After a quick shot of wintry weather to end summer last week, it looks like we will ease back into a seasonably warm early fall pattern for the rest of this week. A broad and stable ridge of high pressure will continue to move onshore giving us sunshine with high temperatures rising from the low 70s Tuesday to near 80 degrees by Friday and through the weekend.

Last time I mentioned that hot air is buoyant. Buoyancy is a topic that most everybody accepts (if it’s lighter than water, then it floats), but few actually understand the nitty-gritty of how it works. Here’s a simple definition of the effect of buoyancy: When the weight of the balloon (or ship) weighs less than the weight of the displaced fluid (air or water) – the thing “floats.” But the forces that cause this are a little tougher to explain.

It’s a tough subject to describe in this forum, since a detailed explanation involves drawing vector forces, but that’s never stopped me in the past. Tomorrow, I’ll give it a shot.