June 08 20XX+1
My Dear Lucilius:
Stepping out the door this morning, I stepped into damp grass.
Rain is not unknown here at this time of year, a far cry from where I grew up where the season had a hard end. Here, it can linger into June and even beyond a bit. It was always welcome in my book and even more so now, when the criticality of water (and not having to otherwise transport it) has achieved a greater importance.
An odd thing, the weather. Once in the not too distant past, we had weather at our fingertips. We could get forecasts by the hour, by the day, or by the week. We could watch (via models) the projected weather coming in. I have to confess that I always found a certain amount of interest in watching the computer models of projected storm fronts, focusing in on where we lived at the time, trying to see if we were inside of the zone or outside of it (of course I was never correct in my guessing).
It is absurd, of course, to say that we have no weather forecasting now: people have been forecasting the weather for thousands of years, just with much less technological means: cloud watching, nature signs, even the use of body parts to predict rain – while I have never been one to have my joints hurt just before a storm, I have known others and them have almost always been spot on.
And history and seasonality, of course. Live somewhere long enough, speak to people that have lived there and keep records, and in time one will form a generally effective weather climate record – not precise of course, but generally accurate in large swaths.
I do not have much skill, of course. I have learned to see a front coming in (even if it does not bear rain) and now know with reasonable accuracy when the first day to plant is and when, more than likely, the first frost will hit. And perhaps, given the situation I find myself in, that is enough to know.
After all, in the old world we had access to weather down to the minute – but so many spent their times in climate controlled buildings that the weather itself was nothing more than a sort of background entertainment, the equivalent of a computer screen saver that went on in the background and which was experienced by most in quick dashes and short trips out, only to return to the comfort of regulated heat and cooling. We knew the weather, but did everything we could to not actually experience it.
We now find ourselves in the opposite position – having to experience and live with the weather in a real way, we limited ability to know it before it happens.
It does, I suppose, give one the opportunity to enjoy walking in post-night rain as a true surprise instead of a foregone conclusion. I find it comforting to know such minor joys still exist.
Your Obedient Servant, Seneca
In browsing through my blogger reading list, I notice a lot of bloggers talking about weather! (Myself included).
ReplyDeleteSeneca makes some excellent points. Eric Sloane has a couple of books about weather, I believe one contains a lot of his paintings and the other old weather lore. Fascinating stuff and something I think I should study more. Especially after availing myself to digital technology that I'm discovering probably isn't all we think it is.
The other point is how we cocoon ourselves in climate control. I sometimes wonder how people will fare if they either lose it or have restrictions put on it. It will probably be a struggle for many.
Leigh, weather remains one of the universally safe discussion topics: non-political, non-sectarian, non-personal beliefs. I can literally have a conversation with anyone from anywhere on the local weather and the weather where they hail from.
DeleteI took a class in my undergraduate coursework on meteorology - it was one of my favorite classes and I still have the textbook. I still remember (most) of my cloud formations from that class.
The Weather Wizard's Cloud Book by Louis D. Rubin/Tim Duncan is a rough and ready guide on predicting weather that is slim, with pictures, and actually pretty useful.
As to the second point - not well, I fear. We are currently stewing in Summer heat, but we are all inside. If that were to go, or even be interrupted, it will create significant disruptions, discomfort, and health issues. I would love to say "ease into it now", but I also love my air conditioning.
Weather discussions have a couple of things going for them. For one, if you're living and breathing, the weather affects you. It pays no mind to your politics, faith, or nationality. For another, even if you live in a climate-controlled world, the weather still influences you. Aside from the fact that you still occasionally have to go out into desert heat or arctic cold, it hits you in the wallet. A cold winter stokes conversations of high heating bills as much as it stokes hearth fires. Out here in the west, a blazing summer is what robs the bank!
DeleteI look at where I live, knowing people lived here LONG before A/C, and contemplate how I'd deal with its absence. My wife, an American citizen born in Mexico, is on the bandwagon that derides those "stereotypical" lawn statues of the Mexican guy leaning up against a wall, asleep under his sombrero, when in fact THIS is what people DID when it got too hot! They found a shady spot, usually outside somewhere with a breeze, and slept through the hottest part of the day!!! I need look no further to back up my argument than my chickens and my desert tortoise, all of whom do EXACTLY THAT!!! There will be whiners and gnashers of teeth when the "S" finally hits the fan, but those noises will abate. They'll either adapt, or they'll die... Me, I'll follow the chickens and the tortoise...
Pete, you make a good point: our climate control is exchanged for dollars and if you do not have dollars, you do not have the climate. The cost of electricity is just as expensive here in the Summer; one "nice" thing about having an office job again is I can leave the thermostat slightly higher as I am not actually home (although the pets do like the climate control).
DeleteTo your point about stereotypes and weather related practices, we need only look back 100 years to see how people coped before air conditioning and central heating. As the cost continues to rise, I suspect we will see more of these practices become a reality (which, in this case, I would be okay with - an afternoon nap would be welcome).
Eric Sloane has many useful books; however, his knowledge base is New England area. Weather predicting like gardening skills is VERY LOCAL. New England weather predictions are not so useful in California due to different common wind patterns there. Dryer areas like the Midwest and arid Southwest are very different indeed.
ReplyDeleteCloud studies are pretty universal, and the noting of approaching patterns helps a lot.
NH weather person Michael REPORTS: Good morning, my weather string and little pine tree outside weather local is ready. String is damp so dewpoint was reached high humidity expected today. Tree isn't moving so little wind expected this morning. Clear skies in 360 degree eyeball search.
Last few days brought much heat and humidity as well as active thunderstorms. So currently I have whole house fans going to cool off the house before solar gain is serious.
As a side note a few hundred watts of solar power is a very useful sherpa.
Most folks have a sense of weather IF they can calm their internal monologue of life murmurs long enough to "Hear it". The more observant notice patterns of their animals' behaviors and take precautions.
Sadly, chickens seem unaware of weather as I've had to rattle can bribe them (they ARE trainable) into the chicken house when bad weather or predators were nearby.
Fronts work, I believe, generally in the same way no matter where you are - thus learning them once helps almost anywhere.
DeleteToday's prediction: Hot. Also tomorrow's, the day after, and likely everything until November.
The "modern" life hasn't completely washed out the "gut feeling" a person can have. Second summer we're having a lack of average rainfall.
ReplyDeleteLive anywhere long enough Nylon12, and one can get a sense for the weather - and I have often "gutted" things that were not on the weather. For example, I can get often know when an oncoming storm will generate rain, even if for a few minutes.
DeleteUnfortunate about the rainfall - same in our neighborhood as well.
Our seasonal creeks are drying up now, bringing some relief from a particularly vicious mosquito season. Hard freezes of the winter weren't enough to prevent them. Though he doesn't mention it, I imagine Seneca positioning rain barrels and keeping them clean.
ReplyDeleteI've been a weather watcher most of my life, starting with formal training as a pilot. It was a big factor then; I had more flights cancelled by weather than ones I was able to fly. VFR (visual flight rules) requirements are much more restricting that the instrument rules the airlines fly.
I daily read the technical discussions from the National Weather Service. It took a long time to learn all of their jargon and acronyms; these reports are for professionals in the field, they are the reports that the TV weather people try to translate into plain language for their audiences. One of our standing jokes in aviation is that you can get a reasonably accurate forecast for about six hours ahead. Anything beyond that becomes increasingly less so.
Greg - It is a legitimate question and (frankly) one I did not think of, so I have assume that he does not at the moment (hopefully some sort of kind person will suggest this to him). I will say that for his location, a creek is (literally) right across road.
DeleteI admire your reading of the technical discussions, especially as an "amateur". Like many such publications, I suspect there is a great deal of useful information in there if ferreted out.
Six hours. Duly noted.