At several points in the past few months I've posted pictures on facebook showing something I saw that caught my eye. On more than one occasion people have cracked a joke about how sunny it is in the picture.
I get the feeling that people in the US think it is gloomier in Edinburgh than it really is.
Over the past month, in an effort to not feel trapped in my office all day, I like to eat my lunch on a bench somewhere nearby. During this time, there have only been 2-3 days where I couldn't do this because of rain. Is balmy and warm when I sit outside? Not in the California sense of balmy and warm, but we are quite a bit further north than California, so it wouldn't be expected to be t-shirt weather in September (although it's supposed to be t-shirt weather tomorrow).
I found a chart that listed the number of rainy days in Edinburgh per month. It looks like it's about 1/2 the days, but there's rain and then there's rain. Most of the rain we get is not like a Baltimore thunderstorm on an August evening, or like the California winter rains that come in January or February. Most of the rain is more like a drizzle, or a light shower, that doesn't go on all day. There have been quite a few days where I've been walking around, on a sunny day, and have felt a drizzle, sometimes lasting 15-20 minutes. Days like that are great for rainbows, and I don't think most people would consider that a rainy day, but I'm sure it's listed as one.
Are there clouds in the sky in Edinburgh? Of course, but they are not gray all the time, as people may believe. We don't live in a gloomy, depressing city. I'm looking outside right now and I see white clouds, and a blue sky. Today is the kind of day people in East Lansing, Michigan look for on a football Saturday - a crisp day where it's cool enough to be jacket weather, but not cold enough to be coat weather; where it's warm enough to enjoy a football game, but not so warm that you want to leave after the first quarter.
Is the weather always like this? Of course not. You can't expect to have great weather all the time - no one can. We have bad days and good days; we have sunny days and rainy days; we have cold days and warm days (though never as warm or as cold as the mid-Atlantic states).
Edinburgh is probably not the city you think it is, weather wise; it doesn't rain as much as you'd think.
Maybe Edinburgh has more blue-sky than Baltimore--it seems we never have clear skies. I notice this especially as I try to see stars at night, but it seems it is ALWAYS cloudy!
ReplyDeleteAs one of those who have kidded you about the weather, I stand corrected.... kind of. But it is that drizzle that keeps it so green and beautiful there. (we just won't talk about what that drizzle does to one's hair).
ReplyDeleteHi, I was a student of yours at Deazna in 2005 or 2006, I think it was. Glad to hear you're doing well. :) (I moved back to my homestate of Upstate New York last December, trying to job-search. I do miss the 7 years I was in Bay Area, California, but it's time I left that behind--they were difficult times.) Best of luck to you with everything! ~Caroline Klawender
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