Erik's Cloud 9

A NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN!!!

I LOVE Minnesota summer cold fronts - they are like a new broom sweeping out the old air mass and bringing in a fresh one. A front has just passes by on this early Wednesday morning. After a mild and humid start, the winds have picked up from the north and the dew points have dropped. Brings to mind a children's book by Dennis Feltgen. Do you remember him. He worked at KSTP back in the 70s thru early 80s. He now works for the National Weather Service in Miami. He wrote a book called "Smile when the Dew Point Drops" and there couldn't be more truth surrounding that command. Here's a quick scale on Dew Points and comfort.

dp 40s = Very Comfortable

      50s = Still Comfortable

      60s = Muggy

     65+ = Tropical

     70+ = Oppressive

The Dew Point is expressed as a temperature - the temperature at which the air becomes saturated. So, the higher the Dew Point, the more moist and humid feeling the air. Relative Humidity is actually a bad scale for measuring moisture discomfort because it can change during the day - high in the cool hours of the morning, lower in the warm hours of the afternoon. The Dew Point is usually steady during the day - and if it does change, like today, if it heads down you can rest assured that as Dennis Feltgen commands you can go ahead and smile because, at least on a summer day, the air will feel much more comfortable. So, as I sit and write this and the front has passed bringing in drier air, the Dew Point went from the mid 60s to near 50 - a GREAT way to enjoy 80 degree warmth!

ON THE LINKS

Wow, the other morning "MR. SMOOTH" Tom Halden and I were tearing up the links at Inver Woods in Inver Grove Heights in the first few hours after sunrise. Can I just say that THE BUGS ARE BACK. I remember being back last year for my first Minnesota summer in 25 years wondering what happened to the bugs? Needless to say, last year was an easy one in terms of the bug problem. But, this year is a whole new problem. I heard that the bugs were back, and as of about 6:30 to 7 pm each evening you can start to feel them taking free shots at your flesh. Well, that morning on the course was not much fun thanks to the fact that Inver Woods is a mix of woods and swamps (but, let me say this - it's a marvelous course that is kept in pristine condition and is an 18 hole'r that would challenge ANYONE. Apart from the bugs A LOT of fun). From the first tee Tom and I fell victim to hundreds of swarming flesheaters that would attack fast, undectectably, and leave my legs and arms finely pierced. The only reason I knew had been bitten was from finding little balls of dried blood on my skin. Unpleasant? YES!!! Especially when in the tee box setting up for a drive or trying to putt. Maybe this is why I really enjoy Fall golf! Oh,,, so what about my score? Score? Score? You don't need my stinkin' score!!! And that's pretty much what it was - a "stinking" score. Ahh, but more practice is in my future - and that's not all bad - it IS golf, ya know!

CRAZY, HAZY SKIES

Did you notice a bit of a muted sunrise the last few mornings? Wildfires in Sasketchewan are producing enough sky-filling smoke to haze up our atmosphere, helping to create a more reddish-orange solar disk (sun) and a more diffuse light around sunrise. If the evening skies are clear, you'll notice a little more dramatic sunset as well.

Til next time,

Erik