Summer, Starts Like, Well, Summer

Hot and muggy with storms forecast: sounds like Va. summer and it's officially summer...as of 6:07 this morning. And, although that technically means days will now begin to get longer no one will notice for months and if you like daylight, you have almost 15 hours of sunshine here in central Va. today.  In Russia, where the World Cup is going on, they will have closer to 20 hours of sun - the tilted Earth allowing the sun to shine over the top of the planet making summer nights short and far from dark.  For those in the Southern Hemisphere, today marks the start of winter with today being the longest night of the year - just a reminder for those of us sweltering in the north, cool temps are just a plane ride away!
Still no strong quakes on the big, shifting planet with today's list, as now usual, dominated by Hawaii.  Hundreds of small quakes and another 5.3 eruption related shake; lava still pours into the Pacific growing the island state. Guatemala, the US and Russia's Kamchatka peninsula lead the week's list with 3 belching volcanoes each, with Guatemala winning the "not where you want to be" prize with not only 3 erupting volcanoes but lots of lahars from 2 of the volcanoes - rain and eruptions is not a good mix. 12,000+ people remain evacuated with recovery efforts for the 200-ish missing suspended. Almost 600 families are homeless in Hawaii, always a risk when you build on a volcano.
The risks in Va. today will be from high winds, torrential rain, perhaps some hail and the flooding risk associated with stormy weather. Today will only be in the upper 80's but the moisture in the air will make it feel much worse as we are once again are south of the front that is stuck in the mid-Atlantic. Tomorrow's forecast call for the front to once again slide south with a cooler day but with similar chances for storms and a still very muggy air mass. Same for the weekend although it looks like a cool front stuck out on the plains may move the sticky mess out early next week giving us a momentary break from the summer muggies.
But, summer just started and the lagging heat will continue to rise, so settle in for another hot, muggy season here in Virginia. It's not like we can control or change it...so, get out and enjoy the daylight and realize you don't have to worry about an ice storm...for months to come, today on Earth.