A Heat Blizzard

Yesterday, as we entered another day of high temperatures and higher humidity, my sister pointed out that a heat wave is a lot like a blizzard. In both cases you want to just stay inside and only venture out when you have to. In both cases you have to hoard certain foods because people seem to buy in bulk when the weather gets extreme so they only have to go to the store once. Both conditions are loved by news stations: every August like clockwork you can count on a canned report on staying cool in the summer heat, just like every November comes with stories about hardware stores selling out of shovels and rock salt. Both make you change plans quickly as things are cancelled for snow or bad air quality. And lastly, both types of weather lead to people bitching about the weather and talk of moving elsewhere.

As I thought about it, I think I prefer a real blizzard to a heat blizzard. When there is snow on the ground, sure you have to shovel it away, but then you're pretty much done - everything is back to normal after a day or two. There is no physical labor required for a heat blizzard (in fact it's highly discouraged), but it seems that they last longer than a snow blizzard. Part of it is also personal preference. I just always prefer to be in cold than in hot. First off, I run hot so I'm never as cold as normal people. I have no problem golfing in February and 30 degree temperatures. However, you couldn't get me to commit to carrying a bag for 9 holes in this weather. Secondly, I have an extensive and lovely collection of sweatshirts I can put on when it gets cold. Whenever you get cold you can simply add layers - but, when its this hot out there is only so much you can take off and still leave the house.

-We'll stick with the weather theme another couple of paragraphs. For the last couple of days we have all been waiting for the line of thundershowers to roll through and signify that the heat had broken. Every day on the channel devoted only to local weather the report called for thundershowers. EVERY DAY. So you can imagine my disappointment as it hasn't rained here all week. Turns out that the storms were rolling in from the west, hitting Worcester and disintegrating. OK, fine... whatever. I'll give them a pass as they were trying to predict the future.

But today I wanted to go hit a bucket of golf balls. This was the one day that the forecast in the morning called for no rain all day. I was all set to go out when, around 2:30, the sky opened up. It was if someone was pouring a bucket of water on my house. I turned on the local weather channel and under "Current Conditions" it was a sun. Now, look, I can roll with you messing up what the weather is going to be like in 4 days, but how can you screw up right now? Turns out, I can answer my own question. You can screw up because, right after the "Current Conditions" graphic came the local doppler radar. It was blank - no rain in the area. If the radar is lying to you, then frankly, I'm not sure what your supposed to do.

The worst part was that it actually got muggier after the thunderstorms rolled through.