Weather Warnings

[Jeepers]

Yesterday son called on his way home from work. He said there was so much junk in the air that people were driving with their lights on at 4:30 in the afternoon. I looked it up. Smoke from Canadian wild fires are blanketing most of the upper Midwest. It is awful. 

 

I was out today and it is really bad here too. They said the smoke in my area is at ground level. It looks like fog.  Many events have already been canceled. For the first time I can actually smell it. I've never seen anything like it. It was bad two weeks ago but nothing like this.

 

I don't know if its my imagination or what but my throat and chest hurts. I think I might have had some damage done with the covid and bronchitis I had this year. And I have to go out tomorrow. It should be cleared out this weekend because of...storms.  

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, please be careful breathing that stuff in. It is not good from what I have heard.  Don't know if wearing a mask for that smoke would help or not. But anything that would keep you from breathing it in and bothering your throat and lungs would be worth a try. We had it several weeks ago but it wasn't as bad as what you described. Wonder if it will come back in this far again. I hope not. 

[Jeepers]

I will be careful. Most of the time I will be in the house with the contractor but I will wear a mask if I have shopping to do. Just remembered that I do need to pump gas, Will wear one then. Thanks for the reminder! 

 

Both Indiana and Ohio said that it wasn't this bad when we had the old steel mills fired up and running.

 

 

Speaking of which...son and his were out in the yard most of Sunday doing yard work. He smelled something like a sewer. He asked G-son if it was him. G-son asked if it was dad. Boys!  

 

Turned out it was an 'unplanned flaring of gasses due to weather conditions' at the Whiting Indiana refinery again. The smell encompassed over four counties, After they went inside a notice came on for people to stay inside their houses.    Son said the thinks "they" are doing this stuff to people on purpose. I don't know about all of that but at least he is starting to think along those lines. 

 

Sulfur smell covering northwest Indiana believed to be caused by BP Whiting Refinery (wfyi.org)

 

[Mt_Rider]

Jeepers, when you say "mask" ....you don't mean the stupid surgical masks, right?  If you get N95 or even higher, that will keep the particles out of your throat/bronchial/lungs...tho breathing will be harder.  So you just don't hurry and get breathless! 

 

I had a whole stash of N95s when the C hit cuz of our smoky times here.  Or even DUST when I walk the gravel road and a vehicle goes by.  I'm quite susceptible to particulates.  I sent N95s over to Maui when Big Island's Kilauea was spewing VOG.  Told Maui 'ohana that they should by no means think N95 is meant for gases coming down the volcano.  Just the particulates!  SIL was going to Big Island during the eruption....didn't know if he's try to get a closer look??    Gases wouldn't travel very far so N95 would be fine.  

 

I've experienced plenty of wildfire smoke and don't mess with it.  Some folks have to wear swim goggles if they have sensitive eyes. 

 

That's a visual!!  All the streets of NYC filled with people in goggles and N95 masks.....trying to find their way across the streets thru the thick smoke residue.  Good shots for some ......   movie, right?    [oh, don't need a movie.  It's really happening! ]   

 

MtRider   ...my 2 cents

[Jeepers]

Yes Mt. Rider. I meant the firmer molded ones. I have a lot left over. They are N95. I think they are 3M brand. I never used very many of those. I have a ton of the surgical masks too thanks to covid. Our doctors and hospitals no longer require them now.

 

Hand sanitizer, gloves, surgical masks, N95 masks, toilet paper...I'm ready for the next round of whatever they throw at us.   I do wonder what the next major event will be that I won't be prepared for though. I remember all too well when you couldn't buy a drop of hand sanitizer any place up here at any price. They mentioned making your own and overnight the alcohol and Aloe was gone in an instant too. 

[Littlesister]

Should we blame the smell on climate change. This is really getting to be obnoxious. I saw a picture of china on the news and it was so foggy from pollution it was crazy. But we can't have natural gas which is the cleanest utility around. Drive electric cars we can't afford and no meat. But you can bet politicians and China will have anything they want. It's called Communism. I do believe we are heading in that direction. Just look at Venezuela. We are heading into that direction. It is not pretty over there. I think Dazey Luther has several articles about that. We are now a 3ed world country from what I keep hearing. 

It does make me wonder if a lot of these things are done on purpose. And I believe most of them are. I know accidents can happen but this is way over the top. Sabotage at it's best. 

[Jeepers]

They are cancelling all kinds of events around here because of the 'smoke'

 

My D-ex had big plans to go visit G-son on his birthday July 4th. He lives out west. He was going to take him to Indianapolis to the museums and kid friendly places. Had the flights reserved, hotel in Indiana, car rental, hotel in Indianapolis and other things. Now because of the air quality, planes are being grounded and his flight (tomorrow) has been cancelled. So disappointing for all of them. 

 

I wasn't going to go for his birthday because G-son was going to be in Indianapolis most of the time I would be there. I told him I'd come in a week or two later. Now I'm not sure. I made other plans too. Two med appointments and house stuff lined up like the junk guys etc.  Sigh.  Everyone is bummed out now. 

 

Air quality was in the danger level again here today. I stayed in the house as much as I could today and didn't pump gas. I still have about a half tank and I hope it will get better after it rains.  

[Mt_Rider]

It needs to turn torrential tropical rain in Canada!  Long enough with the fires.     I know what it's like to live with constant stress of ....Is It Coming Our Way??? 

 

Everyone celebrates your GS's Bday, Jeepers.       But having family there would be important.  So sorry your dh's plans were ruined.  Who has heard of airlines not flying due to smoke?   Certain airports, maybe.  But is the whole upper Midwest a no-fly zone?  Don't they fly at night by instruments?   Or is the smoke corroding something?  Sheeeesh! 

 

MtRider   

[Jeepers]

I really don't know Mt.Rider. But he would be flying into Chicago and they are being hit especially hard. He probably could wait it out and chance another day but he had to cancel all of the reservations this weekend that he already made $$$ It is disappointing but there is still a lot of summer left. Just not on his birthday. We tell him the whole country celebrates his birthday complete with fireworks. So far...he still believes. School will probably blow our cover soon when history classes start.  

[Ambergris]

Chicago gets the brunt of everything, doesn't it?  Heat, cold, windstorms, creeping ice, earthquakes, now smoke? 

A young man here wants to go to Chicago to work.  I was trying to describe it as the city of big shoulders, city on the edge of the prairie, windy city, third coast/great lakes city, and so on.  They'd heard of the great lake "every picture has the water in it."  Eventually I figured out I was saying the city of big hungers (hambres) instead of big shoulders (hombros), and corrected it to city of big female livestock (hembras) before grabbing my shoulders and asking "what are these?"   All in all, though, I don't think I was wrong with any of those.

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, Sorry your D-ex has to miss your GS's birthday because of the smoke. But you are right the whole country will be his birthday.  And yes there will be other times to celebrate. 

That smoke is something else and yes Canada needs some good hard rain to put the fires out.  

[Jeepers]

 Chicago isn't called the windy city for nothing! And they do seem to get the brunt of everything. There is just one county between Chicago and where son lives. 

 

Glad you got the translation figured out.  

[Mt_Rider]

Anyone hear of the DERECHO that mashed across mostly Illinois?  Mother....looks like it was just getting started south of you.  Hope you didn't get hit again. 

 

There were heartbreaking pics of farmers looking at corn at a very low angle.  Possibly they might come back more upright but ....it will be so very rough to harvest the corn that lays over that much.  Not quite completely flattened.   

 

Not like we need corn in many of the products we use, right?   

 

MtRider 

[Jeepers]

I only heard about it long after it was over. Devastating winds. 

 

I never even heard of the word derecho until about two years ago.  

[Mother]

We missed the worst of that wind, thankfully.  I pray for those who were hit with it.  Like Jeepers I had never heard the word ‘derecho’ until after we had been hit with the first one that went through our area.  

[Littlesister]

I heard about the derecho winds about 2 or 3 years ago as well.  They are really bad winds. Hope the corn fields make a good comeback from it.  

 

Mother glad you were not affected by the worst of it.  

 

Don't know how hurricane season will affect us here yet but the Atlantic is churning with tropical storms this year. I know that will bring us a lot of rain  but just don't want to have the hurricanes with it.  

[snapshotmiki]

Are Dericho winds the same as Straight line winds?  Or more tornado-ish?

[Mother]

Derecho’s are more like straight line winds but they cover more than 200 miles. They can be as devastating as the recent disaster of clusters of tornados hitting a two or three state area.

[Littlesister]

Those are really bad.  I have seen pictures of what they can do. It's not good. 

 

We are in the 90's here today. To hot to do anything outside. Though this morning I did pick some squash again and a cucumber. This is the first really hot day we have had so far. Not looking for this heat. But it is summer time now.  Have 2 fans in pantry and the ceiling fan going as I want it to stay really cool in that room. I will be doing that every summer now that the pantry in in a bedroom. So far it is the coolest room in the house. 

[Annarchy]

114° here today…yup garden is toast.  I am not planting until early September, if, I decide to plant…. Sabbath next year….

[Littlesister]

Annarchy, 114* is  way to hot. I heard with el nino weather pattern, the temps in a lot of places are going to be really high this year. Could last anywhere from 3 to 10 years they say. I think they said the middle of country will get the worse of it. I hope they are wrong. Highest I remember it getting here was 99* and that was bad. Had to practically tie DH to his chair to keep him from going outside. He would get dehydrated easy and with his health he didn't need to be working in garden. Men can be stubborn. But I won.  

[Ambergris]

I first heard of derechos on this site, about ten years ago.  Have barely ever heard the word anywhere else.  The photo of corn I saw on Facebook (flat, as far as the eye could see) said straight wind but not derecho.  I knew it was a derecho from learning about them here.

[Mt_Rider]

I'm a weather person, as y'all know.  I keep files on computer about different weather events.  The scale for hurricanes.  Full moon nights.  Etc.  I just picked up this definition when looking at the effects of this recent derecho.  The site said this defines them:

 

==-==-==

A derecho is a line of strong thunderstorms that produces frequent wind gusts of at least 58 mph over the span of at least 400 miles. During particularly dangerous derechos, wind gusts can exceed 100 mph.

=-=-=-==

 

    I neglected to note where I got that.....some weather site. 

 

MtRider  ....glad you were able to sit this one out, Mother.   

[Littlesister]

We are suppose to get rain later this evening. I better rain or I will need to water gardens again tonight or tomorrow morning. It has been hot again today. So no working in yard again this afternoon. Will get up at first light in the morning and work on gardens then if we don't get that rain. Still have more weeding to get done.