WOOF! Woof... woof... woo... woo boy

July 7, 2010 9:06 AM

The dog days of summer are here.

From the Brewer Dictionary of Phrase and Fable:

Days of great heat. The Romans called the six or eight hottest weeks of the summer canicula’r es dies. According to their theory, the dog-star or Sirius, rising with the sun, added to its heat, and the dog-days bore the combined heat of the dog-star and the sun. (July 3rd to August 11th.)

The ancient Egyptians based their calendar around the same concept of Sirius rising with the sun (also called a heliacal rising).

Although the sky has changed, the dog days have kept their name (current, technical, dog days would be sometime in the fall).

Call it what you will, but it's hot all over the world.

posted by codacorolla (89 comments total)

Except in the southern hemisphere.
posted by sciencegeek at 9:08 AM on July 7, 2010 [8 favorites]

How about that weather we're having, huh?
posted by uaudio at 9:09 AM on July 7, 2010

Ice to see you!
posted by griphus at 9:11 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

Funny how we're not hearing about how hot is right now and how it is evidence of global warming, especially since that snowstorm in February was evidence against it.
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:13 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Next up, Terry with the Sports Report and Traffic on the Sevens!
posted by boo_radley at 9:13 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Then why are the people at The World Cup all wearing parkas.
posted by L'OM at 9:13 AM on July 7, 2010

We had the hottest day on record yesterday up here in Maine. 92° in Portland, ~95° mid-state. Cray-zee.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:14 AM on July 7, 2010

Funny how we're not hearing about how hot is right now and how it is evidence of global warming, especially since that snowstorm in February was evidence against it.

Says who?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 9:14 AM on July 7, 2010

Funny how we're not hearing about how hot is right now and how it is evidence of global warming, especially since that snowstorm in February was evidence against it.

We're not?
posted by zarq at 9:16 AM on July 7, 2010

Funny how we're not hearing about how hot is right now and how it is evidence of global warming, especially since that snowstorm in February was evidence against it.

Says who?

I dunno, maybe Sen. Inhofe.
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:17 AM on July 7, 2010

There's a british singer who disagrees; Florence and the Machine sez- The Dog Days are Over (SYTL)
posted by LD Feral at 9:18 AM on July 7, 2010

Then I don't need a jacket!
posted by christopherious at 9:18 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hmm. I was just reading about this...
posted by him at 9:24 AM on July 7, 2010

My dog hasn't been able to go outside much for the past week, because it is so hot that he could die. Just walking him to the end of the driveway and back this morning he was panting so much he couldn't sniff around at the ground. Poor little guy.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:27 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

It is currently hotter here in Providence, RI than it is in Lisbon, Portugal. My fiancé and I are meeting up with some friends who are touring the US on their honeymoon... I can only hope they weren't trying to get away from the heat.

(Especially since we have something that they don't: Oppressive humidity.)

Does anyone else remember how last summer was especially un-summery? Awful. I don't know which is worse, but right now I'm working in a house with no A/C, so I'm a bit too sweaty to be objective.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:28 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's almost too hot.
posted by ob at 9:34 AM on July 7, 2010

grapefruitmoon, my parents live in Providence and my mother said it's as bad there as here (I live in DC); her car's thermometer yesterday registered the outside temperature as 112 degrees and she thought it was because it had been in the sun, but the lowest it got was 106.

This morning I found myself saying "Oh, it's only ninety-eight, that's not so bad". How I long for the snows of yesteryear.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:36 AM on July 7, 2010

Ugh, my indoor plants are feeling the heat. I'm misting them with ice water twice a day.

Some music for you to sweat to.

Too Darn hot

Heat Wave!

(His Love is Like) A HeatWave
posted by The Whelk at 9:39 AM on July 7, 2010

Attica! Attica! Attica!

Am I in the right thread?
posted by mannequito at 9:40 AM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Last summer an all time high temperature was recorded here in Seattle. But not quite hot enough to cook an egg.
posted by Tube at 9:44 AM on July 7, 2010

Ooh, can I be the first to say that your favourite song that seems apposite of the current meteorological conditions sucks? Thank you.
posted by ob at 9:45 AM on July 7, 2010

eh it's too hot to argue.
posted by The Whelk at 9:48 AM on July 7, 2010

apposite! I learned a new word today!
posted by The Whelk at 9:49 AM on July 7, 2010

What's going to happen is more notherners will install central A/C, thus increasing electricity demand, thus increasing coal generator output, thus increasing CO₂ emissions, thus raising temperatures, thus causing more people to reach for the A/C switch, etc.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:49 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

All I know is that hell = NYC subway platforms on days like today.
posted by lullaby at 9:52 AM on July 7, 2010 [5 favorites]

Meanwhile, it's been pleasantly grey and even misty here in southern California. Half the time we don't get our serious dog days until August and September, anyway.
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:54 AM on July 7, 2010

You guys are all going to move here, aren't you. It rains all the time. Including beautiful sunny days like today.
posted by maxwelton at 9:56 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Half the time we don't get our serious dog days until August and September, anyway.

We usually get ours mid-August. They just decided to come early, I guess. My fear is that they'll last until August at which point most of the East Coast will have simply melted.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:58 AM on July 7, 2010

An askMe from last summer that some might find helpful ...

Hint. Grandma's solution worked ... more or less.
posted by philip-random at 9:59 AM on July 7, 2010

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, it's not supposed to get over 60 degrees until Sunday.

Currently staying in Sterling, VA. Very hot. Still better than that fucking cold, windy foggy weather. Hate that shit
posted by MattMangels at 10:06 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

To which I say, Burhanistan, BRING IT ON. I have taken to going downstairs and sleeping ON TOP OF ICE PACKS in the house, our air conditioned house.

I'm of sturdy Swedish genetics, we are not made for this madness!
posted by bitter-girl.com at 10:07 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

We usually get ours mid-August. They just decided to come early, I guess. My fear is that they'll last until August at which point most of the East Coast will have simply melted.

Overhead power lines are already sagging due to the heat, causing delays on Amtrak and NJT. It's like a Dali painting around here. :P
posted by zarq at 10:11 AM on July 7, 2010

Hmm. Well, we just got off a cold spell (dropped to freezing on July 1), and I don't know what everyone is talking about. They say it'll get up to 28-30 C (82-86 F) this weekend. Course, we do drop to -40 (C & F) in the winter, so... I kind of forgot what I was going to say.
Whenever anyone complained about weather around my uncle, though, he'd just wave his hand dismissively, and say "Ah, you f&@$ers're always complainin.' " Then go outside and get heatstroke, or frostbite again. So... there's that, then.
posted by LD Feral at 10:19 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Surely you can't be Sirius.

Don't call me Shirley.
posted by warbaby at 10:20 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

WTF Seattle weather, now it's too hot? How about some middle ground?
posted by Artw at 10:27 AM on July 7, 2010

At least it's good for tomatoes.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:28 AM on July 7, 2010

WTF Seattle weather, now it's too hot? How about some middle ground?

Yeah, I like this 40 degree jump from the weekend. I had forgotten how sweating felt.

And it allows us to participate in our official state sport -- talking about the weather. I can't wait for this week's round of conversations, ESPN is already on the horn looking for comment.
posted by zvs at 10:30 AM on July 7, 2010

frecklefaerie: Funny how we're not hearing about how hot is right now and how it is evidence of global warming, especially since that snowstorm in February was evidence against it.

That's probably because people who "believe" in global warming, aren't, you know, idiots.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:30 AM on July 7, 2010

"This city too hot, I'mana gon cool off, upon the hilltop."
posted by Chichibio at 10:34 AM on July 7, 2010

When you easterners were having your nice weather before, I was having unseasonably hot temperatures and my A/C wasn't working. Now that it's become more seasonable here (thanks mainly to lots of cloudy/rainy weather) it's gotten hotter than blazes over there.

I'm sorry I wished my 97 degree weather away and it moved east and became 103 degree weather. :(
posted by wierdo at 10:36 AM on July 7, 2010

IT'S NOT MUGGY SO I'M OKAY WITH IT.

Besides, it only really feels like summer when it's a billion fucking degrees and the city is empty and there is that yellow haze blurring everything and people stop talking in mid-sentence cause it is literally too hot to form words and we all go back to ape-like pointing and sweating.
posted by The Whelk at 10:37 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

I should have mentioned the worst part, which is what drove me crazy. 90 degrees at midnight. That sucked more than the near-100s during the day, to be honest.
posted by wierdo at 10:38 AM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

It may be time for me to improvise my ghetto A/C using a fan and a block of ice soon.
posted by Artw at 10:39 AM on July 7, 2010

We've been baking here in Eastern Ontario for the past week or so. At this current time it feels like 43C which Google tells me is close to 110F. This is after a week of very cool days... I keep flip flopping from "I'd kill for snow" to "I need some heat", though I am firmly in the former category right now. What is different this year is that I'm living on my farm, in a house that was built way before air conditioning was commonplace (no ducts). A window unit is our only option, and with no money it's not much of an option at all. Luckily though the basement is noticeably cooler, and we can get a good crosswind going to cool down the house overnight, so if we can survive this killer heat week without any AC, I think we can be fine without it for good. One thing I cannot avoid is going out every few hours to make sure all my animals are doing OK and have enough water, and I'm amazed by how tired and sweaty I am after doing simple tasks like that. Big tasks like cleaning out the barn have been put on hold, though we were working on it slowly during the first of the hot days. The garden is loving it, my summer melons really needed this heat to get going, the tomatoes are flowering like it's going out of style, and I'll even have a cauliflower to eat this weekend, which comes as quite a surprise. But I still feel as if this week is a loss, productivity-wise. The heat just sucks it all out of you.
posted by Meagan at 10:39 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

I keep flip flopping from "I'd kill for snow" to "I need some heat", though I am firmly in the former category right now.

I'll usually take cold over hot. When you're cold, you can always add layers. When you're hot, there's only so much clothing you can take off.
posted by infinitywaltz at 10:42 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

You people should consider yourselves lucky. I'm freezing my ass off over here.
posted by Pastabagel at 10:45 AM on July 7, 2010

I'll usually take cold over hot. When you're cold, you can always add layers. When you're hot, there's only so much clothing you can take off.

I'm the other way around. I prefer being hot because then I can soak in cold water. And swim. And swimming is my very favorite thing to do, especially in the ocean. I dunno about you, but swimming in the Atlantic isn't really advisable if you're cold.

Also I'm one of those people who is always cold, so the first few days of being hot feel like a bit of a novelty.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:49 AM on July 7, 2010

At my family's home in North Jersey, several filled 3mil thick contractor trash bags left in the sun melted on top, leaving giant gaping holes.

Fuck this heat. It's 106 at my dad's place in Phoenix and he's laughing at me because it was 103 here plus humidity.
posted by rachaelfaith at 10:53 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Weather like this is hideous in New York City. Aside from the mere heat, there's the ever-present smell of roasting bags of garbage.

But the worst part is that is hasn't really been cooling off at night. Last night never got below the mid-80s, so my box fan in the window was just pulling in hot air all night. No relief. I don't have AC and, no matter what I do, I can't manage to stay asleep for more than a couple hours at a time. I've been going to sleep with wet pajamas and wet hair, which feels nice. But as soon as I dry off, I wake up boiling. I might try that ice-in-a-cooler-in-front-of-a-fan trick, but I have a feeling it would just be the same thing - I'd probably sleep great for maybe 3-4 hours and then wake up boiling.

Last summer it barely ever got over 90 here. It just rained pretty much every day for a month. I'm not sure which I prefer, but I think my answer is "neither."
posted by wondermouse at 11:04 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

See what I mean wondermouse? This is excellent hysterical panic weather. lets get a mob going to enact a metaphorical symbol for the breakdown of American society. It'll be fun!
posted by The Whelk at 11:11 AM on July 7, 2010

It's a sunny 72F where I am. I could use some of that heat.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:33 AM on July 7, 2010

The White Hat reporting here from sunny Philadelphia. The temperature outside is 100* Farenheit, expected to reach 101 later this afternoon. Your intrepid reporter, however, is beating the heat in his air-conditioned bedroom, drinking beers and watching old episodes of The West Wing.
posted by The White Hat at 11:34 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

See what I mean wondermouse? This is excellent hysterical panic weather. lets get a mob going to enact a metaphorical symbol for the breakdown of American society. It'll be fun!

A hot, sweaty, grouchy mass of New Yorkers in one place in the middle of the heat of the day? Uh.. no, thanks.

Plus, they'll make themselves at home in the first air conditioned store with an open doorway that they come across.
posted by zarq at 11:36 AM on July 7, 2010

Oooh. Which episodes?
posted by zarq at 11:36 AM on July 7, 2010

90 degrees at midnight. That sucked more than the near-100s during the day, to be honest.

Oh, agreed. At least when it's sunny out, it looks like it's supposed to be hot. I walked over to a nearby convenience store at about 11:30 last night and it was still in the 90s here in central Jersey. That is just wrong.
posted by lullaby at 11:40 AM on July 7, 2010

Nasty here in the South as well. But nothing compared to DC/Maryland/Eastern seaboard. I was in DC a couple weeks ago and it was so muggy and hot out on the streets of the capital one day that I almost had a heatstroke. But come to find out it was 105 yesterday in Baltimore, which was where I flew in. I got out just in the nick of time.
posted by blucevalo at 11:47 AM on July 7, 2010

Still better than that fucking cold, windy foggy weather. Hate that shit

Call me crazy but I could use about two weeks straight of that stuff right about now.
posted by blucevalo at 11:50 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

It is gross out in Toronto.
I was hoping there would be photos of dogs beating the heat.
posted by sgrass at 11:54 AM on July 7, 2010

They say that it was so hot in the city today, grown men were walking up to cops on street corners begging them to shoot them.
posted by mreleganza at 11:58 AM on July 7, 2010

Oh, that's right. Now I remember why I moved to Long Beach, Long Island, back when. The only good thing about a heat wave in NYC is getting out of it, to a beach.
posted by Goofyy at 12:03 PM on July 7, 2010

Still better than that fucking cold, windy foggy weather. Hate that shit

I love it and am grateful for it, even when I'm complaining about it.

It helps that I work down the Peninsula, so I can get a dose of hot when I'm at work and then go home where it's 30 degrees cooler.
posted by rtha at 12:03 PM on July 7, 2010

It's actually about 10 degrees cooler than normal in Houston, and we have fabulous A/C here.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:04 PM on July 7, 2010

WTF Seattle weather, now it's too hot? How about some middle ground?
Yeah, I like this 40 degree jump from the weekend. I had forgotten how sweating felt.
And it allows us to participate in our official state sport -- talking about the weather.

Pffffft. The only reason talking about the weather is so popular in Seattle (a place with relatively little weather to talk about) is that it's bung-full of us ex-Minnesotans. We don't know how to talk about anything but the weather.
posted by Kat Allison at 12:07 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I went to Point Reyes lighthouse on the 4th and what a shock, it was completely fogged in. Hot weather everywhere else around San Francisco but within a mile of one tourist attraction there was nothing but cold, cold fog.

The one tourist attraction I wanted to see that day. *sigh*
posted by GuyZero at 12:17 PM on July 7, 2010

I bought my first AC ever in my adult life. Had been living in NYC where generally there are a few really gross days but nothing crazy-making. Now in Philly, where when I told people I didn't have an AC a strange, pitying look would cross their faces, as if I confessed to making soap out of rendered rat meat fat, or something.

Got my AC today. Tried to install it myself, nearly killed myself and the AC, as it is large and I am in a wheelchair. The landlord's cute guy installed it. I was so happy I had visions of myself throwing him on the bed and having sex with him in delightfully refrigerated air.
posted by angrycat at 12:26 PM on July 7, 2010 [7 favorites]

So I won't get any sympathy for the 90 degrees we had here in Latvia where I'm spending summer? It's hard for a Norwegian!
posted by Harald74 at 12:38 PM on July 7, 2010

So I won't get any sympathy for the 90 degrees we had here in Latvia where I'm spending summer? It's hard for a Norwegian!

I lived in Iceland for a while and there are about two, maybe three, days each summer when the temp gets up to 80F. Now, I may be of Swedish descent, but I've lived my whole life in New England and have a healthy appreciation for summer in addition to my ability to live through horrific winters. So, I was positively GIDDY to take my sweaters (plural. Even in July.) off for a few days. I got stares. Weird looks.

One guy even pulled me aside and said "You look so happy. AREN'T YOU HOT?!" I explained to him that where I came from, this didn't even come CLOSE to hot.

(And it didn't. 80F in VT is average/low for summer and it does hit 90-100 for a week each August. And oh yeah, it's humid. Don't forget the humidity.)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:47 PM on July 7, 2010

It is 62F and overcast here and the outdoor fireplace at the Coffee Bean is broken.

This is the first July 7th I've spend since 1988 living somewhere where it isn't 100F so I ain't complaining too much.
posted by birdherder at 12:49 PM on July 7, 2010

Actually needed a blankie last night to sleep was a bit chilly. Thanks rainy season!
posted by gomichild at 12:59 PM on July 7, 2010

You people who give the weather report "here" and neglect to mention WHERE, could you at least put a location in your profiles? Not that I am about to move; it will be in the 90s today, but I shall be at my summer place: crouched over the AC outlet under my desk.
posted by Cranberry at 1:14 PM on July 7, 2010

The one tourist attraction I wanted to see that day. *sigh*

I'm so sorry, GuyZero! Come back in September or early October - much less likely to be all foggified on the coast.
posted by rtha at 1:30 PM on July 7, 2010

Come back in September or early October - much less likely to be all foggified on the coast.

There's a interpretive center nearby at one of the beaches (Drake's Beach?) and it helpfully pointed out that July & August are very foggy there but the fall is nice. Oddly that beach was also full of people having picnics and barbecues in 60-degree temperatures and thick fog. Only in San Francisco would that be considered pleasant beach weather.

Also, I live in the Valley so coming back isn't exactly hardship. Living here and being a tourist are not mutually exclusive.
posted by GuyZero at 1:38 PM on July 7, 2010

I went to Point Reyes lighthouse on the 4th and what a shock, it was completely fogged in. Hot weather everywhere else around San Francisco but within a mile of one tourist attraction there was nothing but cold, cold fog.

This is why spending a whole summer in San Francisco is one of the most depressing experiences a person can have, unless you're from somewhere like Phoenix or something.
posted by MattMangels at 1:49 PM on July 7, 2010

It may be 99 degrees out there, but my office is an absolute meat locker. I'm sitting here in two sweaters and a scarf. I need socks.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:29 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ugh. 110 when I got in my car at the office today. By the time I was home, the thermometer had adjusted a bit and it was only 106 when I parked in front of my building. Officially, Richmond, VA is at 103.
posted by emelenjr at 2:54 PM on July 7, 2010

It may be 99 degrees out there, but my office is an absolute meat locker. I'm sitting here in two sweaters and a scarf. I need socks.

Meanwhile another glacier just melted. These things are connected.
posted by philip-random at 3:20 PM on July 7, 2010

Ya think?
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:22 PM on July 7, 2010

At least it's good for tomatoes.

Yeah it would be if only we would get some rain (Raleigh, NC) I've never seen the dirt so dry. On the positive side the mosquito population is way down, on the negative side I spend all my time dragging the hose around trying to save the conifers and trying not to think about my water bill. The goldfish ponds are down a foot and I hate filling them with city water. Meanwhile my peppers are all lifeless, my roses aren't blooming and my wall of hydrangeas is covered with black, burnt heads instead of pretty blue flowers. Is it hurricane season yet? At least when I lived in So. Cal I could plan for the dry spells with automatic watering systems and drought-tolerant plants.

99 degrees and holding. I saw the temps on CNN this morning and Raleigh is one of the cooler areas on the East coast.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:28 PM on July 7, 2010

Also, I live in the Valley so coming back isn't exactly hardship. Living here and being a tourist are not mutually exclusive.

This is true. I forgot you're here(ish) - for some reason, my brain decided you were on the East Coast somewhere.
posted by rtha at 3:55 PM on July 7, 2010

I claim to be from wherever seems to give me the most credibility for the purposes of the thread. You should totally see my nice new house in the West Bank.

The Outer Sunset is the West Bank, right?
posted by GuyZero at 4:17 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is why spending a whole summer in San Francisco is one of the most depressing experiences a person can have, unless you're from somewhere like Phoenix or something.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement, and am not from "Phoenix or something." I love being able to drive for 30 minutes to heat, and then retreat to my lovely, fog covered, cooled-down city at night. Mmmm foggy nights.
posted by grapesaresour at 4:30 PM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

I always think of a passage from Phil Dick's The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch in which, due to an inexplicably overheated sun, people scurry frantically from one air-conditioned high-rise to another:

He recalled the day his l-p record collection had fused together in a lump, back around '04, due to a momentary failure of the building's cooling network. Now he owned iron oxide tapes; they did not melt. And at the same moment every parakeet and Venusian ming bird in the building had dropped dead. And his neighbor's turtle had been boiled dry.

(feel free to comment on Dick's failure to predict the iPod, which makes heat waves survivable)
posted by bad grammar at 5:20 PM on July 7, 2010

Fucking space hipsters.
posted by Artw at 5:22 PM on July 7, 2010

I'm one of few people in Vancouver who (currently*) owns an AC (less few after the stagnating heat wave 2 years ago) and my current setup (moved to a new place in April) makes me appreciate just how much heat air conditioners produce.

Damned laws of thermodynamics; I wonder if cities with high AC penetrance end up with even worse hot weather due to the use of air conditioning, like how rush hour traffic contributes to weekend weather?

I'm having a hard time not killing my coworkers who keep turning the indoor thermostat ever higher because they "think" it's too cold indoors, when they've just came in from outside. I've taken to wearing tank tops during winter at work since the thermostat is set waaay too high... summer always kills me.

*last year wasn't so bad, but there was an epic run on AC units a couple of years ago. This year, it suddenly turned from good late June/early July weather into 30+ for a (forcasted) week without cool nights... overnight. I forsee it being pretty bloody at the hardware stores, again. My neighbours are going to hate me more than they already do when they figure out that not only am I an outdoor smoker, I also spew out hot hot hot air when it's hot hot hot out.
posted by porpoise at 8:19 PM on July 7, 2010

I'm in Philadelphia for a work meeting all week (thanks, boss-man!) and have realized what a wimp I've become when it comes to this type of heat/humidity (moved to the Pacific NW a few years ago, after living here for years and years). Today I decided to take the subway to the office instead of walking the 1.5 miles in 90+ F heat at 9AM. I forgot about the hot blast of urine/general filth/electrical smell when you walk down to the platform. Thinking about taking the bus tomorrow.
posted by medeine at 9:30 PM on July 7, 2010

Here in Honolulu it's ... pretty much the same as it always is.

Always.

TV weathermen here can pretty much get filmed once and then rerun it ad infinitum.

I suppose they have to actually bring them into the studio when there's going to be vog, but that's about it.
posted by kyrademon at 3:38 AM on July 8, 2010 [2 favorites]

I love being able to drive for 30 minutes to heat

Yeah well not all of us are lucky enough to be able to afford cars, buddy
posted by MattMangels at 8:06 PM on July 9, 2010

the word Vog makes me confused and frightened.
posted by The Whelk at 8:14 PM on July 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Finding out it means "Volcano Evacuation" doesn't help.
posted by The Whelk at 8:15 PM on July 9, 2010 [1 favorite]