06/21/2010

Hot Enough for Ya?

from Weather Underground, 6/17/10

We’re approaching the season when the whole eastern half of the country is dealing with uncomfortable temperatures–except Maine. And it’s only the middle of June. Sure, you can stay inside and crank up the A.C. but sooner or later it would be nice to spend time outdoors and not roast. Many of our neighbors have escaped the heat of Georgia or Florida and most of our guests are on the run from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and even Massachusetts.

Why is Maine the cool place to be in the summer? We have a cold ocean current, that’s why. In fact, the interior of Maine may be as uncomfortable as elsewhere but the dependable ocean breezes keep the coastline cool. A few years ago I was in Bangor, in the central valley when it was 90°F. We drove back home and as we passed a bank in Ellsworth the temperature was 83°F. At home my thermometer said 75°F. Ahhh!

There are two ways the wind blows in summer. One is the general southwest to northeast wind which moves up the East coast. This is a fair weather breeze and can be replaced by winds from other directions during storms or pressure changes. The second way the wind blows is on a more local level and is driven by the sun shining on the land. On a sunny day it starts to feel hot around 10 AM. Just then the hot air mass begins rising off the land and creates a negative pressure which gets filled by cool air lying on the ocean. This is our precious sea breeze, over water that reaches an average of 63°F in August (swimmers beware!).

Here at SeaCat’s Rest we have a double wind benefit. We are situated where the normal summer breezes get funneled over the top of Mount Desert Island and come straight at us; and then there’s the breeze caused by sun on the land. Result: as long as you’re not behind a grove of trees or a building, you feel cool, maybe even in need of a sweater. Right now there’s no wind and therefore no sun. My thermometer reads 59°F. Last night it rained a little and the clouds should move out by afternoon. When they do, the breeze will start just as the temperature rises.

We know folks from stuffy parts think of air conditioning as a necessity. We tell people they don’t need it up here but we’ve seen people from the South build homes with whole house systems that get rarely used. To put our guests at ease we installed a small window unit just so we can now claim to have air conditioning. I wonder if it will ever get used!

Our blog topics seem to focus on getting out and enjoying the scenery and available muscle powered activities, but sometimes we forget to mention that extreme heat is not an issue. If it feels like an oven where you are, imagine it twenty degrees cooler with a nice breeze. Don’t take my word for it, just click here to find out the temperature at the Bar Harbor airport.