kfitz

A Sure Sign of the Apocalypse

Tuesday’s high temperature here in Claremont was 102 on Mr. Fahrenheit’s scale. Today it’s snowing.

Of course, what it’s snowing is not flakes of frozen water but flakes of ash.

This is, for those of you who’ve been around a while, a phenomenon far more recurrent than any of us would like. Here’s last year’s version:

Where There’s Smoke…

Just a few miles north of here — how few can be attested by the near-constant whirring of engines overhead and the overwhelmingly acrid air — the mountains are on fire, and have been for a week. Air quality has deteriorated to the extent that all non-essential outdoor activities on campus have been canceled for the duration. And once again this morning, I’ve awakened to find my apartment filled with the smell of smoke.

Few of you will be faced with neighborhood wildfires, but perhaps you might understand why I’ve recently become obsessed with this site of late. We’re the Williams Fire, if you want to get the lowdown on our situation.

Posted by KF at September 30, 2002 06:27 AM

This time around, we’re being threatened by the Grand Prix, which I find a little unnerving. That, and the fact that Weather.com has gotten into the act, declaring our predominant weather condition today to be “smoke.”

[UPDATE, 10.25.03, 5.51 pm: Seriously — it’s beginning to look like Armageddon out there. The sky is this unearthly brown, the light looks as though earth’s gaffers have gotten a bit carried away with the yellow filters, and the sun — when you can find it — has been RED all day. Bright, glowing red.]

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