick up groceries via curbside. It is so fucking hot here. 

[Velar Fricative]

Also, as things get warmer, summer was always the most convenient time for street work to happen because fewer people are on the road in general due to @@@school not being in session.@@@ But...it's hell out there for these workers wearing protective equipment no matter where they are in the country. People just need to learn to deal with more traffic woes as this work is done during the fall and spring and probably winter too. This applies to all other outdoors work too I'm sure, street work is just the clearest example to me because it's happening outside my office right now.

[BlondeSpiders]

Here in Seattle, we had a miserable rainy spring that extended well into July. We usually start seeing warmer temps in May, followed by a cool June, and then summer starts around Independence Day.

I have been so anxious for summer to start, I don't care that I'm sweating my (figurative) balls off this week. I need this blistering heat! 

(I don't actually crave star damage, and am vigilant with sunscreen, but this is funny anyway.)