Whew! Our Miserable Heat Wave Broke

Catherine+twin · June 24, 2015

It started late last week, rising over 80 F on Thursday and Friday, breaking 90 on Saturday, baking us with a relentless 93 and 92 on Sunday and Monday, and a still unbearable 89 yesterday! Cloudless skies (dangerous for my strawberry blond twins!) and humidity in the single digits sucked the moisture from our skin and made my poor tomato plants droop even with deep drip watering. Clouds built late yesterday, with dry lightning and thunder, then evaporated. This evening, though, thin overcast became real clouds and it finally drizzled on us, producing enough to half-fill my rain barrel (maybe 0.1 inch in the rain guage). Wind has now chased the clouds away, but the moist air (35 % humidity) is making even the 68 F air feel cool.

It's actually supposed to get down to 59 tonight, perfect sleeping weather!

At this point every window in the house is open, and the breeze is already cooling the bedrooms down for the first time since last week! Hey, my little 1949 house on a mountain side doesn't have air conditioning, other than the open doors and windows.

We generally have about 2 weeks of unsleep-able nights in June, then the nights get back down into the low 60s/high 50s and the days in the mid to high 70s/occasional low 80s.

Of course, comfortable for people is not so great for tomatoes. I suspect they would like warmer nights for more of the summer, and for that matter a longer summer. It's no wonder that I grow varieties like Glacier.

Catherine in northern New Mexico, 7200 ft

Deborah · June 25, 2015

I hate hot weather ! I'll bet you have the twins covered in sunscreen ! Doncha just hate it when someone says, "But it's a dry heat"? HOT IS HOT !

Tracydr · June 25, 2015

89 with 35% humidity sounds like heaven right about now. We've had heat indexes around 105 for the past two weeks. Supposed to break on Sunday.

Kikaida · June 25, 2015

A picture is worth...

Catherine+twin · June 25, 2015

Yeah, I used to live out on the eastern plains in Colorado, high temperatures and moderate humidity until the monsoon season starts in late summer. I never lived where there were high temps and high humidity, though I've visited. I'm an arid southwest person, and I have come to love the cool mountain summer, except for the gardening challenges.

The kids and I pretty much bathe in sunscreen during the summer, that's for sure!

Catherine

Gardeneer · June 26, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kikaida

A picture is worth...

Looks very similar to our weather up here in West WA. Our highs will be 91 to 95.
Amazingly our lows are almost the same as yours : A 30 degrees difference between highs and lows. So the soil temperatures won't build up. That is a plus.

Gardeneer

PA_Julia · June 26, 2015

Catherine

I used to live in Sterling Co. I remember the summers very very well. Hot and dry during the day then cooler at night. Sterling sits at 3,935 ft above sea level.

June 27, 2015

Gotcha beat--

June 24, 2015	#1
Catherine+twin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Northern New Mexico Posts: 34	Whew! Our Miserable Heat Wave Broke It started late last week, rising over 80 F on Thursday and Friday, breaking 90 on Saturday, baking us with a relentless 93 and 92 on Sunday and Monday, and a still unbearable 89 yesterday! Cloudless skies (dangerous for my strawberry blond twins!) and humidity in the single digits sucked the moisture from our skin and made my poor tomato plants droop even with deep drip watering. Clouds built late yesterday, with dry lightning and thunder, then evaporated. This evening, though, thin overcast became real clouds and it finally drizzled on us, producing enough to half-fill my rain barrel (maybe 0.1 inch in the rain guage). Wind has now chased the clouds away, but the moist air (35 % humidity) is making even the 68 F air feel cool. It's actually supposed to get down to 59 tonight, perfect sleeping weather! At this point every window in the house is open, and the breeze is already cooling the bedrooms down for the first time since last week! Hey, my little 1949 house on a mountain side doesn't have air conditioning, other than the open doors and windows. We generally have about 2 weeks of unsleep-able nights in June, then the nights get back down into the low 60s/high 50s and the days in the mid to high 70s/occasional low 80s. Of course, comfortable for people is not so great for tomatoes. I suspect they would like warmer nights for more of the summer, and for that matter a longer summer. It's no wonder that I grow varieties like Glacier. Catherine in northern New Mexico, 7200 ft

June 26, 2015	#7
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	Catherine I used to live in Sterling Co. I remember the summers very very well. Hot and dry during the day then cooler at night. Sterling sits at 3,935 ft above sea level. __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

June 25, 2015	#2
Deborah Riding The Crazy Train Again Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: San Marcos, California Posts: 2,562	I hate hot weather ! I'll bet you have the twins covered in sunscreen ! Doncha just hate it when someone says, "But it's a dry heat"? HOT IS HOT !

June 25, 2015	#3
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	89 with 35% humidity sounds like heaven right about now. We've had heat indexes around 105 for the past two weeks. Supposed to break on Sunday.