Today it was 103 in the shade, on the front porch, on the wall of the house. Just a few feet away, in the sun, in the garden, it was 119 degrees. This is the time of year I pick my vegetables already cooked!
Today is the first day in almost a week we didn't get any rain or storms. Should help the corn stand back up!!!! Our daytime high today was only about 77.
That Phoenix thermometer must have gone up to 119f while I wasn't looking today. It is 113 right now. Tomorrow, the WS is predicting 115 with wind gusts to 23mph for Phoenix. What was that??! Can you imagine??
I am sorry Bay'! I know that DesertCat was telling us a little about her gardening year in 2012! Just terrible there in Amarillo where she lives!
People fall off TEG when they have such a tuff time growing things. For an entirely different reason, we once had a number of Seattle area gardeners. I don't suppose they can be very happy saying things like, "Well, I got some lettuce to grow . . . No, didn't see any red on a tomato this year . . ."
I don't know if there is anything to do other than grow a whole range of things and expect some failures but have plants that will do well whichever route Mother Nature takes. I suppose where it is real hot every year, the best 3 garden skills are timing, timing and timing. It is pretty much true wherever we are but some places have wider shoulders on the road.
Yeah, Seedcorn hates us southern gardeners because we get our goodies looooong before he even gets a bloom. But in the next few weeks, most stuff will be crispy and dead. The green beans and sweet potatoes love the heat, the tomatoes languish, the bell peppers get scalded and we all hug our AC units.
I decide to throw a couple burgers on the grill yesterday evening, and the wind came up so suddenly from the west, I thought it was a tornado or something! It blew so hard, it blew the gas flame out on the grill, blew the patio furniture into me while I was trying to attend the grill, and blew the flood light bulb right out of the socket, onto the patio and then blew the broken shards of glass all over the yard. Dropped the temp about 20 degrees, then it was all over. Rained a little, then the sun came back out. Crazy weather. This morning it is cool and overcast.
Yesterday, the thermometer didn't hit 70f until 4 in the afternoon. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be over 100 by that time . . !
Steve
Oh! Here is a link to a WS site that shows records in your state or just click "All States/Territories" - shows a nice map. It seems to take a little time for the WS to get things on there. You can see what happened on the 28th, this morning. Maybe, it is just because today is Sunday: