Heat, and the dry run
The rains have shut off, and the brown tide is spreading.
Upon returning from vacation we were surprised to find that some of the lawns appeared to be making hay.Also, the first mowing episode revealed no serious wood obstacles on the ground, a sure sign of the absence of tree-wrecking storms.
Rain has become mighty scarce around here. Since July 22, a mere four-hundreths of an inch has been measured at Philadelphia International Airport.
During that period, only three days have been classified as cloudy. It's no wonder the grass is turning brown and the first brittle leaves are littering the landscape.
This may change next week, according to the latest extended outlook by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center, which sees the odds favoring above-normal precipitation in the six-to-10-day period.
What's welcome for the grass, however, is not necessarily what's welcome for the human body. The rain outlook is based on an expected bump in humidity as more-tropical air streams into the region.
The equinox still on schedule for Sept. 22, and we've already lost 18 minutes of daylight this month.