Weather, or lack thereof, Report

Not to focus on the physical conditions, nor to seek sympathy, but since I have the record, I'm going to share some detail of probably the worst night we've had here. I can read this and get a chuckle now, but it wasn't funny at the time.

June 25-26, 2009

After a week of higher than normal power outages, especially at night, I decided to track the outages during the day and the night. Since our battery back up for the computer and router is kaput, once the power goes, we're dead in the water with the internet so tracking the outages was something to do. Yesterday was better during the day, but the night was bad and typical of what we've experienced almost all week. And it beats me why the night should be so bad when power demand supposedly diminishes. Needless to say, we're getting worn down by lack of good sleep, but this too shall pass. Here's a 24 hour log beginning Thursday, June 25th at 9:00 AM with the power on:

0937 - lost power
1225 - power back on after almost 3 hours off
1420 - lost power - gave up and headed to the mall to escape the concrete sweat box
1800 - power back on when we returned and remained on until we went to bed at 2230
2239 - lost power
2357 - power back on, but low voltage and a/c barely working
0032 - lost power and I stayed up, bedroom too close and hot, bed was wet from sweat
0044 - power back on, but voltage so low the lights in the living room are so dim you cannot read and a/c is blowing warm air, but at least the ceiling fans are moving air as I sit, sweat, and read by flashlight
0100 - lost power, what little there was
0120 - power back, still low voltage, but decided to try going back to bed again
0215 - lost power 5 times between 0215 and 0305, impossible to sleep with the seemingly constant cycling of power
0305 - power back on with voltage high enough that the bedroom window a/c is now working, finally able to go to sleep
0530 - a/c has cooled the room to the point it was cold and woke me up to pull a sheet over me
0800 - sometime after 8 we lost the power again, but could still sleep in the room that had cooled.
0900 - got up, too warm again
0915 - power back on

They now say the monsoons will not be here until mid-July so to expect continued high temperatures until then. It's been 111, 60+% humidity, or thereabouts all week and the concrete box we live in was a hundred or more well into the AM. As soon as the power goes, and all a/c and air movement stops, you begin to perspire almost immediately whether you're moving or not.

Friday night was a good night. Cindy said the power went out a couple of times, but I managed to sleep through it.

That's the end of the record of what was the worst of it so far. Things have gotten better since. The monsoons are not happening up here and we're in a drought situation now in the north of India, less than 50% of the normal rainfall and the farmers cannot plant due to lack of rain. The north is the grain belt of India and all wheat export licenses have been cancelled in recognition of how serious it is going to be later.

The weather has changed and we've had a couple of little rain storms come through. By little, I mean some heavy rain, but only for 15-20 minutes. The weather now is even more humid, but the temperature is down to 100 or in the 90's. But the real monsoon rains are still missing up north.

More good news. I got the UPS fixed so we can keep the router and computer going when the power goes out and our landlord's agent surprised us early last week by arranging for a back up unit to be installed under the stairs in the entry, what they call an inverter (battery to ac) that can power our kitchen and dinning room lights and fans for up to 5 hours if the power goes. Can't tell you how many times it's been used already and its automatic, but it is so nice to have some light and air movement when the power goes.