August2023
Weather diary page
Aug 2, NR: Feels like spring has sprung a month early. After June & July's lows being well below ave (4-5 - ave is 7-8 - & very dry), the last few days have been mid-20's then down to about 8-9 at night. Feels like the march towards a blistering summer has begun. Meanwhile, typhoons are whizzing around the north east Pacific in what is shaping up as an active season.
Aug 8, Kanagawa: We've had passing showers but the heat is still 2-3C above normal. This morning the humidity is 93% and 27C at 6AM with no breeze.
Aug 14, NR: Forecast to hit 28C today, which is hot for winter - a taste of what i'm expecting to be a bloody hot summer. Starting work on front porch today, setting up the string-lines - idea is to get roof up before the big heat hits in October-Nov to give some protection from the western sun, which hopefully keep the house a couple of degrees cooler. Had about 14mm of rain a week ago, which is against the pattern - even in a normal year Aug is a dry month - but nothing more in the forecast. Dingo returned twice after chook attack but haven't seen it since then. Have extended chooks' 'outdoor recreation area' but it's not open for use yet - it's a case of 'keep off the grass' - want to let it grow up more before chooks get onto it coz they will eat it down to nothing in pretty short time. Thinking to limit their access to a couple of hours a day to see how long i can string it out. Bush near workshed has full re-leafed though no obvious signs of pecans or poplars releafing yet. Grass is not far off needing a cut - recall that i let it go too long last year. Lot of clover coming through, which seems to be the first to grow after winter.
Aug 17, Kanagawa: Nothing has changed since last posting other than typhoon Lan going south of us and giving us about one day of respite from the unusual heat. On paper, the heat wouldn't seem so bad for many with highs of 34-35, but the humidity is the killer. This morning it was 92% which is normal. It rarely dips below 75-80% during the day. Maybe I posted this already, but this summer in Japan has felt hotter than when we traveled to Guam, Thailand, and Taiwan, all considered hot places.
Aug 19, NR: Last two days of winter? Cold tonight & tomorrow but then it's trending up towards the end of Aug. Had a surprise hail storm a few days ago right on 5pm - which i seem to remember is the usual time for storms here - not so much early afternoon like Taiwan. Decent size hail but not so intense - some lightning. Followed by a windy day = late Aug-Sep is the windy season. Peach tree has first signs of fruit. Brussel sprouts look healthy but no actual sprouts. Bok choi is a bit stunted - probably needs more sun.
Aug 27, Kanagawa: The entire month of August has been like this, and it looks like it's extending into September. What the screen grab doesn't show is the humidity, which this morning at 6:00 was 92%.
Aug 28, NR: Cut grass on south side for first time - could've left it for another couple of weeks but didn't want it to end up like last year where i let the clover over-grow (which is hard to cut). Clover was in full bloom. Weather continues according to same pattern - very stable, dry - low to mid-20s most days, nights still cold, down to 6 the last few days, so still lighting fire. Invented new 'fuel-efficient' system of lighting fire earlier whilst house is still warm - seems that once the house heats up, it stays warm so even if fire dies down an hour before bedtime, it's still warm enough. Purple swamp-hens returned about 10 days ago - hang around all day now. Three typhoons currently active in Asia-Pacific basin - so it's an active season - though still none have directly hit Taiwan.