After a day like today, a complaint about the weather is inevitable. So I apologize, but I simply must. This weather is not right! Today, the Twin Cities set a record low high temperature for August 10: 59 degrees. Summers in Minnesota are so brief; I want the weather to be at least warm (i.e., highs above 70) every day in June, July, and August. Barring that (since early June is often cool and wet), I'd settle for consistent warmth through July and August. Unfortunately, this whole week looks like it will be unseasonably cool and cloudy.
I realize that I sound like just another weather-obsessed Minnesotan, and I'll be the first to admit that there is some truth in that (though my weather obsession long predates my residence in Minnesota). But for better or for worse, I'm one of those people for whom the weather has a profound effect on my mood and general sense of well-being. Silly, I know, but it seems to be hard-wired.
The climate here works well for me, for the most part. There are four distinct seasons. There are reasonable amounts of sun, rain, and snow. Thunderstorms are not too likely to produce tornadoes. But the winters are just a little too long and a little too cold. My ideal climate would have four seasons, but with a shortened winter and a lengthened summer. Yes, I realize I could get that if I lived a few hundred miles south of here, but then the summers become too hot, and the storms too severe.
Anyway, October weather in August does not sit well with me. Let me be clear: I love October weather in October. September and October, in fact, have been my favorite months since childhood, when they signified both the recurrence of cool sunlight and crisper air after the impossibly hot and languid August, and my return to school, which I loved above all things. But September and October can't arrive in proper style unless August prepares us in the right way, and for that to happen, August needs to addle our brains with energy-sapping heat. It can't be 59 degrees and gloomy. I'll wait this week out, but I am not pleased. I'm not pleased at all.
Posted by at August 10, 2004 8:38 PMPardon me, lady, do you have the WCCO Weather Calendar? I'm a little obsessed myself as well.
Posted by: Christian Erickson at August 11, 2004 12:50 AMSummers here brief??? Are you out of your noggin??? We have summer from the end of April to the beginning of October!!! This weather has been WONDERFUL! We can turn off the A/C units, open the windows, even sleep with a blanket or two. :-)
Posted by: Danielle at August 11, 2004 7:54 AMExcellent sleeping weather!
Posted by: Philip Hunter at August 11, 2004 8:12 AMHmmm....well, I perceive true summer here as lasting from mid-June to mid-September. Both before and after that, weather like we've had the last couple of days is frequent. Sometimes May is nice, but often it's rainy and cool (according to the National Weather Service, more than half the days last May (see http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/mpxmoncli/mpxmay2004.html) had a high temp below 65 -- brrrr). And aside from a freakishly hot day or two in April, chilly weather (highs in the 40s and 50s -- see http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/mpxmoncli/mpxapr2004.html) is still pretty much the norm then.
A big part of summer for me has to do with the amount of daylight. Darkness before 8 PM means it isn't really summer as far as I'm concerned. That's one of the good things about living this far north. And I sleep with a blanket all year round, since I tend to get cold no matter the temperature (of course, having central air makes a difference). The last couple of days have crossed over from open-window weather to closed-window-borderline-turning-on-the-furnace for me.
So, yeah, summers are too short for me. Temps steadily in the 70s and 80s (even I do not love the 90s) from May 1-September 30 would be my ideal -- but that's not Minnesota.
Posted by: Stacie at August 11, 2004 8:21 AMOh, and Chris -- no weather calendars. But I'll make sure to grab one for you next time I see a calendar kiosk. They should be appearing any day now, yes?
Posted by: Stacie at August 11, 2004 8:23 AMYes, very nice sleeping weather but poor Stacie freezes! I bitch about the summer weather here plenty and yet I maintain that it's better here than much of the rest of the country, particularly those areas south and east of here.
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