It wasn't too hot in my neck of the woods this week, but last week SUCKED!

Although mid-50s is quite a comfortable temperature, all in all.

Is there some difference happening in the ocean currents that might account for the cooler weather? When I lived up there it was in the Susitna Valley, so our general climate was affected by different factors than the climate in Anchorage. We actually had temperatures in the low 90s for a few days one summer, while Anchorage had temperatures in the 70s.


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The final total for Anchorage wsa 134.5 inches, which is about twice our normal. The big snow dumps here are still mountains high, up to 80 feet. With it so cool, it probably won't all melt before winter comes again.

Yes, we feel cheated, but after spending a week in Denver early July, it does feel pretty good to be cool.


As far as ocean currents, I think this weather has something to do with the jet stream. We just keep getting hit with one low after another.

..

the most rainfall for the month of June since 1860, and the average temperature for Central England was 13.6C (56F).

Can't complain, though. It's a cool 95° now, and I hear it was nearly 120° in Palm Springs and 128° in Death Valley a couple days ago.

You get used to it. Now I get a chill when it drops below 84° in my place.

I've thought about it for years.

We complain a lot about the winters, the dark, the cold, the snow, the rainy, gray, too-short summers, but then when the weather is good and the days are long, it's just so perfect, you can forgive all the rest. It's a yin-yang kind of thing, I guess.

Plus, our political landscape is really interesting. Since Alaska has such a small population, it's not uncommon to personally know state political figures, so we tend to feel more connected. It's easy to know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. (We're currently strapped with a VERY bad-guy governor -- he almost makes me miss Sarah.)

Have you visited Alaska?

We had that latitude thing in Key West lol!

The scorching sun, the heat, the hurricanes, the too-short winters. But the ocean made it worthwhile. Lol....all relative I guess huh?

But I did have enough of the sun, and Alaska has been a long time destination choice for me. I'm in NC now, where I grew up, but there's too much heat and sunshine here for me too. I know some would laugh at that, but I've just had enough sunshine to last me a lifetime.

No, I've not been there yet. I'm actively looking for a job there. I'm not getting any younger.

We've talked before here; I'm a great fan of your Alaska pics.

They ship Cheerwine anywhere, now.

You must be a Carolina boy!

Nobody knows about Cheerwine except a Carolinian!

A friend in Salisbury introduced me to Cheerwine at a local BBQ joint there. Great stuff!

and by all means, give me a shout if you're heading up this way. We love to play tour guide.

And I'll give you a shout for sure.

in the 85-90 range. For us, here, that is utopia. Should be 95-100 and hellish, either dry as a bone or so humid you breathe water. Unfortunately, it will end the middle of next week. So it goes...

For now, I celebrate!

I've noticed here in northern Cal more and more Alders springing up like mad. All over the creeks and stream beds. Virtually blanketing areas that have long been open and occasionally flooded. It's been so long, so far too damned long, since we have had a good decent rain season here its almost laughable at this point. You have to laugh.
Anyway, it appears to me the Alders are moving in and preparing the soil for Douglas Firs and Redwoods to move in, which is great but also very scary as the torrential downpours are long since gone and the poor trees are struggling to live in the heat and the once year round creeks have now mostly moved underground. This shit has to stop.

if it dropped down farther south it could pick up some warmer air and swing it up towards you



BTW, gonna be over 100 in Detroit tomorrow, again.

Has it been stuck "freakishly far north" for several months now?

increased heat energy in the atmosphere has altered the usual range of the jet stream.


The lower 48 had a winter that never really happened. I do snow removal in the winter, in and around Detroit Michigan, and we only went out to move snow 4 times all winter (we also did some salting for minor snow falls ans icing events but I am not counting those).


We (south of the jet stream) get a heat wave, you (north of the jet stream) have a cold snap. You (north of the jet stream) get lots of snow and we (south of the jet stream) get very little.


It all averages out though, and isn't that the most important thing?

In Anchorage, we had 134.5 inches, which is approximately double our normal snowfall. Only three snowstorms left more than seven inches, so it was just snowing small amounts all the time. Shoveling the driveway was a full-time job.

In the Prince William Sound towns, they had snow over the tops of their houses with tunnels going down to their front doors. It was pretty extreme.


ed. Not to mention, a "hurricane" up around Nome is November. They just discovered the body of a man who went missing in the storm.