ugh ... indubitably high summer

301 am CDT.
Yesterday evening's 500 mb analysis shows the upper level ridge is now firmly situated right on top of North Texas. Unanimous agreement exists among the model forecasts - showing little change to the overall synoptic pattern for the next few days. The upper level ridge will remain stationary over the region...but gradually weaken as 500 mb heights fall about 6dm. As a result...the hottest temperatures will occur early in the forecast period...with a very slight cooling trend taking place during the work week. Needless to say...rain chances will be slim to none over the next seven days as upper level energy tracks up and over the ridge across the Central Plains and into the Midwest.


I went up to Ray Roberts last evening for a pleasant hour making part of a new little girl's size bracelet in yellow, orange, and red, and a half hour's paddle in the water at dusk. I felt wonderfully cool and clean up till about an hour ago, when I was out adjusting the soakerhose on the front sidewalk iris bed (unused for a year) and got all sweaty in the sun. I should have started watering the front bank before this; half the redbud leaves are brown.

We had a decent thunderstorm the last weekend of June, and essentially nothing in July - 4 one-hundredths. Looks like that will be it for the month. Hurricane Dolly was no help; she went too far south, and that dratted summertime "ridge of high pressure" just sits there and blocks any relief.

This of course is normal. It happens, more or less severely, every summer. But every summer it somehow catches me by surprise. We DO have summer thunderstorms. The actual normal rain for July and for August is I believe a couple of inches. But I don't know that we have ever gotten that much rain in both months in the same summer. (Wonder how I could research that, hmmm?)

Oh, well. It's July. It's hot.