Dreadfully Hot

Friday, May 10, 2013

1:42 A.M.

Good morning everybody! The weather outside today is wonderful… much better than that dreadful weather we had Monday. “Dreadful?,” you might ask?

Dreadful. At least for me.

At some time during autumn 2012, I decided that I was no longer going to wear shorts (excepting formal occasions, like weddings and stuff). It worked out wonderfully… I wore a sweatshirt, so I did not get cold, and I just felt so free with my shorts. There was no need to wear constricting jeans that prevented me from having any spontaneous long-jump contests.

As I wore shorts daily throughout the winter, I adapted to the cool Seattle days. Even if I was chilly, I was so used to the feeling that I didn’t pay attention to it and it didn’t interfere with any of my activities. I simply just set any discomfort aside and went along enjoying my life. After a couple months, however, I had become so used to the sensation of wearing shorts in 40 degree weather that wearing anything long seemed to be akin to microwaving my legs. When I was required to wear long pants for jazz gigs, my legs suffocated under the heat that was being trapped by my pants.

Then came Monday.

Monday was hot. Extremely hot. For one day, Seattle tied Phoenix as the hottest major city in the United States. I don’t know the statistics, but I can’t ever remember that happening. The previous record high of 79 degrees at Sea-Tac was absolutely crushed by a high of 87 that day. Yet, I still saw a fair number of people walking around campus in long pants. How they managed this, I will never know, but they deserve some props. That’s impressive stuff right there.

Now, we are thankfully in a much cooler regime, as it is very apparent that I still need some time to readjust to the sunny Seattle summers. Let’s take a look at what we have in store for us next week.

 

Valid 02:00 am PDT Fri, 10 May 2013 - 9hr Fcst: UW 00z WRF-GFS: 36km 500mb absolute vorticity, heights

I hope you don't like upper-level winds, because it is dead calm in the upper atmosphere above us. Thankfully, most of us don't feel too strongly one way or the other. You can see a large trough over the central Pacific and a ridge over us, but as is evidenced by the lack of significant height lines over area, the upper atmosphere is essentially stagnant over our area.

Things get a little more exciting later in the week. We'll have a system come in on Sunday, and this system will be followed by another one on Monday and yet another one on Wednesday. These systems will not be strong, but the rain will certainly be felt across the area. Many of my friends (including my roommate!) have been suffering through some horrible allergies, and the precipitation and onshore flow of marine air should alleviate the suffering for those unfortunate enough to have hay fever. I have dreadful hay fever, but it peaks far earlier in the spring and coincides with the blooming of the cherry blossoms. Those who have been suffering as of late will surely welcome this break from their constant sniffling.

Thanks for reading! Time for me to go to bed. I'll write some higher-quality posts when I have less stuff on my plate.

Charlie