Omg, it is so hot...

[Mr Kiwi]

I am not one to complain, but this summer without air conditioning; living on the second story and having the sun directly hitting my house is awful.


End.

 

[Dullstar]

Ouch.  Why is there a summer without air conditioning, I ask?

I can't wait for my summer to start.  I'm getting ready with LEMMINGS!

[LemSteven]

I lived in Oregon for a couple of years, and most people there didn't have air conditioning at all because it usually wasn't needed...

...Until that one week in summer when it got to 100 degrees (~38 Celsius) and everyone was burning up.  Ouch.

[Dullstar]

Oh my gosh.  And to think that Oregon's latitude isn't that much different than Indiana's, they shouldn't be colder than us.  We're used to having air conditioning when the worst we get is generally 80's, with 90's in worst cases.  Very rarely it reaches 100 degrees.

[LemSteven]

The key difference between Oregon and Indiana is that Oregon is right next to the Pacific Ocean.  The cold Pacific water moderates the temperatures in the summer, keeping them in the 70s and 80s (20s Celsius).  The climate there is actually very similar to that in the U.K.

The only time it really gets hot in the western part of Oregon is when the winds bring in hot air from the desert.

[Dullstar]

From where I live in Indiana, we're near Lake Michigan.

[GuyPerfect]

I live in Washington, and moved here at the end of last year from Illinois, so I consider myself informed!

Lake Michigan is massive, and very cold considering. The whole "being close to water makes it colder" dealie being the reason the climate is different in Indiana than Oregon... well, simply doesn't hold water. As for the moisture in the atomosphere, however, that certainly makes a difference. Lake Michigan may be big, but it's not so big that the lake effect makes a good chunk of land to the east of it cloudy all the time like the Pacific Ocean does to the northwest.

There's also the fact that the jet stream, which pretty much enters the continent right between Washington and British Columbia, comes back down right through the top of Illinois, then under most of Indiana before heading back north. This brings with it the colder, dryer air from Canada, which in the summer is generally offset by high inland temperatures that sap all the moisture off the ground and make it humid all the time without raining. It's not uncommon to have humidity near 100% for most of a day, get some heavy rain, then have the process happen all over again when the rain evaporates.

All things considered, I'll gladly stay here in Washington. The clouds took a break last week, but they're back and all is well.

[LemSteven]

Okay, I'll admit I left out some details in interest of keeping my post brief.  Elaborating on my explanation:

If you look at satellite imagery of the eastern Pacific Ocean in the summer, you will often notice a huge blanket of low clouds covering much of the region.  These clouds form because the cold water creates a cool, moist layer of air immediately above the surface.  Typically, the winds in Washington and Oregon are from the west, which brings in the cool, moist, and often cloudy conditions from the Pacific.  This keeps the temperatures low in the summer.  When the winds shift, the marine air is pushed back out to sea, and Washington and Oregon become much warmer.  (Note that this only pertains to the summer months; in winter, the marine air helps keep the climate warmer, which is why snow is relatively rare except in the mountains.)

As GuyPerfect said in his post, Lake Michigan is much smaller than the Pacific Ocean, so the water has much less of an impact on the weather.  But it still does have some effects -- anyone who has experienced a lake-effect snowstorm knows that!

[Adam]

The UK's gonna get hot over the next week. We're in for a heatwave with temperatures getting above 30

[LemSteven]

Here in Florida we had a heat wave about a week ago with temperatures over 100 F (38 C) for seven straight days.  It's cooled off a bit since then, and I can't remember the last time 95 felt so good!  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/winktounge.gif" alt=";P" title="Wink-Tongue" class="smiley" />

Although yesterday as I was driving home from work, it was bright and sunny, 90 degrees, and pouring down rain all at the same time.  Afterwards it felt like a sauna outside.

[Clam]

36C here in Christchurch today. I can't remember the last time it was this hot! Thankfully this looks like a one-off, since we're expecting a cool wind change tomorrow. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" class="smiley" />
Also, thread necromancy FTW!

[GigaLem]

Its hot where you are but its freezing where i am

[ccexplore]

36C here in Christchurch today. I can't remember the last time it was this hot!

Ha.  I think my friends over in the east coast of USA would gladly trade your heat wave for the twice-every-week snows they've been having throughout this winter...... http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" class="smiley" />

[Clam]

Sure enough, it was cool and rainy today. Huzzah! http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/laugh.gif" alt=":D" title="Laugh" class="smiley" />

Apparently it got to 39C one day last year, and I have no recollection whatsoever. Must've slept through it or something http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/undecided.gif" alt=":-\" title="Undecided" class="smiley" />

[Lemmy556]

There is always hot in sauna   http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/XD.gif" alt=":XD:" title="XD" class="smiley" />