Weather Report
This winter has been extreme all over, in Europe and elsewhere in the world, too. It is rare to watch the news and NOT hear about a calamity somewhere in the world. Last weekend one hour of pouring rain (60 ml) did lots and lots of damage in the Portuguese island of Madeira, over 40 people were killed/missing and lots of villages are still in complete isolation as the roads were washed away.
The same weekend I spent Friday and Saturday mornings building sandcastles on the beach with friends' children - in wonderful sunny weather! Saturday night it rained hard here, too, though - and a part of our wall in the bottom of the property gave in to the weight of the wet ground (after a much higher than average rainfall). It rained a lot on and off all Sunday, making the Saturday morning beach outing feel like a distant dream. But then on Monday afternoon our 4-year old guest dipped into the 10º pool - the sun was so inviting again!
This February we have had night frost about 5 times. Normally here when it's cold it is dry - but this year we have also had freezing rain. Now the night temperatures are about 12-14º and daytime temperatures 15-17º. It does feel a bit colder, though, when the wind blows, and the humidity makes itself felt. This morning we had gusty winds of about 70kms/hr and I was once again fishing garden furniture from the pool.
This has been the story of the whole winter. Every day we have a variety of weather - sun, wind, rain - even hail! The good thing is that the weather does change throughout the day, so you can plan outings and visits if you are not tied down by strict schedules. I tried the hammock this afternoon for the first time this year - a wonderful afternoon nap. And I started the weeding of the agapantos beds, which ended up being nearly addictive, as the ground is so wet and the weeds so tall that is was fast and fun, and the results were easily seen.
If you are coming here in the next two months, I do suggest bringing a windbreaker-jacket that takes some rain. Soft cottony clothing gets wet here easily, even when it doesn't rain, as the humidity may drip off the trees in the parks during quite a while after the rain. It really is not so cold, just windy and humid. And if you are dressed right, you hardly notice it.
The same weekend I spent Friday and Saturday mornings building sandcastles on the beach with friends' children - in wonderful sunny weather! Saturday night it rained hard here, too, though - and a part of our wall in the bottom of the property gave in to the weight of the wet ground (after a much higher than average rainfall). It rained a lot on and off all Sunday, making the Saturday morning beach outing feel like a distant dream. But then on Monday afternoon our 4-year old guest dipped into the 10º pool - the sun was so inviting again!
This February we have had night frost about 5 times. Normally here when it's cold it is dry - but this year we have also had freezing rain. Now the night temperatures are about 12-14º and daytime temperatures 15-17º. It does feel a bit colder, though, when the wind blows, and the humidity makes itself felt. This morning we had gusty winds of about 70kms/hr and I was once again fishing garden furniture from the pool.
This has been the story of the whole winter. Every day we have a variety of weather - sun, wind, rain - even hail! The good thing is that the weather does change throughout the day, so you can plan outings and visits if you are not tied down by strict schedules. I tried the hammock this afternoon for the first time this year - a wonderful afternoon nap. And I started the weeding of the agapantos beds, which ended up being nearly addictive, as the ground is so wet and the weeds so tall that is was fast and fun, and the results were easily seen.
If you are coming here in the next two months, I do suggest bringing a windbreaker-jacket that takes some rain. Soft cottony clothing gets wet here easily, even when it doesn't rain, as the humidity may drip off the trees in the parks during quite a while after the rain. It really is not so cold, just windy and humid. And if you are dressed right, you hardly notice it.
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