tedln
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Just Wondering!

Here in North Texas, we have had temps since mid may approaching 100 degrees. It played heck with our gardens. Within the last week, we have started getting some rain showers with much cooler air and badly needed moisture. My garden is beginning to look like a garden again instead of a war zone. We typically complain about the heat and the drought, but we realize it is just a normal climatic condition due to where we live.

I've noticed on all the former major news networks, they are reporting a "severe" heat wave is present in the North and North Eastern parts of the country. They say "we are setting up cooling centers for residents to get out of the heat. The heat is approaching the 90's and may even hit 100 degrees".

I'm just wondering how the gardeners in the "Heat Wave" areas are making out. Is it killing your crops the same way it killed or delayed mine? I think last year, you had a mild, wet summer resulting in late blight. Are your crops surviving the heat any better than they survived the late blight?

Ted

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Kisal
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We're having a heat wave this week, with temperatures in the mid to high 90s -- that's considered very hot weather around here. :lol: There is a heat advisory out for our area, and there will be cooling centers available. Usually the churches, malls, senior centers, and community centers serve in that capacity.

I reset my irrigation system to run 3 times a day ... early morning, late evening, and middle of the night. My containers have to be watered by hand, so I'll do that each morning, and again in the evening, if they look like they need it. Things sometimes get to looking a little "tired" in the heat of the day, but as long as they get regular water, they do fine. I consider it fortunate that we have plenty of water available here in Oregon. :)

Dixana
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I can't speak for other places, but I know that here we get heat adviseries when it's in the 90's mainly because our humitidy level will sometimes be around or even above 80%. It could be 90 degreesevery day and I'd be a happy camper....until the dew point hits over about 60%. Thursday I can honestly say I could literally barely breathe outside. It's like being in the sauna when someone poured too much water on the hot stones :(
My plants don't seem to mind it aside from getting a little wilty when it really gets muggy. The dog on the other hand does not handle it well. She's a long haired german shepherd....and it makes makes my training run/walks next to impossible too.

Charlie MV
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We're having the hottest summer I can remember. When it's 10PM and 90 degrees, its hot.

We had modest rain during June but the news shows say we're moving back to moderate drought.

That all being said, we water once or twice a week when it doesn't rain and we're having one of our better first harvest. My biggest problem is working in the heat and weeds.

I come in after an hour gasping and it takes 10 minutes to resume normal breathing. Today we start chipping/shredding on our pile so we can get future compost into the bins and pull up corn and pink eyes to make room for the second crop.

The heat is just plain murderous. My crop is doing much better than we are.

On watering, we water heavily until a crop is well established from seed. Then we wean the plants to water once or twice a week no matter how hot it gets. I read right here that this promotes deep root growth . That's where the water is.

Dixana
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I have to admit, once my plants are in the ground, I'm a pretty lazy gardener. I hoe out the weeds once or twice a week and water when I think about it which is MAYBE once week :oops:
OTOH the humidity seems to help keep the moisture in the ground so my plants are doing way better than I expected in newly turned yard without much help. I haven't even made any tea yet this year as I have no finished compost or any worm castings left :(
On another note we completely forgot to order worms this weekend while they were on sale :( :,(

tedln
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103 degrees is our forcast for most of next week. Hope my air conditioner doesn't break down. The garden will have to fend for itself.

Ted

Dixana
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Warm here? By our standards yes. Dry? Not even a little. We've had some serious flooding up here the last couple weeks. Huge storms and a LOT of rain. We live midway up a hill so the garden has been ok, the basement not so much. I went to town last thursday though and had to drive through water deep enough to make the belts in my car squeal. I'm not sure if I actually DROVE through it or momentum just kind of floated me through. I could not see the curb on either side of the road.
I can't remember ever having such a wet summer. Truck pulls were cancelled last weekend and the campgrounds for EAA (the huge air show by us) had to be closed due to flooding and campers rerouted to vacant parking lots miles away. It's been a crazy summer.

LindsayArthurRTR
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It has been devastating here. We got .04" of rain in June. A little bit more recently. We went into drought and then onto water restrictions. Within the 2 week period on restrictions, we didn't water and I lost 4 cherry toms and all the black tomatoes. Had to deal with crazy BER problems and loads of cracked toms when we were able to start watering again. My corn turned from luscious green to crisp and this was right around harvest time, so the kernals turned a bit tough and withered. Sigh. It has been the hottest, dryest summer in SC that I can remember. My second plantings of greenbeans didn't do anything, lots of flowers but few beans. They dried up in the drought. Cukes didn't make it either. Just planted my second plantings of them. I think it was like about 98 degrees the whole time. Just ridiculous. Very glad I had lots of plants, or I don't think our garden would have amounted to very much.

I do however think that things are improving! We have had rain at least once a week here for the past 3 weeks. Twice this week we got big storms with rain!!! It is still hot as heck and it is very, VERY humid.

Charlie MV
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What a difference a hundred miles makes. Lindsay, I think we've been hotter than y'all. But we've had more rain and we had the highest yield ever.

3 days in the last 2 weeks, we've had wall banging thunderstorms. We lost some big butterfly bushes in the one two days ago. No harm to crops though. We've harvested corn, planted about 10% less and had a yield of 15% more. We have a year round 3 times a week supply.

Our okra is going nuts along with 30 tomato plants. We ripped up the corn and planted pink eyes. The soil is so hot they were up in 2 days. Took 9 in the spring for the first crop. We finished our second butter bean planting. No way we'll be hungry this year. I feel like the Bubba Gump of vegetables.

We're able to only do 30 minutes outside before we have to break to pant. I'm not sure we can do this again next year. It is scary hot sometimes. Humidity stays in the 80s and just walking to the mailbox breaks you out in a sweat.

I'm really surprised that you can be so close and in drought., Lake Murray is at full pond. Hope the bottom drops out on you soon. We were there 4 years ago and it's awful.

Good luck.

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Earl K
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Charlie,good to see ya back around.I havent been here in a while myself.too busy with work and some occasional gardening.Still trying to find the best time to plant down here,once plants get established and producing the heat beats them down.Fall garden will be better cause I don't think about FREEZE.Also a side note-Pulled out the biggest boat my forklift could handle the other day.40 ft.Sea Ray Sundancer.28,700 lbs.6 ft. tall tires on the rear---kicked em and they moved..maxed out...figured you would like to hear bout that...take care friend..........

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Ozark Lady
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My husband and I discussed, simply digging up the garden, and double digging it, and then solarizing it. It is a total bust this year. Heat hasn't been bad, not even quite usual. But drought has been horrible for 2 months running. I simply can't make up the difference with the garden hose.

The containers will furnish some fresh tomatoes and the forest garden will do good.

The only canning happening here will be wild foods, or purchased foods. I am so discouraged, that hubby is taking over the garden entirely. I have a hard time just being enthused to even go out there. It is so sad to see your hard work and gorgeous soil, just wither away to dust...

tedln
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Earl, out of curiosity; what do you pull boats out from?

Ozark Lady, Sorry to hear about your garden. I'm curious about your "forest garden" What do you harvest from it. How about some paw paw's for jelly or preserves? From my time at Ft. Leonard Wood learning how to survive in the boonies without any grocery store food, I would guess you harvest lots of hickory nuts and wild persimmons and wild grapes. The Ozarks are a good place to be if your hungry and looking for something to eat.

The heat has killed my garden pretty much. I have some old plants ready to spring back to life when the cool weather arrives. I just have to be patient and keep them alive until it gets here. It's funny, but it seems such a waste pouring water on a garden that just wants to die. Every thing has little side shoots of green just sitting and waiting. I've had pretty good gardens from those side shoots some years.

I go out in the morning and all the beds seem moist from the early morning water cycle. The mid day and late afternoon cycyles don't seem to matter much. The soil in the beds always look like they have been through a six year draught by days end. They have cracks 1/2 wide. I keep telling myself, be patient, be patient.

Ted

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Ozark Lady
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Oh well, way it goes.

Drought like this happens about every 3-4 years. And it takes my soil back to where it was when I started working on it.

I don't have a creek or river to irrigate from, and I do not have a water meter sitting there with an endless supply of water from the city.

The pond is low enough to be unhealthy for the animals, so I am now having to keep their trough cleaned and filled. The pasture is gone, just dirt, so I am having to hay the animals, and geese aren't happy with hay. So, they won't stay on pasture at all. The ducks are doing better about staying in their pen. But, low water in the pond means more disease, so I have to really watch the animals.

I have leaves on trees showing fall colors already, due to drought. Right now it is sassafras, but I see alot of damaged leaves on oak trees too.

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Ozark Lady
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Oops, I didn't answer all your post, sorry.

The paw paw's are in "hold mode" waiting for rain.

There are alot of grape vines, fruit dried up and didn't make at all.
I don't do nuts so great, especially hickory... impossible to shell, they taste great, but not worth the effort.

I have lots of black walnut trees, same story as the hickory, more trouble than they are worth.

And the deer have moved into my front yard forest garden, so it is full of deer poo which is good, but ticks which are not good.

My baby english walnuts and baby peach trees are in containers, and the container plants are doing okay. I lost some, but not as bad as the beds. The peach tree is still loaded with fruit, not growing, not ripening, on hold, even though I water it daily.

The irises are doing okay, they are next to the elderberries, and elderberries always pick the spot with the most moisture.

Roses are running 50/50 I lost 2 and 2 are alive.

I know where one small persimmon tree is growing in a farmers fence, it isn't huge, but usually has 6-8 persimmons each year.

The forest garden was created for tobacco growing. Due to diseases in the home vegetable garden you aren't suppose to grow it there. I got away with it in 2009. But, I had no place in the main garden to rotate a nightshade plant in. So tobacco went in the forest and tomatoes in containers, leaving only peppers back in soil that needed rotating. If I had to risk losing one, I decided better to be potatoes and peppers, since they aren't real important to our diet. The tiny peppers are starting to bud.

The potatoes were in the cabbage bed, which they amounted to one handful of new potatoes, which I will replant next spring. Weight wise, more potatoes went in than came out, and I even harvested the volunteers in another bed.

On a brighter note... my freezer is full of plums, blackberries, and elderberries that I will make jelly out of, and I am having free time to play with the milk and learn new uses for it.

OMG, I just looked up and saw the first ladybug that I have seen all year, crawling outside my window.

tedln
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Yep, even the ladybugs are looking for a way to get inside under the air conditioning.

Ted

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Earl K
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Ted, We pull boats out of the water and dry store them.We do that with a BIG forklift.Check out Sebastian Inlet Marina .com.That is where I work.Only been ther for a year but have been doin it for about 15 years.The BARN is built to 140 mph wind code due to our location.

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vtown05
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Here in southern Georgia it's been close to 100 degrees every day for the past few months and there doesn't seem to be any relief coming any time soon. As far as my plants... they are taking a hit as well... at least on their growth. I do mostly container gardening so some of my plants I pull inside at night to let their roots cool down some. Growth is going very slow and I'm sure my plants are looking forward to it cooling down as much as the rest of everyone else.

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Ozark Lady
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We are setting on 98 degrees. Late last night it cooled to 96, outside!
So now the temps are climbing with the drought, and humidity is down to 35%. No rain in forecast. Even the weather channels are saying: Water the plants! It is in bright red!

I am getting leaves all over the beds, the locust are dropping them!

Dixana
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OL you are MORE than welcome to some of our humidity! It's been so muggy here you can hardly breathe outside, and heat in the 90's.
The rains have subsided here now though, I had to break down and water my garden today. There was rain in the forecast the last 5 days but we didn't get a drop. Great for the rivers and lakes around here which are at high water levels, not so great for the plants. The majority of my tomatoes were very wilted, even the squash were looking pretty iffy.
I feel for you with the drought though :( I remember being in my early teens and having water restrictions and fire warnings. Grass was brown and brittle and some wells even dried up which is unheard of for this area. I don't miss it!

tedln
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Forecast for the next five days.

103 103 102 103 103

Oh well, we do get one day of 102. Must be a cool spell.

While they have been consistently forecasting 103, It has normally reached 105 & 106. The weatherman's response is "oooops". I think they simply are afraid to break the bad news to us.

Ted

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Ozark Lady
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A bit of good news, the peppers are looking decent, small but healthy plants, not blooming yet, but some tiny buds.
The pink eyes are holding their own. Not taking off but not dying.

And the zuchini is growing... I am serious, it is looking like it should.

The Swiss Chard is weakly alive still.

And I have a couple tomato plants who are loving the heat, and loading up, they are in containers.

And these are all in the main garden!

Corn tasselled when stems are the size of a drinking straw! Beans are dying without even trying to do anything. Even the strawberries are hurting.

But, I have been reading my new book, and I am gearing up for round 2! Ha ha.

This will be the last drought to take out my garden! I am learning... look out garden here I come!

And I made a deal with the feed store today, to come pick up all the bags of free hay, off the floor for my garden that I want, and another friend is welcoming me to come get horse poo.

I am also looking into a greywater system, I hate letting out the bathwater and it going into the septic, it could help the plants!

More goodnews, hubby is a former plumber, so he can do the plumbing for the greywater system, and he is remodelling homes, so we have lots and lots of extra windows... so year round gardening here I come...

Shade those things in summer, and protect them in winter...

And I am going to even give compost one more try, their way!

Charlie MV
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Ted, did you think brother Earl pulled boats like taffy?

Good to see you Earl K. I'm impressed. You can lift 40 feet and 38,000 lbs? On a forklift??? I didn't even know it was possible to store my boat dry. You certainly can't do that in SC. Is there a height limit?

We had to remove the rails and fly-bridge to move our boat from Charleston to the nearby lake. We repack shafts in water because haul out is so difficult and expensive. We move really fast. :lol:

We do have 180 feet of water about 1/2 mile off the dock though. I haven't even thought about running aground or docking in a 7 mph current in 2 years now. We docked in a 60 mph wind a month back but without current it was kind of two dimensional.

Hope you are around more now. The picture of all the people on your dock reminds me of a marina where the drunks used to hold up numbered cards to rate your docking. :wink:

tedln
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Nope, no candy. I thought maybe he was recovering some boats that had gone under. Couldn't figure out how he was doing it with a fork lift. Never seen a snorkel on a fork lift. I've seen them on jeeps, tanks, and ATV's, but never a forklift.

Ted

wingdesigner
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Here in Meesheegan, we've had as hot, rainless, and humid summer this year as we had a cool, wet, miserable summer last year; like the pendulum swung the other way. I'm cringing every time the electric bill comes in. What rain we've gotten has come in severe thunderstorms that have twice resulted in power outages or brownouts (even worse--kills anything with electric motors or circuit boards). OK, so I save on electricity if I haven't had any, right? :roll: :roll: Anyway, in MI, if it's hot and humid, and if it's one it's usually the other, as well; there will be warnings. I can't say for sure, but we've had far more days and weeks of 90-ish temps and not cooling off at night this year than in recent years (last year doesn't count). Does that answer the original question, or is it clear as mud?

Yeah, it's "Too Darn Hot" here and of course I didn't plant any 'maters this year! (arrghh!)

tedln
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Wingdesigner,

I understand. We have had the same thing in Texas except no humidity, no thunderstorms, and 90 would be a coolspell.

Ted

Charlie MV
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Hi Wing, glad you're still kicking around THG. Come on down and enjoy our 115 degree real feel weather where the sweat never dries.

Ted, I'd love for Earl to post a picture of that fork lift. I've never seen anything but a travel hauler or a really big crane that could lift my boat.

The travel hauler is a beast with 4 legs about 25 feet tall on wheels. It has straps that pick up big boats and haul them around boat yards.

Earls toy reminds me of the ships that haul the yachts of the rich and famous. Those guys don't usually cross the Atlantic on their own keel to summer in the Mediterranean. They have these huge ships that they actually drive inside of and they ride across the ocean blue in the belly of a huge beast.

wingdesigner
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Tanks, CharlieMV! I miss it here. And the way my summer's going, running away to where nobody knows me (regardless of temp--that's what the lake is for), is mighty tempting right now. My curmudgeonly ways are showing up big time and I'm probably gonna get fired from the wedding party soon, but that's another story.

Still hot here and the promised rain and storms skirted south, so more watering necessary. City is due any day to rip up sidewalk in front of old, huge, silver maple and probably kill it in the process. When that happens we will no longer have shade for about three houses either side and bake. I'm pretty sure they won't try to save the roots by adjusting their cut/slash/pour method just for lil' old me. I don't want to think about it.

Saw something on cable about "Mighty Servant" or something like that, the ship that hauls other ships around. Didn't she haul back the US Navy ship that got a hole bombed in her side in the Gulf a few years' back?

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Ozark Lady
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It's raining, it's pouring, it's cool, 77 degrees.
Looks like it is going to settle in and go for it! Awesome!

I have been watering at night, because it is only 95 then!
I just hope the rain continues until we get a whole inch!

Charlie MV
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Ozark Lady, you're right on the money. You know it's hot when it's 90 degrees at 1AM.

Wing, I'm sure the navy hauler is along the same lines.

I read about these haulers in an article about 4 Nordhavn 55 footers doing an Atlantic crossing. These are very fuel efficient extremely seaworthy boats. All four crews said they would eat their guns before they ever crossed water that big again on 55s. It was rough, terrifying boring, you name it. They wont do it again. They will ship their boats to destination ports next time.

I saw 80 foot seas in the North Atlantic on a destroyer. We've been on our boat offshore in 12 foot seas where standing was difficult. I don't even want to think about what these guys put up with...for months.

Keep coming around bro. Don't get booted off the wedding.

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tomf
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It has been clowdy and cool but no rain to talk about all summer, we got a drizzle one day. It is going to be in the 90's for a week now.

Some one sent this to me today.


IT'S SO HOT AND DRY IN ALABAMA................



....the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.

....the trees are whistling for the dogs.

....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

....hot water comes from both taps.

....you can make sun tea instantly.

....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

....the temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.

....you discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer your car.

....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

....you actually burn your hand opening the car door.

....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 A.M.

....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and

end up lying on the pavement and cook to death"?

....you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.

....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out

and add butter.

....the cows are giving evaporated milk.

....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from

laying boiled eggs



IT'S SO DRY IN ALABAMA............



That the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling,

The Methodists are using wet-wipes,

Presbyterians are giving rain checks,

And the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water!

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Ozark Lady
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:D :D

Dixana
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Hey now, some of that isn't funny.
This summer I actually HAVE burned my hand.....three times.
Once on the car door handle, once on the truck hood, and once on the metal seat belt clip. The belt clip burn even blistered two fingers. Perhaps I should rethink the black car :roll:
Come winter every time I go to get in or out of the stupid car I'll get shocked :evil:

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applestar
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Oh you should definitely rethink the black car. I never get a shock from my WHITE car... :>

saku
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I live in Alabama and I seriously can not remember the last time it was not over 95 degrees or higher. When I go out to water plants on my porch, at 6:30 AM I break out in a sweat. We are used to heat and humidity down here, but this summer has been extreme. The only thing I have done lately in my garden other than to pick peppers, the only things that are doing good, is to pick hornworms off the tomatoes. :)

tedln
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For some reason, I haven't been getting notifications that someone has posted on this thread. I've been missing a lot of good posts. I resemble that remark about how the Baptists baptize.

As I read the comments about the heat, I find myself in total agreement, but I have to laugh. At this time last year, everyone was complaining about the cool, wet weather which had caused a severe outbreak of late blight. I just wonder what next year will bring.

Ted

wingdesigner
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This year it'll be blossom end rot on the 'maters and peppers...

I heard a news bite (byte?) that said this may be the hottest year on record. I don't know if that is for the lower 48, North America, the world, or what. I also read in the Freep (local paper) an article that discussed whether the goings-on in the world, weather-wise, are an indication that climate change is happening already, rather than still to come. Not that I want to open that can o' worms... :roll:

We cancelled our trip to the trike rally in MO because it's just too darn hot, and gets hotter the further south we go. Kinda silly to risk heat stroke for vanity, dontcha' think?

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tomf
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In Oregon there is a guy who controls the rain valve; in the fall he stars to turn it on giving it a little turn then in a week or so he gives it another turn, each week he opens it a bit more. Then in November he cranks it open and leaves it on until the spring. In the spring he slowly turns it down until we get to late June where he turns it most of the way off. Just after the Rose Festival in late june he turns it off but a little water leaks out for the 4th of July week end. Then all summer there is no rain to speak of; so far this summer we got enough drizzle to wet the deck where there are no trees over it only once. I would trade a few winter rain days for a few summer sunny days. :lol:

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rainbowgardener
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wingdesigner wrote:
I heard a news bite (byte?) that said this may be the hottest year on record. I don't know if that is for the lower 48, North America, the world, or what. I also read in the Freep (local paper) an article that discussed whether the goings-on in the world, weather-wise, are an indication that climate change is happening already, rather than still to come. Not that I want to open that can o' worms... :roll:
Here's a little bit more data:

*According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months, and the warmest April, May, and June on record.
* A "staggering" new study from Canadian researchers has shown that warmer seawater has reduced phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, by 40% since 1950.
*Nine nations have so far set their all-time temperature records in 2010, including Russia (111 degrees), Niger (118), Sudan (121), Saudi Arabia and Iraq (126 apiece), and Pakistan, which also set the new all-time Asia record in May: a hair under 130 degrees. I can turn my oven to 130 degrees.

Ultimately all the life in the sea depends on that phytoplankton...

I understand that global climate change is about climate not weather, and just because we have a hot day or even a hot summer, we can't use that by itself as evidence of global climate change. But don't you think the warmest decade on record starts to mean something? That averages out a lot of the random variability, other forces operating, etc.



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