Today’s high hit 91 tying the record set in 1980. Up until 2011, that was our hottest summer. I find it interesting that during these super-hot summers, hurricane activity in the Gulf was minor. I’ve always said water temperatures were only one ingredient in the tropical recipe. By logic, the warmer the water, the more fuel for tropical systems. However, my experience tells me that wind shear is by far the more important ingredient with Saharan dust a smaller factor. Add in the MJO along with El Nino/La Nino and it becomes a rather complex process. Thank goodness we are past the threat for a major storm and now our focus will turn to the coming cooldown called Winter. It has been many years since we had a really hard freeze (below 20 degrees) and my Plant Professor (Peter Perino) believes we really could use one. Why? According to Pete, we need that hard freeze to help control the pest populations that explode without the killing freezes. Sure, a hard freeze will kill your annuals too and Perinos will profit by that cold, but what Peter is talking about will not permanently harm the hardier plants & trees. So the tradeoff is…no freezes = more termites, roaches & creepy critters vs the harder freezes killing the vermin. Even I, the wimpy hate cold weather freak will endure some cold spells for the common good!
The coming front for this weekend still appears to pack enough punch to drop our overnight temps into the 40s & 50s. Daytime highs will still be 75-80 which will feel very nice with low humidity. Models are hinting another named storm (Otto) will form well east of Florida and avoid the U.S. It will help pull the front through us as it races up the east coast. If we are to get any significant rainfall this month, it will have to be on Thursday with our next front. Stay tuned!
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