A searing dome of heat has laid itself out over interior Alaska, pushing temperatures to all-time records in several locations.
The core of heat was lodged over south central Alaska where the mercury spiked into the mid-90s Monday, nearly 30 degrees above average and warmer than anywhere east of the Mississippi in the contiguous U.S.
Even Alaskan coastal areas where stifling (by their standards). Valdez and Cordova both established new all-time record highs, climbing to 90 degrees.
This is essentially ALL anybody in Alaska is talking about these days.
There is a reason that I will never leave Alaska, and that because I am extremely acclimated to the conditions up here and if I go any place where the temperatures reach the high 70's or 80's I am fucking miserable!
I have every fan in the house on, as well as the internal air (We don't have air conditioning), and I am still sweating like Sarah Palin spotting Katie Couric headed her way..
Having the temperature in the 90's in Southcentral Alaska is completely unheard of, and to be honest it has a lot of us wishing that winter would hurry up and return.
Yesterday was the first time in a week that the weather was bearable due to some clouds that rolled in, but the forecast predicts sunny weather for many more days to come.
Now if you will excuse me I have to go wring out my boxer shorts. Again!
If Sarah were there, I'd think her God was trying to tell her something. But no reason to punish the rest of you when she's busy cavorting in NYC or whereever she is headed to spew next. One hint for surviving w/o AC: at night, point your fans OUT the windows to draw the hot air out. Leave the other windows open, and you daw cool air in. Then shut the house up in the AM, and it will remain cool most of the day.
ReplyDelete"sweating like Sarah Palin spotting Katie Couric headed her way.."
ReplyDeleteGryph, that is a priceless line and so true of Ol' Chickens**t who only has the guts to babble from afar.
Climate change! What have we done to our weather? Oh, well. We better get used to it. Nobody wants to change and the Arctic countries can't wait for the ice to melt at the North Pole so they can drill for oil and gas. Humans are doomed.
ReplyDeleteCould hell have come looking for its "Heathen"
ReplyDeleteSame here in Juneau. 82-85 near the Mendenhall Glacier for almost 2 weeks.
ReplyDeleteAnd near the glacier is always the coolest spot in Juneau. Around West Juneau it definitely hit 90 degrees.
DeleteI was never so glad for air conditioning in my car...first car I ever had in the 40 years I've been here that actually had air conditioning.
If Sarah was there she would be sweating like a gerbil in a gay bar.
ReplyDeleteOoooooo, that was cruel.
Deleteanother hint re cooling the house...if the sun shines on any of your windows the glass allows the heat from the sun to move through it and into the house. so I put window shades on the outside of my house on the south side to block the sun from hitting the glass. You can hang them from the eaves. Once the sun has moved off that side of the house I raise the shades. Also if you have an upstairs with windows you can open one or two just an inch or so on one side of the house and then open a few downstairs windows on the other side of the house. This creates a convection current that will help remove some of the hotter air that has risen upstairs while also creating a small breeze inside. I only do this in the afternoon which I guess for you could be about 15 hrs long this time of year. Oh yeah, that totally screws up the comment above about cooling the house off with night air, as you have no night time right now. So sorry. anyway, I hope some of our ideas can be of help.
ReplyDeleteCathleen D
I hear you. I used to live up there and 70+º was considered WARM in Seward and Cordova. We're about to have a heat wave here and we have to rely on one window unit and several fans. But also this: THERMAL CURTAINS! They help. Once the sun comes around those curtains are CLOSED!
ReplyDeleteStephen Colbert Pays Moving, Heartfelt Tribute To His Late Mother
ReplyDeleteStephen Colbert returned to his show on Wednesday night, opening with a heartfelt tribute to his mother Lorna Colbert, who recently passed away at the age of 92. Sharing stories, a visibly emotional Colbert honored her and the impact she had on him and his family — painting a picture of a loving and fun mom.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-stephen-colbert-pays-moving-heartfelt-tribute-to-his-late-mother/
Sounds like you need to come to the Mojave Desert to cool off. Seriously. At least it's a dry heat here. Nothing better than heat AND humidity. LOL
ReplyDeleteIf you are so hot that you are stripped down, my hot-in-a-damp-Minnesota-summer trick was to put a damp sheet over me as I reclined in bed. The evaporation makes the sheet cool. A fan on you (on the sheet) increases the cooling, of course. This was when no one had air conditioning yet and we closed the house up during the day (shades, curtains) and opened it fully during the night.
ReplyDeleteDrinking ice water does reduce body temp quickly, as documented in studies on people without sweat glands, who cannot regulate their body temp and therefore learn other ways to do so. However, don't do it big-time and suddenly: a big volume of ice water or a v cold shower when you are v hot can give you a heart attack.
... BUT... Don'tcha know it... THERE IS NO GLOBAL WARMING, and THERE IS NO CLIMATE CHANGE!!!
ReplyDelete(Clarification: IDJETS and MORONS like Palin will agree with my statement above. I do not.)
I am the only person on our street to have huge tall trees that make a dense canopy over my front lawn. When other people have outdoor workers over on a hot day (pruning, doing landscape stuff, electrical and plumbing people), they always sit on my lawn for breaks and lunch, and no wonder: you can tell it is a LOT cooler. Even though there are no walls. It really is amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbors have even cut down big trees, complaining about the mess of the leaves. Go figure! I love all aspects of the trees; their look, the leaves emerging, the leaves dropping, the coolness, cutting/stacking the wood from pruning for my fireplace, the creatures living in them -- all of it.
I just mowed our two sets of trails, one in the shade and the other in the sun. At least 5 to 10 degrees cooler in the shade as opposed to the sun. Also if you have thick pines or cedar trees, they can make it 5 degrees warmer for the birds and animals in the winter. That can mean survival.
DeleteI can understand felling big trees if they are unhealthy OR you are in an area prone to many tornadoes or hurricanes. Plant shrubs, shorter trees or arbors that cover the windows.
C'mon, Gryphen. You have only had one day above 80 and your nights are in the 50s. Just open up at night and run the fans to bring in the cool air, then close up in the morning. Try to keep the blinds closed when windows get direct sun. You will be quite comfortable. I'm in the mountains of northern AZ and the days (every day) are full sun and in the mid 80s with nights in the 50s. The house never gets above 73 during the day and I don't cover the windows (but our sun is more overhead than in AK).
ReplyDeleteEmbrace the change! This is probably going to happen with greater frequency in the future. At least it is dry so the mosquitoes aren't breeding.
Wrongo! The mosquitoes are VERY bad this year and heat has been oppressive for well over a week.
DeleteI have heard fro some out of staters that our 70 degree heat is comparable to the high 80's in the lower forty eight. On days like this I tend to believe them.
I'll vouch for the Mosquitos. I know that South Louisiana skeeters are pretty bad from working in the oilfield a few years after high school and then while I was in college for summer jobs. But the skeeters on the Bayou are in the Minor Leagues compared to South Central AK's bad boys. They raise a knot on you wherever they bite, and it hurts. I don't mean a red spot or a bump. I'm talking about a knot. I'd double-check my window screens before opening the windows.
DeleteBless your heart. I'm in North Central Texas, and we're supposed to be in the mid-90's all week. But that's not surprising here, of course. And I have central air conditioning, plus fans, plus a couple of window units for back-up.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I lived in Seattle, I bought a window unit for a little over $100, and created a "safe room" from the few really hot days we had. I got a little teasing over it, but I didn't care what my friends thought, I do not like heat and absolutely detest it when it's humid as well.
The only advice I can give you (other than buy a window or portable air conditioning unit), is what some of the others have said... take a cool shower, don't towel-dry too much, and let a fan cool you off as you dry. Make sure to let the cool water cover your "pulse points" on your body. Not COLD water, just cool.
Close drapes, blinds, etc. Keep the lights off.
And sip ice water. Your body will need extra water during the heat anyway.
.IT'S OFFICIAL: Conservatives Can't Even Bear To Talk About Gay Marriage Anymore
ReplyDeleteYesterday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) became the third Republican in the Senate to endorse gay marriage.
Conservative media outlets haven't been attacking her for it. They haven't been praising her either. They've been ignoring her.
As of 6 AM today, Memeorandum logged 22 responses to Murkowski's statement. Only one came from a conservative outlet: This piece from Hot Air, describing Murkowski's move as "inevitable."
Memeorandum isn't comprehensive, so I searched for "Murkowski" in the last 24 hours at conservative outlets. And I got a lot of this:
Nothing at National Review, the Weekly Standard, Human Events, the Washington Free Beacon, or the American Spectator. Breitbart.com ran two Associated Press stories. WorldNetDaily ran an NBC News story. The Daily Caller and RedState mentioned Murkowski in pieces about immigration reform, but nothing on gay marriage.
The only conservative outlet I found covering Murkowski was the Washington Examiner, which ran a straightforward news story about her announcement.
Four years ago, it was hard to imagine Republican senators supporting gay marriage. It was even harder to imagine conservative media outlets having no reaction at all to them doing so.
So what's going on?
A substantial share of the staffers at these publications, especially the younger ones, are now supporters of gay marriage. National Review ran a feature piece arguing for gay marriage in 2011.
Those who oppose gay marriage are sick to death of talking about the issue. They know they are losing the fight over public opinion and that their complaints are not going to convince anybody. And making those complaints has become awkward, because opposing gay marriage has come to be seen as rude in polite society.
I also suspect that, deep down, many socially conservative writers are less confident than they used to be that gay marriage is wrong.
So they've abdicated any effort to argue against gay marriage or hold accountable Republicans who support it.
Of course, the fight over gay marriage in the Republican Party is far from over. State party activists are likely to cause trouble for Republicans who back gay marriage even if national writers won't.
But the national conservative media is done with engaging on the issue.
http://www.businessinsider.com/conservatives-wont-talk-gay-marriage-2013-6
Good luck . This is just a fluke and will pass . Try to enjoy the novelty!
ReplyDeleteAlso, too go buy an ice cream maker and create your own frozen dairy treats.
ReplyDeleteGOP Senate Candidate In Alaska Says Tea Partier Joe Miller Scares Voters
ReplyDeleteAfter announcing his intention to run in Alaska's 2014 U.S. Senate race, state Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) asserted Wednesday that he's the only legitimate Republican in the race.
Treadwell was directing his criticism on Joe Miller, the tea party activist who claimed the GOP's nomination in Alaska's 2010 Senate race before falling to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in the general election. Murkowski scored an improbable victory over Miller as a write-in candidate.
“I believe I don't scare people. Joe does sometimes,” Treadwell told The Hill.
He added that he's "certain more credible as a candidate" than Miller.
The two Republicans are vying for the opportunity to challenge Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) in next year's general election.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gop-senate-candidate-in-alaska-says-tea-partier
Are the Republicans in Alaska still saying that there is no such thing as Global Warming?
ReplyDelete