Smoke
The smoke from forest fires is getting awful here. Our air quality was moderate until yesterday. Now it is ranked "Unhealthy" and getting close to "Very Unhealthy" in places in town here. This image is a real time model from Airfire.org. which is a very useful website if you have fires in your area. Where it says Anchorage in the center toward the bottom is where I am. The smoke extends all across our state.
The temperatures are forcast to be only into the low 80's now whereas yesterday they were predicted to be into the high 80's this weekend and 90 degrees just to the north of us.
Somehow we have to get this entire apartment painted and ready to go despite the smoke and heat. Fun. My co-worker has to leave town to get her elderly Dad away from the smoke.
The fires are caused by lightening.
Probably no work on my website this weekend.
Jessica
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Main thing is to be safe. Heat and lightening in Alaska is not what I imagine Alaska is like. Interesting but dangerous.
Take care,
Bill
We should not be this hot this early in the summer. Right here on the coast we are about 15 to 20 degrees above where we should be for high temps in June.
This heat is normal for the interior of the state later in the summer. There are usually dozens of lightening caused fires in the state. It is just such a large area that most are not a problem or go unnoticed. The ones that are very large or near populated areas are quite disruptive.
I understand. We are hot here in Ohio, but we get so much rain, that we usually don't have issues like that.
Be careful.
We should be getting rain but this high pressure system is stuck over us. Due to the long hours of sunlight it gets hotter and hotter. Our peak temp now comes at about 9 PM. The sun doesn't set until after 11. It has been 90 degrees here for several days and will be for several more.
I'm sorry you are experiencing such a difficult time. The smoke and temperatures must be horrible.
Take care of yourself, Jessica. I hope this unpleasant time soon comes to an end.
I know you have already done the research but here's an article I found that might help a bit if you haven't had time. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/can-masks-really-protect-from-wildfire-smoke#3
I was going to suggest using those white dust masks but this article says they don't really help. You would need to wear a respirator, especially when working.
All I think to do is offer you and hubby a place to stay in Florida if you decide to bug out. The Fam isn't visiting until mid-August, so we've got a vacancy until then. lol
Stay safe and breathe shallowly.
That is so nice of you KC! It is supposed to get better next week...we have air filters so we are ok as long as we can stay inside! My building here at work doesn't seem to have filters...it seems the air system just sucks the smoke in! I am glad I will be home for the weekend.
Thank you so much! I doubt I will make it to Florida in the next few years but maybe someday.
Jessica
Yes. We have new tenants driving up from Minnesota and set to move in July 3rd...I don't want to leave them hanging. We are trying to stay healthy in the meantime.
Sounds like you have had a lot happening, but I'm glad you're still making progress. You'll get back to spending more time on your website soon, I'm sure. Keep making lemonade out the lemons that come your way! Hope the smoke clears quickly. It really is rough on the eyes and lungs.
All the best to you! :)
Colleen
Thanks Coleen. I can't imagine how nice it will be once all these vacancies are filled. We still have another at the 6-plex now and yet another coming up soon after that.
We finally bought new carpet for this unit (in our own building). That is expensive! We will be doing the painting ourselves to keep the cost down.
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Good Morning Jessica,
That looks awful, all this beautiful nature lost and thinking about the animals big and small my heart breaks.
In the North of Spain the first big fire with 20.000 hectares, some houses and a lot of farm animals.
Also the first victim of this African heat wave. A boy, 17 years old, helping his father on the field had a cold bath and died in hospital. Many areas are on red alert the same as in other European countries.
Take care.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Most of these fires are not near populated areas. The smoke drifts for hundreds of miles though and air system is holding the smoke down. Fires terrify me. I just hate them but I know they are good for the ecosystem in some cases. Some plants can't grow without them. They are letting these ones burn as long as they are under control so they can prevent worse fires in the future. I just saw a neighborhood near Fairbanks might have to evacuate though.
It is supposed to continue to be hot and dry so hopefully we don't get yet more fires.
The smoke was better today but it was 90 degrees again! That is crazy for here on the coast. It is never supposed to get that hot and certainly not in June. It is very hard for me to function with my health problems at that temperature. Heat is my body's enemy since I am prone to inflammation anyway. Now that I have erythromelalgia in my feet it is especially bad.
Good evening Jessica,
Today on the news also more fires in Spain, often very mountainous terrain and difficult to fight. Here they cannot let it burn as often villages and towns are nearby.
Tomorrow temperatures are dropping in some places more than 10C, weather is crazy.
I can imagine you are not happy with this heat because of your condition, hopefully, it will get cooler soon.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
It is cooler today...thank goodness.The painting is done! Aaron's parents came and helped us so much we could not have done it without them. We are all worn out. The smoke is still pretty bad. It will be cool tomorrow and then the temps go back up again. It is predicted to be even hotter next week.
I am sorry to hear about the fires in Spain.I am sure they are difficult to fight and destructive.
The paint looks great and it is a relief to have it done. The carpet gets installed on Tuesday and our new tenants get here on Wednesday. We are getting done just in time since my husband will be stuck working 12 hour days at work starting tomorrow.
Happy to hear you got the painting done on time Jessica.
Michael is doing his motorbike exam today. His driver's license was no problem as they very kindly have the possibility to do it in English but not so for the bike. He has been driving one for many years but even if you know the answer if you do not understand the question it gets complicated. Anyhow, he studied a lot so I hope for the best.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Did he pass the exam?
Yes, he did, am really proud of him.