At the time I took these
photos, (1 pm, about an hour before solar noon) the air temperature was 24
C. There was no rain in the rain gauge - has not been any since 19 July.
We have had such a hot dry summer! Last week we surpassed the record for
the most days in a summer with a high temperature of 80F (27C) or higher -
more than 31 days - and so are now on record as the hottest summer ever
recorded in Fairbanks (since 1904, when recording started). What is most
interesting is that the previous hottest summer was only recently, in 2004.
That says a lot to me about how much warmer our climate is becoming.
However, Saturday evening and also last evening we did have some short rain
showers and the temperatures have cooled at night, as we would expect to
see during this month. Also, the days are noticeably shorter as we move
farther and farther away from the summer solstice. On 3 August, when I took
the photos, sunrise was at 4:58 am and sunset was at 10:59 pm for a total
day length of 18 hours and 1 minute. We are currently losing daylight at a
rate of about 7 minutes a day. That adds up really fast!
