Record Heat

It is HOT. AccuWeather forecasts a high today of 106, easily surpassing the former record August 28 high of 102 set in 1995.

The heat's discomfort is compounded by smoke from fires in our local mountains. Earlier this week we could smell smoke from the Azusa Canyon fire. The last two days we have had heavy smoke from the Station fire in La Canada. I've watched the La Canada fire from my office in downtown Pasadena and last night could see the flames. As I look out at the San Gabriels this morning, I see a hazy blanket of smoke against the foothills north of Pasadena and east of Pasadena. Over toward La Canada, the smoke billows up, in kind of gray-brown clouds, against the blue sky. And then the gray-brown extends westward as far as I can see.

The heatwave is supposed to break on Sunday sending temps back down to the low 90s. Hopefully that will help the fire fighters.

Hail in Pasadena

The National Weather Service predicts 100 today and 102 tomorrow with a hazardous weather outlook here. Up to 107 in the mountans. All in all, I thought it a fine day to think about the evening of January 24 when we had a hail storm. It is a big deal to get hail in Pasadena -- even in January. I remember listening to the rain on our roof that night and hearing the sound of rain change to the sound of hail. I shouted "hail" and we all ran outside to watch it hail. I scooped some up and took a picture.