Events

It's time for the semi-annual update of the Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.) I'm a little late with the mid-year update because I've been a little busy. You haven't missed much—and anyway, they overlap. An interesting note about 2010: the sunset on November 6th will be the latest sunrise in Chicago (7:30am) until 2021—and that, only within 4 seconds of precision. Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight 2010 2 Jul 8:30pm...

The ParkerCam has returned: It may be up infrequently, and I have no idea where I'm going to point it all the time, but at least it's on again.

A strong cold front and impressive thunderstorms came through last night. After an entire month of high temperatures above 26°C, it got down to 18°C last night. I've got my windows open, only one fan running (to pull air through the house), and a dog who needs a good, 8 km walk. And then, later on today, a much-missed Daily Parker feature will return.

Every nine and a half years, I'm unable to leave the country for a few weeks because I've sent my passport off to be renewed. I just did that today. Not that I'm planning to flee into exile this month or anything, but still I hate not having the document. Right now the Department of State estimates 4 to 6 weeks to renew it. I guess I'll hang out here until September. Still, it boggles my mind that only 28% of U.S. citizens have passports. That's far fewer than any other OECD country, though other rich...

My friend DC's puppy Rex: Parker met Rex last week. Rex greeted Parker with lots and lots of barking. Parker, who for the moment outweighs Rex by 10 kg (but won't for very long) looked at Rex, blinked, and, with Rex following and barking hysterically, proceeded to investigate the apartment. Within about an hour Rex had decided that Parker was really cool and Parker had decided...well, nothing, because Parker is 4 and Rex is about 5 months old, so Parker just ignored Rex. They'll have a play-date again...

Via Sullivan, an unfortunate product from Scotland: AdFreak writes: If the Old Spice guy really wants to prove his manliness, he should switch allegiances and endorse BrewDog, a Scottish craft brewery that has just released perhaps the most masculine product ever invented: a beer that contains 55 percent alcohol and comes packaged inside a taxidermied rodent. It costs £500 (about $760) per bottle and is called The End of History. PETA has yet to weigh in, but an Advocates for Animals rep calls the brew...

A friend drove through the squall line that hit the East Coast yesterday and got extremely lucky, when you think about it: She's fine, and so is her car, though she had to have the windshield replaced in the dark because of the widespread power outages out there. Then there's the heat. Cities all up and down the East Coast hit record high temperatures over the weekend, including 38°C in Raleigh, 41°C in Richmond, and 37°C in Washington.

Via Sullivan, Timothy Lee describes how freeway construction destroyed the center of St. Louis: Planners in St. Louis, as in most American cities, decided that the new expressways would run directly through the cities’ downtowns. One of them (I-44/I-70) now runs North to South between the park and downtown. Not surprisingly, if you visit the park today you’ll find a light sprinkling of tourists, but nothing like the throngs of locals you’ll find in successful urban parks like New York’s Union Square...

Chicago got a bit of rain yesterday, after what seemed like a few weeks of drought: Emergency personnel from Chicago and several suburbs headed to Westchester this morning after flooding caused by heavy overnight rainstorms forced the evacuation of a nursing home in the west suburb. Overnight weather left many people and vehicles stranded on roadways as thunderstorms hit north central and northeast Illinois with intense lightning and winds up to 80 km/h. A flash flood warning [was] in effect until 7...

Chicago is having a one-day respite from the longest streak of 32°C weather in four years: Powerful thunderstorms bypassed Chicago Monday -- and so did 90-degree heat. It marked the first time in six days the mercury failed to reach 90 degrees here and ended the area's longest string of consecutive 90-degree days in four years. Not since July 28 through Aug. 2, 2006 had the Chicago area logged more 90-degree temperatures than in the five days leading up to Monday. Incredibly, July 2010, with an average...