Many of you here have been hearing ad nauseam about the affects on the Northeast part of the country due to forest fires in Canada. Here is a recap from Northeast Pennsylvania.
Monday June 5, 2023The day started out as a normal June day. Temps in the morning around 50 degrees and by noon it was in the low 70's. As the day progressed a haze formed but not strong enough to affect solar activity on my solar system. At 1830E hrs. MrsMac and I were on the road traveling to our Bible Study class and the sun was one big orange orb in the sky. An orb that you could stare directly at I might add.
Tuesday June 6, 2023At 0600E hrs. found my neighbor and myself on the road destination Boxborough, Mass. AltE had batteries on sale which I bought four more. My neighbor bought four more too plus four solar panels. The estimated shipping from AltE to our AO was $800-. Well lets see - If we drove there we would use $100- in fuel roundtrip and the appropriate tolls. $120- vs. $800- this was a no brainer.
When we started out it was hazy and the sun was beet red. It looked like a typical NE PA day in August with haze due to high humidity. But the humidity was about 30% and we hadn't seen rain in over fourteen days.
As we zipped down the highway, the radio station we were listening to gave a warning concerning the smoke generated by Canadian wildfires, dipping into the northeast due to a high pressure system stalled over eastern Canada and the northeast. This stalled system would cause a constant flow of dry air down from the north.
By 1100E hrs. we had made it to Boxborough and had loaded up our solar supplies and were starting our way home. Stopped at a clam shack I knew about and had lunch. By the way, lobster rolls were $31-. OUCH! I had full bellied clams and they were $20-.
Back on the road and as we winged our way west on the Mass Pike, the smoke really started to get bad. At times we could not see ahead on the Pike farther than 400-500 meters. The color about was slate gray with a brownish hew. Eery for sure. It also smelled like a smoldering camp fire by this time.
At the three hour mark we had left I-90 and found us on I-88 in New York. Things were no better in New York. Visibility was a little farther in places.
During our trip through New York I started to receive alerts from Bingo (Binghamton NY) NOAA. The alerts basically stated that the AQI (Air Quality Index) was in-between 160 and 200 AQI for the area around Bingo (Southern tier of New York), Broome County New York.
Pulled into my neighbors driveway at 1650E hrs. The area was very eery. No sun was visible. The sky was a brownish red slate color. Walked into our cabin and I found MrsMac coughing up a lung. I am asthmatic so I checked my O2 level which I do every morning as a habit along with my blood sugar before breakfast. It was 93% which is not necessarily out of whack for me. MrsMac was at 93% too but she is normally above 97%.
Did the 1900E hrs. digital and the 2000E hrs. net as usual. Propagation was pretty much normal. May have been a smidgen better then usual.
Put the chickens away after the net and it smelled like fully engrossed camp fire outside.
Wednesday June 7, 2023 Got up at normal time, let W3OOF out to do her business, fed the critters, and the day progressed as normal. Looked out the window and checked the Davis Weather Instrument. It was 41 degrees out with low humidity and if I though Tuesday looked bad it was so dark it looked like a thunder storm was going to open up on us at any moment. I checked the solar input and it was almost non existent.
As usual, I checked my O2 and blood sugar. My O2 was 89% blood sugar was normal around 130. Took a minute to check my SIGNAL messages from my MAG (Mutual Assistance Group) and it had blown up. Apparently, late in the day before that AQI had shot up to 410 for my AO and was still hovering around that mark.
Turned on the idiot box and pretty much Canada's gift to the northeast USA was the only thing being covered.
Drove down to visit my mom who lives at a senior living facility about an hour south of me. During the drive the only news being covered on the radio was the smoke. "Wear a mask"..."Do not wear a mask". "Stay inside"..."OK to go outside but moderation".
My mom has asthma way worse than myself but the workers at the facility were taking care of mom very well.
On my way home I started to fall asleep at the wheel so once home, I laid down and tried to take a nap. Couldn't as I kept receiving phone calls and messages from MAG members and friends around the country. Ping!, Ping!, Ping!. You get the idea.
Checked my O2 again and I was still at 89%. Well at least it wasn't dropping. MrsMac was at 90%.
By 2130E hrs. I kept falling asleep in my lounge chair so went to bed.
Thursday June 8, 2023Woke up at 530E hrs. because W3OOF wanted to go out. Crawled back into bed when she came back in and slept till 0745E hrs. WOW, I never sleep that long. Crawled out of bed feeling like crap. Felt I had run a marathon the previous day. Checked my O2 and it was back to normal for me, 93%. MrsMac still had a hack but not as bad as last evening.
The temperature was 47 degrees and looking out the window, I could actually see the mountain to our SE. Hazy but definable.
Brought up the AQI site and Bingo just north of me was 162 and down near my mom it was 202. Okay, things were starting to blow out. A slight breeze under 5 mph was coming out of the west and humidity had climbed to a whoopen 80%. The sky is still overcast however, it seems to be clouds vs. smoke. I am sure it is a mixture of clouds and smoke but nothing like the past 24 hours.
My solar system is starting to bring in free electricity again - Albeit slowly but better then yesterday.
Well the coffee is kicking in. It is time to put down the computer and get to work. Planting some seedlings today. I will take it easy and plant in earnest tomorrow.
Hope my AAR helps out the the
UP subscribers to understand what all the smoke noise has been about on the news.
73 & God Bless
JohnyMac
