One Hot Summer

It's been so incredibly humid in the Upper Peninsula as of late, with fans blaring and air conditioners at full throttle. It hasn't necessarily been hot - as we have not had a 90 degree day this week. Yet the humidity sure made it feel so much warmer than it actually was. I don't remember a summer where we've had many days of high humidity like this year. And this hasn't been the only week-long stretch of warmth, either. I'd say it's been a consistently warm summer for us. Not record-breaking, mind you, but still warm. Last night a cold front pushed through ushering in much more comfortable conditions. We're finally able to open up all the windows and let the air conditioners and fans take a break. Now, what will the rest of August and the fall season bring us weather-wise?

Complaining about the heat in the Upper Peninsula can be a touchy subject. There are those individuals who say we shouldn't complain about the heat and humidity because it's not here all that long and soon enough, we'll be dealing with the cold and snow. I can understand that philosophy. I typically do not complain about the warmer weather unless it begins to stretch on for days and days, like it has been. I think all of us Yoopers can take a day or two in a row of heat and humidity, but once it gets beyond that, it gets a little difficult to take. Especially when the night temperatures do not cool down and it gets to be uncomfortable at night to sleep, then there's a reason to complain. But you look at the people who live in the south and they deal with this all of the time. Then again, they are more equipped to deal with the heat more than we are.

And I am not a big proponent on global warming talk like some people are. This is turning out to be one of the hottest summers world-wide in the history of mankind and some people will put the blame on global warming. Yes, we have been warmer in recent years than say the 1970's and 1980's but I think the climate and how it responds works in phases. We've had warm spells in the past and over time, we've cooled back down. I guess it remains to be seen whether or not we work out of this current warm phase that we're in. Needless to say, I'm not jumping on the global warming bandwagon quite yet. After all, last summer was quite cool for our standards here in the U.P. And so this year, we've kind of evened things out. After a very dry start to the summer, it's like mother nature flipped a switch and we've had more than our fair share of rain. Things have a way of evening things out.

It appears we'll be experiencing more typical Upper Michigan weather for the next week, meaning more comfortable humidity and average late-summer temperatures in the low-to-mid 70's. Now that is my kind of weather. Warm enough to make you sweat outside, but only if you're really working hard. And you can enjoy being outside, whether it's relaxing on the back deck, sitting on a patio chair, and enjoying a beverage to enjoying a nice hike on a back-country trail. I imagine the bike racers who competed in the Ore to Shore Race yesterday would've enjoy today's weather conditions much more than yesterday's weather. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? This is the U.P. after all. Soon enough, we'll be hunkering down for the upcoming winter season.