130 in the shade…

I exaggerate a bit, but not much.  Had I been able to take a picture, the thermometers (saw more than one) were reading that it was awfully hot in southern Iraq last week.  The round thermometers in question went from –20 to 120, and the needle on these was at least the equivalent of about 10 degrees PAST the 120 mark.  In the shade…  And in true guy storytelling fashion, that is a no shitter.

Cool little oddity – all of the port o potties over here (aka latrines) have squirt sanitizer holders on them (though many are empty or do not work).  But it was interesting to squirt the stuff on such a day – it came out really really hot (120F plus) but then as the alcohol evaporated, it turned cool.  Was interesting at the time…

Also some other odd meteorological phenomenon.  First, I have NEVER seen a cloud since arriving in Bahrain.  Lots of dust and haze, but never a white fluffy cloud.  That streak ended flying up to Baghdad last Saturday, as there were plenty of clouds in the sky over Iraq.  Then,  I came back to Bahrain and happened to see clouds here, too.  Just a few, and they came with awful humidity.  I thought the heat in Iraq was bad, but this was hot and thick air – like walking through soup.  Sweat did not evaporate.  Have weathered the worst of a summer in Florida, and Florida is just a mild spring day compared to this.

One more interesting weather story.  Was later in the 120+ day and as we were touring, dark rain clouds appeared and there was thunder.  Was hoping for a nice rain, but instead it was just a few drops.  Then the wind whipped up and first it blew smoke from the garbage dump fire (they burn the trash just off base) into our faces, then a wall of dust appeared and blotted out visibility.  All in the space of a minute or so.  It was not a true dust storm, but it was still pretty cool.  Probably a good thing that it did not rain harder, as it would have been a mess.

In Bahrain, you can sort of dress for the weather – I wear shorts and polo shirts to and from work, and while at work am usually not outside for long – only walking between air-conditioned buildings.  Even Iraq has its fair share of air conditioning – the CHUs have a/c units – but there are times when there is no a/c.  Plus, besides wearing full uniform (long sleeve shirts), there are times when you need to ‘cowboy up’ and put on body armor and the helmet.  The body armor, though protective, does a great job at trapping heat as well.  So, even a short stint in armor (e.g. a 45 minute helo flight) leads to a sodden shirt and t-shirt.  That happened enough to where we had salt stains on our uniforms around the edges of the body armor.  Still amazes me that folks live and work like that all of the time.

I have one more heat-related story, but it will go on a transportation entry. (plus, am waiting for some pics from a guy who went with us on the trip).  More to follow – with pictures!