daily weather update:

it is july in tennessee…
.
it rained again last night
in the accelerating pattern of evaporation and rain.
i dont know what the “air temperature” was this morning,
but the humidity had reached the saturation point,
and with the sun beating down the evaporating moisture was like a thin fog that filled the air.
.
30 minutes into the walk i was trying to decide if i was hearing high flying airliners, distant trains, or far away thunder.
pretty quickly i concluded it was thunder…
.
because while i watched the moisture in the air condensed into dark rainclouds
and the crack of lightning striking the ground punctuated the ripping sound of cloud to cloud strikes.
.
an hour out i turned around and picked up my pace.
it seemed like a good idea to get home as fast as my legs would carry me.
at this point the thunder was continuous
i could hear lightning strikes in every direction…
.
and the sky was growing ever more dark and threatening.
.
by the time the first golf ball sized drops started hitting the ground around me i was in full rain gear.
they plopped on the pavement and splatted on my hood like big slushballs
and i silently prayed i wasnt about to take a hail beating.
.
luckily for me it turned into a downpour of normal sized cold raindrops.
while i continued what was now a speed workout!
there was the usual internal debate;
seek shelter from the downpour as i passed by trees.
or stay clear of the lightning rods and just take the rain.
.
i thought about the upcoming vol state
starting a mere 4 days from now.
.
the weather forecast calls for the first 3 days to be a lot like it has been the last few days.
either heat a little over 100 with air that could be cut into blocks and stored for the winter,
or intense electrical storms with the potential of tornadic winds and hail.
.
these brew up so fast
if you get caught in the open there is no escape…
.
and most of the time those poor runners are going to be out in the open.
.
if they make it to saturday it is not supposed to reach 100….
.
but after that the cycle starts again.
the next week promises bright sun,
high humidity
and the gradual buildup of atmospheric energy
to either steam them like broccoli
or drench them in freezing cold downpours with lots of electrical activity!
.
it doesnt get better than july in tennessee!