It is the south, and it is the summer, but why is Roanoke, Virginia hotter than some piedmont towns that are usually cooking in the summer?
The folks at Accuweather are proclaiming heat the winner this weekend. Many of the east coast cities are going to have their short cool springs end in a pool of steam.
Having grown up in the south, I don't get too excited about heat even with these dire warnings from Accuweather.
Humidity will add to the discomfort, leading to triple-digit RealFeel® temperatures. Heat advisories are in effect in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, including the greater Philadelphia area, and along the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia to the Carolinas.
I just follow the rules of the South.
The rules are get up early, do your outside work before the sun gets high in the sky. This morning I watered some sod that I planted a couple of weeks ago, sprayed some of our palms for rust, watered my tomatoes, and washed my truck all before 7:30 am this morning. It was plenty warm by the time I was done, but it was still a lot cooler than it is now.
Kevin Myatt of the Roanoke Times is expecting some Roanoke records to break.
Strong high pressure is building in, and this will give us several days of extreme heat for early June. We're talking mid to upper 90s in Roanoke now through at least the middle of next week. Record highs for each of those dates are, well, in the mid to upper 90s, all dating to the time period between 1914-1939. Blacksburg's daily records in the upper 80s and low 90s are likely in jeapordy as well.
100 degrees in Roanoke? It's not impossible we could scrape the century mark a day or two, and I thoroughly expect somewhere like Martinsville or Danville to have a 100-degree day before the middle of next week.
These temperatures from Weatherunderground show Roanoke hotter than Beaufort, SC. Now that's hot.
I saw a note that kids in Pulaski County are being dismissed two hours early because of the heat.
I seem to remember that none of our schools were air conditioned back in the fifties and sixties. I can still remember the first air conditioner that we got for our home. It was a wonder. It cooled only our living room.
Before we got that we relied on shade from trees, window awnings and screened windows. A wading pool or a nearby creek was of critical importance to those of us who were younger.
We have become accustomed to our air conditioned cocoons, they will likely be mighty expensive this summer. Last summer we set our thermostats on 78 degrees during the day and 77 during the night. That worked pretty well, but we might have to inch them up this summer.
Since I am down on the Carolina coast more often than not, the water is the most effect way to cool down. A few days ago I managed to do my first dip in the surf. Since I hardly ever manage to get over to the beach until after 5 pm, the air and the water are a perfect complement to each other. Those evening sea breezes don't hurt either.
I am thinking the swimming pools in Roanoke will be busy this next week.
It is hard to believe that Roanoke is hotter than Cornelius or Mount Airy. Cornelius which isn't that far from Charlotte often cooks. Pittsboro which is close Raleigh is often one of the hottest spots in North Carolina.
I suspect we all are going to see the heat over the next week. Perhaps we can dodge the severe weather that often comes with it.
Maybe it is time to consider that long delayed trip to the Canadian Maritimes where it was a sweater day instead of a sweat filled one.
You can check out my Maritime Canada travel guide. The rocky shores of Nova Scotia are a good place to hide from the heat.
Hey Dave!!
I couldn't help but congratulate you on the first ripe tomato of the season!!
I also wanted to add the decades of the seventies & eighties which were non-air conditioned classrooms as well. We NEVER got to go home early or get out of ANY classes due to heat! We just sat there and took it!
I am a regular reader of your blog. . . I will be in Holden beach in a few days for a few days. . . can't wait for the tropical breezes instead of the sweltering heat here in Roanoke!
Take care!
Richard
Posted by: Richard Provolone | June 07, 2008 at 06:43 AM
Richard,
I hope you have a great trip. I went swimming again over at the beach last night.
The surf temperature near the Bogue Inlet pier was in the upper seventies, and it felt great.
The water south of Wilmington is supposed to be in the eighties.
http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/sem.html
I can remember one trip we did to Bald Head Island in the early nineties when it was so hot we had to swim in the early morning and in the evening.
From 9 am to 4 pm, you had to hide by the air conditioners.
I don't know how we survived those years in school with no fans and no air conditions. We must have been tough.
I couldn't do it today. Have fun at the beach. It looks like the weather will moderate some by mid week.
Posted by: ocracokewaves | June 07, 2008 at 08:25 AM