Trading humidity for wildfire haze
Update #717: Refreshing air is headed for the Hudson Valley.
The Hudson Valley has turned into the Hudson rainforest recently, as it competes with the Amazon for some of the planet’s highest humidity levels.
Why has it been so humid lately? The air mass overhead traveled from the Caribbean — specifically, Cuba — over the past 10 days. Here’s what that path looked like.
That muggy air is finally going to depart on Sunday afternoon.
These less humid conditions will come at the expense of more wildfire smoke this week. This weekend, 11 new fires have been reported in southern British Columbia, with their smoke filling the skies and spreading east.
You might notice a smoky haze on Monday, but especially Tuesday — and it may last into Wednesday. Fortunately, it will be lofted high in the sky and won’t cause poor quality.
Otherwise, temperatures don’t look too extreme for mid-August standards.
The week ahead
The week ahead will generally feature more comfortable weather. A gusty storm could pass on Thursday with a cold front, followed by breezy conditions.
Monday: hottest day of the week with a PM t-storm possible
Tuesday: less humid as wildfire haze blows in from Canada
Wednesday: hazy sunshine with low humidity
Thursday: partly sunny with a gusty shower or t-storm possible as a cold front passes
Friday: nicer with low humidity; breezy
Saturday-Sunday: the forecast currently looks dry Saturday but chances for precipitation increase somewhat on Sunday
Looking ahead to the week of August 17, it could turn hotter but it doesn’t look especially humid. There could be more episodes of wildfire haze.
Sick of the humidity? Well, fall and winter aren’t that far off. Meteorological fall starts in just a few weeks on September 1.
A record-breaking El Niño threatens to bring some wild weather to the United States in the seasons ahead — and it looks particularly stormy along the East Coast, starting from around October onward. I’ll have more to share about this in the coming months, with premium subscribers receiving seasonal outlooks first and any new special features that may be coming this winter 😉
Snow day in New Zealand
This week, it dropped to an icy 29 degrees at my house in New Zealand! But I searching for more than just frost. I needed to see some snow. So off to the central North Island my wife and I went, where three mountains — Ngaurahoe, Ruapehu, and Tongariro — stand tall and snow-capped.
Ngaurahoe, a volcanic cone reaching over 7,500 feet, is the most picturesque of the three.
It takes a little over four hours to drive from Auckland to this winter wonderland. The roads are twisty and sometimes challenging with relatively few straight zones.
But these views make it all worth it.
