h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hertfordshire, England, UK - 15:01 22/10/03

Grey. Overcast. Drizzly. Miserable. Cold.

Just had the upstairs windows double glazed (downstairs windows and doors tomorrow and Friday) and they would have looked lovely in some of that Autumnal sunshine we've had for the last few weeks. It's not fair

Melbourne, Australia 1220hrs

Sh*t it's raining and 16C! They promised us cloudy and 18C!!!

They LIED!!!< biggrin>

Maz

0347
Just south of Heathrow airport
Thursday 23rd October 2003

It's tipping it down outside and very cold and they haven't mended the office central heating so we are f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g

Goodbye Concorde

A very frosty morning here on the way to work. Mist lying in the bottom of the valleys I pass over on the train with the rising sun just producing pink and golden glows to the tops of the hills around.

Central London - 24 Oct - 09.30

nice bright sunny morning but quite cold - around 4c. Apart from one miserable afternoon this week, we haven't had real rain in months.

Manchester, 24 October, 9:54. Very cold, very bright - absolutely beautiful

26 Oct Sunday 1622 Los Angeles

86F, got to 90F today. Very light, gusty breezes. Quiet. Smoky. Smog index is orange [scale goes green (best) yellow orange red (worst)]. I am having breathing problems. Quiet due to the MTA strike. About 2.5 cigarettes to 1/4 cigar stench is in the air due to all the fires, stronger than the usual faint vomit-and-urine reek of urbanity. The Sun has a bright orange-grey color from the soot, reminding me of the photoes one sees of the Midnight Sun.

I woke up this morning supposing it was already afternoon! The Santa Ana winds are blowing stong over the deserts fanning the flames, but they slow down considerably in the LA basin. What with the inversion layer sealing smog in, the smog index is red out east.

Here I am, has this thread revived? Auckland NZ, 28th October, 12.40 noon, and it's raining fitfully, and windy (as always since the '90s) and a bit warm.

I forgot to say - the temperature - every day, they promise 20 C, but it has never got above 16 c.

Melbourne, Australia Oct. 28th 1135hrs

Raining steadily, no wind, 12C. Pretty much as promised.

I feel for those who are in California. Bush fires are just the worst things - so unpredictable. Hope ot isn't too long before the air quality improves.

Maz

2119 27 Oct Monday Los Angeles

78F cool quiet and smoky. Hoping the wind doesn't change around Lake Arrowhead, because the area has been overbuilt, and was hit by boring beetles and drought and will go up like a barbeque with a full bottle of starter fluid. 2 more miles to go.

Weathermen are predicting a cold front coming from Alaska. It won't hit here, but it will change the weather pattern on Thursday. Most of these fires have been on top of an accumulation of burnables for about a decade to 15 years in some places, so it was overdue to happen.

What happened to the Auckland winds last decade?

This thread has been perking along for months. Perhaps for the last two or three, there's been lulls of three or four days sometimes, though.

Monday, October 27th, 10:18pm, Ventura, CA (about 60 miles north of Los Angeles)

Let's have some more description of the air around here. The sky is smoky and hazy all the time now, like very thin fog. Outside smells like a million fireplaces that have been left on overnight. Ash falls down everywhere and gets through any open door or window, causing a thin grey and white film on everything. During the day, the sun shines dim and reddish orange. Thanks to the Santa Ana desert winds, the air is hot and dry, which combined with the smoke makes it seem like the air is coming right from a fire.

Melbourne, Australia Tuesday 28th 2330hrs

NEWS FLASH! NEWS FLASH!
We have had the October average rainfall. And we stilll have 3 days to go till November!!!
It has rained nearly all day - quite heavy at times.
I don't think we have reached a monthly average at any other time this year.

Maz

This morning's LA Times showed all of Ventura county with 'red' air quality.

Here in Hollywood I got my first piece of ash, it was about the size of a whitefly, which I presumed it was at first, because I was watering my garden.

About an hour ago we got a little onshore wind, which raised the smoke high enough to make the sun red here, too. It didn't last more than 20 minutes, though.

Channel 4 (and possibly also Channel 2) just about killed some of their reporters near Lake Arrowhead. Cretins.

Yeah, it's provocative to show dramatic pictures of 300 foot flames shooting up over homes, but after the first 15 minutes or so it's not worth endangering reporters to get more pictures.

Midlothian Scotland
30/10/03 19:05

Scotland is cold and slightly windy.
It is amazing to see how quickly the nights are drawing in.
Thoughts are with Americans suffing due to the fires.

30th OCtober 21:28 Herts UK

Rain. No chance of seeing the aurora - saw a greeny blue glow last night and convinced myself that was it.

To all you guys in CA - I hope things are OK for you soon. I have friends that live in Riverside (Temecula) who said that 2 days ago they were packed and ready to leave. I cannot imagine how horrible that must be. The idea of driving away from your home knowing that you might come back to ashes gives me nightmares.

Melbourne, Australia, October 31st ,1730hrs

Heavy rain, quite windy about 12C

Maz

South London.

Raining. Grey. Windy.

Not great going out weather, but nice stay indoors weather.