And Your Mayor Wants More Of These Things . . .

Trees, what are they good for?:

A woman was killed when a tree fell on a vehicle about 6:50 p.m. on Grand Central Parkway near Jewel Avenue in Queens. The police said the woman had pulled her car to the side of the parkway, possibly to avoid the storm.

The police could not immediately provide the victim’s name. They said they believed she was alone, but that was not entirely clear because the tree was on the car.

Go Big Or Stay Inside

The only thing worse than record-setting heat is not setting a record for hottest month ever:

By the time Saturday ended, the average temperature for July 31 was recorded at 76 degrees, low enough to drag down the monthly average to 81.3, dooming July 2010 to second place. The Olympic-scale margin: a mere tenth of a degree.

All that sweat — for nothing?

“If July had 30 days, instead of 31 days, we would have broken the record,” said Matt Scalora, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y.

Leave The Cold-Weather Games To Vince Lombardi And Steve Sabol Voiceovers On ESPN Classic

This is why God created domed stadiums:

The bid to host the 2014 Super Bowl at New Meadowlands Stadium, portions of which were obtained by The New York Times in advance of its Wednesday unveiling, dresses the Super Bowl in a giant “I Love New York” T-shirt, spinning even the prospect of bad weather as a chance to go “old school” and embrace a link to some of the N.F.L.’s storied cold-weather games.

Snow-Related Blog Post Headline Of The Day . . .

. . . from the Village Voice — Record 0″ Snowfall Closes New York Public Schools. Snap!

Here’s more information about the preemptive snow day:

Both Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, took pains in an afternoon news conference to describe how they carefully weighed their verdict, basing it on early-morning forecasts that they said were unlikely to change.

God, what pussies.

It’s Like The 1990s All Over Again, When Seattle Turned Nice And New York Was Destined To Suffer

After ten inches of rain for the month of June (more than twice what is normal), the Seattle meme abounds:

The Seattle-New York weather seesaw was scarcely coincidental, Dr. Mass said. “It’s usual to have opposite weather,” he said. “There’s a wavelike pattern to the atmosphere. We are often 180 degrees different.”

So when Seattle turned nice, New Yorkers were almost destined to suffer. And suffer they did.

. . .

Actually, New York City averages more rainfall annually than Seattle, 49.69 inches to 37.07 inches, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but Seattle’s climate is damper, with more days of rain and mist.