Ugh...Summer's Here

Up until recently, Memphis had long, enjoyable Springs. You could turn off the heat and the A/C for weeks at a time, throw open your windows and enjoy the weather. But in the past couple of years, Winter and Summer have been like a crowded bus, pushing their shoulders up against Spring and making life uncomfortable.

This year was no exception. Winter hung in a bit too long, so we had a shorter open-window season. Then there was the past Week of Rain. Now, today, we have the first day of real summer weather.

It's the residual humidity that's doing it. I was horribly surprised by my first Memphis summer fifteen years ago. The air really was like soup. You could see it waving in the heat. It clung to your skin like an unwelcome suitor and made your clothes a sodden mess. I can stand heat, but I wasn't prepared for air that actually pressed up against you.

Temps are running about five to ten degrees above normal, but it's that sticky air -- made so by a week of rain and a large high-pressure system shovelling humid Gulf air up into the Mid-South -- that's made today a mixed blessing. I'm waiting still for the front we need to blow through and clear the air.

We'll be dealing with this mess until early October. A long summer comin'....