13 August 2015

Sweltering

I had to get up at 5:30 this morning. I couldn't stand it any more. It was just too hot and humid for me to be able to stay in bed. What a strange summer we are having. Yesterday afternoon, I took to my bed, with almost no clothes on and no covers of course, and with an electric fan blowing on me. I stayed that way for several hours, trying to doze and not move around too much. I'm officially tired of hot weather at this point.

The temperature yesterday afternoon was above 90ºF. In the house this morning, it's nearly 80, and outdoors before dawn it's 75. In addition, it's very humid. Maybe that doesn't sound so extreme to some people in some areas, but here it is miserable. Remember, there's no AC in the great majority French houses and apartments. It's hard for Americans, at least in most areas of the U.S., to imagine living without air-conditioning, in that climate over there. But here it's normal. It's this summer's weather that is not normal.


Above is this morning's weather map, showing rain moving up into western France from the south. The legend on the map says to expect "locally violent storms." For now, Saint-Aignan is just on the eastern edge of the band of storms, so we have that to look forward to.


Then it's supposed to cool down to more normal temperatures. That means highs around the level of this morning's so-called low temperature. The map just above shows the forecast for Saturday. Our high is supposed to be 20ºC, which is around 70ºF.

21 comments:

  1. the same uncomfortable and hot weather is at myplace. Take care.

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  2. Hope it will cool down for you. As far as I am concerned I'm enjoying that weather. 80°F inside is lovely! That's the setting we had in Salton City all year round!

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    1. I'm more comfortable at 68ºF. And less humidity, please.

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    2. Another thought. What I hate about the scenario you describe is that you have to live like a shut-in, with all the windows closed most of the year. What I like here is that we can keep doors and windows wide open for 6 months or more out of the year. A few days of overly hot weather are a small price to pay for that freedom. I remember how much I hated living in an apartment in Washington DC, where summers were hot and muggy and winters were damp and cold.

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  3. "I'm officially tired of hot weather at this point.".....
    Us too!! It is really too hot and sticky to work properly...
    I have discovered that at 30 Centipedes my brain ceases to function....
    We've two Workawayers staying at the moment... one is from Spain...
    and from Seville... so to him this is cold!!
    He keeps wanting to close the doors
    So, really, I guess it is what you are used to...
    in August 2003... "The Canicule"...
    we had higher temperatures at 44 Centipedes in the shade....
    but it was dry heat...
    yesterday the humidity never fell below 40%...
    higher indoors...
    The only thing that is really worrying me is the fact that the veg...
    out there...
    isn't able to get water up into the leaves fast enough...
    Pauline and I have taken to checking the veg in the morning to see what actually needs water!
    It is so easy to over water in these conditions.
    T

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  4. Any thunderstorms yet? We are in an orange warning for later today. Hope it won't be too bad, nor for you, nor for us ;). Good luck. Martine

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    1. So far, just nice gentle rain showers. Thanks for the good wishes.

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  5. Take two, with proof reading this time.

    Even though we have hot summers, your temperatures along with high humidity must be unbearable. There must be a slight twinge of the hand towards the wallet to spend money on air con for the bedroom (s) at least. A refuge from the heat is surely an essential to a comfortable life.

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    1. The heat and humidity are usually of short duration here. In North America, it's very different. I haven't finished reading your reports from NYC, but the hot humid weather there can be really brutal, as in Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, and in most of the eastern US. The weather here in France is much more moderate, though this summer has been very hot. Most summers are mild.

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    2. or Montréal.

      We had the misfortune of our heat pump ( cooling operation in summer) dying on us six weeks ago - when the mercury really goes up as well as the humidity. Thus i can understand how uncomfortable it must be during this abnormal period . I never paid that much attention wrt humidity in summer here ( as compared to the island or when I was commuting to ATL) but I did pay attention this time. Fortunately, a new pump was installed on Tuesday and , with the forecast for temp above 28C in the next few days, I am thankful for AC.

      We saw the news last evening wrt the farmers and the lack of water in some areas of France

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  6. Hot in the house yesterday evening here in Chattilon. Mind you I hope it is warm in September as we are off to the seaside for a welcome holiday! I heard on the radio this morning that the wine growers in Bordeaux are hoping for an extremely good vendages due to the hot weather.

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  7. I find the heat much more difficult with the humidity. Dry heat, OK, but add in some moisture (we are unfamiliar with that term in California at the moment), and I wilt. I hope the rain brings you some relief Ken.

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    1. We are officially relieved today. What a nice change.

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  8. Hope things cool down for you. We'll be in the 90s this weekend in LA with humidity in the 50-60% range. Not a drop of rain, though.

    Pity the folks in Phoenix whre it is forecast to be 113 F (or 45 C) today.

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    1. Doesn't everybody out there have AC? I'm sure a few don't, but not many. That area wouldn't be liveable otherwise. Like so many other places.

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  9. I hope you get back to normal temps soon. I hate to be hot and sweaty -- I just hate high humidity!

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    1. Very nice today -- warm but not hot, no wind, and just a few light rain showers.

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  10. Feel for you Ken. It's the humidity that makes it hard to handle I think. Dry heat not quite so bad. Sue

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  11. You've summed up perfectly what I hate about summer on the U.S. east coast [even as I am glad for the AC]: you have to live like a shut-in, with all the windows closed most of the year." I develop a screaming case of cabin fever about this time of summer.

    Hope your weather improves in coming days.

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    1. I remember the first 5 or 6 years after our move from muggy DC out to dry California. It was very liberating. At the time, California was in a drought, and our winters were dry and crisp. The summers in San Francisco were foggy and windy, but it was never so hot and humid in summer or so cold and damp in winter that you couldn't enjoy going outside for a walk. I'd have a really hard time living in the eastern part of the U.S. now.

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