Author: Edward Jensen | Thoughts from Edward Jensen

February 2021 Weather Almanac

With February 2021 now in the books, it’s time to rewind on the past twenty-eight days to see what weather we had in midtown Phoenix.

With February 2021 now in the books, it’s time to rewind on the past twenty-eight days to see what weather we had in midtown Phoenix. From the roof of a tower in Midtown Phoenix, here are the weather statistics from a dry and average month:

HIGH TEMPERATURES

Highest: 84.6º F / 29.2º C, February 2nd 3:59pm
Lowest: 63.3º F / 17.4º C, February 28th
High temperatures above 75º F / 23.9º C: 9 days
High temperatures above 80º F / 26.7º C: 4 days

LOW TEMPERATURES

Highest: 64.0º F / 17.8º C, February 3rd
Lowest: 43.5º F / 6.4º C, February 15th 6:51am
Low temperatures below 50º F / 10º C: 18 days

RAINFALL, WIND, and SUCH

Total February 2021 rainfall: 0.00 inches
Cumulative 2021 rainfall: 0.84 inches / 2.1 cm
Peak wind gust: 25.1 mph / 34.6 kph, February 15th 7:14pm

Please note that these data are not the official Phoenix weather statistics. The official Phoenix weather is taken at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport by the Phoenix office of the National Weather Service.

For all the latest weather from Midtown Phoenix, visit midtownweather.com.

The Home Server

The past year has brought upheaval, but it’s given me a good space to rethink my computing portfolio. Join me on Fridays as I share discoveries and new things

Over this past year of COVID-19 lockdowns, I’ve taken the opportunity to re-conceptualize my personal (and business) IT portfolio. Prior to the pandemic, I was rather haphazard about things. Even though I espoused the benefits of having a master plan and having things fit into that plan, in practice for my personal IT estate at least, it was a different story. I focused on getting things stood up quickly rather than robustly. It worked, but it sometimes incurred a price.

light rail at the speed of light vii

1 January 2021

August 2020 Weather Almanac

With August 2020 in the books, here’s a snapshot of the month in weather from a weather station perched in midtown Phoenix.

As many of you may know, I maintain (in conjunction with Tapestry on Central) a weather station on the rooftop of one of our buildings. Since the books have closed on August, here’s a look at the August 2020 weather statistics:

HIGH TEMPERATURES

HIGHEST: 118.4º F / 48.0º C (August 14 at 4:19pm)
LOWEST: 101.1º F / 38.4º C (August 31)
HIGH TEMPERATURES ABOVE 110º F / 43.3º C: 25 days (of 31)
HIGH TEMPERATURES ABOVE 112º F / 44.4º C: 19 days
HIGH TEMPERATURES ABOVE 115º F / 46.1º C: 8 days
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE: 112.2º F / 44.6º C

LOW TEMPERATURES

LOWEST: 76.5º F / 24.7º C (August 30 at 10:29pm)
HIGHEST: 92.7º F / 33.7º C (August 2)
LOW TEMPERATURES ABOVE 90º F / 32.2º C: 10 days
LOW TEMPERATURES BELOW 80º F / 26.7º C: 2 days
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE: 87.3º F / 30.7º C

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES

AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE: 112.2º F / 44.6º C
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE: 87.3º F / 30.7º C
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: 99.7º F / 37.6º C

RAINFALL, WIND, AND SUCH

TOTAL AUGUST RAINFALL: 0.04 inches / 1.02 mm (1 day of measurable rainfall)
DAYS WITH STORMS IN THE AREA: 8 days
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS ISSUED FOR MIDTOWN PHX: 2 (August 17 and 20)
PEAK WIND GUST: 42.1 mph / 67.8 kph (August 20)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND GUST: 2.4 mph gusting to 4.5 mph (3.9 kph – 7.2 kph)
AVERAGE WIND DIRECTION: from the WNW

NOTES FROM THE NOTEBOOK

Saturday August 1: Dew Point peaked at 71.4º F at 12:22pm, heat index was 121.9º F an hour later
Friday August 14: hot!
Sunday August 30: Lowest temp of 76.5º F was lowest temperature recorded since July 1

For all the latest weather from Midtown Phoenix, visit midtownweather.com.

Midtown Weather Live

Phoenix is set for another scorcher today, so in anticipation of that, here’s a live stream of the Midtown Phoenix weather station.

Phoenix is set for another scorcher today, so in anticipation of that, I’ve set up a live web stream of the console for the Midtown Phoenix weather station I maintain.

The sensor suite is perched atop a building in midtown Phoenix and the console receives that wireless signal for transmission out to the internet. You can see the data in real time at midtownweather.com.

through the opening

A glimpse of clouds–and rain–so near yet far away (Midtown Phoenix weather photography, 11 July 2020)

Steele Indian School Park

In light of our collective cultural conversations about public space, midtown Phoenix’s Steele Indian School Park must be a part of it. Here’s why

When I prepared my midtown Phoenix history lecture last year, A Brief History of Midtown Phoenix, one of the things that I wanted to do was to learn more about the full history of the Phoenix Indian School, which most Phoenicians know only as a giant park in the middle of Phoenix with a dog park and where they launch fireworks on July 4. With a few exceptions, most contemporary history books of Phoenix and its urban history tend to gloss over the site.

I should mention that I don’t intend this to be the last word in scholarship on the site. There are many more people who have reported on the history of not only the Phoenix Indian School but the issues with Indian schools nationwide. The point of this essay is to contribute to a dialogue that should be had about the challenges that this site has, especially in the broader contexts of the urban Phoenix moment and the cultural conversations happening about how we memorialize our history and interact with public space. Continue reading “Steele Indian School Park”

Metrocenter photos

On June 24, prior to its closing, I traveled up to Metrocenter to take some final photos. Here are a few of them

Prior to its closing next week, I thought I’d make one final trip to Metrocenter to see it before the lights turn off for good June 30. I grew up close to this mall and visited it more than I probably care to admit in the 1990s. I wrote an appreciation essay on Metrocenter earlier this week, which I invite you to read first before viewing the photos.

One of the main entrances to the mall building

I never appreciated it until now, but the former Robinson’s / Macy’s store (now a U-Haul?) has a definite New Formalism aesthetic to it.

A detached Walmart replaced the former Broadway in 2016-2017

The former JCPenney (and before that, Dillard’s, Joske’s, and Rhodes) is now a self-storage. Note the symmetry of the building (the black glass is/was an elevator)

From the north, the Sears was a box on top of a plinth

This sticker was still on the door of the Sears

Now we go inside. You can see elements of the original architecture but also the postmodern nonsense they put on top of it

Another interior shot. This is the east-west corridor

Even the security guards are mailing it in

The Dillard’s clearance outlet is now only accessible from the outside, but the atrium still shows some of the original 1973 architecture

Short-term leases are available – act today, we’re gone tomorrow!

And, finally, this sad balloon sums it all up.

Metrocenter (1973-2020), an appreciation

The closure of north-central Phoenix’s Metrocenter was announced. Some final thoughts on what was and what might be with the space

The big Phoenix news story over the past weekend is that the closure was announced of Metrocenter (1973-2020), the struggling shopping center in north-central Phoenix. The mall will close at the end of June after 47 years of operation.

Although this news is not surprising to hear, it is still a bit of a shock to hear the finality of it. The mall opened in 1973 with a record-setting five anchor store positions and 1.4 million square feet of retail space on two floors. For those who came of age in Phoenix in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, it was the place to see and be seen. It reached new appreciation in the 1980s when Metrocenter stood in for a mall in southern California in the 1989 science fiction film, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Continue reading “Metrocenter (1973-2020), an appreciation”

The flyover flying over Midtown Phoenix

On 1 May 2020, a military flyover was conducted to show support for those leading the fight against the COVID-19 crisis.

On 1 May 2020, a military flyover was conducted to show support for those leading the fight against the COVID-19 crisis. The path wound through Phoenix, flying over midtown Phoenix for this photo opportunity: