Heat wave summer

Heat wave in Spain and Portugal, over 1000 people have died. In the UK too, high temperatures are forecast over 100 degrees F (40C ). These will be the highest temperatures ever recorded in the UK.

Photos in the papers of people relaxing on the beach are not helpful. This is not a vacation. This is a climate crisis.

These temperatures were predicted by climate scientists as a warning that if we continue to rely on fossil fuels, heat waves like this would be common by 2050. That future is NOW.

People in Chicago learned a lot from the heat wave of July, 1995. There are cooling centers, and emergency numbers to call. And still, people die here in the summer from the heat.

Know the difference between heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Here is a handy chart from the National Weather Service. You could save a life–maybe even your own.

Many people are offering advice on how to survive the extreme heat. Let me add some tips, too. Wear loose, lightweight clothing. Check on your neighbors. Talk about the weather. Drink water, and eat cool things. Don’t forget your pets. Leave bowls of water in a shady spot for wild birds and animals.

While politicians take a short-term selfish view, it is the vulnerable —you and me–who suffer, the ones most vulnerable to the plague that continues, too.

Stay cool! stay safe!

Green sky, yellow leaves

It’s Saturday, and a perfect summer day, today–cloudless blue sky, bright sun and highs in the 70’s. A refreshing breeze off the Lake. What a beautiful day! You can read more about some of the beauties of summer here.

But summer brings storms and dark clouds, too. I call these scary storm clouds motherships, but meteorologists call them supercells. They can be part of a line of storms, known as a squall line. Pictured above is a painting of a line storm over farmland, by John Stuart Curry.

These storm clouds can bring torrential rain, thunder and lightning, hail, high winds, and tornadoes! Here is more information from the National Weather Service

They can also cause a green sky, like the recent storm in South Dakota, on July 5. A greenish sky is eerie, a strange and unsettling phenomenon. What causes a greenish sky? Here is the explanation, thanks to Accu-Weather.

The storm produced damaging winds, but the rains so needed for the fields in Iowa and Illinois were not enough to erase the drought conditions.

We are seeing the effects of dryness here, too. Grass lawns and parkways have turned crisp and brown. Some people are watering new plantings and vegetable gardens twice a day, now.

And under the heavy green canopy of summer leaves, there are scattered yellow leaves on the sidewalks. I think of summer passing already, but they are not a sign of early fall. It is stress and dry conditions, yellow leaves in a dry season.

Summer every day

Yes, there is beauty and we need to remember it now, like freedom, like peace.

Days of blue sky above clouds.

Nights of summer stars, the waxing moon and fireflies!

Days of bees in milkweed flowers,

Days of day lilies blooming in the alleys.

Days of ripening tomatoes.

Afternoons of summer chairs, the light through green leaves

the smell of grass, the smell of rain

Strawberry honey super full summer moon

June 13, 2022–Monday

Almost halfway through June, and the furnace came on overnight! Heat and humidity on the way, today.

And a full moon tonight–the strawberry honey super full summer moon! Strawberry and honey are old folklore names for this moon, a season of ripening strawberries, of bees in the flowers and buds on the milkweeds.

It’s a supermoon, too, which is a more recent name. It’s called a super moon because the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit now. It does appear larger and brighter. You can read more about supermoons here and here.

But Monday afternoon got dark early, with ominous storm clouds approaching. Thunder, lightning, tornado watches all over the Chicago area.

A tornado WATCH means conditions are favorable for possible tornados. It means, pay attention and be prepared!

A tornado watch for the Chicago area was in effect until 11 P.M. Monday night.

Tornado warnings were issued for portions of Cook and du Page Counties.

A tornado WARNING means a funnel cloud is forming, or has been spotted. It means take shelter, now!

Tornado sirens went off in downtown Chicago. Sirens went off in Oak Park, too.

The thunder and lightning were relentless. The rain was torrential. The wind knocked down trees and caused power outages. A wind gust of 84 mph was reported at O’Hare.

At 8:52 PM, the tornado watch was cancelled.

June 14, 2022 Tuesday

After the storm, damage reports–downed trees and power lines, power outages. Meteorologists were comparing the storm to the 2020 August 10 derecho that flattened corn crops in Iowa. Today, highs in the high 90’s with heat index over 100 degees. I’m picking up fallen branches and sweeping mulberries, from the mulberry tree that caught the pine tree that was knocked down in the August 10 storm.

Cloud cover in the evening, and I couldn’t see the full moon.

June 15, 2022

More heat and humidity today. More thunderstorms in the forecast. I saw the full moon setting in the West in the early morning sky! Weather permitting, the just-past-full moon will be visible here after 10:22 P.M. tonight.

How hurricanes got their names

There were hurricanes before there were names for hurricanes. But each year, the World Meteorological Association makes a list of the storm names for the hurricane season, which begins officially on June 1.

This year, NOAA predicts an active season with La Niña persisting, and warmer than average water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean. As I write this, Tropical Storm Alex is battering Cuba, Bermuda, Key West, and South Florida. Even if it has not yet strengthened to hurricane force winds, there are still torrential rains.

The storm is predicted to move up the Atlantic Coast of the United States, and if it strengthens to a hurricane, it will be the first named hurricane of the season–Hurricane Alex.

Here are the names for the Atlantic Hurricanes for 2022—

• Alex
• Bonnie
• Colin
• Danielle
• Earl
• Fiona
• Gaston
• Hermine
• Ian
• Julia
• Karl
• Lisa
• Martin
• Nicole
• Owen
• Paula
• Richard
• Shary
• Tobias
• Virginia
• Walter 

Storms that are especially destructive have their names retired. You may remember Dorian, Katrina and Sandy. These are some of the 96 retired Hurricane names.

But why name the hurricanes? And how did they get their names? Naming the storms seems like a good way to keep track of them, especially if there are several storms or potential storms active at the same time. At first they had military names–Abel, Baker, Charlie. Then, in 1950, they were given women’s names.

The story goes that the meteorologists first named the storms after their wives, an attitude of the time that women were unpredictable–moody, temperamental as the weather. It was funny, and disrespectful in a way.

But maybe storms were given female names the same way ships were and still are called “she.”

Then, in the 1970’s, when women were fighting for equal rights, respect and recognition, hurricanes got men’s names, too.

While naming the storms may seem frivolous, a name is a way of relating to the powerful forces of nature in a human way–a more personal way of naming the beauty and terror and mystery of the world.

Clouds, then Sun!

Over 5-1/2 hours more light since the winter solstice, now. These are the longest days. Days of sun and days of rain.

The spring leaves have grown lush and full, the summer canopy, arching over the streets. Lilacs are blooming, and there are buds on the peonies.

This is the season of irises. They come in a wide variety of colors, from deep purple to delicate tints of blue and peach. Is it almost a dream, the sweep of late-spring colors, the irises in the dappled sunlight, the bleeding hearts and columbines blooming under the trees.

This changing weather–Cool and rainy, yesterday. Wet grass, and wet socks. Jackets one day, t-shirts the next. Furnace coming on overnight. Then one morning and opening windows. Then, turn on the air-conditioning.

The first heat wave of the season, and people were out everywhere, celebrating like the virus was over. Celebrating like peace in Ukraine. Celebrating like there’s no such things as hate crimes or war crimes, or the crisis of climate change. Or maybe these cares were forgotten, just for a moment.

Was it a dream? What color were the iris flowers?

the long spring

April turned to May, and we carried on with our lives in spite of daily news. Wars and plagues, and weather. The skies were overcast gray for days. Rain fell on the buds of new leaves.

There are wildfires raging in New Mexico. There were tornadoes in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma. A tornado touched down in Oak Brook, IL, too. In total, there were 16 tornado events in April.

And then one morning in May, there was a light in the sky—the sun! And blue sky above the fair-weather clouds.

It was time to cut the high spring grass on the parkway. I got out the push reel mower.

Waiting all winter, the first cut of the season! And the push mower remembers the grass, the clover and the violets. It still works! Yes, me, too.

Yes, I remember the smell of cut grass, and the cheerful yellow of dandelions in the sun.

And still, every spring surprises me— the tulips, the magnolias, the emerging red shoots of the peonies.

Now, rain again on the flower buds on the lilacs and the leaves of the lily of the valley.

The long cool spring may soon give way to much warmer temperatures. A big warm-up is forecast for next week. Highs in the 90’s in Texas, possible 80’s here. Suddenly, summer!

Happy Earth Day!

The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970, to increase environmental awareness in America. Perhaps when the Cuyahoga River caught fire due to an oil spill and chemical pollution in June of 1969, it was time for action.

Marches and teach-ins were held in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major cities. United Auto Workers were financial supporters. Walt Kelly designed posters with his comic-strip character, Pogo, and the now-famous quote–“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

In July of 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was established by special executive order to regulate and enforce national pollution legislation.

Earth Day also led to the the passage of the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts, which themselves became endangered under the Trump administration.

Earth Day is now a global event, celebrated all over the world on April 22. Earth Day still calls attention to our built and natural environment, as well as the changing climate that is affecting us all.

On a personal note, Earth Day 2021 was the day I got my second Moderna vaccine. It was in many ways a day of hope, and gratitude. How much we can accomplish when we work together as a community! When we work for the common good.

Sadly, that has not proved to be the case with the vaccines and wearing masks. Selfishness and money interests have prevailed, at least for now.

Earth Day, 2022—The virus is still mutating, and not going away, even though people wish it would. There is a war going on in Ukraine. There are economic impacts here and abroad. There are more people seeking refuge from war and weather disasters. The recent UN climate report has dire warnings. Yes, there is a lot of work to do. This is no time for complacency, or despair.

The theme for Earth Day 2022 is Invest in Our Planet–you can find out more about it here. I hope it inspires you, too.

Here’s another way to honor our place in the cosmos and our home on this planet earth. You can read more about it here, thanks to EarthSky. There will be a conjunction of Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter this week. They can be seen together in the East, a line in the predawn sky.

Brighter days ahead

Opening day! Cold and gray sky for the Cubs home opener at Wrigley field. Yes, baseball again, full capacity again, like before the plague years.

It’s enough to remember the beauty of baseball, the hope of Opening Day. The weather doesn’t really matter. It’s the spirit of blue sky and 70 degrees. Oh, there may be cold and snow in April, no fooling, but no snow today.

And there will be brighter days ahead. Today, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed as Justice of the Supreme Court!

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s time now. History is being made today.

Plagues, wars, climate change, there is reason for despair. There is much work to do. But the sparrows are chirping in the lilac branches, and the new leaves are a green mist in the rain. There is hope in a new season, and brighter days ahead.

Spring and taxes

Vernal equinox on March 20, and it was spring here yesterday–blue sky, and a high temperature of 72 degrees! It was the kind of day we wait for all winter.

But we know spring can also bring rain, like today. We could still get snow and freezing temperatures. March can bring severe weather, here–like the tornado outbreak in Texas yesterday.

March in Chicago means potholes and property taxes, too.

In Cook County, property taxes are due on March 1. I try to pay them before they are due. You can pay later, but there is a penalty. There are many ways to pay—online, by mail, in person.

Chase Bank branches accept payments, too. That’s what I do. I walk to the Chase Bank branch, wait in line, chat with the teller, get my receipt, part of the old American Dream. Last year, I climbed mountains of snow! This year, the sidewalks were clear.

It’s almost as old-fashioned as my friend’s story of taking a bus with her mother downtown to City Hall to pay the property taxes.Then they would have lunch at the lunch counter at the big Woolworth’s on the corner of Washington and State Street. It was a real and solid thing to do. She still remembers it. Her parents came from Poland, to them a house and a yard and a car was the American Dream.

Then comes April, and yellow forsythia blooming, red shoots of peonies and Income Taxes due. Spring and taxes–and different dreams, now.

We are still living through the plague years, and climate changing, and people seeking a better life. Gas prices are up. There is fighting in Ukraine, and Syria, and Afghanistan.

But it’s spring again. Geese are flying North. Robins are back and looking around. The parkway is filled with purple crocuses blooming. There are gardens to be planted. I’m thinking of growing zinnias this year. And sunflowers!

The fields are waiting in Iowa and Illinois and Ukraine.