Results tagged “lightningsafetyawarenessweek”

Why is Memorial Day often referred to as the "unofficial start of summer"? As far as we know there is no official start of summer. Astronomically, there's the summer solstice, and for bookkeeping reasons climatological summer is considered June, July and August, the three warmest months, but there's no official start to summer.

Everywhere but here, that is. Even though we had enough rain since Saturday to surpass 1922 as the tenth wettest June ever, the city did not get nearly as much rain as expected. Locations immediately around the city got more rain than us and up to a foot of rain fell in Delaware and Maryland, causing some communities to evacuate. Rain continues today. As the National Weather Service states in their discussion "…juicy airmass will continue to be the focus for showers..." Gothamist loves juicy airmasses! Once again, though, the heaviest rains will mostly stay to the west of the city.

Yesterday's weather may not have been ideal for giant popsicles (note to Snapple: for your next attempt at a giant ice tower think cold and dark like these people), it was a pleasant and seasonable start to the summer. Today continues in that vein, although there is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon.

This week we acknowledge the 4th year of Lightning Safety Awareness Week which is a perfect continuation on Gothamist Carrie's discussion of deadly lightning. NOAA has an entire website dedicated to lightning safety and are focusing on a specific lightning-related topic each day this week complete with videos.