It's a Sad Day

And I'm not talking about the extreme heat that we in PA are going to experience Thursday and Friday.  I know I really shouldn't editorialize about the weather, but the heat and the lack of rain has made this week not very enjoyable for those of us who dream of high temps in the 20s with snow covered ground.  But seriously, one must exercise caution when experiencing 110 F heat indices.  The coupled effects of both the heat and humidity will make the temp on the human body feel like 110 F!  Just think if you had a coat on on top of that like our 4 legged friends.  Below are 2 charts; one with temp vs dewpoints and the other with temps vs relative humidity.

We should have straight air temps near 100 F and dewpoints around 70-74 over the Thursday-Friday time frame in the afternoons.  Those are "danger" zone heat indices. 

The map below shows the models' depiction of the hottest temps for PA.  This is for Friday afternoon when once again heat the heat index will approach 110F.  This is about as hot as it can get around here as we live in a humid environment and the water vapor essentially puts a dampening effect on the air's temperature.  The record high for both Thursday and Friday is 101F for Harrisburg.  We will approach these levels and could possibly exceed these if and only if some dry air mixes down to the surface from aloft.

OK...so we all know it is hot.  Relief is now being seen on the water vapor image seen below where I quickly sketched the boundary between the hot air over the plains and the east and the cool air to the Pacific west coast.  While the mainstream media is hammering away at this heat wave, record cool temps have been prevalent across CA, OR, and WA.  Just earlier this week, Bakersfield and Palm Springs, CA experienced record low max temps.  Now I know upper 80s and low 90s is not that cool, but it is in the deserts of the SW in July!  Note the air over PA has its origins in northern Mexico and SW Texas...ugh!

But relief in the form of the upper air flow will help give us a break from this current heat wave by Monday.  Here is the upper air flow progged for Tuesday. 

But this relief may be short lived as the US modeling is showing another resurgence of the heat by the following weekend.  Here is the upper air flow for next Sunday.  That is one big burly Bermuda High!

But it is not the weather that really has me sad.  It's the end of the shuttle program that does.  And just as Apollo ended, there was a new beginning in the planning of NASA.  This time; not so much.  The brain drain of the USA continues as we have no real plans for manned missions from our own resources.  Instead, we will pay the Russians $60+ million just to get our astronauts to the space station.  Regardless of what the political pundits or TV talking heads suggest, there is very little leadership in the country in many aspects INCLUDING THE VERY TOP!  There has been a very successful and world envy space program during my entire life in the US.  Now, this current administration would rather spend its resources in a vastly different manner than educate, train, and EMPLOY its brightest young people.  In fact, I swear we strive for mediocrity in this country...what a shame!  I doubt if we would ever hear as inspirational a speech from our current president as was given by another democrat and tremendous leader in the challenge thrown down as seen below!

Enjoy your hot Thursday-Saturday....and hang out in the shade sipping your favorite cold beverage.

Smitty

AA:  Very hot and uncomfortable until Saturday...then slowly cooling through middle of next week.  But more heat on tap for the following weekend.  NASA's shuttle program is now mothballed after 30 outstanding years of scientific leadership in the USA!