Two months into this cool, wet spring, the first wave of summer has pushed across the American Heartland. Thanks to high pressure over the Southern Plains and a low pressure trough over the Northeast, southwesterly winds are raking the Great Plains and Midwest, producing clear skies and afternoon highs well above average.
This injection of heat should allow our vegetation to catch up with the season, combating the cool soil temperature that has slowed the growth of crops and the leafing of trees; indeed, the azaleas along the north side of our house are finally in bloom, a good month behind schedule. Wild birds and mammals, governed by the daylight cycle rather than the weather, have gone about their business as usual but this wave of summer will surely invigorate the turtles, snakes, lizards and amphibians which, to date, have been relatively inactive.
Our summer interlude is forecast to continue for the next few days; by then, a Pacific storm front will invade the region and the emplaced heat will likely fuel severe thunderstorms. In nature, the good and the bad are often linked; in this case, our dose of summer will prime the atmosphere for violent weather which, in turn, will bring welcome rains to the drought-ridden Plains. We will escape that show, heading south for our son's medical school graduation; reports from the Gulf Coast in the coming days.
