It's like a blow torch out there! By JR (Read 1,751 times)

[JR]

I don't know about the rest of you but man is it HOT!!!!

It just seemed to appear 3 days ago. Now in late June it's generally always in the low to mid 90's in Arkieland but the last 3 days have just been miserable. Monday it topped at 106F in my area, Tuesday at 104F and today I'm not really sure except when the wife and I went to Morrilton this evening around 4:00 p.m. we saw bank clocks registering from 105F to 113F!!! So I rounded it off in the middle at 107F.

Also what is frustrating to me is the TV weather reports, they always give you forecasts based on what is in their area mainly and IMO they don't have a clue as to what the real temperature is sometimes.

At least it's very dry which doesn't add to the misery like high humidity does and there has been a nice breeze to go along but I can only do outside chores to around 1:00 p.m. at the latest and then it's inside I go.

I sure dread seeing my electric bill next month because even with the thermostat set at 74F it has been running a lot especially from around 2:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Also what is a major concern now is the dryness, burn bans statewide and grass fires everywhere. We are over 4 inches below normal rainfall and no relief in sight.

My garden is starting to show the signs of the blistering heat as it seems I can't pour enough water on it along with my fruit trees and other things. I'm up at daylight every morning and water a different area each day and rotate around. I generally spend at least 3 to 4 hours every morning dragging water hoses and relocating sprinklers.

Only good thing about this weather is the dang grass doesn't grow!

So all of you folks who are hoarding the rain and cool temps I say SEND IT MY WAY!!

JR

[justbuggin2]

yea the weather men /women have a great job they can be wrong 95% of the time and still keep it

[bobf]

You are very lucky you are not having the usual high humidity for Arkansas. I know what it is there as I was an eastern raised and working person. I remember seeing water dripping off roof edges in the mornings. News papers so limp they would not stand up to be read. But over 100 is a bit much no matter where you live.

Now living in Arizona so the numbers you speak of are just daily temps here. A big difference for us compared to you is the A/C inside temp used. We always set the temp to 78. We don't like the refrigerator chill that we find in too many stores and restaurants so we set it at 78. Even when we lived in south Florida we used 78 as a good temperature. Not cold but on often enough to wring out the humidity and help control the mold in the closets. Hot and humid is living in hell.

Good luck with your garden. Water is necessary for a productive garden. In Colorado and Arizona there are water usage rules so it may become hard to have a good garden.
.

[madcollie]

68* here this morning @ 5:00am and a very mild breeze. Needed sunglasses to handle the morning sun. Then it warmed to a balmy 88+ with a slight wind, gonna be unbearable this weekend @ 90* and almost no wind in Forecast.

Gee, wish you were here. ;D

M/C

I'll send rain when I get time to remember trivial things like that.

[JR]

You are correct on the humidity Bob it's at 20% right now which is very unusual for Arkieland. In central Arkansas where I live in the hills the humidity is not as bad as where I was raised near the Louisianna border. But the Gulf of Mexico humidity comes up in the jet streams and then hits the western heat from the Oklahoma panhandle that comes across and it's just like being in a sauna. Winter time means Gulf humidity and artic air equals ice and storms.

Right now it's 7:52 p.m. and it's still an even 100F again very odd here and even though my thermostat is on 74F the inside temp is registering at your 78F. My home is stupid as far as energy efficient as it has cathedral high rise ceilings which allows the heat to get trapped up high. I run ceiling fans in all rooms which helps but I fully intend on putting lower drop ceilings in it and adding insulation to make the home easier to heat and cool and cheaper to do so.

In an hour it will start dropping and get cooler. Also adding to the misery the last couple of days is this 10 mph western breeze is cooling it off at night to the mid 60's and it feels good in the morning but when the sun gets high the heat is intense.

We have no rain in the forecast and the wind is drying it out to an extremely dangerous level. My land is covered by all of my trees, fruits and garden plus about 3 acres of grass to mow. Right now that grass along with everyone around me is a golden brown and on the SE corner of my property I have a small section of timber and any fire right now would be hard to deal with, in fact any fire around my neighborhood could quickly spread up the mountain like a blaze!

Across the road is one of the largest cattle ranches in this state and if that land caught on fire I would hate to see what would happen to 100's of cattle. It's a huge setup, they plant acres of corn and soybeans and even have a feed grinding mill to make their own feed and they are on the alert I can assure you.

Normally we have lots of firework stands this time of year for the Fourth of July time but they are far and few in between this year. I'm not going to buy any and hope my neighbors are as wise, not going to go to jail for breaking the burn ban and setting someone's property on fire.

Send us rain!

JR

[wolfhound]

98 today, 103 tomorrow, 105 on Saturday and 102 on Sunday. That is predicted temps for Fri., Sat, and Sunday. Here in the NGA mountains
that is considered HOT!!!! Mountain Moped has been tuning and servicing my collection of 5. Sold my Tomos Revival the day after her serviced it,
my TGB Del 50 is now a hot rod. MRP exhaust, derestricted, compitition carb, GPSed at 47. My Ice Bear 'ruckus' yard trike is running better, Just
finished servicing the TGB Del150, new throttle line and carb cleaning. Dont know about you guys but our gas in this area tends to shellac a carb
quickly if you let it set up. The TGB R9 and side car will be next, check all connectors and check the differential. And now it is almost too hot to ride!!!
We are surrounded by forrest and it is too dry for my liking. Same thing could happen to us, JR.

[bobf]

JR, you said hilly central. Not sure where that is for sure. A few years back we were looking for a retirement place and spent time in Arkansas. We stayed in a hotel in Mountain home and traveled from there. We saw some nice looking brick homes but we did not just look into homes. We were mostly driving around and looking at places in town or country. We took one day to go to Branson Missouri, did not like that area to live in. We also looked further west, closer to Oklahoma. We also had a package sent to us from a place just west of Little Rock. A private town with gates and all. We saw lots of nice looking areas but none my leader wanted to move too. She wanted no more humidity after our several years in Florida. So we focused on west Colorado and now Arizona, hot but no humidity.

I have not ridden lately due to my health and eye operation. But I have tried to ride when it was just about 100. I did not go far or long on time and my head turned to a sweat swamp in that helmet. I guess I could ride like a Harley man and just use a scarf or towel on the head. But I have a fractured head from a brain surgery so I need a helmet. How do riders handle the heat in a helmet? I have a JCL with several vents but they don't seem to do much good.
.

[JR]

Bob Mt. Home is around 2 hours north of me and it is in the hills also very beautiful place not far from where member jct182 lives in Yellville. It has a lot of beautiful area to retire in and lots of people do just that.

I live in west central Arkansas right by the Arkansas River and at the foot of Petit Jean mountain. The river is about 45 seconds from me on the other side of the mountain.

I live right in the middle between Perryville and Morrilton and when I go to Wally World in Morrilton I cross the river on hwy 9. I live 10 minutes from one of the largest and prettiest state parks Petit Jean. It was developed in the early 50's and has a lot of political xconnections and at one time was heavily supported by one of the rich Rockefeller Winthrop who became governor. It has lodges, swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, lake fishing, resturants, guided tours to caves, the waterfalls and dinosaur tracks and a lot more. It has the Rockefeller Institute of higher learning and even an airport on top of that mountain. Lots of state meetings are held there and they also worl closely with the University of Arlkansas. A big dang park and area. They have a huge car musem that is open all year and one of the largest car shows that just ended every year in June.

Right in the middle of the Ozarks and close to lots of mountain roads, I see motorcycles, trikes and scooters go by my home every day. People here support riders of two wheels and welcome them openly.

Since it is a higher elevation here the humidity is not near as bad and very seldom bothersome like it was where I was raised in SW Arkansas right above Texarkana.

Your wife would have liked it here I'm sure. One can travel this state and see things from the past, things when ties were simple and easier and beauty all around you.










I take pictures of my travels on the scooter and also get some odd ones sometimes like this one in a friend"s deer tree stand;



This is at Eureka Springs on top of one of their hills:



This is a huge cloud that came over the mountain one day and dropped a little rain for about 10 minutes;




The mountain from a distance;



Like I told you people here welcome bike riders:



I've rode my scooter through the hills to western Oklahoma and back down into Texas all the way to the Cotton Bowl;



Lots of pretty streams and hills;



Old time stores like the Lum and Abner store in western Arkansas;



In Oklahoma at the JFK memorial on hwy 259 at the foot of Kiamichi Mountain;



At the top of Kiamichi by the 3 towers memorial



At the Red River crossing from Oklahoma to Texas:



Even got a picture of Mater along the way!



Lots of places to ride and never get bored and here's one of my favorites;





The Arkansas Pig Trail!

[jct842]

I have not ridden the last 3 days as when the temp is hotter than body temps, the faster you go the more your skin burns. It has been just like a blow torch around here. I swear when riding at 110 degrees if you go faster than 20 your body is likely to catch fire and you just go up in smoke.

[justbuggin2]

we set a new record high temp today of 110 degrees the old record was 108 back in 1936

[JR]

109F here today but what really is tough is it takes at least 2 hours after the sun sets to get to the low 90's! Heck at 8:10 p.m. it was still 99F!

Seems like one always here's folks saying the old I don't ever remember it being this bad and myself I do but it's been a long time ago. 1980, still holds the record in Arkansas of consecutive days of 100F+ temps in Arkansas at 45 days!

[ccprof]

Miserable here too and more on the way. We've been kayaking early in the morning, yard work till about 10:30 then hiding in A/C during the day. At about 4PM, we've been going up and hitting the pool for an hour or so. It's been too hot to ride. It was 98 when we went up yesterday and the thermometer on the deck said 104 in the shade. We've had some wild thunder storms at night.

Stay cool my friends.

[buford1488]

i cant do anything in my shop. its so hot that my shadow is sweating!!!!!!lol

[alleyoop]

GOOD ONE Buford,
Alleyoop

[justbuggin2]

100 + again today but i got the trany out change the slavecylinder and back in place today i waited until 5pm to start and can in at dark wish we could get some rain everything is toasted around here