It's a Wet Heat
 

Simply to contrast the posts I've been reading lately about Arizona's dry heat, I would like to present today's forecast for Asheville and Charlotte, NC<BR><BR>Asheville: hi temp of 90, with 75% humidity<BR><BR>Charlotte: hi temp of 97, with 70% humidity<BR><BR>Whoowee! If you are visiting the area today and notice that the hotel desk clerk will not leave the air conditioned lobby even under threat of torture, as I intend not to, this is why.

It's Sultry!

*L* And my dear, sweet, flakey MIL up north turned off the AC last night hoping the evening would cool off!

100 for the high in SC with the heat index at 115.

Thank you Austin. This is one of the reasons why I am happy to not be living in Charlotte NC anymore!<BR>But at least you don't look forward to snow!

NYer, who on earth told you I don't look forward to snow? Didn't you know the NC mountains get snow, and plenty of it -- usually -- every year? There are ski resorts north of Asheville, which isn't terribly far from Mt. Mitchell, home of North Carolina's lowest ever recorded temperature -- 35 degrees (Fahrenheit) below zero. Also, there are two or three recorded instances of snow in my town in June, and I can vividly remember one time that it snowed in May.<BR><BR>Personally, I'm very much looking forward to snow this winter, especially after the wimpy, warm winter we had this past year.

It reached 103 at the RDU airport 8/23. It was 100 8/24 (the 'rain' kept the temp. down). Add in the humidity and it was a code Red day with a heat advisory. YUCK.<BR><BR>The AC is on overdrive.

Here in the Santa Clara valley of CA, the thermometer has barely hit 70°F in the past ten days. Sleeping under two blankets at night. Ahhh....

Austin, <BR>I plumb forgot that somewhere in NC you can look forward to snow! LOL! We used to go to the mountains in the fall and to Myrtle Beach in the summer, it might have snowed a couple of inches my entire childhood:)<BR>Now I live in NY and I seem to have caught up on any missed snow falls!<BR>Today BTW-it beautiful-dry, coolish, sunny, breezy, aaahhhh.

NYer,<BR><BR>This thread is actually helping me to think cool thoughts, what with all this talk about snow, and it's made me think of one other thing too...<BR><BR>My friend Mitchell is a real estate appraiser who more or less takes photos of houses for a living. You'd think that in his off time he'd refuse to so much as be in the same room as a camera, but no -- he photographs for fun. One of the most beautiful and haunting pictures he ever took was of a statue in downtown Asheville. The statue is called "Past and Promise" and is a life-size sculpture of a little girl about 8 years old, bending to drink from a water fountain attached to a lamppost.<BR><BR>In the picture, Past and Promise is standing up to her shins in a snowdrift one gloomy, foggy, snowy winter morning. All the snow has slid off her back, but in her hand, which is cupped to catch the "water" from the fountain (the fountain doesn't actually work) there's a generous mound of snow that's piled up almost all the way to her mouth. It looks like she's eating the snow out of her hand.<BR><BR>I love that picture! I'm hoping to get it blown up and framed to hang in the lobby of the hotel where I work.

Betsy,<BR><BR>I was just in the Santa Clara Valley. You are welcome to your blankets. It's just too bad you can hardly see anything due to the smog. Coming in, the flight attendent asked me if we were landing in Los Angeles!<BR><BR>Dick

Austin, that sounds wonderful! I wish you could post it online!<BR>The first snow we had when I was a kid was a couple of inches, I was so excited, ran around like a looney, slipped and fell! <BR>Now - when we see snow falling, we mostly groan:)<BR>My dad lives in W Jefferson, do you know it?<BR>Thank you for the lovely description.

NYer,<BR><BR>You're more than welcome for the description, and if Mitchell ever scans that picture, I'll see if I can put it up so people can see it.<BR><BR>Meantime, I've certainly heard of West Jefferson, because the Charlotte TV station viewing areas cover the northern mountains, and they're always giving the forecasts and temperature readouts for Boone, Blowing Rock, West Jefferson and that area. <BR><BR>Unfortunately, those Charlotte stations don't seem to get the fact that people here in the central and southern mountains can also pick up their signal -- thus, while they never tell us what our weather will be, we're always in the know about what's new in Boone.

Yay me! Here's a link that will take you to a picture of the statue I mentioned, but not to the picture I mentioned, unfortunately. Mitchell has yet to scan it into his computer.<BR><BR>Since the original purpose of this thread was to discuss the heat, it bears mentioning that every summer Asheville throws a blowout summer celebration called Bele Chere, the largest street festival in the Southeast. From time to time Past and Promise joins in the fun -- once after Bele Chere, the cleanup crews found her decked out in a bra and a party hat. Who knows? Maybe the heat affected the revelers -- a party hat, yes, but a bra?<BR><BR>http://www.justasheville.com/URBAN_23.HTML

Au contraire, Dick. We've been getting some smoke from forest fires in Oregon recently. The SF Bay Area usually has very low levels of smog due to our prevailing sea breeze. Don't confuse us with LA! Today was pristine. Temp in the low 80s--a relative heat wave.

Austin, from your description I can just see who she must have looked with all the snow and her hand ful of it.Thanks!<BR>I remember Asheville from childhood trips, and a place called Little Switzerland? Is that still a big resort type of place? My grandfather was chef there for a while:)<BR>

As far as I know, NYer, Little Switzerland is a tiny little speck of a place deep in the high mountains, home to a lot of obscenely rich people.

Betsy,<BR><BR>It's exactly as I told the Flight Attnendent, the people in San Jose (Santa Clara Valley) refuse to admit they have a smog problem. They do and it's Big Time!!<BR><BR>I spent over 20 years in San Jose. I am forced to return there 2-3 times a year. A visit I dread. <BR><BR>Your air quality is awful. If it's not the fires in Oregon, there will be some other excuse. What you get in the Santa Clara Valley has nothing to do with the weather in San Francisco.<BR><BR>San Jose is nothing more than a small Los Angeles in just about all aspects including air quality, sprawl, traffic congestion, etc.<BR><BR>Dick

Dick would you please get the right thread!