Hot As Hell In The USA

Elaine Meinel Supkis

As a great heat wave grips America, already typhoons are striking Asia, killing many, and our hurricane season is cooking away, getting ready for us in the Fall. Meanwhile, another 7+ earthquake in the ocean off Indonesia makes a tidalwave that swept away hotels, tourists and Indonesian citizens.

It's hot as hell.

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Temperatures in the 90s gripped parts of the country on Monday, prompting heat advisories, altered routines and calls for electricity conservation.

On the streets of New York, where the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the day, a spot in the shade competed with a parking slot as the most valuable commodity. Men and women made their way under narrow awnings, lounged under trees and took breaks under the large umbrellas of hot dog stands.

I used to work in Midtown Manhattan. The glass buildings reflect the sun back into each other, amplifying the heat. I grew up in the hottest part of America and it isn't as hot as Midtown Manhattan when the thermometer in Central Park reads 100 degrees, it is actually 115+ on the sidewalks in parts of Manhattan. I used to duck from store to store just to get a breath of cool air. The traffic makes it even worse.

Even my mountain is under an ozone alert today and I live far from all cities! My trees and flowers like clean air to breathe. They don't like ozone. Not one bit. So no sooner have the caterpillars left us and the leaves started to regenerate when we get this. The many rainy days are now gone and I notice there is little to no rain to be seen coast to coast except some thunderstorms in the Southwest and a few in the North.

I will also note that there is some 110+ temperatures in one spot of Northern California. This is very similar to the situation in 1859 when a hyper-heatwave of 133 degrees damaged Santa Barbara.

The morning temperatures are normal, 75-to-80 degrees, with an offshore breeze that prevents the ocean from having a cooling effect.
By noon, people begin to notice something unusual is happening. The temperature has quickly risen to almost 100 degrees and the mountain breeze is becoming stronger and stronger. About 1 pm a heavy blast of hot air sweeps through the Goleta Valley from the direction of Santa Ynez Peak, driving even the hardiest into the shelter of their homes and filling them with terror; they think the end of the world has come.

The superheated air continues to pour down on the coast for the next hour. By 2 pm the temperature is an incredible 133 degrees!

It can happen again. And this year is a possible candidate for such a hyper-heat wave.

Here is the ozone alert for my very rural county.

AIR QUALITY LEVELS IN OUTDOOR AIR ARE PREDICTED TO BE GREATER THAN AN AIR QUALITY INDEX VALUE OF 100 FOR THE POLLUTANT OF OZONE. THE AIR QUALITY INDEX...OR AQI...WAS CREATED AS AN EASY WAY TO CORRELATE LEVELS OF DIFFERENT POLLUTANTS TO ONE SCALE. THE HIGHER THE AQI VALUE, THE GREATER THE HEALTH CONCERN.

Java is hit by a tidalwave.

CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes ago
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake sent a 6-foot-high tsunami crashing into beach resorts on Indonesia's Java island Monday, killing at least 86 people, leaving scores missing and sending thousands fleeing to higher ground, officials and witnesses said.

Regional bulletins that the 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake was strong enough to send a killer wave steaming toward the country worst hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami did not reach the victims, because the nation's main island has no warning system.

Thousands fled to higher ground along a 110-mile stretch of the densely populated island's southern coast. The hardest-hit area appeared to be Pangandaran, an idyllic beach resort long popular with local and foreign tourists. Witnesses there said people shouted " Tsunami! Tsunami!" and climbed trees or crowded into inland mosques as the wave approached.

It seems people on the beach noticed for half an hour, fish flopping about and sea creatures scurrying around. One doesn't need fancy equipment to deal with tsunami warnings. All one needs is close observation of the beach itself. Paying a group of people to monitor it and then set off alarms like air raid sirens, can save many lives. Or one can passively let things continue as is.

Tourists and hotels were hit. We will eventually learn who they were unless they are Americans. I wonder if the lack of curiosity about deaths will continue? I do know the family of Canadians who were blown up in Lebanon didn't get much of a peep from the guy elected to represent Canadian interests!

And we still haven't evacuated any Americans from Lebanon. This is certainly a curious situation.

And the earth-girdling earthquakes continue. This will last another two to three years. In Central America, people are fleeing yet more restless volcanoes. And Merapi continues to stew.

Culture of Life News Main Page

Comments

[D.F.Facti]

Art and I drove around much of the day, and I cannot remember being this uncomfortable in years. I refuse to turn the A/C on because I have gone through 3/4 of a tank of gas since Friday, and it's up over $3.00 at the cheap places - but I try to go to CITGO whenever possible. Great breeze - but at least 95 degrees air temp - heat index, well over 100, I'm sure.

Parking lots - ugh!! Brutal.

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Yes, they are very hot.

I was shopping for a mother of the bride dress at JC Penny today. They had virtually NO airconditioning. Trying on dresses that were sticking to my carcass was annoying as heck. Shudder.

Got a nice dress. But they cut back on the cooling to save money. A bad sign of what is to come.