Talk About Stressful Weather...

A number of years ago, the National Weather Service used to release a Weather Stress Index to indicate the degree to which the weather would cause stress on the human body.  How that stress was defined was to compare the type of weather that would normally be expected for a particular time of year to the actual weather that was forecast to occur.  So, for example, a 90 degree day in Miami in September would be a lot less stressful than a 90 degree day in Minneapolis on the same day.  Conversely, a 40 degree day in Minneapolis in November would be a lot less stressful than a 40 degree day in Miami at any time.

We've certainly seen our share of weather stress this week in Connecticut (and much of the northeastern part of the U.S.).  At my home this morning, the mercury bottomed out at 14.8 degrees, more than 15 degrees colder than the normal low of 31 for this time of year.  And while today's normal high temperature is 48 degrees, we topped out here at 36.5 degrees.  And the cold is only getting stronger as we move into the upcoming weekend.  

To make matters personally worse, last weekend, my wife I visited our son, who lives in San Diego.  Three solid days of absolutely crystal clear skies and temperatures near 90 degrees were immediately followed by the cold, blustery weather we experienced as soon as we returned to Connecticut.  Now THAT'S stressful!