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Friday was our fifth 90-degree day, and it may have been a summer milepost.
Hat tip, I read it in the paper
LOCAL
Friday was our fifth 90-degree day, and may have been a summer milepost
By Martin Weil
July 22, 2022 at 9:48 p.m. EDT
{snip}
Each day, even in a heat wave, has its own, distinctive characteristics. Friday, by its mere position on the calendar, may have been particularly distinctive. ... For few days may have better suggested the bittersweet nature of summer than did Friday. It seemed a fit symbol of the perennial tension of the season.
On the one hand, summer offers luxuriantly long hours of bright daylight, seemingly ours to enjoy without a care or great concern. ... On the other hand, summer can flaunt its torments during those long hours, with a punishing severity that sometimes makes us wish the season gone. ... Friday, July 22, was one month and a day after the summer solstice, often seen as the official start of summer. ... By Friday we had voyaged about one-third of the way from the June 21 summer solstice to the Sept. 22 autumn equinox.
Our longest days fall around the solstice. Our July days are still long. But they have shortened by 26 minutes, reduced at either end enough for us to notice. ... Significantly, for the first time in many days, Friday’s sunrise, according to the Time and Date website, occurred as late as 6 a.m. On Friday it occurred exactly at 6.
Moreover, according to the same site, only three days ago, for the first time in weeks, did the sun begin to set here before 8:30 p.m. It set Friday at 8:28. ... Thus, for all of Friday’s heat, for all this season’s sometime stickiness, summer is showing subtle signs that its lease, as the poet once had it, may not be endless.
{snip}
By Martin Weil
Martin Weil is a longtime reporter at The Washington Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/martyweilwapost
Friday was our fifth 90-degree day, and may have been a summer milepost
By Martin Weil
July 22, 2022 at 9:48 p.m. EDT
{snip}
Each day, even in a heat wave, has its own, distinctive characteristics. Friday, by its mere position on the calendar, may have been particularly distinctive. ... For few days may have better suggested the bittersweet nature of summer than did Friday. It seemed a fit symbol of the perennial tension of the season.
On the one hand, summer offers luxuriantly long hours of bright daylight, seemingly ours to enjoy without a care or great concern. ... On the other hand, summer can flaunt its torments during those long hours, with a punishing severity that sometimes makes us wish the season gone. ... Friday, July 22, was one month and a day after the summer solstice, often seen as the official start of summer. ... By Friday we had voyaged about one-third of the way from the June 21 summer solstice to the Sept. 22 autumn equinox.
Our longest days fall around the solstice. Our July days are still long. But they have shortened by 26 minutes, reduced at either end enough for us to notice. ... Significantly, for the first time in many days, Friday’s sunrise, according to the Time and Date website, occurred as late as 6 a.m. On Friday it occurred exactly at 6.
Moreover, according to the same site, only three days ago, for the first time in weeks, did the sun begin to set here before 8:30 p.m. It set Friday at 8:28. ... Thus, for all of Friday’s heat, for all this season’s sometime stickiness, summer is showing subtle signs that its lease, as the poet once had it, may not be endless.
{snip}
By Martin Weil
Martin Weil is a longtime reporter at The Washington Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/martyweilwapost