Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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July 7, 2009

Cooler-than-normal July brings yearning for muggy nights, lemonade

By CHARLES OWENS

Now that I’m officially living out in the country, I’m beginning to appreciate some of the simpler pleasures of life.

The chirping birds. The barking dogs. All of the bugs, bees and spiders that seem intent upon attacking me the minute I step out on the back porch. And of course the cool summer nights. Yes, in case you haven’t noticed, it really hasn’t felt much like summer in recent days.

The big dark cloud that use to follow the carnival into Bluefield every Memorial Day was back in town last weekend — just in time for the Fourth of July weekend. The end result was a cool, damp and very unseasonable Fourth of July.

What happened to sleeping in bed at night with all of the windows open, and the air-conditioner going? Why am I having to sleep with a blanket on?

Living in the valley or not — that’s a little crazy for early July.

Reporter Greg Jordan attempted to get to the bottom of this wacky weather trend on Monday. He was told by a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., that a weather system that has pushed warm air further south than usual is to blame for the strange weather we have experienced in recent days.

The same meteorologist told Greg that it is really too soon to say if the cooler weather will be an ongoing trend. But the extended forecast from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., is calling for more warmer — and normal weather — over the next few days.

A high of 81 is expected today, and the Bluefield area could push 86 degrees on Saturday. That’s a big improvement over last weekend.

For those keeping track, we haven’t had a single lemonade day so far this summer in Nature’s Air-Conditioned City. While there is still plenty of time for the region to hit 90 degrees, it doesn’t look like we will be tying or breaking any weather records this year. At this point, I’m beginning to wonder if we will even have a prolonged heat wave this summer or not.

Meteorologist Kris Mattarochia told Greg that thus far, July has been below normal — both the high and low readings. According to Mattarochia, the low temperature reading on July 3 actually tied a record low of 55 degrees set in 1995 at the Mercer County Airport.

Apparently other cities and towns also have been dealing with this wacky weather. Mattarochia reported a drop in temperatures across the eastern United States due to a strong low pressure area in the upper atmosphere.

This weather system centered north of the Great Lakes has caused the jet stream to set up much further south than usual this year, Mattarochia said. As a result, this weather pattern shift has allowed cooler Canadian air to go “a lot” further south into the United States.

Clearly, things didn’t feel normal last weekend. This was the first Fourth of July that I can ever remember that was actually cool. It wasn’t exactly ideal weather for an outside barbecue, picnic or family gathering. Hopefully the weather pattern will change, and change soon.

It would be nice to have at least one 90 degree day in Bluefield. A summer without free lemonade in Bluefield would be kind of sad.

Normally, I wouldn’t gripe about something as trivial as the weather. But I think we’ve earned at least a few 90 degree days after enduring a bone-chillingly cold winter. When the mercury drops well below zero, you know you’ve got a problem. And that happened way too many times this past winter.

We did have several very warm days in May. Then June was cooler than normal. July has been lousy so far. Maybe August and September will be a scorcher. Something has to give already. It is summer after all, and it’s supposed to be hot. A sweltering heat wave might be welcomed at this point.

Considering that I spent what felt like half of my summer moving, the opportunity to sit back and enjoy a few hot and muggy nights would certainly be nice.

I can deal with the birds, dogs, bees and other surprises that come with country living. I didn’t expect the cool nights.

So much for the whole global warming debate.

Charles Owens is the Daily Telegraph’s city editor. Contact him at cowens@bdtonline.com

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