This is where I live. On a sunny day.
My dad, who will be 90 in December, says that never in all his days in California has it ever been as hot as it was this year. He's a Bush supporter, and although he's registered Democrat, he votes Republican. He hasn't been much of a believer in global warming. But, he's getting convinced. Mom and Dad did well in the heat, though, they're troopers. They kept their fan going all the time, and Dad checked his in-the-shade-properly-installed thermometer frequently. It was 105 degrees on two subsequent days. That's the hottest it's ever been where they live - about 15 miles from the actual coast. They're lucky, they live up a little canyon, so the sun is blocked after about 5:45 p.m.
Thing is, here in lovely coastal SoCal, the weather hasn't changed that much. It's about the same temperature where I live (about 5 miles from the actual shore), but it's about 4 degrees warmer than usual (yearly average) where Dad lives. And in Central California, I'm told it is about 6 degrees warmer than it was 30 years ago (annual average again). So, depending on where you live, the weather might be pretty good. It rained here today.
No one knows how to predict the local weather, given the new weather patterns on Planet Earth. NOAA (feds) have been forgetting to replace their weather satellites. Lots of bad weather elsewhere - I hope you get your predictions in time. Meggie almost got to be in a hurricane, but I guess it fizzed out before it got to Volcano.
I love the American West. This is a painting by Richard Mayhew that captures how all this vast open land - all the way out to Hawaii - looks in my mind:
But, you know it's almost impossible to a great art gallery out here. For that, you have to go to New York City, like the monkey guy. He's not even in a gallery, In New York, the shops look like art galleries.
