Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Hottest day ever for Seattle

The hottest day in Seattle's history is today. Here is the weather report we woke up to this morning. In case you didn't notice the suffocating heat, they painted the state blood red to illustrate.








It is kind of exciting to be immobilized by the heat; everyone is holing up inside with fans and AC units. If you don't have an AC, you are pretty much screwed. Most homes here do NOT have them, so the county is opening up "cooling centers" for people, and next door our neighbors are sleeping out in the yard.






Costco, the wholesaler, had a line outside the door before opening, and there were only 60 AC units left, and the first 60 people in line got tickets to get them. We were there late yesterday, after they sold out, and almost everyone had at least 1 fan in his cart. Many hotels are filling up with people who didn't get an AC in time.






My man and I are staying with my aunt in West Seattle, with dark towels over the windows and fans going to help out the one AC. It is currently 85 in here, and 98 outside. Since we are spending the entire day just sitting here hiding from the weather, it is not unlike those people in the south hiding from storms.






My aunt is making berry pies, her specialty, and it has become an all day process. We discovered the trick of putting wet washcloths in the freezer until they're frozen, and then draping them on our heads. It really, really helps!






Tempers are short, it is really hard to not lose it over simple little things. I tried to take a picture of my aunt with the wet cloth, and she glared at me, "I'm not too crazy that I can't kill you!"






We set out a tupperware of icewater with a coke and a rootbeer for the mailman, with a note for him to take what he wants. Gee, I just checked it and most of the ice is melted and I don't think the mail is even coming today due to the heat. Ah, he just came as I was writing this post and grabbed a beverage.




The firemen set up a firehose on a fireladder so that people can run around in the spray.







I am not going outside to get wet, I would not make it to the faucet in time.







The woods in Central Washington are on fire, and people are swimming in lakes and rivers and the sound, and not being careful enough, so there are already some deaths.






The weather forecast makes us laugh cuz the weatherman had to apologize cuz the triple digit numbers do not fit on the screen! They have never had this problem here before.







I made SOS, that is "Something on a Shingle" (the "something" is actually another S word). I have to make it while I am here cuz there is no breakfast sausage in Germany. It looks disgusting, but this army food is one of my favorite breakfasts. It is similar to biscuits and gravy, I make it with garlic, sausage, and cream of mushroom soup over toast. MMMMmmmm.



I have to admit it is kind of fun to be stuck in here all day watching HDTV (we LOVE that station) and throwing the ball around for the dog.








The weatherman just said there is an extreme heat warning declared for the entire Puget Sound region, because not only is it hot, the humidity is 40%. Here is my man asking for more Coke Zero.







They are listing the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. My aunt just said, "Is crazy a symptom?"





My aunt took a pic of me with my frozen washcloth. She said, "The only reason we let our pictures be taken today is cuz we all thought we would die today."











Oh for the Pacific Ocean outside my door TODAY....but tomorrow will do.











My man took the warning seriously and ran to get his gallon of water. Here is my man enjoying HDTV, taking care of himself.










The pies look great, they are going to Oregon with us tomorrow for our yearly family beach trip. Oregon, have better weather, OK Oregon??









I think this was my first totally non horse related post, but here is another pic of Ashes, my aunt's dog. He sure is cute, the little mail eater.

UPDATE: We broke the record this afternoon, it is now 102 in Seattle! Unbelievable! If you would like cooler weather, they recommend the following cities: New Orleans, El Paso, Dallas, Miami, and LA.

15 comments:

AareneX said...

gol dangit, you're right: it's HOT! Our library is full of nice, quiet, well-behaved people who are sitting calmly and enjoying the AC.

(me too: my truck doesn't have AC, so I have to wear an icepack on my back during the commute!)

So, you're leaving for Oregon, guess that means you can't go riding with me on Friday (temps are predicted to drop into the 80's, hurrah!)

Dang.

allhorsestuff said...

Oh man...I wa laughing it up pretty dnag hard with the wash clothes and gallon jugs!
I am soo afraid you'll not make it back to Ore City from the MUCH cooler beach- as the temps are CRAPOLA here worse than there!
(I would understand too)~
I was at work last night and my last client drove up and said it was 110! he has a new Corvette...very nice!

any who..am going to the barn to spray the wa down and the grass too and we shall be wet and cool for a few moments together.

Talk soon..be well, have so much fun you P your pants...get in the water of the ocean after that!
KacyK

lytha said...

Kacy, I may need to invite YOU to the Oregon Coast this weekend, huh?? We heard from my sister who is there already, and she is shivering in the cold. I cannot even imagine it.

Just now my aunt is on the phone with my mom saying we should drive down to the coast tonight and sleep in the car if there is no room available yet. hehehe

Reddunappy said...

Hey Lytha, I am here in SW Wa., Vancouver has Seattle beat for the heat 107 today!!! We live east of Vancouver in Washougal. It was 105 yesturday at the house, and it only got up to 102 today, sheesh only LOL Have fun at the Or. coast, at least it is a lot cooler on the coast!

Unknown said...

I think we hit 104 today. Yesterday I it was so hot, I thought I'd climb in an oven to cool off.

We are acclimated to this madness here, I hope everyone does okay up there. The last time one of these killer heat waves went through the Midwest, people were dropping like... sweaty flies!

By the way, terry cloth is very slimming.

Leah Fry said...

My friend in southern OR said it was 108 the other day.

Mrs. Mom said...

Shoot Lytha, I think was cooler here for a while yesterday.

40% humidity... *sigh*... What we wouldn't give for that low level. Our average humidity level is around 60%+.... (with air temps around 90+, making over 100* days the norm. I miss cool.)

Hang in there!

Zoe said...

Will gladly swap some rain for sunshine.

Sonya said...

It's almost always cooler at the Oregon coast. When it was around 90-100 in corvallis it would only be in the lower 70's at the coast.

It's been freaking humid as heck over here! We are going through thunder and lightening storms like I've never seen,then sun and then rain. Next week will be in the upper 70's. Enjoy your time in Oregon,I miss it soooooooooooooooooooo much! Eat some salt water taffy for me!!!

Melanie said...

I am so jealous that you are going to the beach!!!! It is too damn hot right now, isn't it????

Have fun and stay cool, alright?

Unknown said...

Come to Delmenhorst! We had stormy 71 F today. But there are nearly 20 swine flu cases here :-(

sahara4d said...

Oooo...that pie looks yummy and you aunt sounds like a fun person to hang out with! LOL!! I'm sure that having to bake pies on the hottest day didn't help the temperature in the house. It has been warm but at least it is cooling off. Have a great time on the coast.

Horseypants said...

That's so weird b/c it's really cold here in Colorado today. And rainy. Such bizarre weather this year.

Danni said...

Hello...I'm no longer sure how I found your blog (I bounced from one blog to another to another and found...you!), but I'm glad I did. This post cracked me up!! Partly because I'm living this crazy heat with you (I'm in Oregon). The photo of your aunt and the comment she made had me laughing out loud! Hilarious.
By now you will have found out that the Oregon coast is much, much cooler than the inland has been. Last I heard, it was only in the 60's there, so you should be feeling mighty fine by now. Have fun! -danni

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Yikes! I cannot even imagine temps like that...except for when we lived in South Carolina...and with the added swampy humidity it was probably well over 100 degrees most of the summer. gah! I don't miss that here in New Mexico at all. We've been in a sort of cool spell, with temps in the 70-80's and down to 50 degrees at night.

Your Aunt is a hoot. I bet you had to control yourself from bursting out laughing. Of course, I think you're funny, too. I think I would have needed a change of pants had I been in that house with the teo of you...and your man, too. I was totally cracking up at him 'keeping hydrated'. lol!

But why in the heck were you guys baking in that heat. You could have built a solar oven and cooked up those pies with the heat and sunshine you had. I wonder if it was cooler outside afterwards. lol!

Thanks for all those great pics and commentary to go with. You made my day, Lytha! :~D

~Lisa

ps, So how's Baasha doing?