RHYS BOWEN: It’s fall, start of the rainy season in Marin County, California. I’ve just returned from an event with Julia and Jenn at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, where it rained every day I was there. Yes. Arizona. Supposed to be warm and sunny. Who knew?
Anyway, the weather now becomes headline news on the TV. I’m sure in other parts of the States (I’m thinking Julia in Maine) there is weather news every day, unless they say "It's going to be cold" until April. But in California all summer its going to be foggy at first then sunny. Or sunny and then sunny for the whole summer. Boring.
Now the weather men are getting quite excited, and dramatic. This is when they come into their own. They say, “An atmospheric river is heading toward Northern California.”
I grew up in England. You can’t scare me. What is an atmospheric river in California is Wednesday in England. “It’s starting out dry but we may have some rain later.”
Unfortunately even England this fall has had what might be described as an atmospheric river. There has been bad flooding in various parts of the country, but this is abnormal. Normal weather throughout the year in England is if it’s fine early it will rain later. I remember vacations in Wales, taking miserable forced strolls along the sea front with the wind whipping at my raincoat, and that was August. I remember Wimbledons being rained out. It rains a lot.
I always thought that the easiest job in England was TV weatherman. They are hardly ever right and every day they can say “It may rain later” and even if it doesn’t nobody bothers. And they never get fired.
The main topic of British conversation is the weather. Standing at a bus stop you’ll hear: “Good morning. Nippy for the time of year, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but the frost is good for the cabbages.” (the other main topic is gardening.)
“It’s been milder than last November, hasn’t it?”
“It certainly has. My begonias bloomed until a week ago.”
That, my dears, is the extent of English small talk.
The only thing they can’t handle in England is snow. A few flakes land and buses stop running, children are kept home from school, trains are hours late. I’ve Canadian friends who laugh themselves silly. I do remember the great freeze of 1963 when the snow lay on the ground for several months, but it hasn’t happened since. I hear it’s snowing this week. Maybe it will be the great freeze of 2025. It will give everyone something to talk about.
How about where you live? What is the attitude to weather there? Do you take it seriously?
Wind, rain, snow; hot, cold . . . it's all part of our ever-changing weather; people get concerned when it's a hurricane or when flooding occurs . . . .
ReplyDeleteI will take time out from studying for my Portuguese test to say, here in Portugal, during late fall and winter, the topic (and complaint) is always, "Rain." I'm sure it does rain a lot in England, but it sure does rain a lot here, too. And we've alread had 1 degree weather a few days. That's Celsius, not Fareheit, but it does mean 1 degree away from freezing. Coming from Sacramento, that's pretty cold for us. :-)
ReplyDeleteIn school I learned that Mediterranean climate, which both Portugal and California have, is “ warm wet winters with westerly winds and hot dry summers “
DeleteVacationing in Lisbon for the past week, we’ve lucked out with only 2-3 days of rain. Sunny and windy. Very enjoyable.
DeleteIn Connecticut we say, "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes." Normal weather here is changeable, not constant. Our weatherman and women get a workout predicting whether the storms heading this way will hit here or veer off.
ReplyDeleteI think that there have always been weather extremes, but I believe that climate change is real. My dad used to tell stories about the hurricane of '36 and the blizzard of '38. I can remember two hurricanes in succession in 1955, where little peaceful rivers and streams ros up and flooded several towns, washing away businesses and homes. But weather extremes are becoming the norm and that is a huge problem. Maybe our children's children elect less self-aborbed politicians who will actually do something about it.
You are so right Judy. The extreme weather conditions (floods, hurricanes, etc.) happened back then but not often. But, now because of climate change these events are accelerated and happen far too often worldwide.
DeleteSo right, Judy. Also “before” there were not as sophisticated scientific instruments and mass communications. Now the forecasters (not those who are just TV talking heads) know more and thanks to the “TV talkers” can tell us more and more often. Elisabeth
DeleteClimate change denial is one of the more frightening aspects of this administration which shows complete ignorance in most things.
DeleteIn northeastern MA - in my house, anyway - we take the weather seriously. Both of us check radar maps for storm progressions. If I see a brilliant sunrise under clouds to the east, I'm pretty sure it'll rain later (red sky in morning, sailors take warning...). My father in southern California had a max-min thermometer and a rain gauge outside and noted the weather and rainfall every day on the family calendar.
ReplyDeleteAs Judy alludes to, we haven't gotten as much snow in recent years as before, and the summers are hotter. But the weather professionals are more extreme lately, too, with their fancy new terminology like atmospheric rivers and heat domes (and super moons) - nobody used to talk about weather that before.
"used to talk about weather LIKE that before."
DeleteEdith, I agree about the weather forecasters - they all seem to be drama-queens trying out for their Oscar. You can't just have rain and wind, as it has to be warned and warned about a week before the event only to have the weather which by now is a bit of nothing , go out to sea. It reminds me of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and means you have no idea whether this really is 'the big one' or just another tempest in a teapot.
DeleteI agree, when we had a threat from Hurricane Hilary a few years ago (started in Mexican waters and moved across southern Calif) our TV weathermen went bonkers along with the City - tens of thousands of sandbags were distributed to city locations, and tv show interruptions were constant with updates on the slowly moving storm. We spend an entire day moving everything in our patio inside the garage and taking down string lights. We got about 1/2 inch of sporadic rain and winds of about 20mph.
DeleteMargo, the first good weather advice I got on moving to Florida, when a hurricane is forecast “Don’t Panic.” With that advice, I follow the national weather service on line and on Facebook for my weather. More facts, hardly any drama. Elisabeth
DeleteWhen I was visiting my daughter in London in 2007 there was a "snowfall" of less than an inch. And yes, the city ground to a screeching halt.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we usually don't get here in Cincinnati is hurricanes. But we have gotten the tail ends of a couple particularly strong ones. It's incredible how much damage hurricane-force winds can do, hundreds of miles from the Gulf. For a change this year we did not get a tornado, and we only had to detour around the flooded Ohio a couple days in early summer. In my lifetime we have had -37 and 110 temps in Southwestern Ohio. Ice in the winter is a really big problem in this part of the county, because that's where the seven hills are located; further north it's much flatter (from glaciation).
When Steve's niece, who grew up in Mill Valley, was looking for colleges they came to Ohio to look at one a little further north from here. It was a fairly mild week in October, but she wore her puffy coat the whole time, shivering and miserable. She ended up going to UCSB.
Karen, my grandddaughter went to visit the University of Chicago. I believe they toured in May and she thought it was wonderful. I told her she should revisit in January before she applied! She ended up at Santa Clara!
DeleteFunny Rhys! My son is at the U of C and I only visit in the spring or fall.
DeleteOh Rhys, yes, I said for years that the weather forecasters can be wrong, as they do often are,and they never get fired. 😄. My husband gets a little obsessive about the weather on TV and I say “how much has it changed since that last announcement 15 minutes ago? I hear New England is supposed to have a very cold, snowy weather this winter. I always ask the weather gods to keep most of the snow on the ski slopes but they never listen to me.
ReplyDeleteSuzette, when I lived in CT, my prayer to the weather gods about snow was “Please let it fall only on the green spots.” Elisabeth
Delete“Back home” in Minnesota it is snowing this morning and they are having 36 mph winds with 45mph gusts. Less than an inch today but the big event is going to be Saturday with 6-7” of snow predicted and windchill temps in the single digits to low teens.
ReplyDeleteHere in Ocala we will have a little cold spell this weekend with overnight lows near 40 but sunshine and warming to the 60’s during the day. It was weird in the summer to get used to it raining in short bursts nearly every day and often it would pop up out of nowhere with no warning in forecast. The weathermen get very excited about the possibility of a hurricane and they talk about it for days on end before, thankfully this year, most of them fizzled out or stayed out in the ocean. We are inland here so we get mostly wind and heavy rain. People who evacuate from the coasts come here. It is very much like the weathermen in Minnesota trying to track a big snowstorm. Tornados on the other hand are much more intense and unpredictable with less warning.
The weather is a topic of conversation everywhere. The favorite saying in Minnesota is “it could be worse” no matter how bad it is.
Rhys, I love the description of your English small talk! And Brenda, Minnesotans are so tough! We do get terrified by hurricanes, both in Key West and CT. We were awfully lucky this year, especially after they'd predicted a higher than average season. I've not been out to check the temp today because I'm in bed with a cold:(. So mad!
ReplyDeleteDitto on the hurricanes, Lucy. The year I moved here my Connecticut friends worried constantly that I would be swept away. That was one of those seasons the hurricanes swept by Florida directly into the Hudson and Long Island Sound. Thankful that the predicted has not happened —yet, there are still 4 more days of the official season. Happy Thanksgiving, All. Elisabeth
DeleteI hope you feel better soon!
DeleteAnd chase that old cold away! Elisabeth
Deletethanks friends!
DeleteSending virtual chicken soup for your cold, Lucy. John is just getting over one and I’ve been making chicken soup and hot lemon and ginger like crazy.
DeleteI've often said the only two jobs where you can get it wrong 2 out of three times and still stay employed are TV weather personalities and Major League Baseball hitters.
ReplyDeleteI don't pay much attention to the weather. It's November. It'll be cold and rainy for a month or two. Come January, it'll snow off and on for a couple of months. Yes, it'll be single digits, but that's what sweaters and fuzzy blankets are for. And fireplaces. I'm from Western New York. If the snow isn't falling at a rate of an inch or more an hour, don't bother me.
We had a major drought and record-high temps for several weeks here in Maine this summer. I was miserable (like certifiable). I kept reminding myself that it is only temporary and soon things would be back to normal in the Fall and I could pull out the sweaters and throw blankets and light the fire again. Every day I watched the weather reports waiting for the heat wave to break. I find it much easier and cozier to warm up than to cool off. It was so depressing to be stuck indoors all summer due to the heat and blasting sun. Who can function in that kind of heat? Once Fall arrived, my mood lifted, my energy returned, and I feel alive again. For me, beauty lies in snowfall and cool ❄️peaceful winter days and evenings.
DeleteAgreed - I will always take the cold over the heat.
DeleteStacia, I often wonder how people in places like India can stand the extreme heat. Especially if they're out working in it and can't afford luxuries like AC
DeleteI think the same about Phoenix. I’ve been there when it’s 115. You simply can’t go out and if they had a power cut people would die!
DeleteBeing from Atlantic Canada, we are used to weather – guaranteed to be happening every day, and part of every conversation. This summer we had a drought, and I suspect had less water than Jenn in Arizona. Some month’s we had not enough to measure. We were under a burn ban until almost the end of October – that meant no outdoor fires of any kind ($25,000,00 fine), and included such things as no cutting grass as the blade could strike a spark on a rock and set the grass on fire. It was dry! Finally, this month we have had a bit of rain: 7 ins so far this month and it might rain today. That is about normal for a regular November, so it is good. The ponds and rivers are starting to refill, but so far, it is no way near filling the ground aquifers. Conversation now usually goes: ‘Hello, How are you?” “Fine, how is your well holding out?”
ReplyDeleteI took in the dahlias last week – it took a long time to get a killing frost here. They are currently drying on the rolly rack in the house to be able to brush off the soil and pack the tubers away for the winter. So far, the few that are dry enough to clean have no worms – not one. We did not see any in the soil when we dug them up. This is just wrong. I fear for all nature next year, as worms are necessary for life for so many creatures. What will the robins do?
So, as much as I don’t want it for my sanity, I hope we have a very wet and snowy winter. We need the water.
If snow is in the forecast, the supermarkets are packed as Oregonians prepare for Snowmageddon. When it doesn't arrive, we blame the forecasters. However, as one or two degrees can mean the difference between the usual rain and a crazy ice storm, I try to be more forgiving when they get it wrong. When I was still working at 9-1-1, I checked the National Weather Service page every hour and planned my snow route to get to work. When I retired, I promised myself that I would never have to drive in ice and snow again.
ReplyDeleteRight? It’s such a comfort to be able to say “not today” and get cozy to wait it out.
DeleteBuffalo's heading into some weather for Thanksgiving weekend. Lake effect snow up to 12 inches or 2-3 inches, maybe, depending on where the wind blows. It's always unpredictable, so the weather people give you every possibility. But that's life near the Great Lakes. Always have a snow brush in your car and a winter emergency kit. And never let your gas tank fall below the half way mark.
ReplyDeleteI love living in Maine but every year I wonder if I should move to upstate NY because all get the earliest and most dramatic snowstorms!
DeleteNo thank you! I couldn’t take that. I was cold yesterday and it was 55 degrees!
DeleteLiving in Maine means there is never a dull moment when it comes to weather—and that’s one of the many reasons why I love it here so much. I tried living in California (twice!). I became depressed during my first winter’s Christmas when I found myself wearing short at the beach. I made it my mission to move back to Maine after that fateful holiday. It took four years, during which I made plans to go to the mountains as often as possible in the winter. As a Four-Season person, I very much enjoy the variety of weather here in Maine. When we lived in England, I was able to tolerate the lack of snow there because it was at least chilly and wintery looking. I am thankful for the ability to live where the weather suits me best. I hope that for everyone in life (among other things of course!)
ReplyDeleteWhat fun yo move where the weather takes you! The only time I was reallly miserable was three years in Houston. Horrible climate !
DeleteLaughing at your wonderful post Rhys!
ReplyDeleteThe typical weather report for San Diego is "a marine layer burning off early afternoon." And that's about it. We do get our hot "summer season" starting late Aug - late October, called a Santa Ana when the desert winds blow toward the coast.
Here in SD, we panic if it starts to sprinkle. In Portland, Or (where we visit our grandkids) rain is barely noticed. We were at our granddaughters K class one year and when it started POURING rain while the kids were outside at recess. The kids continued playing as if nothing was going on. My husband & I were in a complete panic and asked the teacher why this was allowed and why weren't the kids immediately brought inside the classroom. She looked at us as if we were some crazed lunatics.
We love traveling to England and have been many times - always in August. One year they had
torrential every other day and it was the summer we decided we were going to moped around Southern England! One summer (around early 2000) the weather in London was in the high nineties. And there wasn't AC anywhere. Everyone was miserable. I think I'd prefer the rain actually.
I’ve been in London during a heat wave and it is the most uncomfortable place on Earth. So many shops with no air conditioners and the fan they gave me for my hotel room was useless!
DeleteLondon during a heat wave is truly horrible. It's not just unairconditioned buildings but commercial refrigeration isn't up to the job either.
DeleteWeather is a huge part of local news, and having worked as a reporter 440 some years, I have been assigned to cover all kinds of weather – – and nothing is more hilarious than having to stand outside in a blizzard and say “it’s snowing.” I always think yeah, look out your window people, it’s snowing. Why do I have to be out here telling you this?
ReplyDeleteIt’s kind of fun, In retrospect, being out in the middle of everything and experiencing it. My TV crew were once stranded on the Cape in a power outage/blizzard/noreaster — And we wound up getting into the videographer’s cousins house on that was locked up for the winter, and scrounging their freezer for food. it was quite the adventure, and I always thought it would make a good short story.
And I agree, I have often wondered how meteorologists get away with being wrong so often. Maybe predicting the weather is actually impossible.
Yes, Hank, impossible to predict the weather…and very true that “Man plans and gods — the weather and others — laugh! Elisabeth
DeleteYou should write the short story, especially if the cameraman winds up dead in the freezer!
DeleteMorning All, Paula B here ~ When I moved to the desert of AZ eons ago, I noticed something about Arizona desert people. The first day it rains, Az-ers are happy and dancing in the rain. The second day it rains, Az-ers are quiet. The third day it rains, Az-ers are cranky as in OMG cranky. I came from Pacific NW and couldn’t understand why even tho the dryness of AZ is what brought me here. The AZ-ers haven’t changed in all that time. We know we need it and are happy about relief, but OMG here we go again. I’m just like them now. Lots of rain in the last few weeks. So much at a time that it poured off my roof like a waterfall. Thunder used to scare my pup. Now she hardly notices it. It’s time to put in my geranium plants, Finally!
ReplyDeleteIt really poured last week when I was there and my sil was delighted as he’d just put in his winter lawn!
DeleteAh yes, growing up near the south tip of Lake Michigan, the phrases “lake effect snow” and “wind chill effect” were in my vocabulary from an early age. Hearing about the Blizzard of ‘67, living through the winters of ‘78 and ‘79. Mayoral elections in. Chicago won or lost on the issue of snow removal.
ReplyDeleteIn SoCal all of the small talk used to be about your commute instead.
I have always lived a bit farther north in Ohio than Karen, but I mostly agree with her assessment of Ohio weather. Where I most notice the effects of climate change is in snowfall. I would swear that when I was growing up, substantial snowfalls occurred at least a few times each winter. Now, here in Central Ohio, they treat just two or three inches as though it were substantial, and even those don't happen so often. The city goes into shutdown mode at the threat of three inches.
ReplyDeleteWe are experiencing interesting weather right now, though. Hubby and I got out of bed, bundled up, and immediately went for our daily four-mile walk. This is extremely NOT our usual routine. But when we got up it was 52 degrees, though breezy. As I write this, it is now 39 degrees out and the temperature is still falling. No precipitation forecast with it, but that was a rather sudden change of temperature. There is a possibility of snow this weekend. (Now THAT is consistent with my memory -- it seemed that when I was in college I always returned from Thanksgiving break in a snowstorm!)
I wonder when this whole "atmospheric river" thing started. When I was a kid growing up in Marin County, the San Francisco TV stations just said "rain" or "heavy rain" in the forecast. Now I go visit my Mom there and everything is an atmospheric river with a 1 to 5 rating.
ReplyDeleteCathy, lived in Seattle in mid-1970s when I first heard this term. Along with “the rain train.” Elisabeth
DeleteI'm about as far north as you can go in Ohio and we get it all--high wind, tornados, rain, after-effects of hurricanes sweeping up the Mississippi/Ohio Valleys, flooding, lake-effect snows, ice, +100F summer days at times. We luck out sometimes because we're actually at the southernmost dip of the Lake Erie coastline here, meaning the heaviest snowstorms often miss us, striking farther east--Lorain, Cleveland, Erie (PA) and into New York. And this morning? The temperature has already dropped from the 50s, it's cold and windy and snow predicted.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Wisconsin, we have all the weather. Except hurricanes, which sound terrifying. We just have tornadoes. Equally terrifying, but less sustained. But I digress. Yes, we take the weather seriously, because it can be deadly to do otherwise. Schools rarely close for snow, but they keep the keeps indoors for recess if it’s below zero. The forecast for this weekend has caused us to change our plans- we’re driving from Madison to Minneapolis to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter, and are coming home a day early because Saturday is supposed to bring heavy snow, 6-9”. No one wants to drive in it while it’s actively falling.
ReplyDeleteLiving in California, we have to watch out for fire season. I remember the day before I was due to fly to Canada for Bouchercon, there was a big fire hours away from my town yet the sky was orangish black during the day! We have drought resistant plants outdoors. This week has been extremely cold that I had to put on more layers inside my house. I am reminded of the saying in Denmark - there is no bad weather, there is bad clothing or something like that.
ReplyDeleteWe NEED rain, though flooding is a main concern. Rhys, your stories about England reminded me of when I lived in England for two months. At that time there was a severe drought in California and it was blissful to be in England where it rained often. I remember it was raining in Wales when we journeyed to Wales for the day, though it was more like a drizzle. It was so beautiful in Wales. No coal mines, which was a surprise to me.
All the reservoirs are full! Rain water is dumped in the ocean! We have not been in drought for three years.
DeleteWe have already had close to half our annual rainfall and it is only November.
Rain is necessary but the current situation is not dire.
is this Victoria?
DeleteNo!
DeleteRhys, you made me laugh this morning! We all like to talk about the weather, no matter how boring it is. Summer here in north Texas is "hot" and "not so hot." The big topics are "how many days over 100?" and "when will it rain?" Fall is mostly gorgeous, winter is mostly mild with some extreme cold (Snowmaggeddon a couple of years ago!) Then, oh joy, it's tornado season, and boy do we keep up with the forecasts, including the NWS radar.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a good chuckle! The poor weather is a subject that gets beaten to pieces everywhere. I think it is the one thing folks can all vent and no one takes it seriously. I live outside Atlanta and you this fall has been a rollercoaster ride. Sunday it was 80 and Thanksgiving day it will be a high of 50 and it just gets colder from there. We wear lots of layers and pray there is no snow because that never ends well. You may have heard of the 2014 1-3 inches of snow that paralyzed the interstate system in Atlanta. Some folks were there 20 hours. Not pretty. I told my boss I wasn't driving on that so he picked me up two days until the plows finally made it to my hilly neighborhood. -- Victoria
ReplyDeleteWe all love to groan about the weather. Houston in summertime is hell, broken up occasionally by a tropical storm or a hurricane. Now that I moved to the Shenandoah Valley predictions are iffy. Rain or snow headed our way frequently drifts north or south and misses us entirely. I've been told we're at a narrow part of the valley and it affects wind currents. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteMy hu
ReplyDeleteMy hub grew up in St. LOUIS, Mo. We live in So Cal. but used to visit his parents in the summer. It would get so hot we couldn't go outside without literally burning our lungs when we breathed in the hot air.
ReplyDelete