RSS FeedsWhy did we get so wet?
by Andy on Thursday, February 21st, 2008Last summer when we set off from England on our bicycles we had dreams of long wonderful summer days and leaving our waterproofs at home, replaced by an extra pannier of suncream. However, in practice we were reaching for the ponchos more than expected and precipitation was an often occurence. The rain fell in France, we got soaked in Switzerland, and really rather damp in Romania. When the sun came out it never lasted for as long as we hoped. It felt that whenever we starting turning the pedals again, raindrops starting appearing on the tarmac. This article on The Times website, provides some further insight on the phenomena that was last “summer’s” weather and also the Church of England’s stance.
March 1st, 2008 at 8:31 am
Do you guys not remember the vast amounts of sun we experienced? I think what it comes down to is that it rains in Europe. Rain is life giving. If you want sun everyday, go to a desert. I certainly did not get wet almost every day. In fact I remember many days in which we chose to get wetter because it was so hot. I do not think we experienced any climate abnormalities.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Andy’s opinions do not necessarily reflect mine. That said, it continued to rain for the majority of Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and European Turkey when you were basking in (sunny?) Dorset!
March 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Is it not we remember in a generalised way? I’m sure we had the worst summer last year ( England 2007) that I can remember - day after day of grey though not necessarily cold. Also April was outstandingly sunny and unusually warm from my recollection.
What we need is weather recordings!!
March 7th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I guess Mark forgot about the plight of the wheat crops in France, where the corn was ripe in July (as a result of the hot spring) but there was too much rain to harvest it. I remember a 3 day window of clear weather where the entire landscape was filled with combine harvesters as they tried to get it all in before the rain returned (which it did).
I guess he also forgot the state of the trails in the mountain-biking resort of Les Gets which were almost unrideably rutted due to the heavy rain (and snow - in July!) making the ground soft. It had just finally dried out in the week before we arrived, leaving cracked, churned-up but solid ground (thanks to the unrelenting riders) rather than the smooth trails they usually enjoy for year after year. I lived there for 4 months and heard all this from my friends who have lived there for many, many years.
I would not hesitate to use the words ‘climate abnormalities’ to explain those two things, amongst others. Last summer was abnormally wet. We all know that rain is life-giving, but we also know that flooding kills people - so that’s another sweeping generalization.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Yeah - completely agree that we saw some different possible(!) effects of climate change - the blackberries in July, the early harvest - but what I’m objecting to (with good humour) is the way you guys go on about bad weather - it just seems very British. It didn’t rain all day everyday, there weren’t blizzards in France, and there weren’t tsunamis on Lake Geneva. We experienced a fair mixture of different weather. I think we need to be careful about imagining trends that aren’t there too. For example, in the mid 19th Century there was a mini “ice-age” and the Thames froze over, which was a freak occurrence.
In low moments we all say, hell it’s always raining isn’t it?! If you go out looking for something you will invariably find it - much better to look at the longterm records, which I’ll agree don’t look particularly favourable.
Just because you found the Les Gets slopes almost unrideable doesn’t mean anyone else did. :) he he.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
just like old times
May 27th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Hi,
Like you I am obssessed with the weather. We seem to have had a very cold May and towards the end in Hampshire & Dorset we have had enormous amounts of rain. Yesterday my garden was flooded to a depth of 2 feet by the nearby stream. It was too wet to play golf and I was thoroughly miserable. I love the sun but don’t want to live in a desert either! All I want is a climate that you can rely on. There are plenty of things to do and places to go in hampshire and dorset on wet and cold days. Pity you don’t know for sure which ones they are going to be.