July 2008 Thread

[_Keith]

It's Winter here in Costa Rica. Well, geographically speaking it is really Summer, but they call this Winter since it's the rainy season. We're getting heavy rains every evening and temperatures are much cooler (I even use a lightweight blanket to sleep this time of year!). The rains will get continually worse until September/October (which I dread) when it can rain for days on end. By November I am sick of the rain and I'm ready for the start of Summer which starts in December and runs through April here. Then by April, I'm tired of the heat and dust and I'm ready for it to start raining again. I feel like there is a change of seasons here, so it gives you something to look forward to!

Awesome description. You took me there with you.

thx

k

[_Keith]

No rain this week. With the heat and sun, things are drying back out faster than I would like.

Here is the story so far this year.

Month to date precipitation 1.32 Average 4.07

Year to date precipitation 22.14 Average 33.20

Down nearly 3" this month and 11" for the year.

No problem at all for established plantings, but it has been really tough on the newer stuff planted last year and this year.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Keith, I feel for ya man! I remember those days very well when I lived in the South Tampa desert (as one of my fellow South Tampa palm buddies liked to call it ). There were many times when I had to hand water everything in my yard. I never did get a sprinkler system installed so I had to drag a hose all over the place. I didn't mind though, watering my palms and other plants became my therapy after a long and stressfull day at work. I supervised a customer service center, need I say more? After getting yelled at all day, it was nice and peaceful with just me, my palms, and the sound of the water.

[amazondk]

It's Winter here in Costa Rica. Well, geographically speaking it is really Summer, but they call this Winter since it's the rainy season. We're getting heavy rains every evening and temperatures are much cooler (I even use a lightweight blanket to sleep this time of year!). The rains will get continually worse until September/October (which I dread) when it can rain for days on end. By November I am sick of the rain and I'm ready for the start of Summer which starts in December and runs through April here. Then by April, I'm tired of the heat and dust and I'm ready for it to start raining again. I feel like there is a change of seasons here, so it gives you something to look forward to!

Awesome description. You took me there with you.

thx

k

Jeff,

That is the same situation we have here as I stated above. It is interesting that by taking a 1 hour flight north to Boa Vista the seasons flip from summer, here in Manaus, to winter in Boa Vista. When you drive you can see the climate change as you get close to the equator. You leave Manaus on a hot dry morning and drive into the rain and cooler winter (equatorial winter northern hemisphere summer) in the afternoon. As to sleeping I normally sleep with a down comforter or something similar all year long. The AC in our bedroom gets cranked down real cold. It is hot enough in the daytime. It sort of reminds my of sleeping with the window cracked open in the winter in Montana.

dk

[SubTropicRay]

Jeff,

Thankfully, the south Tampa desert is not really living up to its name this year.

Keith,

I feel your pain. We're typically always behind the 8-ball here too.

Ray

[Walter John]

Winter rains next week. I think I'd prefer some fine days at the moment.

[Tyrone]

I hate winter

[Jeff in St Pete]

It's Winter here in Costa Rica. Well, geographically speaking it is really Summer, but they call this Winter since it's the rainy season. We're getting heavy rains every evening and temperatures are much cooler (I even use a lightweight blanket to sleep this time of year!). The rains will get continually worse until September/October (which I dread) when it can rain for days on end. By November I am sick of the rain and I'm ready for the start of Summer which starts in December and runs through April here. Then by April, I'm tired of the heat and dust and I'm ready for it to start raining again. I feel like there is a change of seasons here, so it gives you something to look forward to!

Awesome description. You took me there with you.

thx

k

Jeff,

That is the same situation we have here as I stated above. It is interesting that by taking a 1 hour flight north to Boa Vista the seasons flip from summer, here in Manaus, to winter in Boa Vista. When you drive you can see the climate change as you get close to the equator. You leave Manaus on a hot dry morning and drive into the rain and cooler winter (equatorial winter northern hemisphere summer) in the afternoon. As to sleeping I normally sleep with a down comforter or something similar all year long. The AC in our bedroom gets cranked down real cold. It is hot enough in the daytime. It sort of reminds my of sleeping with the window cracked open in the winter in Montana.

dk

Don, I don't have air conditioning and I still need a light blanket at night this time of year!

[amazondk]

Jeff,

I sort of figured you didn't have A/C. Here in the city of Manaus it is really not very comfortable without it at night. It is a big enough city to have a heat island effect. In the country it actually gets cool at night, especially while sleeping in a hammock which is the normal bed in most places.

dk

[_Keith]

The hole keeps getting deeper. I was encouraged with a 60% chance of rain today, wonderful thunderheads on the horizon this morning when I left for work, but the day ended with zilch.

Month to date precipitation 1.32 Normal 5.31

Year to date precipitation 22.14 Normal 34.44

We are now down 4 inches on the month, and 12+ inches on the year. I am loosing an hour or two a day trying to keep things alive, especially my new Livistonas which really like our normal moisture.

And don't ask me about my all time record water bill last month of just over $100 dollars. Normal is under $30.

[Steve]

According to my rain gauge, we got 1.27" of rain last night! We got 1.86" officially at the nearest airport! My wife, kids, and I sat in the garage and watched the storm. The wife and I tipped back a couple beers, and the kids ate lollypops. There was lots of thunder and lightning. Very intense wind. We saw a pretty good size tree go down in the neighbors yard. Fortunately it missed their house. This was the best soaking we've gotten at my house for a couple years. We're still in a serious drought, but this was very helpful I'm sure. Hopefully we'll get a few more showers like this one. I haven't been able to run the sprinkler for over a year now. Outdoor water use is seriously restricted because lake levels are still near record lows.

Hopefully this big rain will give the palms a boost. My Trachy, which is the only palm I have planted in the ground, has been slow growing this year.

Today is only supposed to get up to 85F. That should be very nice. The rest of the week looks to have highs in the low 90's F with overnight lows around 70F.

[Tampa Scott]

July has been wet so far for me. I received 1.33in/33.8mm yesterday. The July rain total so far is 11.59in/294.4mm. More rain is expected at a 50% chance for the up coming days.

[ariscott]

Jeff,

I sort of figured you didn't have A/C. Here in the city of Manaus it is really not very comfortable without it at night. It is a big enough city to have a heat island effect. In the country it actually gets cool at night, especially while sleeping in a hammock which is the normal bed in most places.

dk

Funny that... we have brazilian hammock here . I never get on it though... even though it is a 2 people hammock. Usually Scott and the kids filled it right up . It is nice this time of the year to sleep in the hammock on the verandah!!! Cool breeze. Although, I do miss the rain and storm.

Regards, Ari

[amazondk]

Ari,

I guess you need another hammock. We had a good thurnderstorm overnight and it is still raining. That is good as it has been plenty dry for the past two weeks.

dk

[ariscott]

It is official... we went down to single digit last night (celcius, not fahrenheit). It was 9.7 deg C!! It was so cold, it wasn't funny!! I know... I am just rubbing it to some of you...

Regards, Ari

[amazondk]

That is really cold for a tropical place Ari.

dk

[ariscott]

It was so cold, one of my tree thought it was autumn... Some of the leaves turned red. It was bizzare. I will take photos tomorrow...

Regards, Ari

[_Keith]

The drought is starting to take hold. Even some estrablished things are complaining with die back.

Even the grass is show large patches of brown.

[Exotic Life]

Here is good summer weather... and a good week too come...

Today 27 July.

Day: 27C/80.6F

Night: 18C/64.4F

Sunny

28 July.

Day: 30C/86F

Night: 20C/68F

Sunny

29 July

Day: 29C/84.2F

Night: 18C/64.4F

Sunny

30 July

Day: 27C/80.6F

Night: 14C/57.2F

Sunny

31 July

Day: 29C/84.2F

Night: 16C/60.8F

Sunny

And it looks like august starts also sunny and warm with tempetures around the 25C. The whole week there is a change on a local thunderstorm.

Robbin

[Tyrone]

It is official... we went down to single digit last night (celcius, not fahrenheit). It was 9.7 deg C!! It was so cold, it wasn't funny!! I know... I am just rubbing it to some of you...

Regards, Ari

Ari, I was warmer than you last night then. We had 12 or 13C as a minimum and rain. My Cymbidium's know that Spring is close. They've started flowering.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

There's a bit of hail coming my way. I hope it dodges me.

This is my forecast

Forecast for Tuesday

A few brief showers, increasing late afternoon and becoming heavy at times

tonight. Moderate W/NW winds, becoming fresh and gusty in the afternoon and

evening.

Precis: Few showers, increasing later.

City: Max 18

Mandurah: Max 18

UV Alert: 11:50 am to 12:50 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 3 [Moderate]

Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: NOT RATED

Hills: NOT RATED

Forecast for Wednesday

Showery, with the risk of an early morning thunderstorm. Possible hail

developing in the evening. Fresh and gusty NW'ly winds, ahead of a strong and

squally W/SW change early morning.

Precis: Showers, windy.

City: Min 12 Max 17

Mandurah: Min 11 Max 16

Thursday Showers easing. Early hail. Min 6 Max 15

Friday Few showers. Min 5 Max 17

Saturday Showers, easing. Min 11 Max 16

Sunday Fine. Min 5 Max 17

Monday Fine. Min 3 Max 18

[ariscott]

Hail? Ouch... I hope it does miss you, Tyrone.

It hasn't been too cold here. We are back to 14-16 deg nights... thank goodness. My pride of india tree shows autumn colour . It felt like I was in Melbourne again...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Hi Ari,

Thanks for your thoughts.

Do you think that you may have forgotten what Melbourne was really like in winter??

I suppose cool weather feels freezing when you've lived in the tropics for a while.

Yes, I hope I don't get any hail. 2 or 3C mornings I can deal with, but hail destroys things in seconds.

On the bright side, July looks like being over average for rainfall, so maybe 180-200mm by the end of the month. However our bright government has said that even if we get above average rainfall etc, and our dams fill up, we will always have water restrictions. So is it really about rainfall or something else?

Best regards

Tyrone

[_Keith]

What an odd year, what an odd month.

Our normal hot, wet summers, perfect for palms, perfect for my new Livistona's. This year hot, dry, and windy. I had just as soon live in the Southwest US. Actually, they probably got more rain than we did so far in July.

On the way home today, 5 miles out I saw evidence of rain. 3 miles out the puddles were deeper. 2 miles out the ditches were full. I mile out still standing water. .5 miles out still hope. Home, nada, zero, zilch.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

WE NEED RAIN.

Last year at this time, I was cursing rain. We had gone through 3 or 4 straight weeks of nothing but.

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE

[steve 9atx]

Hey Thibodeaux,

I hear ya cher. I'm 7" below normal and 19.5" below last year.

Several times this year I have literally sat and watched promising

storms on radar headed for my house split in two and go around

me while other parts of town get soaked!

Oh well, time to pay the water bill; but waterin' ain't the same as rain!

Steve

[Exotic Life]

Today it was a great day again, with lot of sun and a tempeture that almost reach 29C/84.2F. Tomorrow they forecasted 30C/86F again and lots of sun.. in the end of the day there can be heavy thunderstorms born. Last time they have got huge hail in the east. Also warm night around the 20C/68F for tomorrow...

Start of august will be some cooler then the last day's, but maybe it's warming up again in the middle of next week again.

[Walter John]

bloody freezing, losses = 3.

[gsytch]

It has rained again, all day. The sun has not shined since Mon afternoon for a few hours and mold is growing liberally where it wants to. I am officially at over 1.50" for today, 15.69" for the month, and a 70% chance for tomorrow. This has been some rainy season. We still have Aug and Sept left, and hurricane season. On another plus side, the coolest summer I can remember in my 20+ years here - very few days over 90F! Greg in sopping wet Tampa Bay

[Tyrone]

bloody freezing, losses = 3.

What have you lost Wal?

We've had above average rainfall for July and the year to date. It was very cold and raining this morning. We are in a direct wet antarctic flow at the moment, but the sun has just come out. Yae. We missed getting all that hail forecast too, so I'm glad of that. But I'm scared of the high that's going to move over us in the next few days. It will bring nice days around 20-22C, but the nights are going to be COLD. My trunking Hydriastele wendlandiana looks rather wobbly, and about to pass out from exposure.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Al in Kona]

Normally I don't pay all that much attention to our weather here as temperatures vary so little from day to day. However, I got a little curious as to see how some of the rest of you are doing weatherwise this time of year - interesting reading actually.

I checked our local Kailua-Kona newspaper to get our high/low temperatures for the past 6 days. Here they are:

F C

Fri. 7/25 87-74 30.5-23.3

Sat. 7/26 87-75 30.5-23.8

Sun. 7/27 87-75 30.5-23.8 Mon. 7/28 88-75 31.1-23.8

Tue. 7/29 88-74 31.1-23.3

Wed. 7/30 87-75 30.5-23.8

Today's sunrise is 6 am and sunset is 7:02 pm.

[Walter John]

My losses aren't due to the present cold spells but due to the canopy I now have. It has grown so well it has subsequently blocked out rain from getting to some of the understory palms, some get water some don't and I waited too long to help.

Green Joey, Burretiokentia viellardii and Licuala grandis have departed over the last couple of months.

Back to the weather, after a below 4c min this morning we're supposed to have a 27c max tomorrow, weird.

[Exotic Life]

Wal,

That weird for sure... 27C and it's still winter over there? Unbelievble!

Robbin

[Exotic Life]

Hi,

A little message from outside, sun is shining tempeture almost 28C/82.4F and it's still the beginning of the afternoon. This will be a warm day... oh i like summer so much!

Robbin

[Tyrone]

Wal, I'm sorry to hear that. They're all great species and painful to lose. It's amazing how a protective canopy can completely block any rain out. I've had over 180mm of rain this month and there are areas that are almost bone dry under the canopy. I've had tropical palms die, not because of cold, but from drying out in winter.

Lucky you with 27C tomorrow. That will be a dry 27C too. Keep an eye on the moisture levels tomorrow, as things could dry out real quick. I'd give anything for a 27C day now, so would my coconut.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

My losses aren't due to the present cold spells but due to the canopy I now have. It has grown so well it has subsequently blocked out rain from getting to some of the understory palms, some get water some don't and I waited too long to help.

Green Joey, Burretiokentia viellardii and Licuala grandis have departed over the last couple of months.

Back to the weather, after a below 4c min this morning we're supposed to have a 27c max tomorrow, weird.

Oh no..... of course they have to be the least common palms....

Plant trees for canopy, Wal. They are much better, although they do take up some palm real estate in your yard. You might need to make a trip up north and get some palm fix.

Regards, Ari

[_Keith]

Finally, rain. No much, but enough to stop the pain for a few days. Got a chance for more in the next few days. I am praying.

[SubTropicRay]

July ended up producing 10 inches of rain here. What a turnaround from last summer.

[Tampa Scott]

July was WET! I had 12 days with no rainfall. Rainfall was 14.16in/359.7mm, high temp 95.2f/35.1c, low temp 70.4f/21.3c. July was a really cloudy month, power bill was lower than any summer month bill in 11 years.

[gsytch]

The closest PWS, one mile east of me, recorded 15.99" of rain for July. I unofficially recorded 17.12". I just kept records of the average between my three rain gauges (all were within 1/10" of each other at all times). It rained yesterday, day before, day before, where is the sun? In my 20 years here, coolest summer, low electric bill but SOPPY mess of a yard. The forecast for today: more rain, 70% chance. QUESTION: Does yesterday count as one thunderstorm, or does it count as 8...we had about 8 during the day at different times? Since I teach and am off now, I have time to observe, but I cannot get anything done because it is too muddy, too wet, or its raining, again. Now, don't get me wrong, we all love rain, but a little sun in the SUNSHINE STATE would be nice, too! Greg

[Daryl]

Strange weather here...it is 12:30am in mid winter and still 21C (70F). Wish this was the norm!

Daryl