July2024
Weather diary page
July 4, Kanagawa: Supposed to hit 35 today. 34 right now with no wind, clear skies, and 80% humidity making for a pretty uncomfortable day.
July 7, Kanagawa: 26C at 6AM, which is fine, but with a whopping 93% humidity, no breeze, and sun it already feels weirdly uncomfortable. I remember last year when we went to Guam, Taiwan, and Thailand, it felt hotter when we got back to Japan. We went to Thailand again a couple weeks ago and it's the same -- feels hotter in Japan and it must be the humidity, or something.
July 9, NR: Up to our 9th day of consecutive rain, after which it's forecast ease. Water-table came straight back up after the first or second day, which was disturbing coz June was pretty dry. Usually the autumn rain finishes in autumn, but i seem to remember my first year here it went all the way through to July 10 - seems to be a similar deal this year. Overall, this has been the wettest summer-fall-winter i've experienced, which is saying something. We haven't had the dramatic flood events of '20 or '22, but the number of rainy days has been relentless. Overnight lows have remained above ave - which is normal with wet weather.
July 13, Kanagawa: Appears to be a minor algae bloom happening in the Tokyo Bay. Not sure. I've never seen one and haven't read any headlines so can't confirm, but we noticed it in a different area of the bay yesterday than again today. I initially thought it was oil, but, no, it's natural. Also today on the morning walk saw a very large and very dead sea turtle floating in the bay. Huge. I initially thought it might have been a person given the clear head, arms, and large torso. I can't imagine the algae bloom had anything to do with it, but who knows. The previous two weeks were well above normal temperatures here. Maybe the poor dude just got old and died. Temps now are easing back to normal, highs in the low 30's, night lows 26 or so, which is a bit to rich for my comfort when we're talking 85%+ humidity. A breeze helps, and today we have one.
July 15, Kanagawa: The temps are back to the normal range of 26-32, but the humidity has made it very uncomfortable. This morning it's at 92% with no wind. Yesterday it was 98%, which means it's damp everywhere and sweating does not cool the body down at all. Saw some small fish sort of jumping in the bay yesterday, not fully out of the water for the most part, but hundreds going at once in more than one location. Odd. Never seen it before. Could it have something to do with the algae bloom? It's a rust colored bloom and not very heavy, but seems to be widespread.
July 16, NR: Biggest frost of the season this morning with temp down to 2C, which was 3C lower than forecast. 'The tap' has been turned off finally & we're into a bloc of fine weather for the forecast future, hence the cold nights. Lost a chicken to Mareck's disease, an incurable disease that they were meant to be vaxxed for. It appears to be a 'breakthrough infection' - hopefully there were won't be any more. Saw a python in the roof of chook-house yesterday - weird that they're active considering how cold it is.
July 17, Kanagawa: 98% humidity at 6 AM with clouds. It will hit 30 today.
July 20, Kanagawa: 28.7 at 6 AM with 83% humidity. Did it even go below 28 last night? Cicadas are very active. The water of Tokyo Bay has looked very cloudy -- not clear at all. Don't know if it's more to do with the algae bloom or something else. We're in for a hot couple of weeks:
July 21, NR: Fine weather continues - down to 2C again two nights ago (4C below forecast) with moderate frost. Very windy last few days as a major low pressure system lashes the south of the continent with wind & rain. Current range is 2-7C overnight. Will pick last avocado today. Seems they don't increase in size once the weather turns cold. First typhoon with potential to impact Taiwan or Japan has formed.
July 27, Kanagawa: This is how it's been the entire month of July, and apparently going in to August -- temperatures well above average. The lows are notable. It just does not cool down much at night. Checked last year's entries for July and it was the same, at least for the early part of the month. A new normal?
July 29, Kangawa: 28 at 5AM today, 30 in Yokohama, with 92% humidity. Highs hitting 36 the last couple of days and that will continue. UDPATE: 37 at noon.
July 31, NR: Must be balancing out coz it's below ave here. A run of three nights with temps down to 2C or lower - major frost each morning, & water in the bird bath freezing up. At least it's been dry. Expected to continue like that for the forecast period.