King, Alexander and Royal Palms in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Beautiful, love the BLUE SKIES!! We haven't got much of that here this summer!!

Shirlwhirl:

Thanks! We're not only getting blue skies, but very, very hot weather! Actually, in many areas of the Southwest the weather has been dangerously and deadly hot!

I have heard on our news that there have been very devastating wild fires in Arizona and many wonderful fire-fighters killed. It is a tragedy, I hope you don't get it like that.

Could it be worse than last year, D1? Did you get any rain over winter?

Shirlwhirl:

Yes, there's been a lot of fires in the Western States. The 19 guys who died on the elite fire fighting team was a horrible tragedy! :>(

The fire was due to lightning from the monsoonal flow. It has brought most of the Western States extreme, dangerously, record high temps. Much of the deserts have been experiencing dangerous, deadly temps from: 118ºF - 128ºF (47.8ºC - 53.3ºC). In the inland areas of San Diego through most of inland California had temps to 115ºF (46ºC).

Lori,

Yes, it's worse than last year. We received only a little more than half our normal rainfall this season (which isn't much rain to begin with). The monsoonal flow along with the heat is starting much earlier this year.

I can escape the heat by going to the coast and downtown San Diego, which is always cooler. However, I have a feeling it will be getting very warm in coastal areas, also. The ocean and bay temps have been above normal since May, and with the 75ºF (24ºC) San Diego Bay water temp it keeps the night time temps pretty warm.

Keep as cool as you can, A. I know your weather patterns are quite defined but is there any chance that you might get a break? ...a nice rain shower...a few hours of cloud?
Our year, so far, has been wetter and cooler than last year. The garden is loving it...and the forest fire danger maps are all reporting "low fire danger". Still doing that raindance! ;-)

Lori:

The weather has cooled down. It's only been in the low 80's the 3 days. Although, it going to warm back up again come this week. There's definitely no chance of rain showers this time of year. However, I can always escape to downtown San Diego, where the official temp for San Diego is taken. It's always much cooler there. The last couple of days the high temps have only been 73 degrees for highs (very comfortable).

The fire danger here in most of California is what's expected during August, according to the experts. This is why we've been having so many fires.

Heard about the fires and the disaster in Arizona! the smoke from fires can effectively alter weather patterns!...we have fires burning in Quebec now and the dust and smoke have contributed to more cloud and precip. I'm not complaining ...I prefer it cool and moist.

Yes, the disaster in Arizona was horrible! There's still so many fires burning in the west.

I really don't like the smoke and ash during big fires. It causes a lot of problems.

I prefer warm and mild weather, myself. 82ºF (28ºC) is the perfect daytime high with an early morning low of 68ºF (20ºC), which is the weather we've been having where I live. Although, today it's going to start getting hot, again.

We've started with the summer heat now...it's been in the 80's and 90's... 28 - 30 Degrees C. lately I've been only too happy to retire to the house and read...can't work outdoors and with all the smog from the fires it's hard to breathe. The nights have really cooled off...and my stream had stopped running...until this morning...I think the farmer up the hill had it blocked off as it's running brackish and brown since lunch time. still digging the foundation for the Hobbit house.(cabin) and it's at the edge of the forest so it's cooler there. Still have the blood sucking insects too...but discovered a neat way of refreshing myself and keeping them at bey...a spritz bottle filled with cool water and 1/4 c. of regular Listerine! Tested it out this morning and I'm happy to say ...it works!

Yes, I've read that your area and most of the U.S. eastern states are experiencing very hot and humid weather. I guess it's normal...it is July after all. :>)

The smoke from fires are horrible. Believe me, us San Diegans know that with the large fires we've had here in the past the, for example, Cedar and Witch Creek Fires we had smoke in this areas from many weeks.

Good luck with your Hobbit House!

Thanks! It's just a hole in the ground at present, A. but I hope to be able to post some early pics of the rock walls...if it continues hot like this into next month I may not get back to digging until late Sept. Will post a pic when I have more than just a hole in the ground to photograph! :-)

I look forward to seeing the progress on your Hobbit House. :>)