High-Pressure Ridging
The weather in Marin County California is pretty predictable. A few months of darker days and moisture (sometimes) with 9 months or so of spectacular blue skies tainted at times with wisps of fog or streaky crystalline white clouds. But lately, the weather has begun the Beguine waltzing frantically between moderate temperatures in the 70′s to days of 95 – 100°F temperatures and not the slightest hint of a breeze to cool things off in the shade.
What’s up with that?
Is global warming affecting the later Summer weather here too? Maybe. The cause of the this week’s sudden rise in temperature throughout the Bay Area has to do with an area of high-pressure forming above us which tends to keep things just as they are. No winds to move the air around during the day. Just the heat of the sun baking the earth all around town and sending the mercury rising until nightfall. Even then, it takes a few hours for things to cool down like they should. It’s a high-pressure ridge. And it’s great if you like really hot days sans a breeze. I can deal with the heat as long as I have to. What other choice do I have? I think about how much I love air conditioning on days like these.
Except, I really like the idea of freshly-moving air circulating through my house. As it stands, no one here has central air conditioning since the temperatures are usually at most moderately warm never Palm Springs incandescent. To keep things cool, I close the windows and doors before 10 AM and watch the temperature rise outside while the interior stays much cooler.
Where is this leading? I’m not sure. It’s just been awhile since I wrote a damned thing on my blog, and sometimes when I start writing, neat things come out that I wasn’t expecting. Could it be happening right now?
curious thing about the weather
with supercomputer models debating
the course of the winds and moisture
one still can’t be sure why things
happen as they do
I’d like to think it’s random
but it’s really chaotic
tending to do one thing more often
than something else
but when and for how long?
that’s anyone’s guess
curious thing about the weather
sometimes it just rains without warning
moisture comes from afar and drops itself
in rivulets against the sun-baked soil
unwelcome, unprepared for such a gift
parched clay pushes the water aside
refuses to absorb it even a little
for if it did
it might as well admit
it missed it all along
unexpected rain
showers came with thunder and lightning
an awesome spectacle rarely seen in these parts
droplets of water fell from the sky
moistened the air upon its descent
pebbled the sun-baked soil
like some kind of brutal punishment
an unwelcome change so quick
the water just slipped over the surface
never making it in between the cracks
not yet
not quite yet
in a few months
the kiln-baked clay will be ready
for heaven-sent moisture
darker days
a time to reflect and renew
