Tag: Weather

Almost exactly 365 days ago, southern Britishland was in the grip of a fearful drought, vid.:

…and of course, pics like the above caused much weeping, wailing and gnashing of British teeth with headlines such as “Does climate change mean that we’ll never see rain again?” and similar twaddle.

Of course, we sentient human beings all know the difference between “climate” and “weather”, so there was NO PANIC!!! amongst us.  And indeed, here we are, a year later:

…because Britishland’s old friend — RAIN — has fallen from the skies again, this time leading to items such as this (sent to me by Longtime Buddy Mrs. Sorenson):

…which in turn leads to things like this, taken in my car yesterday:

I’d gladly offer to trade, say, 25 degrees off our summer for a couple weeks of cooling rain from theirs.

Were it not for non-existent income tax, relaxed gun laws, hands-off politicians, fine BBQ and friendly Texans… I have no idea why I live here.

By the way, in the comments for the original article whence I filched the first two pics, one guy offered the following:  “That drought was in the south.  Up here in the North, it’s been raining nonstop for five years.”

When it snows in Johannesburg…

People wandering around in the streets yesterday, bemused, asking “What is this strange white stuff falling from the sky?”

One could say that this is evidence of Global Cooling Climate Warming Change©, but I remember it snowing in Johannesburg (and much harder than in the above) back in 1963, before SUVs.

Yes, I’m that old.  And we just called it “weather”.

…those lazy hazy crazy days of summer:

Temps in the mid- to upper 90s, I’m told.  In June.

FFS, it’s starting early this year.

I see that after much hand-wringing over the Great British Drought Of 2022, relief has finally come, in abundance:

Which just made me think of this:

As for local conditions, The Englishman assures me that all is well at the Castle;  here’s the view from his kitchen window:

…while Mr. Free Market’s estate is also fine, occupying as it does a hilltop surrounded by a few hundred acres.

And Mrs. Sorenson (a.k.a. The Catholic on these pages) reports:

“It’s been pissing down today. And yesterday. And looks likely to continue – bleddy weather. I raked up all the leaves from the grass yesterday. Fecking tree dumped a new load EXACTLY where I’d cleared them away. Nature hates me.”

So all is well, in other words.

Lessee… daytime high in the low 40s (single digits if you’re of the French measurement persuasion), nighttime a couple degrees above freezing, overcast and occasional drizzle… yup, at this time of year, Kim’s a happy man.

I now eat oatmeal porridge or mieliepap for brekkie (by the way, dark rum tastes wonderful on porridge, don’t ask me how I know this), and I switch from iced G&T to Seffrican brandy or Whisky Macs in the evenings.

I also get to cuddle with my wife at night (instead of sweating her over to the other side of the bed).

Yeah, I can hear the chorus now:  “Why don’t you just go and live in England, where it’s like this all the time?”

Simple answer:

…and a few other reasons, like the stupid BritGov won’t let me stay unless I arrive by small boat over the Channel, and I hate all boats.

So the pic below is just an idle dream:

Back when I lived in the old Racist Republic, I remember reading a newspaper story of a family who lived on a farm in one of the more arid areas of the country.  One day, the farmer’s twin boys (aged 7) ran excitedly into the house and told their mother that the sky had “broken”.  When she went outside, she saw that it was raining.  The boys had never seen rain before.

In places like that, a seven-year drought is admittedly extreme, but it’s certainly not unknown.

In more temperate climes, though, a six-month drought can be seen as catastrophic:

Europe on course to suffer worst drought in 500 YEARS

You can ignore pretty much all  the copy in the above link, because it’s the same old dreary “climate change is going to kill us all” bullshit.  But the pictures are breathtaking, e.g. this one in Holland:

…where “riverboats” have become “mudboats”.

Elsewhere, you have stories like this one, where one foresighted guy has stored many thousands of gallons of rainwater in underground tanks to keep his garden going.

If I were him, though, I would have kept shtum  about it because this being Britishland, I wouldn’t put it past the local council to force him to pump it all out and “share” it with his neighbors.

Sic semper potentas.

All that said, however, the European heat wave has had some benefits: