IT'S TOO HOT

        Usually I'm posting about snow! Well , not in July! I think this is my first post on hot weather.

       We've had record breaking temperatures in this region. In the 50 years I've lived here I don't remember temperatures above 30 C. Now I know temperatures have been above 30 but not often and I don't remember it. 

        So we are on our third day with a high of 35 C. Now I know some will laugh at this temperature as I know temperatures go much higher than 35. However, 35 C is an extreme for me. 

      Plants suffer from the heat but when  we get cooler temperatures and a little rain , the plants will bounce back. 

     As I've said many times our annual average amount of precipitation is 12 in. (That's counting snow. ) 10 in of snow equals one inch of water. 

    So how do we produce huge crops? There's usually about a 1000 ft of clay below us. Very little of our precipitation will run off. Many other  places have little top soil and so water runs off. 

    So there you have it. An explanation, although it's too brief, about soil moisture. 

    Now if it would only cool off! We have two more days of hot weather. 

A Break in the Heat.

       Saturday we had a very welcome change in our weather when it slowly clouded over in the evening. There was just a little bit of rain. Sunday Afternoon we had a little more rain and Sunday night there was a lot of rain. We had a high of 24 C (78 F) on Sat. 16 C (62 F) Sun and 19C(69 F) on Mon. Tomorrow we are back to higher temperatures but nothing in the hot range.


      The rain was welcome Our grass was starting to show some heat stress. We weren't dry, just hot.. We probably had 250-350mm(1-1 1/2 in) of rain.

     A blogger I follow in Montana received some precipitation but they had been very dry.  Another blogger I follow in southern Alberta also cooled off and got wet. The weather radar showed a large system centered around Lethbridge , Alberta. It extended to both borders  of Alberta and down into Montana.


     So we have a welcome break in the hot weather.


     Today at 1  PM we had a thick layer of cloud  that gave complete overcast.

View to the west

View to the east

View to the south

Red Hot Heat Wave

     For the last four days we have been experiencing a heat wave in Central Alberta. For four days we have had temperatures in the 30 - 32 C (88 - 92 F) range. That is hot for this area. Now I know that some people would scoff at me saying this is hot and a heat wave! I've been watching heat waves in other parts of the continent and they are brutal. You have my sympathy. My daughter keeps me informed about the heat in Chicago.  

      Our usual summer day time highs are about 20 C ( 70 F). A few days each summer we may have a 26 C ( 80 F) temperature and once every five years or so we get what we're getting now. 


     Now very few houses here have air conditioning. It just wouldn't make economic sense to install air conditioning. Our houses have a high insulation value to keep heat in in the winter. Most commercial buildings will have air conditioning.


    However, life goes on here heat wave or no heat wave. Outdoor workers continue the regular routine. Plants, crops and wildlife suffer from the  heat . Farm crops suffer some damage as yields could be less. I remember when I lived on my Dad's farm and we had a heat wave how it would bother my Dad. He knew that he was losing income as long as the heat wave continued. 


    So I have fans running in my house hoping to keep the temperature down. I stay in my house from noon to 3:00 pm to try to stay out of the heat. 


    I hope that all heat waves end now and that we go back to normal temperatures. Then I can stop being grouchy.

Extra Ordinary Warm September Days

       For the past five days it has been very warm in this part of Alberta. We had a few days of 25 C and the last two days have been 30 C. Now thirty degrees is not a record but it is extra ordinarily warm.

       Our summer was wet , cool and cloudy. Gardening was a challenge. Sunning at the beach was a waste of time unless you had an umbrella. About July 15th I gave up on my goal of 1000km cycling for the summer. It quit raining in August and I am close to 1000km and will easily do more. We did not have a day with a high of 30 C all summer and very few days reached 24 or 25 C. So to have these temperatures on Sept. 24th and 25th is quite extra ordinary. I had taken most of my tomatoes off the plants about a week ago when we had a couple of frosts. Now all kinds of new tomatoes have formed and if we get a few more warm days they will be pickable.

       I can never remember Sept. days with highs of 30 C. That doesn't mean to say that it hasn't happened before. It's not a record so we must have had a 31 at some time in the past. I was born Oct. 21st and my Dad always told me that it was a very warm day. I wish that I had pinned him down as to what the temperature actually was. He said the old house was really hot. I don't know if that was because of all the hot water that was needed or if it was a case of nerves for somebody who was about to become a Dad for the first time.

       Whatever warm temperatures we have now I will take them and enjoy them to the fullest.