Off My Rocker

By Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin

Elma’s Heat on the Street car show last weekend seemed well timed. Surviving the heat is what — at least so far — much of this summer has been about.

I usually enjoy warm summer days, temperatures in the 80s (though hot nights … not so much). In the lovely apartment complex in Elma where I live, we have some shade-giving trees, as well as an abundance of flowers and other plants to enjoy from spring into autumn.

Thankfully, the lawn care is provided (though I’ve felt bad during the particularly blistering days for the person whose job it is). We do the upkeep, such as weeding and watering, of our own flower beds, though. That’s fair, and I’m thankful for so much beauty this time of year.

But, though some of my neighbors wilt more readily from warm weather than I do, there’ve been some late afternoons and evenings when even my own inner thermostat has complained.

Following is a narrative of what I’ve heard some folks say, as well as what I imagine others might have thought while dealing with the unusually long streak of sizzling East Grays Harbor days:

“Hot enough for you?”

“Yep, and then some.”

“Especially when it’s 200 degrees,” a man at my church said last Sunday.

“I could hardly breathe last night,” a neighbor reported.

It was actually hot enough for a number of successive days last month to be dangerous, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.

Advisories, watches and warnings

Day after sweltering day in July, the weather service issued a Hazardous Weather watch cautioning folks to stay well hydrated, look out for others and not to become a heat stroke victim. Heat stroke is “an emergency,” the recorded message on my NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio said. “Call 911.”

Later, the “watch” became a “warning,” meaning the situation — and the possibility of medical issues induced by the oppressive heat — had escalated.

The service gives a weather “advisory” for less serious conditions, for example “events that may cause significant inconvenience, and if caution is not exercised … could lead to situations that may threaten life and/or property,” it says on its website at www.weather.gov/sew.

A “watch” means the “risk of a hazardous weather or hydrologic event has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location and/or timing is still uncertain,” the service notes. “It is intended to provide enough lead time so that those who need to set their plans in motion can do so.”

“A warning is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, is imminent or has a very high probability of occurring. A warning is used for conditions posing a threat to life or property,” the service explains.

Because East County stretches between Olympia and Aberdeen, with varying temperatures and other conditions, Olympia is the zoned area the service reports on that’s most similar to where I live. So that’s the area for which my weather radio is programmed.

We’ve also had a series of days in which folks with breathing problems were cautioned about the smoke drifting in our area’s skies from rampant wildfires in Canada. Somewhat conversely, however, on the day that had been predicted to bring triple-digit temperatures, the high was only, an albeit record-tying or -setting, 96 degrees, apparently thanks to the smoke cover.

As of last Monday, high temperatures were expected to remain in the 80s through next Sunday, with each night cooling to the 50s.

“The strong upper level ridge over the region will maintain the drystable air mass over Western Washington through at least Thursday,” the weather service predicted. But it was hoped that an Air Quality Alert due to the smoke might change Thursday, as well. “A change to southwest onshore flow aloft on Thursday may start to push the smoke out of the area,” the service added Monday. If not, though, people with respiratory issues can get current air quality information on websites including swcleanair.org, airnow.gov and wasmoke.blogspot.com.

Historic extremes

There have been some impressive extremes in the fairly recent past, too. On July 29, 2009, for example, the temperature at the Olympia airport, where that area’s weather data is observed, soared to a record-breaking (since 1948) — 104 degrees, according to weather service records.

Though it was not official, I nevertheless recall a temperature of 106 degrees in Elma one summer.

But, hey, fall is right around the corner … next month … Sept. 22. And as soon as the maple trees are bare, you can bet we’ll begin hearing: “Is that all it’s ever going to do around here — rain, rain, RAIN?”