Summer 2011 Winding Down

tis · 08-07-2011, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanisLupusArctos

The best weather in New England is ahead. In summer, half of all people complain about the heat & humidity. In winter, the other half complain about the cold & snow. But from late August through the middle of October, NO ONE complains about 63- to 73-degree days, 38- to 48-degree nights, lots dryness and high definition skies with no haze, no air pollution... apple-picking season, corn mazes, wagon rides...

Those with sensitive lungs look forward to this time of year, when the air flow stops coming up from the southwest of here (where there are a lot of smoke stacks and tailpipes.) Autumn/winter brings air flow predominantly from the northwest instead (where there's not a whole lot of human activity at all.) The respiratory-sensitive people are the lucky ones: They're the first ones to notice air pollution, even though everyone's breathing it. Everyone's subject to the long-term effects. But the sensitive lung people have discomfort that tells them when to seek refuge from it. So, if you want to look at the end of summer this way -- "it's healthier for your lungs!"

Feel better? :-D

No, I'm with sa, I don't feel better. I LOVE the heat. 70 is too cold for me.
If it is 100 I would rather complain and at the same time love it!! But 80 is just about perfect for the lake.

MAXUM · 08-09-2011, 07:27 PM

Is it to soon to ask what the snowfall outlook is for this winter?

Janet · 08-10-2011, 06:37 AM

All of you who love heat, come on down to Dallas. Today's forecast is for a high temperature of 104. This will be our 39th straight day of 100 degrees or above. Yesterday the high was 106 with heat index of 109. Can't remember the last time we saw rain.

sa meredith · 08-10-2011, 11:40 AM

I don't think the thread is really about loving heat, but rather, with the exception of last year, the issue is that our NH summers are starting to wrap up during the first week of August.
I love the cool, crisp, air of the Fall...and High School football on a Friday night, followed by a perfect 55/60 degree Sat/Sun.
It just seems to me, that, with few exceptions, the month of June has turned into our rainy season, July is often perfect boating/swimming/staying outside till late in the evening season...and come August, it's hit or miss...mostly miss, if you want those hot boating "gotta get in the water" days.
When did our New England summers get reduced to 4, maybe 5, weeks?
I can certainly appreciated the change of season, and the Fall...but save it for September.

tis · 08-10-2011, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAXUM

Is it to soon to ask what the snowfall outlook is for this winter?

Doyboy posted a snowfall outlook in another thread, Maxum. Interesting.

I also want to know about temperature outlook for the winter.

Senter Cove Guy · 08-10-2011, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAXUM

Is it to soon to ask what the snowfall outlook is for this winter?

YES IT IS!
Bring the hot stuff back for another month.

Merrymeeting · 08-10-2011, 04:15 PM

It's not a weather statistic that seems to be kept by many, but along with the below-average humidity, did anyone else think it was an unusually windy summer? (I assume they would be related)

The weather of the past week is more like what I expect more often. Dead calm mornings, light breezy afternoons, and dead calm again at night.

But this summer we had many more days where the wind was howling and the waves had white caps.

We probably notice this more than many as our property is on an eastern shore. But even with that, it seemed much windier than normal this summer.

MAXUM · 08-10-2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senter Cove Guy

YES IT IS!
Bring the hot stuff back for another month.

Never to early to talk about snowmobiling - just like in the dead of winter after an awesome day's ride we end up talking about, well boating!

At least we live in a place where there is 4 seasons, have already experienced the endless summer and I liked that about as much as I think I'd like an endless winter. No thanks.... I like a little taste of everything.

Till then we still got plenty of summer left to enjoy. I do agree with some who have noticed that fall seems to arrive early in August, but then again we usually get some unusually hot weather in September so it all equals out in my book.

CanisLupusArctos · 08-11-2011, 11:05 AM

Those who noticed a lack of humidity, along with a rise in whitecaps this July, were right.

All of our weather comes FROM somewhere. In a normal summer, we get weather mostly from the southwest. That brings heat (or warmth) and humidity up from the Gulf of Mexico, serving the whole eastern half of the nation along the way. On those warm days it's not uncommon for a lake breeze to kick in, on the open lake, after a calm morning. This breeze is usually from the southeast. It may become a strong "sundown wind" late in the day, and will die off to calm after sunset.

This summer, we had a lot of air flow FROM Canada. That's from the northwest. Our normal air flow here is from that direction in all but the summer months -- usually July and August. Our average wind direction is from the Southeast in July and August. Usually, the "lake breeze" and "sundown wind" account for that. It can also be an extension of any seabreeze that is strong enough to reach Alton. If any ocean influence is strong enough to get there, it has a free shot at Center Harbor via the water.

In May and June of this year our average wind direction was from the southeast, which is unusual. It wasn't fair-weather breezes, though. Rainy weather often produces wind from that direction. May and June were rainy here.

July produced an average wind direction from the northwest -- out of Canada. That is very unusual. Air coming from that direction is dry, having traveled a great distance over land without crossing any oceans. We don't get humidity from Canada; we get it from the Gulf of Mexico.

Our humidity this July averaged 69 percent, as compared with last July at 71 percent. July 2008 and 2009 both averaged 80 percent.

Humidity drives the lake water temperature up, and it will try to achieve whatever the air temperature is. The lake loses a lot of heat to surface evaporation into the air, especially when windy. The drier (and faster) the air is, the more evaporation it can take from the surface of the lake. If the air is humid and calm, the lake cannot cool by "sweating" into the air. This year we only reached a water temperature of 76 F.

Those of you who've noticed the shortening summers are also right. The "rainy season" is the kind of weather we get when the summer air is trying to move in, and the cold air of winter is still holding on. That season was traditionally in April ("April showers bring May flowers") but the past few years the rainy season has been ruining Bike Week a lot.

The rainy season always ends with the summertime air winning. At the end of the season we start seeing more frequent showers and thunderstorms as the cold air starts coming back. There are still warm days but they become fewer and farther between. We get the back & forth temperature scheme until the wintertime air wins.

As for winter forecasts, even November is too early to make a winter prediction in New England. One could predict the overall (national/international) weather pattern for winter, right now, in August. But New England's weather can very greatly from the overall pattern. The rest of the country can be partaking in a hemisphere-wide weather pattern while New England experiences a local exception whose reasons cannot be determined until it's already happening.

CrawfordCentury · 08-11-2011, 02:59 PM

Less than six weeks until first frost. Goldenrod's in bloom.

08-10-2011, 11:40 AM	#4
sa meredith Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 986 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 32 Thanked 352 Times in 137 Posts	heat I don't think the thread is really about loving heat, but rather, with the exception of last year, the issue is that our NH summers are starting to wrap up during the first week of August. I love the cool, crisp, air of the Fall...and High School football on a Friday night, followed by a perfect 55/60 degree Sat/Sun. It just seems to me, that, with few exceptions, the month of June has turned into our rainy season, July is often perfect boating/swimming/staying outside till late in the evening season...and come August, it's hit or miss...mostly miss, if you want those hot boating "gotta get in the water" days. When did our New England summers get reduced to 4, maybe 5, weeks? I can certainly appreciated the change of season, and the Fall...but save it for September.

08-11-2011, 02:59 PM	#10
CrawfordCentury Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Somewhere betwixt Gonic and Chocorua Posts: 191 Thanks: 13 Thanked 30 Times in 21 Posts	Less than six weeks until first frost. Goldenrod's in bloom. __________________ Plant a garden. Heat with wood. And thank a veteran.

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08-09-2011, 07:27 PM	#2
MAXUM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kuna ID Posts: 2,755 Thanks: 244 Thanked 1,942 Times in 802 Posts	Is it to soon to ask what the snowfall outlook is for this winter?

08-10-2011, 06:37 AM	#3
Janet Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 471 Thanks: 233 Thanked 134 Times in 91 Posts	All of you who love heat, come on down to Dallas. Today's forecast is for a high temperature of 104. This will be our 39th straight day of 100 degrees or above. Yesterday the high was 106 with heat index of 109. Can't remember the last time we saw rain.

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08-10-2011, 04:15 PM	#7
Merrymeeting Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Merrymeeting Lake, New Durham Posts: 2,228 Thanks: 304 Thanked 799 Times in 368 Posts	It's not a weather statistic that seems to be kept by many, but along with the below-average humidity, did anyone else think it was an unusually windy summer? (I assume they would be related) The weather of the past week is more like what I expect more often. Dead calm mornings, light breezy afternoons, and dead calm again at night. But this summer we had many more days where the wind was howling and the waves had white caps. We probably notice this more than many as our property is on an eastern shore. But even with that, it seemed much windier than normal this summer.

08-11-2011, 11:05 AM	#9
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	Those who noticed a lack of humidity, along with a rise in whitecaps this July, were right. All of our weather comes FROM somewhere. In a normal summer, we get weather mostly from the southwest. That brings heat (or warmth) and humidity up from the Gulf of Mexico, serving the whole eastern half of the nation along the way. On those warm days it's not uncommon for a lake breeze to kick in, on the open lake, after a calm morning. This breeze is usually from the southeast. It may become a strong "sundown wind" late in the day, and will die off to calm after sunset. This summer, we had a lot of air flow FROM Canada. That's from the northwest. Our normal air flow here is from that direction in all but the summer months -- usually July and August. Our average wind direction is from the Southeast in July and August. Usually, the "lake breeze" and "sundown wind" account for that. It can also be an extension of any seabreeze that is strong enough to reach Alton. If any ocean influence is strong enough to get there, it has a free shot at Center Harbor via the water. In May and June of this year our average wind direction was from the southeast, which is unusual. It wasn't fair-weather breezes, though. Rainy weather often produces wind from that direction. May and June were rainy here. July produced an average wind direction from the northwest -- out of Canada. That is very unusual. Air coming from that direction is dry, having traveled a great distance over land without crossing any oceans. We don't get humidity from Canada; we get it from the Gulf of Mexico. Our humidity this July averaged 69 percent, as compared with last July at 71 percent. July 2008 and 2009 both averaged 80 percent. Humidity drives the lake water temperature up, and it will try to achieve whatever the air temperature is. The lake loses a lot of heat to surface evaporation into the air, especially when windy. The drier (and faster) the air is, the more evaporation it can take from the surface of the lake. If the air is humid and calm, the lake cannot cool by "sweating" into the air. This year we only reached a water temperature of 76 F. Those of you who've noticed the shortening summers are also right. The "rainy season" is the kind of weather we get when the summer air is trying to move in, and the cold air of winter is still holding on. That season was traditionally in April ("April showers bring May flowers") but the past few years the rainy season has been ruining Bike Week a lot. The rainy season always ends with the summertime air winning. At the end of the season we start seeing more frequent showers and thunderstorms as the cold air starts coming back. There are still warm days but they become fewer and farther between. We get the back & forth temperature scheme until the wintertime air wins. As for winter forecasts, even November is too early to make a winter prediction in New England. One could predict the overall (national/international) weather pattern for winter, right now, in August. But New England's weather can very greatly from the overall pattern. The rest of the country can be partaking in a hemisphere-wide weather pattern while New England experiences a local exception whose reasons cannot be determined until it's already happening.