Friday, July 25: Heavy rain overnight. The landscape is dripping wet from a night of thunderstorms. More storms in the afternoon. Loud rumbling thunder echoes through the streets of Vineyard Haven. Large puddles slow nightlife traffic in Oak Bluffs.

Saturday, July 26: Ripe tomatoes ready for picking at Norton Farm. The air is hot and muggy. Jim Norton walks slowly down the rows of plants and hand-picks tomatoes from the vine. Squash plants are lush with foliage, hiding the prize underneath. High-flying cumulus clouds drift slowly overhead. Starry night. Jupiter hangs over the southern sky.

Sunday, July 27: Muggy morning. Loud fire engine horns and sirens sound off in downtown Oak Bluffs. Brief periods of hot sunshine. Children in bathing suits dance under the water from a fireman’s hose. Increasing clouds in the afternoon. Skies darken in late afternoon. Thunderstorms. Heavy rain arrives in the evening. Vivid pink lightning at dusk. Storms continue late into the night.

Monday, July 28: Sunny and drier. Deep blue skies. The temperature rises to the high 70s in the shade. A light breeze dries laundry on the line. Tiger lilies burst in color. Rain rejuvenates roses on a picket fence in Edgartown.

Tuesday, July 29: Mostly sunny at dawn. Lagoon Pond is still. A submerged scallop drag hangs onto the edge of a spit of land in Lagoon Pond’s West Basin. Kayakers speed up the pond towards the herring run. Rose of Sharon bush has swollen flower buds in Vineyard Haven.

Wednesday, July 30: Temperature briefly makes the 80s. Light northeast wind. Shifting breeze. The afternoon offers clear blue skies overhead and a light south wind. The color of the afternoon is autumnal. The hay fields of Chilmark are lush with yellow, brown and green. Oxen graze under a late-afternoon sun on Middle Road.

Thursday, July 31: Bright skies in the morning turn dark in Vineyard Haven. Heavy warm shower arrives in time for the morning commute in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. Light breeze on the water.

M.A.L.