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Month: September 2017

Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 South West Michigan – Sunshine & Cool Temps

Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 South West Michigan – Sunshine & Cool Temps

Currently 51 with a NNE wind making no difference, so it feels like 51. Dew Point 42, Humidity 72%, Barometer 30.44 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:39 am, Sunset 7:24 pm. Total sunshine today with a high of 66. Light and variable winds.

Mostly clear overnight skies. Low 41. Light and variable winds continue.

Last night was cool enough to think turning on the heat won’t be a bad idea one of these days. I didn’t, but getting up this morning is that chill was anything but fun. Might be why I didn’t get up when I should have :>) Nothing like staying in that warm bed, listening to music from Spotify on the IPhone, petting the cat and simply avoiding getting up and getting going. Yup…my kind of morning. However, eventually, I had to face reality and haul up and out. Hours later, it’s still too chilly in here, but hey…that’s fall, isn’t it?

Going to look back in a month or so and think this was warm. Brrrrr….well, enough of that. I’m not going to let myself think about the weather down the road a month or two.

Friday, Sept 29, 2017 South West Michigan – Precious Little Rain Fell

Friday, Sept 29, 2017 South West Michigan – Precious Little Rain Fell

Currently 57 degrees with a NW wind of 11 mph dropping that to feel like 54. Dew Point 53, Humidity 85%, Barometer 30.09 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:37 am, Sunset 7:36 pm. Cloudy morning eventually should become a cloud/sun mix. High 68. NNW winds 10 – 20 mph.

Clear overnight skies with a low of 39. N winds 10 – 20 mph.

We  finally got some rain. A whole, whopping .03″. Big deal. We need so much more and there doesn’t seem to be any in sight. Woke to hear some faint thunder, a sound not heard for a long time, heard a small amount of rain falling and that was that. Never did end up turning into any decent precipitation for us at all. I picked up the phone and zeroed in on the weather radar map…as usual, big globs of green all around my area, and there I was, right in the middle. So I’m sure elsewhere in the state folks got our needed rain, again, as usual.

Haven’t seen a humming bird in two days now – not that one hasn’t been here, ’cause I don’t watch it all day, but when I was able to see the feeder, none have put in an appearance. But bees…now that is a different matter. After seeing so few bees all summer and worrying about that, suddenly the past 2 or 3 days, the hummingbird feeder is swarmed with bees. A good dozen of them in there drowned because they get in and most can’t find their way out. And when I went out to feed the birds and freshen up the bird bath, they’re rather on the defensive side. I’m not happy about that. I know they need the sugar water, too, but if they don’t get a tad more friendly, they may find that particular diner closed.

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 South West Michigan – Much Cooler Temperatures

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 South West Michigan – Much Cooler Temperatures

Currently 55 with an average wind of WNW of 4 mph making no difference, so it feels like 55. Dew Point 47, Humidity 74%, Barometer 30.16 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:36 am, Sunset 7:28 pm. Cloudy to partly cloudy today with a high near 70. WNW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Partly cloudy to cloudy with an 80% chance of overnight rain. Low 53. SW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Can’t believe how cool it is this morning. What an enormous difference from last week. It’s either grab a sweater or close some of these windows, that’s my choice. I may be feeling the cold somewhat, but it’s great to have that heat wave fade away. In the middle of summer, not so bad. Nearing October? Bad.

There seems to be a good chance for some rain tonight and I hardly dare get my hopes up at this stage. It’s been so long since we’ve had any significant precipitation. Definitely hoping for the best tonight. And the best would be waking up to see a half an inch in the rain gauge…well, maybe that’s pushing it, but it would sure be sweet. We’ll see how it goes.

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017 South West Michigan – Farewell To The 90 Degrees!

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017 South West Michigan – Farewell To The 90 Degrees!

Currently 64 degrees, feeling like 64 with a WNW wind of 11 mph. Dew Point, 55, Humidity 71%, Barometer 30.03 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:35 am, Sunset 7:30 pm. Partly cloudy, much cooler. High today 71. NW winds 10 -20 mph.

A few overnight clouds, low 48. NNW winds 10 – 15 mph.

Our heatwave has ended. And about time. The weather is going to be much more seasonal from here on in. We may see another 80 degree day or two, but the 90 degree mark won’t be hit again until next summer. Now if we could only get some rain. It’s very dry here. Haven’t had any rain in my backyard since about the beginning of Sept and then less than a quarter of an inch.

It’s time for Autumn to start getting real.

Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 South West Michigan – Records Continue To Fall

Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 South West Michigan – Records Continue To Fall

Currently 65 degrees. Feels like 65 with an ESE wind of 2 mph. Dew Point 60, Humidity 86%, Barometer 29.95, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:34, Sunset  7:32 pm. Sunny to cloudy today with a record high of 91 expected. SW winds 10 – 15 mph.

Partly cloudy to cloudy overnight skies with the chance of a shower or thunderstorm showing up. Low in the lower 60s. W winds around 5 mph becoming NW with gusts to around 20. I’ve seen the chance of rain tonight up to 40% on some sites.  But for the most part it appears that we will miss out on this much needed rain.  Except for this slight chance tonight and a bit of an opportunity on Friday, there is nothing in sight as far as rain for us in the foreseeable future. None.

This could be the end of our 90 degree days. It does sound seriously like tomorrow could end up a good 20 degrees lower for our daily high. Could it be?  The A/C finally turned off until next summer?  Please let it be. We’ve had enough of this pseudo summer in what by all rights should be Autumn. Looks as if the temperatures will rebound next week, but only into the 80 degree range. Much more comfortable than this past week has been while we’ve been busy setting new, unwanted, records.

Been watching the nightmare the folks are  having to undergo in Puerto Rico. It’s more than awful. No water, food, power, communication, gas….it’s hot, humid and unbearable for them. Lines, long, long lines of people stacked up in airports trying desperately to find a way off the destroyed island. I can’t even imagine how difficult that all must be, how frustrating, how frightening. My sympathy does not lie with people here living in the outer banks of Carolina or the keys in Florida, anywhere along the eroding ocean shore by choice – they are living in places that should, by all rights, not be inhabited, that cost big, big bucks to have to keep repairing when the ocean does what it does and washes over them or washes them away. These people are, frankly, foolish.  But…the folks living on an island like Puerto Rico. That’s a different matter. That whole island is their home, where they belong. Sitting there, surrounded by the ocean, they have no choice. It’s what it is. And when Mother Nature fools around with that and destroys everything as it has during this past hurricane, that is nothing short of heartbreaking. All of my sympathy and prayers go out to those people.

Monday, Sept 25, 2017 South West Michigan – Equal Light and Dark

Monday, Sept 25, 2017 South West Michigan – Equal Light and Dark

Currently 69 degrees feeling ling 69 with an ESE wind of 2 mph. Dew Point 64, Humidity 90%, Barometer 30.03 & rising, Visibility 9 mi, Sunrise 7:33 am, Sunset 7:33 pm. Sunny today with a few afternoon clouds. Another record high will be set with a high of 91. SSW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Some evening clouds will give way to clear overnight skies. Low 62. Light and variable winds.

As records continue to fall here with one day following another of unseasonable 90+ degrees, our days have evened out with our nights. Not a bad thing except for the fact that from here on in, the days will be getting shorter and that’s not good. Won’t be long at all before we’ll be in to those pitiful short days where you start your day in the dark, and end your day in the dark with too little light in between. Can’t be helped but if it could, I would. I much prefer being on the other side of the circle :>)

Sunday, Sept. 24 South West Michigan – Record Temperatures To Continue

Sunday, Sept. 24 South West Michigan – Record Temperatures To Continue

Currently 78 and it already feels like 80. Ave Wind SSE 6 mph, Dew Point 61, Humidity 54%, Barometer 30.10 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:32 am, Sunset 7:35 pm. Heading for a record of 94 today with sunny skies. SW winds of 5 – 10 mph.

Clear overnight skies. Low 64. SSE winds 5 – 10 mph.

We remain hot with absolutely no chance for the temperatures falling or any rain expected to help. A lot of leaves are falling before their time due to the fact that they are so dry.  Plenty of them on the ground but before the color is getting to its peak. That’s not good. The usual outdoor things you plan for in the fall are being put on the back burner because it’s simply too hot out there to enjoy doing much of anything. Everyone will be happy when this heat waves finally waves goodbye and moves on.

Saturday, Sept 23, 2017 South West Michigan – Record High Temps Continue

Saturday, Sept 23, 2017 South West Michigan – Record High Temps Continue

Currently 71 with an average SSW wind of only 2 mph ignoring it, so it feels like 71. Dew Point 67, Humidity 88%, Barometer 30.10 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:31 am, Sunset 7:37 pm. Sunny again with another record temperature in store. 94 should be our high. SW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Clear skies, low around 65 tonight. Light and variable winds.

It was a sweltering 95 degrees here yesterday. This is insane. It’s been ages since we’ve had any rain to speak of, and it’s simply way, way too hot for this time of year. The annual Art Prize is going on in downtown Grand Rapids, and frankly, it’s just too darn hot to care about going to see anything. This is crazy.  Peering ahead, it looks to be heading toward the end of next week before things begin to get back to normal. Man….not liking the fact that the A/C is on in the back half of September. Going to wreck havoc with my budget, I’ll tell you that :>)

Friday, Sept 22, 2017 South West Michigan – How Dry I Am

Friday, Sept 22, 2017 South West Michigan – How Dry I Am

Currently 75 with an average S wind of 3 mph making no difference so it feels like 75. Dew Point 68, Humidity 78%, Barometer 30.38 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:28 am, Sunset 7:41 pm. With a sunny day and only a few passing afternoon clouds, we are expected to reach a high of 93. SW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Clear overnight skies, low 67, SSW winds 5 – 10 mph.

Dry.  The word for the day is dry. We haven’t had any rain to speak of in a very long time and the leaves, being that it is fall already, stressed enough to change color and fall to the ground, are telling the tale. When the wind blows, they sound a papery, rustling sound. A dry call for moisture is what I hear. It’s as if Mother Nature has hung a million wind chimes about that only play the one tune, in a whispery voice. We won’t even address the grass, which has for the most part given up on being green in favor of shades of brown and tan. Even the tall weeds that usually bend and sway in the breeze, snap and break if that air hits them hard enough. We are in need of rain. Because….it’s dry.

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 South West Michigan – Pseudo August For Us

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 South West Michigan – Pseudo August For Us

Currently 76 with a SSW wind of 5 mph behaving so it feels exactly like the 76 it is. Dew Point 69, Humidity 79%, Barometer 30.02 & rising, Visibility 10 mi, Sunrise 7:28 am, Sunset 7:41 pm. Partly cloudy today with the small chance of a stray thunderstorm, high 90, S wind 5 – 10 mph.

Partly cloudy overnight with that same small chance of a stray t-storm. Low 69. S wind 5 – 10 mph.

This is rather bizarre. It’s as if Mother Nature has become confused and is giving us a nice, hot month of August, totally forgetting we are in the back half of September. Looking ahead this week, we are expected to be hovering at or slightly above the 90 degree mark. Unbelievable. And we are getting none of the rain possibilities that have been given us. It’s very dry now. I really don’t see anything happening real soon to be changing or helping that situation. We need to cool off and get some rain. And I fully realize that in a couple of months I’m going to be amazed that I even thought that, but for now, it’s true.