“When I reach my mountaintop I will step off and follow the clouds all the way to the top of the world.

Once there, I’ll probably keep going.

Who knows?

Perhaps I will meet God along the way.”

~ Anthony T. Hincks, author

I am often asked, “How do you think of something to write about … every week?” In fact, just last night a neighbor posed the question. To back up a bit…

Brighton had coerced us into a walk. What she had in mind was a visit with her dog-buddy Blaze. She, a young Retriever, and he, a young Lab, are equally matched. With lawn chairs strategically placed six feet apart scattered on the front yard we visited while watching canine shenanigans. Life is good. The weather added the perfect touch as a very full moon was joined by wispy and pink-tinged clouds. It was then a similar question was asked.

Over the past weeks in search of entertainment I’ve been catching up on some movie watching. One in particular not only caught my eye but also became “my weather topic” – “The Aeronauts.”

This word looks a lot like “astronaut” and it means something similar: a pilot. Though an aeronaut can be someone who pilots any kind of flying vehicle, this word most commonly is applied to people who fly balloons, i.e. balloonists. The movie is inspired by the true story about the English meteorologist, aeronaut and astronomer James Glaisher. In 1862, ascending to 37,000 feet in a balloon, he broke the world record for the highest altitude reached by a human (at that time): 8,000 feet, which is higher than Mount Everest. Traveling to such heights enabled him to collect important weather-related data by measuring the temperature, barometric pressure, winds and humidity at very high levels. He’s a noted pioneer in the science of weather forecasting.

Currently, twice a day, every day of the year, weather balloons are released simultaneously from nearly 900 locations worldwide! These include 92 released by the National Weather Service in the U.S. and its territories. The balloon flights last for around two hours, can drift as far as 125 miles, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere!

The current heat wave is expected to be knocked down when low clouds and fog move further inland over the weekend and into the middle of next week. Could this be the return of our so-called “May Gray” and “June Gloom”?

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley
resident and Official Skywarn Spotter for
the National Weather Service Reach her at
suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick