A break in the heat

Finally! I've mentioned it in a couple of places online, but not in my blog yet. This August has been absolutely bonkers in terms of heat. Average August temps are around 90. Until today, we hadn't had a single day below 90 (32 C). As of Friday (August 24), we had had more days above 100 degrees than below, many of those in the 105 range. And yes, you really can feel the difference! (For the rest of the planet, 100-105 F is 38-40 C.) That is just the actual air temp, too. The heat index has routinely read 120 (49 C), if not higher (highest one I saw was 128 F, or 53 C). I know my Arizonian friend thinks that is normal, but she also has to remember that this is with humidity levels in the 50-75% range, not the 20% or so she is used to. All you do is sweat, and it just doesn't help cool you off. Someone once said that Southern women don't sweat, they glisten. Not in this heat, they don't! Even the breeze is hot; feels more like a blast furnace. It has been so hot that Luke has hardly been outside to play in the afternoons at daycare, which means he is wound up with all of that stored energy when we pick him up. Fun (not).

Georgia is also experiencing the worst drought in decades. We are currently at a 17 inch deficit, though it has rained the last three days (YAY!!), so it may be down somewhat. 150 of the 159 counties are reporting some level of drought, with over 50 reporting record 100-year severe drought levels. The scary thing there is that we are heading into September and October, the two statistically driest months of the year. I didn't realize how bad things had gotten until we drove through our neighborhood Friday evening on the way home. With a drought, obviously, things dry up gradually. You don't go from fine to a 17 inch deficit overnight. But with it happening gradually, I didn't notice how brown everything had gotten. It's still greener than Arizona! LOL But with the sudden shower of Friday afternoon, coming home was like entering another world. There are lots of trees and plants of all sort in my neighborhood, and it was like someone had juiced up the technicolor. Everything was so green and vibrant! I felt like I had been seeing it all for the past several weeks through hazy glass, and suddenly someone had finally cleaned it. Like I said, I hadn't noticed things turning so dingy and hazy and brown until it literally changed in a few hours thanks to a single shower. It was really amazing!

Today's rain has been virtually constant for several hours, but not hard. Just what we needed to give the ground a really good soak (instead of pouring down and all running off into the gutters and storm drains). I know my friend Krista has been complaining about similar weather up where she is (though she had temps of around 75 (24 C), as opposed to our temps of give-or-take 90 (32 C) for the next few days). The five day forecast is showing a Friday high temp of 83 (28 C). Sounds downright chilly to me. I can't wait!

Currently feeling: melting