Hurricane: moisture hog

One of the irritations of most late summers in Oklahoma, at least for those who can read a weather chart, is the fact that most hurricanes in the Gulf, and occasionally the larger ones in the Atlantic, affect our weather too.

Naw, we don't get the high winds, the tidal flows or the heavy rains.

Of these we get zip. What we do get is light dry north or north-easterly winds with no moisture, a lot of sunshine and the feeling that it will never rain again. Sometimes we get wispy, extremely outer band clouds high in the sky that signify exactly nothing. It almost never gets cool when this happens, even in late September or October. That's because hurricanes are nature's perfect moisture hoarders, altering jet streams and moisture flows, wreaking havoc half a world away on normal weather patterns.

The Oklahomilist prefers predictability and order. The gluttony of the hurricane and its total disregard for tradition has always been a cause for anger and dismay.

Starting this morning the familiar pattern has set in again. The good news is that after an unusually wet August, we may be able to mow the backyard again and fix the balky pool pump in time to close the pool for the season. The bad news is that it's so darn hot that we do not want to work on the lawn and the pool. But the window beside the desk shows a brilliant green tangle of lawn, and a mild verdiform coloration to what should be sparkling water from the pool.

It is unavoidable.