And the rain rain rain came down down down...

Wow still remember that song from Winnie the Pool.  And like the 100 Acre Woods we are getting dumped on!  6+ inches around here in the last 2 days.

Not my camp site but the RV park near home was flooded out.  See the school house?  The 5' wide creek is on this side of the school.  All the rest was filled with campers and RVs.  When we took this most of them were on the street trying to figure out what to do.

 My cousin Chris.

And these are from where I camp.  My car bottoms out quite a bit.  Not going to bike to work until its repaired.

My tent was a little damp when I checked it this morning but otherwise it was fine.  Nothing a towel and cup can't fix.

From the guy with his eye on the sky, Travis, the camping lifeguard.

Holy Awesome Nights Batman!

Oh last night was so awesome! After 10:30 the bugs left and I was able to go swimming and do some work on my tent. Afterwords I went for a swim and was able to just float on my back and watch the stars. Looking straight up I could see the milky way and satellites flying by. Occasionally I would see a shooting star, including some really bright ones.

The air was warm but not hot, and the water was cool but not cold, and it was very tempting to just fall asleep right there in the sand, only a foot from the water line. I think I will have to do that some time.

During the entire two hours I was out there, part of the sky glowed green from the aurora, and at about midnight there were streaks of light to be seen. Before I saw the streaks I thought I saw it move more south as the eastern sky was getting brighter. Then I saw the tip of the moon rise up. It was only a half moon, but it was bright enough to cast shadows of me and the little hills of sand on the beach.

The awesomeness only lasted until about 2 am, at which point the winds went from calm to 20 mph off the lake and was strong enough to cave in part of my tent while I was sleeping in it. It was odd however as there was still not a cloud in the sky. Because of the wind I decided to collapse my tent to keep it from breaking, gathered up some bed stuff, and while shouting to myself "EVAC EVAC EVAC!", ran to the round house to sleep.

From the guy with his eye on the sky, Travis...the camping lifeguard

Q&A 2: Humidity

TIme for another Q&A. This one comes from my grandmother, asking “What is the difference between humidity and dew point?” Given our current weather throughout the nation, this is a good question.

We have been hearing lately about how the humidity is high or the dew point is tropical. Temperature is simply how warm or cold the air. On a more technical level, it is the average kinetic energy of what is being measured.

Dew point is simply what temperature air can cool to before it gets saturated and either the water in the air needs to be removed via condensation or rain. The dew point tells us how much water is already in the air. It is measured by finding what temperature water is in the air. Once the dew point pasts 70, it is considered to be tropical. Temperature can never be below the dew point.

Humidity is the percentage of water in the air compared to the temperature. When the humidity hits 100%, the air can handle no more water, so it condenses out, which can cause rain, or droplets on glass to form. When the humidity is high, water evaporates more slowly, which is why when the humidity is high its harder to cool yourself.

The body uses sweat to keep cool because evaporation is a heat absorbing process, so when it is humid, the body cannot cool itself, so you start to overheat. This is why high humidity and hot temperatures are dangerous. It is also why it is good to invest in dehumidifiers. Dehumidifiers remove the water from the air, so that more water can be evaporated, helping to cool you. This is also why a house at 75° in the winter feels nicer than outside at 75° in the summer...less humidity.

From the guy with his eye on the sky, Travis...the camping lifeguard