And today it's actually pretty damn chilly! Jeans and sweatshirt weather.

I found a grove of Caryota Gigas (yes, I looked it up) about a mile from my house. They're an ancient species of palm, 60 to 70 million yrs, and grow large. Some of the trees are 3 ft. at chest height. I took a smallest one I could find, out of the ground and planted it. Rain and cloud help it get adapted

I found a grove of Caryota Gigas (yes, I looked it up) about a mile from my house. They're an ancient species of palm, 60 to 70 million yrs, and grow large. Some of the trees are 3 ft. at chest height. I took a smallest one I could find, out of the ground and planted it. Rain and cloud help it get adapted

You dug up a 70 million year old tree?

These are known as Fishtail Palms for the shape of their leaves and are a most attractive example of the species.

Not sure how well they transplant but they are hard to remove, they keep shooting.

I'd be giving it plenty of water until it becomes established, a couple of buckets a day to the roots.

We got some rain last night. It was very heavy for about ten minutes and then it stopped. Not nearly enough to make a dent in the smoke.

I spoke too soon. A combination of last night’s rain and todays strong wind has improved our local conditions. I didn't really notice until I walked the dog.

What a difference a day makes. We had ten minutes of rain last night around 4 am and today there is a strong wind from the North. A good sailing breeze like you might get on the windward coast of Hawaii. Anyway there is much better visibility today.

Before:

After:

That is surprising. I am in Mae Suai right now and it is the worst day so far. Maybe the good air is coming?

That is surprising. I am in Mae Suai right now and it is the worst day so far. Maybe the good air is coming?

Being a notorious Thai apologist I probably get special treatment and cleaner air but I will put in a good word for you and hope some of our air blows your way.

We had some rain last night. Not much. The smoke is very bad today. Phayao has disappeared again.

No rain here, we had a bit of wind this morning though.

It is really bad here in Mae Chan. The garbage is not being collected as the landfill sites are full, so every household is burning their garbage in the backyard. The whole area stinks like a bonfire and the air is so thick with smoke this morning that my eyes are stinging as I type.

Lots of wind and thunder here near Wawee

Blowing gale and thundering here, no rain though.

45 minutes of rain here so far. But the last 20 is a light rain. We'll take it though. Supposed to be some note in the next few days.

No rain, but STRONG gusts of wind and loud lightning in Rob Wieng.

Did it the clear the haze at all?

Did it the clear the haze at all?

Not nearly enough.

It has got colder here

thats a good thing

45 minutes of rain here so far. But the last 20 is a light rain. We'll take it though. Supposed to be some note in the next few days.

After I made this post the power cut. It just came back now. 43 hours. But there was huge storm here yesterday that made the power guys start all over again.

The afternoon storm's running late today...

It was a beautiful day out on the bike today.

Certainly cleared up.

Yes today was a good day. There was a big storm here on Saturday (we were in Chiang Mai) and rain last night. This morning the mountain range was clear and view was good. It was great to see blue sky and identify clouds again.

I'm back in country but in Chiang Mai at present. Looking forward to getting back by the end of the week. Thanks for the photos.

We just got slammed by a big windstorm. I think our house is OK but I've already heard that some people lost their roofs.

Only a couple of short but heavy showers here,

One of our village sois is blocked by a large fallen tree this morning.

We got some rain last night between 3am and 6am. Unfortunately it was accompanied by thunder which made it hard to sleep. Some people didn't get their roofs fixed in time so have additional problems today.

Rumbling now

We had big winds this afternoon before the lightning and thunder. Some impressive lightning strikes as the storm approached. We had good rain for about 20 min. We need more but the outside temperature dropped to 25. That was good.