This Fine October

 Sun and blue sky today. It's a fine day for the Chicago Marathon, runners from all over the world. Sailboats are coming in from the Lake for their winter quarters. People are doing their Sunday things on this fine October day.

Halloween decorations are all over---ghosts and skeletons, witches and pumpkins!  

Chicago has been voted again the Best Big City in the country, by Conde-Nast Travel, and it's easy to see why. With Lake Michigan to the East,  stunning views of the skyline,  and world-class architecture, Chicago is second to none.

 And it's a city for all seasons. We do have beautiful Springs here, the first signs of new green on the trees. Tulips on Michigan Avenue, and people's gardens. 

Summer can be hot and humid, but the Lake is a welcome relief.  There are festivals and concerts outside.

Winter may be the most challenging season. Cold, wind, snow and ice. Well  we use ice for hockey and skating rinks. We are tough people here, too.

But I think the Octobers here are the most beautiful. The light! The colored leaves, the new season for concerts and art exhibits. Beseball playoffs, hockey, football for sports fans. 

There is something brash and outspoken about Chicago. We make good trouble. We laugh at the weather. We laugh at would-be dictators. We hold signs and honk car horns at the ICE  men.

September Seasons

Meteorological fall begins on September 1, and Labor Day, the last holiday of summer. Now come the    long shadows of the afternoons, the golden light. the last days of baseball, the last of the tomatoes and zucchinis.  Kids are back in school. It is like a new season.

The September equinox approaches, the start of astronomical fall, on September 22. Days are getting shorter, now.   2 hours, 56 minutes shorter than summer solstice on June 21.

 Because of  our tilted planet, the equinox marks the point at which the sun appears directly overhead at the equator. Day and night are about equal length. You can read more about equinoxes at Space.com.

 

Here, in the Chicago area, there is already a fall like feeling. Bring out the favorite hoodies and sweaters again. Cool, crisp mornings and blankets at night. 

 

And dark so early now!  The streetlights come on a 6:45 pm.

 There are glorious plumes on the ornamental grasses. Milkweed pods are ripening. Asters and goldenrod are blooming The Halloween candy is out at Walgreens, and there are signs for flu shots and the latest  COVID vaccine.

 

But it is still summer! the last few days have been a season of their own. Sun, blue sky, highs in the mid-70's and low 80's . Beautiful weather!  Hoodies and shorts. A jean jacket over a summer dress. 

 

Maybe thunder and rain tonight!

August ending

 Last days of August of 2025, and the sky is cloudless blue. There's a feeling of fall these days, jackets and sweaters in the mornings and evenings.  Gardens are still growing, even overgrown, but there's a change in the green, and some tall plants are flopping over, on the verge of collapse.  There are mums on sale at the Jewel, now, and sunflowers are at their peak.

The Plainfield Tornado was 35 years ago. The most destructive storm to date in the Chicago area. There was no Doppler radar then, no Enhanced Fujita Scale. It was rated an F-5. You can read Tom Skilling's post about it  on Facebook, .here

This  also marks the 20-year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, that  made landfall along the  Louisiana coast, as a Category 5 storm and struck the city of New Orleans, causing damage that is still there, today. Kudzu vines covering what remains of small towns. There is a documentary on Netflix to commemorate the anniversary.

Now, in the light of August afternoons, what have we learned about  these kinds of disasters? Where is FEMA now?

August Now

Here it is, August, and there's a full  moon tonight. It's called the Sturgeon Moon, the Corn Moon, the Lynx Moon. If you can,  go out and see it! That is, if there sky is clear, and there is not too much smoke from the wildfires. 

This is what this summer has been like on earth---

wildfires

smoke from the wildfires

record-breaking heat waves

flooding

torrential rains

 violent storms and tornadoes

 Category 5 hurricanes

droughts

glaciers collapsing

Antarctic sea-ice record low

spread of vector-borne diseases

coastal erosion

climate refugees 

Yes, this is what climate change looks like.

 

Heat Wave Anniversary

 It's been a hot summer, since the summer solstice here.

Now we are remembering the heat wave of 30 years ago, when Chicago area sweltered under 100+ degree temperatures from July 12 to July 16, 1995.  On July 13, the temperature at O'Hare was recorded at 106 degrees, not including  the humidity or "real-feel" temperature.  Including the real feel, it was a staggering 126 degrees!

Humidity was a factor in the severity of the heat wave. Nightime temperatures were in the 80's, with no cooling breezes for relief.

Stores were sold out of fans and window-air-conditioners. Restaurants did not serve hot food, because it was too hot in the kitchens. Streets buckled. Metal handles were too hot to touch.

There were over 700 heat-related deaths recorded, mostly poor and elderly people who did not have air conditioning, or could not afford to turn it on. There was fear of  open windows or sleeping outside due to fear of crime.

This disaster was  a lesson to city leaders. Community support and cooling facilities are now part of the response to extreme heat. But these are vulnerable resources. They cost money, and are not open 24-hours a day. In these times of changing climate, we can and must do better.  

If you want to read more about the heat wave of 1995, there is a book--Heat Wave, a Social  Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, by Eric Klinenberg.

Summer Solstice.

Meteorological summer begins on June 1.  It's also the official start of the Hurricane Season. So far, there are 5 named storms in the Eastern Pacific. The latest, Erick, makes landfall in western Oaxaca, Mexico as a Category 3 storm .  

The Atlantic Hurricane season is slow to start, which is unusual.  But predictions are for an active season, too.

Astronomical summer begins on the summer solstice.  The angle of the sun on our tilted earth reaches its farthest northern point, the tropic of Cancer.   

 

In the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year falls on the 21st of June. This day is often referred to as the Summer Solstice or Midsummer's Day. 

 

Yes, this is the setting for Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream.  It's a time of magic.

 

And it is the time for summer green. May you feel the blessings of the solstice sun and these longest days.

 

 

The Winds of May

 

 

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,"  the poet William Shakespeare wrote.  While the succession of spring flowers has been beautiful, it's been a  wild and windy May, days of gray sky and cooler than normal temperatures for the season.  

And then, there was the dust storm which blanketed   downtown Chicago and surrounding areas on May 16 with a cloud of dust from dry fields in Iowa. Like the Dust Bowl days, some said. It looked apocalyptic. Day turned into night.  This kind of storm  is called a Haboob--it's an Arabic name usually referring to a powerful wind storm in the desert. 

Here is an article from Wikipedia if you want to know more about them. 

Meanwhile, wildfires in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have forced thousands of people to leave their homes.  A State of Emergency has been declared in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  The smoke from these fires is heading for the midwest---including Illinois and  Chicago area. 

While there have been tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere,  southern Illinois has seen more than their share of severe weather.  As of May 28, there have been over 1000 tornadoes in the U.S. reported for 2025!  You can read more here.

Will this be The Year of the Tornado?  Hurricane season officially starts on  June 1.  There is already a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific--Alvin.