Day of the Wand, 49th Day of Summer, 525 ME (Castor): These are the times, and this is the record of the times: just like yesterday, the sun rose at 6:37 am this morning but will set a minute earlier, 8:49 pm, as we're now several weeks past the equinox. The moon is in the waxing gibbous phase. At 10:16 am, I weighed in a half pound lighter (166.5 pounds) than yesterday but my blood pressure was slightly higher (118/75). Today's a Castor, so instead of walking, I sat in meditation for 90 minutes, three consecutive 30-minute sessions. 

Breakfast was again two cups of coffee, black, and an English muffin, toasted, but lunch today was an assortment of berries (straw-, rasp-, black-, and blue-) over yogurt, plain and fat-free, instead of the fresh-fruit-and-peanut-butter-sandwich lunch of yesterday. Dinner tonight will be a bowl of brown rice and lentils, a dish I call "gruel" for its simplicity (even though it isn't actually gruel). I didn't have that beer last night, but I might tonight. We'll see. 

The temperature today reached a high of 92°, normal for this time of year in Atlanta, but with the humidity (also normal) it felt like 97. NASA, NOAA, and the European Copernicus Climate Change Service all concur that last month was Earth’s third-warmest June going back to 1850, behind only 2024 and 2023. Nearly 4% of the Earth’s surface experienced record-warm conditions. 

According to NOAA, last January-to-June was the second-warmest year-to-date on record for the globe, only 0.08 degree Celsius (0.14°F) cooler than 2024. NOAA gave a greater than 95% chance that 2025 will wind up being a top-four warmest year on record.

The Yale Climate Connections, an initiative of Yale University, the Yale Center for Environmental Communication, and the Yale School of the Environment, identifies the heat wave of June 22-25 as the standout weather event of last month. The heat wave was especially notable for its early-in-the-season intensity as it moved from the Midwest into the Northeast. Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, and New York were among the locations that experienced their warmest daily low temperatures ever recorded so early in summer. On June 24, temperatures near or above 100°F covered most of the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Maine. Many state high-temperature records for June were set on June 24, 2025, and several all-time (any day) records were set or tied on the 23rd to 24th.

There were 252 U.S. tornadoes in June, with four at EF2 or stronger. The preliminary total of 1,324 U.S. tornadoes observed from January 1 to July 8 ranks as the second-highest year-to-date total since 2010, behind 2011 (1,919). 

NOAA's National Hurricane Center predicts a trough of low pressure near the southeastern U.S. coast to move westward across Florida during the next day or so and into the northeastern Gulf by Tuesday. Gradual development of this system could occur during the middle to late part of next week while it moves westward over the Gulf. Heavy rainfall associated with the system could produce localized flash flooding over portions of Florida and the north-central Gulf coast later next week.

The weak La Niña conditions in the Eastern Pacific that began in December 2024 ended in March, and neutral conditions are now present. According to NOAA’s July forecast, neutral conditions are likely (56% chance) for the rest of the Atlantic hurricane season (August-October). While El Niño conditions tend to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity through an increase in wind shear, La Niña conditions tend to have the opposite effect. Also, El Niño events often last only one year, while La Niña events often restrengthen or recur across two or even three years in a row, as was the case from mid-2020 to early 2023.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice in June 2025 was at record-low levels from June 20-26. Last month had the second-lowest June extent of sea ice in the 47-year satellite record, behind only 2016. Continued low sea-ice extent may prove advantageous to Ella Hibbing as she attempts her solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Sea. Antarctic sea ice extent in June was the third-lowest in the satellite record. Only 2023 and 2024 had lower June extents. 

Sea ice will be more difficult to track beginning August 1, as the U.S. DoD announced that they will no longer be sharing data from their sea-ice monitoring satellites because of a so-called "cybersecurity risk.” Their satellites are the primary source of sea-ice information and have been sending data since 1987. There is an alternative, Japanese source for the data, but it is uncertain how long it might take to shift to using the Japanese data. In addition, budget cuts are hitting the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which will no longer provide monthly sea-ice analyses. The loss of the NSIDC data is expected to be a huge blow to hurricane forecasters.

The Red Sox won today, 4-1, over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was Boston's 10th straight win and third consecutive series sweep, a strong finish to the first half of the season as they enter the All-Star Break.  

I just finished my daily assignment of Ulysses ("doggone, bullnecked, beetlebrowed, hogjowled, peanut brained, weasleeyed, fourflushers, false alarms and excess baggage"), pages 407-429 of the 1942 Modern Library edition that was handed down to me from my paternal grandfather. Before gruel, I intend to watch the last episode of Season 1 of Mr. Robot, and then after gruel will play Dying Light 2, probably until my bedtime reading (I finished the first chapter of Stuart O'Nan's Emily, Alone last night, and will read Chapter 2 tonight) before finally going to sleep.