🌧️⚡☂️ May 1, 2019 2:19 PM Subscribe
Happy Wednesday, it's the middle of the week, let's talk about something else that is not related to politics. It's currently raining here and I want to hear your thoughts on rain/thunderstorms. Do you like this kind of weather? Do you carry an umbrella? Do you have any rainy day traditions? I know I like to open up the window and listen to the sound of rain while I read. Let's talk about stormy weather. As always, be kind to yourself and others. Cheers.
I am a terrible absentminded abandoner of umbrellas, so I find rainy weather challenging. For a while I was buying really big umbrellas, on the theory that they would be harder to walk away from than the smaller ones. But all that actually meant was that I was constantly losing much more expensive umbrellas.
posted by merriment at 2:32 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by merriment at 2:32 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
The rains have stopped in California, it's the time of the dry season. But our winter was so dang wet that we've had a bug explosion- both good and bad now that it's dry. Good- ladybugs bad- *sigh* everything else. I love the rain- to the point where I'll wear sandals in the rain sometimes just to get my feet wet XD
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 2:44 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 2:44 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
As someone who adores cloudy, rainy, overcast weather, I can hardly believe I live in L.A., but as my partner reasoned when we moved inland away from the beach, whenever I do get it, I'm that much more grateful. Even so, we've been blessed with far more rain than usual this season. Once I even remembered to stick my mics out the window.
posted by mykescipark at 2:45 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by mykescipark at 2:45 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
I grew up in Florida so basically any afternoon between May and September that doesn't feature an absolute blackout thunderstorm feels weird to me.
posted by saladin at 3:16 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by saladin at 3:16 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
I missed thunderstorms when I lived on the west coast. Now I'm back home and there are thunderstorms!
But uh, weather wise the city is currently undergoing significant flooding and also it snowed/sleeted/precipitated something solid today so I'm not really feeling gung ho about spring.
posted by quaking fajita at 3:17 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
But uh, weather wise the city is currently undergoing significant flooding and also it snowed/sleeted/precipitated something solid today so I'm not really feeling gung ho about spring.
posted by quaking fajita at 3:17 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I am in Hamilton, Ontario so I think Fizz and I are experiencing the same weather system? Anyway I am having some mild mental health struggles this week (ghosted by another potential employer, facing some bills I’m not sure I will be able to pay, consequently having trouble getting off the couch) so I could really use some sunshine, literally or otherwise.
I do have an umbrella, but I often find that with rain comes wind and then that umbrella becomes basically non-functional. I’ve taken to just leaving it at home.
posted by janepanic at 3:26 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I do have an umbrella, but I often find that with rain comes wind and then that umbrella becomes basically non-functional. I’ve taken to just leaving it at home.
posted by janepanic at 3:26 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I grew up in Southern California, and thunderstorms were rare - I'd guess we averaged less than one a year, which would usually be freak events like tropical storm remnants drifting up the coast from Mexico or summer monsoon stuff spilling over from the deserts.
I went to school in Virginia, where we'd have t-storms the first few weeks of the school year, but not much after that. I do remember flying into Pittsburgh once when a storm was below us and it looked like the dance floor at a disco.
Almost five years ago, I moved to Wisconsin and got my first taste of severe weather alarms and storms where there was so much lightning, it was like there was one continuous peal of thunder instead of being sporadic like the rare storms I'd grown up with. I'd have to take shelter in the basement something like 4 nights a summer the two years I lived there. Now I'm in West Michigan, where t-storms still happen, but not quite as intense. The one time the alarms have gone off for reals (not the monthly test siren) was two weeks after I moved here when a small tornado rolled through town, but nothing since then. I like storms, and I'm excited now that my office just moved to a 5th story space with huge windows, so once we get a storm there'll be quite a light show. Every place I've spent much time in in Wisconsin and Michigan before now didn't have enough of a view to see the sky for any significant distance. We've had a few storms roll through this year where lighting was predicted early on, but then dialed back to just rain, so I'm still waiting.
posted by LionIndex at 3:33 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I went to school in Virginia, where we'd have t-storms the first few weeks of the school year, but not much after that. I do remember flying into Pittsburgh once when a storm was below us and it looked like the dance floor at a disco.
Almost five years ago, I moved to Wisconsin and got my first taste of severe weather alarms and storms where there was so much lightning, it was like there was one continuous peal of thunder instead of being sporadic like the rare storms I'd grown up with. I'd have to take shelter in the basement something like 4 nights a summer the two years I lived there. Now I'm in West Michigan, where t-storms still happen, but not quite as intense. The one time the alarms have gone off for reals (not the monthly test siren) was two weeks after I moved here when a small tornado rolled through town, but nothing since then. I like storms, and I'm excited now that my office just moved to a 5th story space with huge windows, so once we get a storm there'll be quite a light show. Every place I've spent much time in in Wisconsin and Michigan before now didn't have enough of a view to see the sky for any significant distance. We've had a few storms roll through this year where lighting was predicted early on, but then dialed back to just rain, so I'm still waiting.
posted by LionIndex at 3:33 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I love rain! I'm in California and I miss having rain in the summer so much. (Autumn rain is kind of awful -- too many years of Boston nor'easters -- so I don't miss that.) And I miss thunderstorms in general.
I love sitting outside when it's raining. Now I have a porch with a tin roof, which is perfect. When I was little, I used to set up a big golf umbrella and curl up underneath it on our wrought-iron porch furniture to read mystery novels when it rained.
posted by lazuli at 3:57 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I love sitting outside when it's raining. Now I have a porch with a tin roof, which is perfect. When I was little, I used to set up a big golf umbrella and curl up underneath it on our wrought-iron porch furniture to read mystery novels when it rained.
posted by lazuli at 3:57 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
Pittsburgh here. My weather app has been teasing thunderstorms, but the ETA keeps getting pushed out another day. On the upside - thunderstorms! On the downside, the flash flooding is not ideal. As the marathon is this weekend, it is for the best that they pass over.
Four years attending college in a small city smack on one of the Great Lakes cured me of any desire to carry an umbrella, the winds DESTROYED every one of them, but gave me a favorite memory of sitting on my dorm steps watching the storms roll in from off of the lake.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:02 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Four years attending college in a small city smack on one of the Great Lakes cured me of any desire to carry an umbrella, the winds DESTROYED every one of them, but gave me a favorite memory of sitting on my dorm steps watching the storms roll in from off of the lake.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:02 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Like fizz and janepanic, we've got some rain in the GTHA. Reminds me I need to change my winter tyres, 'cos snow tyres are terrible in the wet.
I very seldom (if ever) carry an umbrella, for several reasons related to where I'm from:
I very seldom (if ever) carry an umbrella, for several reasons related to where I'm from:
- Although it rains a lot in Glasgow (wettest city in Europe, with ~170 days of rain a year), it's also windy. Umbrellas last a couple of outings, tops.
- Rain goes underneath umbrellas in Glasgow. It doesn't care.
- I'm pretty tall for traditional Glasgow heights, so other people's umbrella spokes are just at eye height. I have been stabbed so many times in the face by umbrellas that they make me nervous.
I should note, one thing I've noticed here in S. Ontario is that we get more rain and less thunderstorms. I miss the lightening and the thunder, something we had a lot of growing up in Dallas, TX. But it's still nice to open up the windows when it rains and hear that pitter patter fall, it's very calming.
posted by Fizz at 4:31 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 4:31 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I grew up in Florida so basically any afternoon between May and September that doesn't feature an absolute blackout thunderstorm feels weird to me.
posted by saladin
I missed thunderstorms when I lived on the west coast. Now I'm back home and there are thunderstorms!
posted by quaking fajita
I grew up in Florida and spent 14 years in western NC before moving to Portland. Here "rain" most often means mist/drizzle with the very occasional light-to-medium rain shower. I too miss proper downpours and thunderstorms - but on the other hand I don't miss months and months of high heat + high humidity, so I'm willing to consider it a fair trade-off.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:35 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by saladin
I missed thunderstorms when I lived on the west coast. Now I'm back home and there are thunderstorms!
posted by quaking fajita
I grew up in Florida and spent 14 years in western NC before moving to Portland. Here "rain" most often means mist/drizzle with the very occasional light-to-medium rain shower. I too miss proper downpours and thunderstorms - but on the other hand I don't miss months and months of high heat + high humidity, so I'm willing to consider it a fair trade-off.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:35 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love thunderstorms. Always have. It was crazy when I was on a project in Tampa. The lightning would be right overhead and you had to be careful when driving because the driver in front of you would slam on their brakes when lightning struck the roadway.
When I was growing up we spent summers at Priest Lake in Idaho and the lightning I remember from there was yellow. I was a little disturbed when we moved to California and the lightning was blue.
Also, there is nothing quite like being in a 767 when the pilot is swooping back and forth to avoid the lightning.
posted by Altomentis at 5:16 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
When I was growing up we spent summers at Priest Lake in Idaho and the lightning I remember from there was yellow. I was a little disturbed when we moved to California and the lightning was blue.
Also, there is nothing quite like being in a 767 when the pilot is swooping back and forth to avoid the lightning.
posted by Altomentis at 5:16 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love rain (especially now that I'm not dependent on an outdoor clothesline) but my arthritic joints sure don't.
Mickey boots (waterproof rubber Army boots) in the winter, Crocs in the summer.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:18 PM on May 1, 2019
Mickey boots (waterproof rubber Army boots) in the winter, Crocs in the summer.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:18 PM on May 1, 2019
I like thunderstorms, unless they are severe and hurt people. Maine gets a few, but one time I was in a friend's office on the 12th or so floor in Columbus,Ohio,where the landscape is flat, and watched a thunder & lighting storm approach; that was a show. It is a cold, sunless spring so far in Maine. I want a nice day to do some gardening and start getting in shape.
I hate messing with an umbrella. I have a rain jacket or 2, and, so far, every time I have ever gotten wet, I have dried off eventually. Rain hat can be handy; staying dry is warmer.
I would like some sunshine.
posted by theora55 at 5:26 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I hate messing with an umbrella. I have a rain jacket or 2, and, so far, every time I have ever gotten wet, I have dried off eventually. Rain hat can be handy; staying dry is warmer.
I would like some sunshine.
posted by theora55 at 5:26 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
nice emoji title, btw.
posted by theora55 at 5:27 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 5:27 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm always amazed when rain starts coming down in New York City. Suddenly, every street corner has folks selling umbrellas. Where do they come from? Are there hidden cubbyholes all over the city, in case of rain? Does every cab have a box full in the trunk, just in case? Do the sellers root through garbage cans after the storm to get the umbrellas thrown away?
I usually just wear a big rainhat. I find I don't really care about being that wet, as long as my head is dry.
posted by Marky at 5:32 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
I usually just wear a big rainhat. I find I don't really care about being that wet, as long as my head is dry.
posted by Marky at 5:32 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
In South Florida thunderstorms happen almost every day but they are usually brief. I like them when I'm inside, not so much when I'm outside or driving. I spent many years living in downstate Illinois and those were real thunderstorms. One thing I always loved about Illinois thunderstorms was how they would come up on a sweltering summer day, roar through, and then leave a brisk cool wind behind them. Even though I've been here long enough to know better, Florida thunderstorms always disappoint me when they pass and then the day is just as sweltering as it was before but with some extra humidity.
posted by Daily Alice at 5:50 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 5:50 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I am in Hamilton, Ontario so I think Fizz and I are experiencing the same weather system?
Same system here in London Onterrible (the world's second-best London... ;-/ )
posted by jkaczor at 6:00 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Same system here in London Onterrible (the world's second-best London... ;-/ )
posted by jkaczor at 6:00 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
⏮️⏸️⏹️⏺️⏭️
posted by clavdivs at 6:20 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 6:20 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love a good thunderstorm, and so do a couple of my friends. On stormy days, we closely monitor the radar and GOES satellite and FB chat back and forth about what's coming. We very much enjoy Lighting Maps.
I love walking in my rain boots. I never had rain boots growing up. What a revelation! I can walk to work, and go right through puddles and my feet are dry. Miraculous! I'm so happy they became a fashion trend.
One year, my yearly professional conference was in Seattle and each attendee got a very nice sturdy umbrella that says "AAS/AAPT Seattle" (this was in happier days when conference swag was more extravagant) and a bunch of my friends (not the same friends as above, obvs) didn't think it was worthwhile to take their umbrellas home so I ended up with like five of them, so I'm pretty set for boss umbrellas. They migrate erratically back and forth between home and my office but usually I have at least one in each location.
Nothing beats a good rainstorm for sleeping, lying in bed and listening to the rain on the roof (and through the open window, if the temperature permits) and thinking about how gobsmackingly lucky I am to have a safe and dry house.
posted by BrashTech at 6:26 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
I love walking in my rain boots. I never had rain boots growing up. What a revelation! I can walk to work, and go right through puddles and my feet are dry. Miraculous! I'm so happy they became a fashion trend.
One year, my yearly professional conference was in Seattle and each attendee got a very nice sturdy umbrella that says "AAS/AAPT Seattle" (this was in happier days when conference swag was more extravagant) and a bunch of my friends (not the same friends as above, obvs) didn't think it was worthwhile to take their umbrellas home so I ended up with like five of them, so I'm pretty set for boss umbrellas. They migrate erratically back and forth between home and my office but usually I have at least one in each location.
Nothing beats a good rainstorm for sleeping, lying in bed and listening to the rain on the roof (and through the open window, if the temperature permits) and thinking about how gobsmackingly lucky I am to have a safe and dry house.
posted by BrashTech at 6:26 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
My big thing right now is I really really love sunshowers, which are currently in season here in Portland (OR).
A few years ago I performed a very small wedding ceremony — 6-ish people, including the two betrothed — in a park here, and out of the completely clear blue June sky it started raining on us. We finished the ceremony laughing and smushed together under the one solitary umbrella someone had the foresight to bring, and then leapt and scrambled and splashed and giggled along a circuitous path back to our cars to head back for a cider-and-pizza-and-hummus-and-naan 'reception' at the newlyweds' shared apartment.
Historically, sunshowers have a lot of strong folkloric ties to marriage all over the world—some a bit more grim than others—but that's one of my favorite memories bar none
posted by churl at 6:29 PM on May 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
A few years ago I performed a very small wedding ceremony — 6-ish people, including the two betrothed — in a park here, and out of the completely clear blue June sky it started raining on us. We finished the ceremony laughing and smushed together under the one solitary umbrella someone had the foresight to bring, and then leapt and scrambled and splashed and giggled along a circuitous path back to our cars to head back for a cider-and-pizza-and-hummus-and-naan 'reception' at the newlyweds' shared apartment.
Historically, sunshowers have a lot of strong folkloric ties to marriage all over the world—some a bit more grim than others—but that's one of my favorite memories bar none
posted by churl at 6:29 PM on May 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
I live in Georgia so there are a lot of thunderstorms in the summer. Well, we actually get thunderstorms year-round, but some of the ones in summertime are really spectacular.
I have an umbrella in my car - something my grandmother gave me maybe 20 years ago. I keep an umbrella in one of the side pockets of my work backpack, and another in the side pocket of my travel bag. I rarely use them, however. Unless I have to walk a significant distance in the rain I'd rather just get a bit wet than have to drag an umbrella around.
I don't really mind thunderstorms, except when I have to drive in them. My dogs have very differing reactions, though. Dog #1, Mister Fusspot, just doesn't give a damn. He'll just roll over and start snoring while the storm rages outside. Dog #3, Mister Vimes, will come and try to get between my feet if I'm sitting down and bark at the thunder as if to let me know that he's on the job. But dog #2, Esme, is terrified of thunderstorms. That's a picture of her stuffed in my hoodie with her head peaking out, because she wanted in my lap but I was working and couldn't hold her and work at the same time.
posted by ralan at 6:33 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I have an umbrella in my car - something my grandmother gave me maybe 20 years ago. I keep an umbrella in one of the side pockets of my work backpack, and another in the side pocket of my travel bag. I rarely use them, however. Unless I have to walk a significant distance in the rain I'd rather just get a bit wet than have to drag an umbrella around.
I don't really mind thunderstorms, except when I have to drive in them. My dogs have very differing reactions, though. Dog #1, Mister Fusspot, just doesn't give a damn. He'll just roll over and start snoring while the storm rages outside. Dog #3, Mister Vimes, will come and try to get between my feet if I'm sitting down and bark at the thunder as if to let me know that he's on the job. But dog #2, Esme, is terrified of thunderstorms. That's a picture of her stuffed in my hoodie with her head peaking out, because she wanted in my lap but I was working and couldn't hold her and work at the same time.
posted by ralan at 6:33 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Let's talk about stormy weather.
My favorite versions:
Ethel Waters
Billie Holiday
Charles Mingus with Eric Dolphy
posted by nightrecordings at 6:34 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
My favorite versions:
Ethel Waters
Billie Holiday
Charles Mingus with Eric Dolphy
posted by nightrecordings at 6:34 PM on May 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
I love heavy rain on a warm summer day. When you're walking in it and there's no escaping that you're going to get soaked, and there's that moment when annoyance flips to acceptance and even enjoyment of being irrelevant to the whims of nature, that you're just a creature on this earth and it's so special and wet and warm...
posted by yellowbinder at 6:44 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by yellowbinder at 6:44 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I love rainy weather. When I was little and lived on the top floor of our family home, one of my favorite things was to listen to the rain falling on the roof just above my head. I vividly remember the sudden cooling that a strong east coast thunderstorm can bring on an unbearably hot summer afternoon. But now I live in southern California, and I also miss the rain during our long dry season. On the other hand, this relocation has definitely made me appreciate the rain more because when it comes, it has such an extraordinary effect on the plants and animals here. A month ago, there were flocks of butterflies. The hills around Los Angeles are all covered in multicolored flowers and greenery. Untended patches of land are overflowing with huge weeds. My neighborhood is all in bloom. And this winter I saw more rainbows than I've ever seen in my life.
posted by a certain Sysoi Pafnut'evich at 6:52 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by a certain Sysoi Pafnut'evich at 6:52 PM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
I was in NYC during a hurricane once - I opened my purse to pay for something and it was full of water like a fishbowl. Luckily my wallet was apparently waterproof.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:09 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:09 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love rain! Last night was the perfect rain and wind with a bit of thunder and lightning. I actually recorded a bit of it for the future. I felt like I was in a Studio Ghibli movie watching it come down outside my balcony.
posted by Mouse Army at 7:14 PM on May 1, 2019
posted by Mouse Army at 7:14 PM on May 1, 2019
I ADORE falling asleep to the sound of heavy rain. I also really like the smell outside right after a nice summer rain—but before all the worms come out. Then, not so much.
posted by bookmammal at 7:47 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by bookmammal at 7:47 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I can't stand the rain, it's my window. When the rain hits my window I take me some indo.
posted by bleep at 7:48 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 7:48 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am absolutely nuts about thunderstorms. I grew up in Minnesota, went to college in Iowa, and have always gotten excited when the sky grew dark. I have strong memories of night-time storms in my youth - I had a west-facing window and would watch storms blow in.
Hey here's a cool weather-related thing I found!!
If you look at Google Maps over Minneapolis, you can clearly see the damage path from the May 2011 tornado. Check it out: look at the line of lighter trees around Lowry Avenue. That's where the tornado hit the strongest, where they lost the old canopy of trees.
Now: even cooler. Do you want to see what a neighborhood looks like a week after a tornado? Google Maps sent out their Streetview car and took pictures oh...I'm going to guess a week or so after the tornado went though. Tons of damage to homes and trees. You can Streetview through the streets of North Minneapolis (make sure the date is 2011) to see what it looks like right after a tornado...and go over just a few blocks, and everything looks normal.
posted by Gray Duck at 8:32 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
Hey here's a cool weather-related thing I found!!
If you look at Google Maps over Minneapolis, you can clearly see the damage path from the May 2011 tornado. Check it out: look at the line of lighter trees around Lowry Avenue. That's where the tornado hit the strongest, where they lost the old canopy of trees.
Now: even cooler. Do you want to see what a neighborhood looks like a week after a tornado? Google Maps sent out their Streetview car and took pictures oh...I'm going to guess a week or so after the tornado went though. Tons of damage to homes and trees. You can Streetview through the streets of North Minneapolis (make sure the date is 2011) to see what it looks like right after a tornado...and go over just a few blocks, and everything looks normal.
posted by Gray Duck at 8:32 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I moved from the Midwest to San Francisco, and I keep thinking about setting up a webcam at my parents' so I can hear thunderstorms (and also trains). I'm listening to mykescipark's recording of both those things right now.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Pronoiac at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
For those of you who don’t carry an umbrella but wear glasses, how do you deal with impacted vision? I don’t mind the rain, and like hearing on my balcony, but it’s been six years of someone making the joke that the rain must make British me feel right at home...
posted by ellieBOA at 10:17 PM on May 1, 2019
posted by ellieBOA at 10:17 PM on May 1, 2019
1. Rain. I grew up in Portland, OR and rain is a cultural touchstone. It doesn't actually rain quite as much here as reputation would have it, though it rains a fair amount and there's a lot of overcast dry days that support the general unsunniness at the core of the city's meteorological vibe. I grew up liking the rain, an opinion I held especially strongly when I was a teenager and the idea of rain, of walking in the rain, of being emotional in the rain, of being the kind of person who perversely preferred the rain, had a heady romantic appeal, an assumed frisson of complexity and sophistication. At this point in my life I still like the rain but don't want to be caught walking unexpectedly in it as much; my blood runs cooler and dry clothes keep me happy.
2. Umbrellas. With the reputation for raininess came a kind of city posture against them, not universal but common enough especially when it could operate as a point of local pride or gentle hazing of out-of-towners. To carry an umbrella, to want an umbrella, was a sign of fragility or of unpreparedness. It's just rain, was the implication; it's just always like this, suck it up and don't sweat a little soddenness as you go about your day, unless you're one of those (and here a distasteful smirk) CaliFORnians...
3. Thunderstorms. We don't have them, not the real good ones, with any frequency. This, like a lot of things about Portland that were normative for me having grown up here, I didn't really appreciate until I visited other places in the US during my adulthood. A summer a few years ago in Huntsville, Alabama drove several things home in that sense, and one of them was what a casual expectation of thunderstorms could be. First just the sheer volume of rain, with little warning, and warm at that: great splattering drops of water, in absolute sheets, but not bone-chilling the way a Portland torrent tends to be. But also the thunder, racking and rolling and in a volume and density that, two or three times any week that summer, outdid by grand factors the rare cluster of peals Portland ever musters. I don't miss a lot from that interval in Huntsville; I certainly don't miss the fucking humidity. But I miss that thunder.
We're at the point in the year where the weather in Portland has threatened to get nice several times, and soon it's going to be nice more often than not for a few months straight, and coming out of winter and into a cool-ish spring so far I'm still at the threshold where I'm looking forward to the sun a bit. A week into it being 70+ I'll start to miss the rain again, and the first time it stays above 80 for two days straight I'll be grumpy and yearning for a messy September to get going. Right now is the fulcrum point in the year where I least resemble that moody teenager who wanted nothing more than to be satisfiedly enduring a cold rainshower, but he's never really entirely out of the picture.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:51 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
2. Umbrellas. With the reputation for raininess came a kind of city posture against them, not universal but common enough especially when it could operate as a point of local pride or gentle hazing of out-of-towners. To carry an umbrella, to want an umbrella, was a sign of fragility or of unpreparedness. It's just rain, was the implication; it's just always like this, suck it up and don't sweat a little soddenness as you go about your day, unless you're one of those (and here a distasteful smirk) CaliFORnians...
3. Thunderstorms. We don't have them, not the real good ones, with any frequency. This, like a lot of things about Portland that were normative for me having grown up here, I didn't really appreciate until I visited other places in the US during my adulthood. A summer a few years ago in Huntsville, Alabama drove several things home in that sense, and one of them was what a casual expectation of thunderstorms could be. First just the sheer volume of rain, with little warning, and warm at that: great splattering drops of water, in absolute sheets, but not bone-chilling the way a Portland torrent tends to be. But also the thunder, racking and rolling and in a volume and density that, two or three times any week that summer, outdid by grand factors the rare cluster of peals Portland ever musters. I don't miss a lot from that interval in Huntsville; I certainly don't miss the fucking humidity. But I miss that thunder.
We're at the point in the year where the weather in Portland has threatened to get nice several times, and soon it's going to be nice more often than not for a few months straight, and coming out of winter and into a cool-ish spring so far I'm still at the threshold where I'm looking forward to the sun a bit. A week into it being 70+ I'll start to miss the rain again, and the first time it stays above 80 for two days straight I'll be grumpy and yearning for a messy September to get going. Right now is the fulcrum point in the year where I least resemble that moody teenager who wanted nothing more than to be satisfiedly enduring a cold rainshower, but he's never really entirely out of the picture.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:51 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
*laughs moistly in Pacific Northwest rain forest*
I think I used to have rainy day traditions, but I have long forgotten them. When I was a kid I used to get really excited about rain and would want to go tearing around on my bike and jump in puddles.
That said I do like going for walks but I have to actually ask myself if I'm even paying attention to the rain beyond whether or not I need to bring a rain jacket, or more than a rain jacket or if I also need rain pants and maybe a scarf and hat. The answer to "do I need a rain jacket?" is basically always "yes" because the moment you leave it at home you'll need it. I think I only did not carry my rain shell a few weeks total last year.
Rainy day traditions around here are basically go about your life (clad in goretex or other rain shell) like the rain isn't happening. Hell, even my phone has a rain jacket. If we had traditions about rain it would just get weird really quick. We have unusual words about rain like "mizzle" to define that point between a mist and a drizzle.
I live somewhere where people don't even blink if they see someone in full industrial strength marine grade yellow rain slickers, bib pants and full rubber boots. To go grocery shopping or a casual walk in the woods. And we're technically in the rain shadow.
One strange metric? I am now terribly fond of tarps and rain flies. I currently own at least four tarps, one good and the rest just standard hardware store poly tarps, often in camo, apparently because I like losing my own camps and avoiding being found by SAR teams if I get lost. I also have a number of bits of fabric that can also be used as tarps. I am very good at setting up a very taut, rain-shedding tarp, under which one may get out of the rain.
I do not carry an umbrella. For a number of reasons umbrellas are just a pain in the ass in this part of the world. If it's raining heavily enough that a rain shell can't deal with it, it's probably blowing sideways so hard that even if your umbrella did not immediately blow out into ribbons, it would be blowing under the umbrella anyway.
There's a thing I've seen in Seattle a bunch of times. Someone exists a hotel with a hotel umbrella. It's pouring rain and not just misting somewhat oppressively, so this makes sense to grab a hotel umbrella. They turn a corner out of the shelter of the lobby into the full wind and the umbrella blows up and tries to take the hapless tourist with it. I've seen this maybe a few dozen times over the years, but sometimes several times in a row - and they'll walk into a drug store, buy an umbrella and it dies in less than 30 seconds as soon as they cross a street. The umbrellas will blow around like broken tumbleweeds in the streets of downtown Seattle on a really good day.
There's a reason almost everyone here has a decent rain hoody and a hat, but no umbrella. I mean, people have and do use them. They're nice if you don't want to mess up your hair or date night outfit or something, but usually they're just way more hassle than they're worth. (Alternatively, ask someone in Seattle if they have sunglasses! They probably have a whole drawer of them somewhere, but they have no idea where so they usually buy a new pair in about July or August!)
Actually, it's been uncommonly sunny and dry for like a week solid and I think I have a significant fraction of a tan which is just fucking weird, so please send rain, but no thunderstorms. I'm worried we're in for a hell of a fire season.
Heck, my kale is getting a suntan.
posted by loquacious at 1:14 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think I used to have rainy day traditions, but I have long forgotten them. When I was a kid I used to get really excited about rain and would want to go tearing around on my bike and jump in puddles.
That said I do like going for walks but I have to actually ask myself if I'm even paying attention to the rain beyond whether or not I need to bring a rain jacket, or more than a rain jacket or if I also need rain pants and maybe a scarf and hat. The answer to "do I need a rain jacket?" is basically always "yes" because the moment you leave it at home you'll need it. I think I only did not carry my rain shell a few weeks total last year.
Rainy day traditions around here are basically go about your life (clad in goretex or other rain shell) like the rain isn't happening. Hell, even my phone has a rain jacket. If we had traditions about rain it would just get weird really quick. We have unusual words about rain like "mizzle" to define that point between a mist and a drizzle.
I live somewhere where people don't even blink if they see someone in full industrial strength marine grade yellow rain slickers, bib pants and full rubber boots. To go grocery shopping or a casual walk in the woods. And we're technically in the rain shadow.
One strange metric? I am now terribly fond of tarps and rain flies. I currently own at least four tarps, one good and the rest just standard hardware store poly tarps, often in camo, apparently because I like losing my own camps and avoiding being found by SAR teams if I get lost. I also have a number of bits of fabric that can also be used as tarps. I am very good at setting up a very taut, rain-shedding tarp, under which one may get out of the rain.
I do not carry an umbrella. For a number of reasons umbrellas are just a pain in the ass in this part of the world. If it's raining heavily enough that a rain shell can't deal with it, it's probably blowing sideways so hard that even if your umbrella did not immediately blow out into ribbons, it would be blowing under the umbrella anyway.
There's a thing I've seen in Seattle a bunch of times. Someone exists a hotel with a hotel umbrella. It's pouring rain and not just misting somewhat oppressively, so this makes sense to grab a hotel umbrella. They turn a corner out of the shelter of the lobby into the full wind and the umbrella blows up and tries to take the hapless tourist with it. I've seen this maybe a few dozen times over the years, but sometimes several times in a row - and they'll walk into a drug store, buy an umbrella and it dies in less than 30 seconds as soon as they cross a street. The umbrellas will blow around like broken tumbleweeds in the streets of downtown Seattle on a really good day.
There's a reason almost everyone here has a decent rain hoody and a hat, but no umbrella. I mean, people have and do use them. They're nice if you don't want to mess up your hair or date night outfit or something, but usually they're just way more hassle than they're worth. (Alternatively, ask someone in Seattle if they have sunglasses! They probably have a whole drawer of them somewhere, but they have no idea where so they usually buy a new pair in about July or August!)
Actually, it's been uncommonly sunny and dry for like a week solid and I think I have a significant fraction of a tan which is just fucking weird, so please send rain, but no thunderstorms. I'm worried we're in for a hell of a fire season.
Heck, my kale is getting a suntan.
posted by loquacious at 1:14 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
In my grandmother's house in Mexico, the rain is a tropical rain, it appears suddenly with cracking thunder and then pours down over everything, an avalanche of rain.
Houses there are built with a central open patio. A walkway surrounds this patio and the different rooms open up onto this walkway. So when it is raining and you want to walk from your room to the kitchen, say, you walk with the rain beside you, a curtain of rain like a waterfall inside your house. You can also sit outside on the walkway, with a hot tea or atole, watching the rain drench the central garden. My grandmother loves to sit there, sometimes with warm blankets piled on top of her, surrounded by the heavy rains.
posted by vacapinta at 1:16 AM on May 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Houses there are built with a central open patio. A walkway surrounds this patio and the different rooms open up onto this walkway. So when it is raining and you want to walk from your room to the kitchen, say, you walk with the rain beside you, a curtain of rain like a waterfall inside your house. You can also sit outside on the walkway, with a hot tea or atole, watching the rain drench the central garden. My grandmother loves to sit there, sometimes with warm blankets piled on top of her, surrounded by the heavy rains.
posted by vacapinta at 1:16 AM on May 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Here's a rainy memory from my motorcycle trip through Africa, back in 2000.
My travel companion and I were in Ghana, in a lovely small lodge at the entrance of Mole park. The lodge is still there, it's a lot bigger now. It is and was operated by the Salia brothers. We rented a lovely little room there, with an oil lamp and a flat roof.
In the evening, we climbed the wooden ladder and went up on that roof, where a table had been installed, to have dinner with the Salia brothers and the other guests (around six people). It was a good place to eat because it was slightly cooler there: if there was even a tiny breeze, you'd surely feel it there.
One thing was worrying us a little: a black cloud on the horizon, coming closer and growing. We asked, shouldn't we climb down off of the roof and go inside, because of the rain that will soon be here? The older Salia said: yes, there's rain coming, but we're going to eat dinner first.
The food was nice. It consisted of rice, beans and a vegetable that did not look familiar to me but was said to be called, simply, 'green leaves', They were tasty.
Nevertheless, halfway through the meal, the two of us got up, and took our plates downstairs. And not a moment too soon. There was a strong gust of wind and it blew sand into everyone's food! And then there was another one that blew the table straight off of the roof.
Everyone hurried downstairs as the rain started pouring down. Some of the guests joined us in our small room to eat the remains of their dinner, now with extra sand. We all stayed inside for the next hour, while the rain lasted.
In the morning, everything was muddy and the table was broken. But we went to Mole park and had a very nice tour there.
Rain happens now and then. But let's have dinner first.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:12 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
My travel companion and I were in Ghana, in a lovely small lodge at the entrance of Mole park. The lodge is still there, it's a lot bigger now. It is and was operated by the Salia brothers. We rented a lovely little room there, with an oil lamp and a flat roof.
In the evening, we climbed the wooden ladder and went up on that roof, where a table had been installed, to have dinner with the Salia brothers and the other guests (around six people). It was a good place to eat because it was slightly cooler there: if there was even a tiny breeze, you'd surely feel it there.
One thing was worrying us a little: a black cloud on the horizon, coming closer and growing. We asked, shouldn't we climb down off of the roof and go inside, because of the rain that will soon be here? The older Salia said: yes, there's rain coming, but we're going to eat dinner first.
The food was nice. It consisted of rice, beans and a vegetable that did not look familiar to me but was said to be called, simply, 'green leaves', They were tasty.
Nevertheless, halfway through the meal, the two of us got up, and took our plates downstairs. And not a moment too soon. There was a strong gust of wind and it blew sand into everyone's food! And then there was another one that blew the table straight off of the roof.
Everyone hurried downstairs as the rain started pouring down. Some of the guests joined us in our small room to eat the remains of their dinner, now with extra sand. We all stayed inside for the next hour, while the rain lasted.
In the morning, everything was muddy and the table was broken. But we went to Mole park and had a very nice tour there.
Rain happens now and then. But let's have dinner first.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:12 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
In general, I absolutely love thunderstorms. I find them oddly relaxing. Going to bed during a thunderstorm is so nice.
All that said, the weather here, over the past couple of years, has taken a turn wherein we have much fewer thunderstorms, and far more torrential rains sans thunder. This year has been practically biblical in the amount of rain we've gotten so far. What little lawn I have is more like a bog in places. Yet, we've only heard thunder once.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:13 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
All that said, the weather here, over the past couple of years, has taken a turn wherein we have much fewer thunderstorms, and far more torrential rains sans thunder. This year has been practically biblical in the amount of rain we've gotten so far. What little lawn I have is more like a bog in places. Yet, we've only heard thunder once.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:13 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Rain used to really get me down. I decided to try to think about it from the perspective of the plants. Back when I used to walk to work, I was able to see how beautiful and (to me) happy plants look in a rainstorm. Somewhere along the way I became the kind of person who can say “I love the rain!”
posted by CMcG at 3:37 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by CMcG at 3:37 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
For those of you who don’t carry an umbrella but wear glasses...
That's me. I gave up on umbrellas years ago after losing and breaking so many of them. Nowadays I wear a flat cap: any non-flimsy headgear with a bit of a brim or peak will do a pretty good job at keeping the worst of the rain from ones glasses - unless it's very windy, in which case an umbrella's not much use either.
posted by misteraitch at 4:37 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
That's me. I gave up on umbrellas years ago after losing and breaking so many of them. Nowadays I wear a flat cap: any non-flimsy headgear with a bit of a brim or peak will do a pretty good job at keeping the worst of the rain from ones glasses - unless it's very windy, in which case an umbrella's not much use either.
posted by misteraitch at 4:37 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am on the coast and I do miss more inland thunderstorms, the air smells different, the birds behave differently too with their songs. When I think of thunderstorms I think of this song.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 5:25 AM on May 2, 2019
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 5:25 AM on May 2, 2019
Is this an okay place to glow about thundersnow? Because thundersnow is great.
posted by eirias at 5:28 AM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by eirias at 5:28 AM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
This morning's rainfog (I'm in in the same general region as Fizz, scruss, etc.) was a surprise.
I remember in coastal Massachusetts summers when I was in my teens and 20's, there'd be a hot, humid day, a quick thunderstorm at about 4:30pm, and then a gorgeous, clear, warm evening. Can we have that back please?
posted by wellred at 5:28 AM on May 2, 2019
I remember in coastal Massachusetts summers when I was in my teens and 20's, there'd be a hot, humid day, a quick thunderstorm at about 4:30pm, and then a gorgeous, clear, warm evening. Can we have that back please?
posted by wellred at 5:28 AM on May 2, 2019
I like the rain but despise umbrellas. Boots, jacket, hat.
Santiago., however, is fairly miserable in rainy season, the city seems to act surprised each time it rains: with like 15 minutes of drizzle, the drains clog, the streets flood, cars crash, traffic jams spring up like mold under a wet rock, people get even surlier than usual, the air in the Metro gets damp and too human for my taste.
posted by signal at 6:19 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Santiago., however, is fairly miserable in rainy season, the city seems to act surprised each time it rains: with like 15 minutes of drizzle, the drains clog, the streets flood, cars crash, traffic jams spring up like mold under a wet rock, people get even surlier than usual, the air in the Metro gets damp and too human for my taste.
posted by signal at 6:19 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just moved to a little wee cottage on the shores of Lake Erie, and I'm told that thunderstorms out over the water are quite a sight to see.
Last year I was outside tucked under the awning of our porch during a monster thunderstorm taking pictures, and suddenly everything went very still and the whole sky started rotating. I looked across the road, and almost right over my neighbour's house a little funnel cloud formed, slipped down, then pulled back up, reformed and then dissipated. I got some amazing pictures but man, was it ever scary!
posted by Lizard at 6:36 AM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
Last year I was outside tucked under the awning of our porch during a monster thunderstorm taking pictures, and suddenly everything went very still and the whole sky started rotating. I looked across the road, and almost right over my neighbour's house a little funnel cloud formed, slipped down, then pulled back up, reformed and then dissipated. I got some amazing pictures but man, was it ever scary!
posted by Lizard at 6:36 AM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
The past seven years, I've had a four-minute car ride into work. I could have walked it, but there are literally no sidewalks on several of the streets between me and the office...plus I was lazy.
I started a new job in March that I take a commuter rail to get to. I was riding the subway from the commuter station to the office until I realized it was less than two miles, and my 50-year-old self could use some unstructured, simple exercise, so I walk it now.
Every other day, it's rained since then. Like...historic (not since the 1800s) amounts of rain, for the past six weeks.
I just suck it up and wear a raincoat most of the time, and it's fine. I don't know if I'd feel differently (I would, yes, I would) if it were November and raining like this, but in April-May? It's kind of lovely.
posted by xingcat at 6:41 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I started a new job in March that I take a commuter rail to get to. I was riding the subway from the commuter station to the office until I realized it was less than two miles, and my 50-year-old self could use some unstructured, simple exercise, so I walk it now.
Every other day, it's rained since then. Like...historic (not since the 1800s) amounts of rain, for the past six weeks.
I just suck it up and wear a raincoat most of the time, and it's fine. I don't know if I'd feel differently (I would, yes, I would) if it were November and raining like this, but in April-May? It's kind of lovely.
posted by xingcat at 6:41 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I wrote a poem in library school in honour of the rain and the incredibly dull night class I had:
The clouds move across the darkening sky
and the rain pours down.
Maybe I'll stick my head out the window, open my mouth, and drown
posted by biggreenplant at 7:24 AM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
The clouds move across the darkening sky
and the rain pours down.
Maybe I'll stick my head out the window, open my mouth, and drown
posted by biggreenplant at 7:24 AM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I spent the first 20 years of my life in the Southeast, and I never knew how important rain was to me until I went to Beijing for a semester in college. It turns out Beijing gets very little rain except in the middle of summer - I think it rained once in the 4+ months I was there, and it was very surprisingly depressing to me. Now I know I could never permanently live anywhere without frequent rain.
Now I'm in NYC, and I guess it has about the same average rainfall as my hometown but it doesn't FEEL the same. The joy of sitting on a big covered porch on a spring or summer evening while a huge thunderstorm rolls by is one of the things that keeps tempting me to move back.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:31 AM on May 2, 2019
Now I'm in NYC, and I guess it has about the same average rainfall as my hometown but it doesn't FEEL the same. The joy of sitting on a big covered porch on a spring or summer evening while a huge thunderstorm rolls by is one of the things that keeps tempting me to move back.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:31 AM on May 2, 2019
I hate rain. It's so wet, soaks into everything, being damp and clammy and cold is the worst feeling, hate it. Thunderstorms are at least entertaining, so if it's raining I'd rather it be storming.
posted by Fig at 8:34 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Fig at 8:34 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Santiago., however, is fairly miserable in rainy season, the city seems to act surprised each time it rains
This seemed to be the case in coastal California, too. People acted like they had never driven in rain before. Yes, it's more dangerous to drive in the rain, but you can adjust and be safe.
In California, my wife and I lived in a double-wide mobile home for a few years (I moved in with her, but that's another story for another time). It backed up to a creek, and behind that was a steep hill, so our "back yard" was big and wild, even though we had a tiny little lot. And we had a tin porch cover, which was great for two reasons -- we could open our window to get the smell and sounds of the rain, and the porch cover really sounded great with the rare rains. In the winter, we could also listen to the water in the creek, and the occasional frog.
We have a bigger, more substantial home in New Mexico, but I miss that tin patio cover. On the up-side, we get all sorts of weird weather, like virgas, when the rain doesn't reach the ground (scroll down for a very New Mexico landscape -- rainy clouds with rain falling but not hitting the ground, and sunny skies in the background). And now we have monsoon season! In good years, it means afternoon thunderstorms most days in late July, August, and even into early September.
I have always liked the rain, and briefly thought that Portland sounded like the best place ever, for that and other reasons. But that didn't happen, and I'm pretty darned happy in the high desert.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
This seemed to be the case in coastal California, too. People acted like they had never driven in rain before. Yes, it's more dangerous to drive in the rain, but you can adjust and be safe.
In California, my wife and I lived in a double-wide mobile home for a few years (I moved in with her, but that's another story for another time). It backed up to a creek, and behind that was a steep hill, so our "back yard" was big and wild, even though we had a tiny little lot. And we had a tin porch cover, which was great for two reasons -- we could open our window to get the smell and sounds of the rain, and the porch cover really sounded great with the rare rains. In the winter, we could also listen to the water in the creek, and the occasional frog.
We have a bigger, more substantial home in New Mexico, but I miss that tin patio cover. On the up-side, we get all sorts of weird weather, like virgas, when the rain doesn't reach the ground (scroll down for a very New Mexico landscape -- rainy clouds with rain falling but not hitting the ground, and sunny skies in the background). And now we have monsoon season! In good years, it means afternoon thunderstorms most days in late July, August, and even into early September.
I have always liked the rain, and briefly thought that Portland sounded like the best place ever, for that and other reasons. But that didn't happen, and I'm pretty darned happy in the high desert.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Lord, let it rain
Patricia Barber hails* from Chicago, BTW.
*sorry
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:48 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Patricia Barber hails* from Chicago, BTW.
*sorry
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:48 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
For those of you who don’t carry an umbrella but wear glasses, how do you deal with impacted vision?
I wear a hat or cap with a brim at least in front to keep the rain off my specs, and my rain jacket has a very (almost too) generous hood, both of which work because the rain I usually deal with comes mostly straight down. I guess if I was dealing with frequent blowing sideways rain I'd give up and use an umbrella.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:57 AM on May 2, 2019
I wear a hat or cap with a brim at least in front to keep the rain off my specs, and my rain jacket has a very (almost too) generous hood, both of which work because the rain I usually deal with comes mostly straight down. I guess if I was dealing with frequent blowing sideways rain I'd give up and use an umbrella.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:57 AM on May 2, 2019
I have a share of a beach house in Alabama. This house has a long, broad porch that faces the bay. One of the best things is the watch the rain on the bay, and hear it on the metal roof. Even better is a thunderstorm at night. The distant flashes illuminate the clouds, as the storm sweeps in or remains out over the Gulf. Most interesting is when there is an enthusiastic set of lightning, and we never hear the thunder, it is so high and far away.
I live in Houston. We sometimes get flooding downpours. Look out at the street and judge the desirability of driving somewhere. If the water is up to the curb, then it is good to stay in. Up to the sidewalk, things are getting more serious. On to the lawn? Well, a lot of folks are going to be fucked now, aren't they? That is the indicator that lower areas are getting water into houses.
It is fun to watch those storms and listen to the rain on the roof. During several flooding storms we have anxiously watched the reports and looked at the radar, and yet fallen asleep to the lull of broad waves of rain sweeping across the roof. Wake up in the night, or at the break of dawn, and judge the situation by the sound of cars and trucks in the street. Heavy sounds of water being moved means that it is over the curb. Lighter sounds of faster moving cars means that the water is going down. But, if the sound of heavy rain is not accompanied by any traffic, then it is time to look outside and see just how bad things are.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 9:02 AM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
I live in Houston. We sometimes get flooding downpours. Look out at the street and judge the desirability of driving somewhere. If the water is up to the curb, then it is good to stay in. Up to the sidewalk, things are getting more serious. On to the lawn? Well, a lot of folks are going to be fucked now, aren't they? That is the indicator that lower areas are getting water into houses.
It is fun to watch those storms and listen to the rain on the roof. During several flooding storms we have anxiously watched the reports and looked at the radar, and yet fallen asleep to the lull of broad waves of rain sweeping across the roof. Wake up in the night, or at the break of dawn, and judge the situation by the sound of cars and trucks in the street. Heavy sounds of water being moved means that it is over the curb. Lighter sounds of faster moving cars means that the water is going down. But, if the sound of heavy rain is not accompanied by any traffic, then it is time to look outside and see just how bad things are.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 9:02 AM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is a good occasion for me to plug the Demeter fragrance Thunderstorm (Fragrantica page). I particularly enjoy wearing it on days of thematically-appropriate weather, which isn't as redundant as it might seem.
Since Mrs. Cheeses became a fragrance nerd, it's the only one I've encountered that (A) strikes me as truly gender neutral and (B) I never seem to not be in the mood for.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:23 AM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
Since Mrs. Cheeses became a fragrance nerd, it's the only one I've encountered that (A) strikes me as truly gender neutral and (B) I never seem to not be in the mood for.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:23 AM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I say this about everything, but rain was better in the midwest. Rain in New England is so... blah. Seems like everyone in the world hates rain, and I never understood until I moved here. There's nothing fun about rain here.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:37 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by kevinbelt at 10:37 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Chicago has had so much rain that they're asking the entire city not to shower, apparently, to spare our poor drains.
Frankly I've been too depressed and busy to shower anyway, so this suits my mood right down to the ground.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:40 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Frankly I've been too depressed and busy to shower anyway, so this suits my mood right down to the ground.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:40 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love rain as long as I’m not commuting in it. There is nothing better than curling up on the couch with a book and coffee on a cold rainy day, falling asleep with the windows open on a rainy night, kissing outside in the rain, or swimming in the summer when it’s raining (if it’s safe!!). I can’t stand driving or flying in the rain, though (ugh turbulence!). I love the sound of water so much that I’ll wait to run the dishwasher until right before I go to sleep. And I love my mitti attar fragrance. I still remember the month after Prince died, it rained almost an entire month straight, every day in a row. That was really something.
The weather I hate with a burning passion isn’t rain—it’s WIND! My clothes and hair going everywhere and things blowing in my eyes and face. The absolute worst.
posted by sallybrown at 10:53 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
The weather I hate with a burning passion isn’t rain—it’s WIND! My clothes and hair going everywhere and things blowing in my eyes and face. The absolute worst.
posted by sallybrown at 10:53 AM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yaaaaas the clouds have returned and covered up the evil day star and I am pleased.
That's me. I gave up on umbrellas years ago after losing and breaking so many of them. Nowadays I wear a flat cap: any non-flimsy headgear with a bit of a brim or peak will do a pretty good job at keeping the worst of the rain from ones glasses - unless it's very windy, in which case an umbrella's not much use either.
Yep, flat cap or watch cap, rain jacket with a hood and brim. I also usually keep a microfiber lens cloth handy or a pocket full of napkins.
Riding my bike in the rain is another story and I sometimes just have to go without glasses or try to see through the water droplets. If it's wet out I'm probably not going very fast anyway, and if it's really wet and cold out I'm probably not riding. I don't mind getting drenched riding a bike but it's not as attractive if it's also very cold and windy.
posted by loquacious at 11:00 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
That's me. I gave up on umbrellas years ago after losing and breaking so many of them. Nowadays I wear a flat cap: any non-flimsy headgear with a bit of a brim or peak will do a pretty good job at keeping the worst of the rain from ones glasses - unless it's very windy, in which case an umbrella's not much use either.
Yep, flat cap or watch cap, rain jacket with a hood and brim. I also usually keep a microfiber lens cloth handy or a pocket full of napkins.
Riding my bike in the rain is another story and I sometimes just have to go without glasses or try to see through the water droplets. If it's wet out I'm probably not going very fast anyway, and if it's really wet and cold out I'm probably not riding. I don't mind getting drenched riding a bike but it's not as attractive if it's also very cold and windy.
posted by loquacious at 11:00 AM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
→ a little funnel cloud formed
You're pretty close to the funnel cloud capital of Canada. Back when I was doing more meteorology, the north Erie shore has a crazy number of little twisters that form and dissipate almost immediately. Until you know which ones are the big ones to get worried about, it can cause quite an upset.
posted by scruss at 12:06 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
You're pretty close to the funnel cloud capital of Canada. Back when I was doing more meteorology, the north Erie shore has a crazy number of little twisters that form and dissipate almost immediately. Until you know which ones are the big ones to get worried about, it can cause quite an upset.
posted by scruss at 12:06 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
We’ve had SO MUCH rain in the Chicago area over the last few days. I went out yesterday to fill the bird feeders and the ground was so saturated that rainwater was bubbling up through the grass where I was walking. Luckily I don’t have a basement, so I’m not worried about any water damage. And all the rain is making the trees bud out like crazy—so much green after a really long, drab winter!
posted by bookmammal at 12:15 PM on May 2, 2019
posted by bookmammal at 12:15 PM on May 2, 2019
2. Umbrellas. With the reputation for raininess came a kind of city posture against them, not universal but common enough especially when it could operate as a point of local pride or gentle hazing of out-of-towners.
I worked as a tourguide in Venice, and I was giving a walking tour on a misty/rainy/drizzly and kind of miserable day. Giving a tour with tourists using umbrellas is also awful, though, because they block each other's views and it makes them spread out so they're harder to corral. So I was expected kind of a ho-hum tour, until it turned out that the group was all from Portland and looked at me funny when I even mentioned umbrellas. Given how much of my daily life at that time was spent dodging the eyeball-level umbrella spokes wielded by tiny Venetian women, it made me unbearably happy to be out walking in the rain with a group of umbrella-shunners.
posted by lazuli at 12:23 PM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I worked as a tourguide in Venice, and I was giving a walking tour on a misty/rainy/drizzly and kind of miserable day. Giving a tour with tourists using umbrellas is also awful, though, because they block each other's views and it makes them spread out so they're harder to corral. So I was expected kind of a ho-hum tour, until it turned out that the group was all from Portland and looked at me funny when I even mentioned umbrellas. Given how much of my daily life at that time was spent dodging the eyeball-level umbrella spokes wielded by tiny Venetian women, it made me unbearably happy to be out walking in the rain with a group of umbrella-shunners.
posted by lazuli at 12:23 PM on May 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
We just got an awesome and intense rainstorm, although there could have been far more thunder and lightning. It got dark enough to make the streetlights go on, which was cool. I think the #1 thing I missed in California was good thunderstorms, and this is the first biggish one I’ve experienced since I got back to Maryland.
I’ve always, always loved thunderstorms. Some of my earliest memories are of getting really excited about slate-gray skies and gathering storms. The bigger and louder the better. There was an episode of Reading Rainbow about thunderstorms, and we had it on tape, to be watched whenever a storm was coming. I read that episode’s accompanying book — Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll — so many times that I can still picture almost every page of it in my mind.
No joke, this is how much I love thunderstorms — I’ve been super, super depressed for the past few days, but as soon as the sky started getting dark, my mood started to lift. Now that we’ve had a full-on storm, I’m actually in kind of a good mood for the first time in days. I am legitimately feeling happier, and my appetite has returned. This is 100% because of how much I love thunderstorms. I’m not saying I’m cured, but I’m hoping this summer will be a stormy one, as it sometimes is here.
Also, I like being able to say “storm’s a-comin’!”
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:20 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
I’ve always, always loved thunderstorms. Some of my earliest memories are of getting really excited about slate-gray skies and gathering storms. The bigger and louder the better. There was an episode of Reading Rainbow about thunderstorms, and we had it on tape, to be watched whenever a storm was coming. I read that episode’s accompanying book — Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll — so many times that I can still picture almost every page of it in my mind.
No joke, this is how much I love thunderstorms — I’ve been super, super depressed for the past few days, but as soon as the sky started getting dark, my mood started to lift. Now that we’ve had a full-on storm, I’m actually in kind of a good mood for the first time in days. I am legitimately feeling happier, and my appetite has returned. This is 100% because of how much I love thunderstorms. I’m not saying I’m cured, but I’m hoping this summer will be a stormy one, as it sometimes is here.
Also, I like being able to say “storm’s a-comin’!”
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:20 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
IT IS FINALLY NOT GODDAMN RAINING GODDAMMIT
Time to get ready for wildfires, then
posted by twoplussix at 1:46 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Time to get ready for wildfires, then
posted by twoplussix at 1:46 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Current Thunderstorm Status: Active
Current Nationals Game Status: Delayed
Current Workday Status: Extended By Emails
Current Mood: BOOOOOOO
posted by BigVACub at 2:39 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Current Nationals Game Status: Delayed
Current Workday Status: Extended By Emails
Current Mood: BOOOOOOO
posted by BigVACub at 2:39 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Some rain is much worse than others. I'm thinking particularly of that stuff that feels like drizzle but which leaves you unexpectedly soaked through. Some times I find rain quite pleasant but I also hate the feeling of your soaked jeans sort of clopping against your cold damp flesh with every step if you got caught out and are going to have to walk a mile or two. Then a mile in it gets into your shoe and you feel your sock get damper and damper and every step on that side becomes dominated by your sole squidging into it.
We get a fair amount of rain where I live in Cornwall, UK, as we get all the weather systems nice and fresh off the Atlantic. They usually come with attached wind so hardly anyone uses umbrellas due to their high mortality. Glasses off for the short of seeing.
Having said that I do enjoy a good thunderstorm if I am not out in it. I've experienced a few good ones and a more concerning one. I think I've mentioned before sitting on a balcony in Wengen in Switzerland and watching a big storm come up the valley, complete with lightning. I was also caught out on another trip to Switzerland - we had an absolutely stunning weekend at an ultimate tournament, swimming in the lake between games, until teatime on Sunday when a dark cloud came round into the valley and it hammered down, complete with sound effects. Unfortunately dozens of us were camping. So that was an experience. One poor Irish guy had been borrowing a place in a tent and the owner shot off when the storm appeared so he was left high, if not dry, and ended up sleeping in what was essentially a tarp over a rope, with a separate tarp groundsheet. He'd already disappeared when we woke to puddles in the tent and 3-4 foot waves on a lake that was only ~6 miles long.
posted by biffa at 2:48 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
We get a fair amount of rain where I live in Cornwall, UK, as we get all the weather systems nice and fresh off the Atlantic. They usually come with attached wind so hardly anyone uses umbrellas due to their high mortality. Glasses off for the short of seeing.
Having said that I do enjoy a good thunderstorm if I am not out in it. I've experienced a few good ones and a more concerning one. I think I've mentioned before sitting on a balcony in Wengen in Switzerland and watching a big storm come up the valley, complete with lightning. I was also caught out on another trip to Switzerland - we had an absolutely stunning weekend at an ultimate tournament, swimming in the lake between games, until teatime on Sunday when a dark cloud came round into the valley and it hammered down, complete with sound effects. Unfortunately dozens of us were camping. So that was an experience. One poor Irish guy had been borrowing a place in a tent and the owner shot off when the storm appeared so he was left high, if not dry, and ended up sleeping in what was essentially a tarp over a rope, with a separate tarp groundsheet. He'd already disappeared when we woke to puddles in the tent and 3-4 foot waves on a lake that was only ~6 miles long.
posted by biffa at 2:48 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's been raining off and on, this morning it was cold and damp. Don't think we got above 45 degrees today.
I like rain, but not for days on end. I like making soups, today I am making Moroccan red lentil soup, with kofta meatballs on the side. I'll drop a few in the soup bowls, and save the rest for leftovers, freezing some of them for another day.
Used to live in the Midwest, in the Chicago suburbs and Wisconsin, and while I appreciate a good thunderstorm, don't miss the tornado warnings and microbursts. There was one storm that came through so fast, the rain was sideways, and after 5-10 minutes, 1/2 of a maple tree in the back yard was torn off.
We get Nor'Easters here, they don't always come this far inland, but October of 2017, we got one where we lost power for 5 days. My fridge and freezer had to be cleaned out, that was no fun. Trees down everywhere.
I have a raincoat, which I rarely wear, I am usually wearing one of my husband's old hoodies, and pull the hood up going from the door to the car. I also have one of those nylon LL Bean rain hats, pinkish red, and while it works as a rain hat, I've found it works very well as a sun hat when we go to the beach. Own two umbrellas, keep one in the trunk, one on a hook, haven't used either in years.
I like a nice gentle rain, dripping from the eaves, curling up on the couch with a good book, or watching a relaxing TV show, and a pot of soup on the stove.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 2:50 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
I like rain, but not for days on end. I like making soups, today I am making Moroccan red lentil soup, with kofta meatballs on the side. I'll drop a few in the soup bowls, and save the rest for leftovers, freezing some of them for another day.
Used to live in the Midwest, in the Chicago suburbs and Wisconsin, and while I appreciate a good thunderstorm, don't miss the tornado warnings and microbursts. There was one storm that came through so fast, the rain was sideways, and after 5-10 minutes, 1/2 of a maple tree in the back yard was torn off.
We get Nor'Easters here, they don't always come this far inland, but October of 2017, we got one where we lost power for 5 days. My fridge and freezer had to be cleaned out, that was no fun. Trees down everywhere.
I have a raincoat, which I rarely wear, I am usually wearing one of my husband's old hoodies, and pull the hood up going from the door to the car. I also have one of those nylon LL Bean rain hats, pinkish red, and while it works as a rain hat, I've found it works very well as a sun hat when we go to the beach. Own two umbrellas, keep one in the trunk, one on a hook, haven't used either in years.
I like a nice gentle rain, dripping from the eaves, curling up on the couch with a good book, or watching a relaxing TV show, and a pot of soup on the stove.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 2:50 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
I like a good summer rainstorm (especially since I joined the local racquet club and don't mourn a loss of a tennis game due to weather). Outdoor tennis season is tragically brief in Wisconsin.
My girlfriend recently turned me on to sitting in the garage (with the door open) on lawn chairs, simply watching the rain and it's tremendously soothing. Even more so at night.
posted by Twicketface at 2:52 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
My girlfriend recently turned me on to sitting in the garage (with the door open) on lawn chairs, simply watching the rain and it's tremendously soothing. Even more so at night.
posted by Twicketface at 2:52 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
That reminds me of a house I lived in for a while back east, that had a porch along the front with a tin roof. Not only was it fun to sit on the porch to watch/hear the rain come down (you actually had to raise your voice to be heard over it), but my bedroom windows opened out onto the porch as well so it was lovely to fall asleep to the sound of the rain.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:32 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:32 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
When I go to work and its raining I will take an umbrella because it does a better job of keeping my legs and shoes dry than a coat would. Otherwise I don't care and will just wear a raincoat. My default non-work footwear are waterproof trail runners so rain doesn't matter to them. As far as I'm concerned in 2019 every shoe should be waterproof and the fact that they aren't is more proof that we're in the wrong timeline.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:38 PM on May 2, 2019
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:38 PM on May 2, 2019
When it comes to rain, I'd better have either an umbrella or a hat, because while I can resign myself to being wet, I really, really hate raindrops falling on my increasingly bald head.
We've had a rainy spring thus far in Cambridge, but most of it has been at the "flat cap and peacoat" level of coverage, not "wrestle the umbrella in one hand and the briefcase in the other," which is good.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 6:12 PM on May 2, 2019
We've had a rainy spring thus far in Cambridge, but most of it has been at the "flat cap and peacoat" level of coverage, not "wrestle the umbrella in one hand and the briefcase in the other," which is good.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 6:12 PM on May 2, 2019
When I lived in Chicago, I found that I didn't need to listen to the weather, because the pressure changes would give me painful sinus headaches and I'd know something was coming. One summer day, I went out to lunch in 90-degree weather; the temperature dropped 30 degrees or so while I was out and it was raining by the time I came back.
I like Los Angeles because we get our rain in the winter, the way it should be (if you want snow, go drive to it). The jacarandas are just starting to turn purple, and soon there will be sticky streets and sidewalks (and cars) throughout my neighborhood.
posted by mogget at 6:12 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
I like Los Angeles because we get our rain in the winter, the way it should be (if you want snow, go drive to it). The jacarandas are just starting to turn purple, and soon there will be sticky streets and sidewalks (and cars) throughout my neighborhood.
posted by mogget at 6:12 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think I’ve always loved thunderstorms. Petrichor most of all.
This winter I asked for fuzzy slippers and a pretty nice light rain jacket and I am so happy I did that. Also, I’ve managed to keep track of the same nice-ish vented umbrella for 3 or so years and it’s starting to get rusty in a way that makes me sure it won’t last forever, so last week my partner ordered us each new umbrellas so we can be prepared. That....blows my mind, I felt so well cared for. I had a pair of really awesome rain boots that were a birthday gift but they got a hole and I replaced them with something stupid and cheap (rather than just inexpensive).
It’s raining here tonight and I’m still recovering from my tonsillectomy and I’m so tired. I miss real food and being able to complete a task like assembling a meal. I miss conversations, and I miss just going outside, though I have gone for a walk every day since I think Saturday? Today’s mission was to get a 9x13 baking pan for the lasagne a friend made. Tomorrow I’ll go get fruit. Fresh? Frozen? Jarred? I don’t dare.
The rain pattering on the roof outside is very nice.
posted by bilabial at 6:48 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
This winter I asked for fuzzy slippers and a pretty nice light rain jacket and I am so happy I did that. Also, I’ve managed to keep track of the same nice-ish vented umbrella for 3 or so years and it’s starting to get rusty in a way that makes me sure it won’t last forever, so last week my partner ordered us each new umbrellas so we can be prepared. That....blows my mind, I felt so well cared for. I had a pair of really awesome rain boots that were a birthday gift but they got a hole and I replaced them with something stupid and cheap (rather than just inexpensive).
It’s raining here tonight and I’m still recovering from my tonsillectomy and I’m so tired. I miss real food and being able to complete a task like assembling a meal. I miss conversations, and I miss just going outside, though I have gone for a walk every day since I think Saturday? Today’s mission was to get a 9x13 baking pan for the lasagne a friend made. Tomorrow I’ll go get fruit. Fresh? Frozen? Jarred? I don’t dare.
The rain pattering on the roof outside is very nice.
posted by bilabial at 6:48 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
→ This is a good occasion for me to plug the Demeter fragrance Thunderstorm
CheesesofBrazil's comment intrigued me, so I rushed off to the nearest Demeter store and — dang, is this stuff interesting.
posted by scruss at 8:24 PM on May 2, 2019
CheesesofBrazil's comment intrigued me, so I rushed off to the nearest Demeter store and — dang, is this stuff interesting.
posted by scruss at 8:24 PM on May 2, 2019
I have never been a big fan of my home state of Texas (my verdict: meh), but it does have awesome thunderstorms. I own a TV that gets local stations specifically for tornado warnings/news and we've already had one this week. We had a booming cracking storm last night and rain off and on all day. And yeah I love it.
I use a raincoat plus umbrella cause our storms come straight down like a showerhead sometimes. If you want to be able to see your way from your car to the door, you need one.
I was an adult before I realized not everyone shared my love of tornado videos. Here's one done by a drone. SO COOL
posted by emjaybee at 9:07 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
I use a raincoat plus umbrella cause our storms come straight down like a showerhead sometimes. If you want to be able to see your way from your car to the door, you need one.
I was an adult before I realized not everyone shared my love of tornado videos. Here's one done by a drone. SO COOL
posted by emjaybee at 9:07 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Grew up w/ thunderstorms. We live in a condo that has no balcony & since it's a historic building, we can't add one. So we designated a small area by one of our banks of windows as our "porch". Love sitting there in the evenings listening to the birds settle in, watching contrails, and hearing leaves and branches brush in the breezes.
One day a couple of summers ago we were sitting there when a storm rolled in, had the window open. It was really fabulous to sit in the comfort of the living room while the skies went dark grey, thunder boomed and the water just dumped. That will always be one of my favorite memories of this place.
posted by yoga at 7:01 AM on May 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
One day a couple of summers ago we were sitting there when a storm rolled in, had the window open. It was really fabulous to sit in the comfort of the living room while the skies went dark grey, thunder boomed and the water just dumped. That will always be one of my favorite memories of this place.
posted by yoga at 7:01 AM on May 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
As a child in Denver, we had nearly daily afternoon thunderstorms - usually only 10-20 minutes long, but which would drop the temperature a LOT (like 30 degrees - from 90 to 60), enough that if you were hiking/cycling without appropriate jacket, you could easily get hypothermia (especially in the mountains, where it could get near freezing very quickly at higher altitudes). I love the sound of thunder and the torrents that often accompany it - but I have a healthy respect for lightening.
The last thunderstorm I was 'in' was in central Rome over a year ago - it thundered long and loudly for almost an hour - and hearing it echo across that stony city (while snug in our apartment) was wonderful.
posted by dbmcd at 11:48 AM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
The last thunderstorm I was 'in' was in central Rome over a year ago - it thundered long and loudly for almost an hour - and hearing it echo across that stony city (while snug in our apartment) was wonderful.
posted by dbmcd at 11:48 AM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
I love thunderstorms so much that my nightly white-noise is a gentle thunderstorm. I find them very relaxing, unless they involve a ton of strong wind, and then (even though I live in New England, where such things are uncommom) I get anxious about tornadoes.
posted by sarcasticah at 12:35 PM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by sarcasticah at 12:35 PM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
I grew up in the US South, on the Gulf Coast, and rain was anything from an annoyance to a blessing to a terror if it was associated with a hurricane. Overall, I mostly just saw it as an impediment to doing the things I wanted to do, especially once riding a motorcycle was a realistic thing to have on that list.
After two years in the Peace Corps in West Africa though, there's nothing like the sound of rain on a tin roof to make me feel like everything's looking up.
posted by solotoro at 1:27 PM on May 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
After two years in the Peace Corps in West Africa though, there's nothing like the sound of rain on a tin roof to make me feel like everything's looking up.
posted by solotoro at 1:27 PM on May 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just saw that Calgary had like a blizzard over night.
The one last weekend was not a great one, for sure. Spring blizzards are a bit of a tradition here, though - we often get one last big dump of snow. It could have been worse - this one was on a Saturday night, not a weekday morning.
Our first thunderstorm of the year rolled through last night, with lightning and some small hail. I love thunderstorms, personally - watching the lightning and listening to the thunder roll overhead. I'll get up at 2 or 3 in the morning if one comes in and watch the display. I also have many happy memories of lying in bed at night, listening to the thunder and rain on the roof.
I remember once as a kid, on summer vacation, seeing one rolling in while I was over at a friends house. I decided I needed to get home before it hit, and riding my bike home on nearly deserted streets - everyone had taken cover - and flinching as the sky lit up and incredibly loud thunder cracked overhead. I cut it a little close, perhaps, but I made it in time to get in the house and take cover before the rain started.
posted by nubs at 3:07 PM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
The one last weekend was not a great one, for sure. Spring blizzards are a bit of a tradition here, though - we often get one last big dump of snow. It could have been worse - this one was on a Saturday night, not a weekday morning.
Our first thunderstorm of the year rolled through last night, with lightning and some small hail. I love thunderstorms, personally - watching the lightning and listening to the thunder roll overhead. I'll get up at 2 or 3 in the morning if one comes in and watch the display. I also have many happy memories of lying in bed at night, listening to the thunder and rain on the roof.
I remember once as a kid, on summer vacation, seeing one rolling in while I was over at a friends house. I decided I needed to get home before it hit, and riding my bike home on nearly deserted streets - everyone had taken cover - and flinching as the sky lit up and incredibly loud thunder cracked overhead. I cut it a little close, perhaps, but I made it in time to get in the house and take cover before the rain started.
posted by nubs at 3:07 PM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
I have the best umbrella, which I learned about from an askme!
I love being in a platform tent in the rain, but am not such a big fan of rain in cities (which is where I usually am nowadays).
posted by snaw at 7:07 PM on May 3, 2019
I love being in a platform tent in the rain, but am not such a big fan of rain in cities (which is where I usually am nowadays).
posted by snaw at 7:07 PM on May 3, 2019
It's raining here too after a period of dry, and I was delighted to see it was raining elsewhere mid-week! We had a cracker of a storm and lightshow on Wednesday- very cool.
I live in a rural area of Victoria where we don't irrigate (pumping bore water can bring the salt up- bad) so the most recent rains has most people kind of smiling more, hopeful- maybe this is the 'autumn break' and we'll get a decent amount of rain at the right times, and the crops will grow and the farmers will be happy.
It's almost a foolish hope when you've seen crops struggle to get up (no rain) the farmers give up and cut it for hay- only for the rain to come and ruin everything. But this year, maybe this year, it will be different.
posted by freethefeet at 9:29 PM on May 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
I live in a rural area of Victoria where we don't irrigate (pumping bore water can bring the salt up- bad) so the most recent rains has most people kind of smiling more, hopeful- maybe this is the 'autumn break' and we'll get a decent amount of rain at the right times, and the crops will grow and the farmers will be happy.
It's almost a foolish hope when you've seen crops struggle to get up (no rain) the farmers give up and cut it for hay- only for the rain to come and ruin everything. But this year, maybe this year, it will be different.
posted by freethefeet at 9:29 PM on May 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's May 3rd in Oklahoma. And we had at least one tornado in the state this week, leading to death and destruction.
We have monthly tornado siren drills year round, which unfortunately in my part of town includes all of Oklahoma City, regardless of where the funnel is. Tornado shelters are desirable... but high water tables may lead to flooded underground shelters.
And then there are straight-line winds, hail, flash floods. We take spring weather seriously.
posted by TrishaU at 10:06 PM on May 3, 2019
We have monthly tornado siren drills year round, which unfortunately in my part of town includes all of Oklahoma City, regardless of where the funnel is. Tornado shelters are desirable... but high water tables may lead to flooded underground shelters.
And then there are straight-line winds, hail, flash floods. We take spring weather seriously.
posted by TrishaU at 10:06 PM on May 3, 2019
I traveled to Ireland in October of 2018, and it ranged from “drizzly” to “monsoon” the first three days I was there. I saw plenty of umbrellas, but I was surprised to see most people wearing stocking caps in rainy weather, as opposed to a more rain-repellant choice. I finally went to Tesco and picked up a classic umbrella in a cheery red plaid for about 10 euros.
I brought it with me when I departed, but accidentally left it at the security gate in Toronto where I had a layover, and didn’t figure it out until I was halfway across the airport. I was bummed enough about that to make my case to a security guard, who definitely gave me a “You’re an idiot” look (hey, I don’t blame her), but when I was able to say exactly where I’d left it and what it looked like, she decided to make the hike back to security for me and get it back.
So I still have my Irish Tesco umbrella, and now that I just bought a red car, it irrationally pleases me that my snow scraper and umbrella coordinate with the car. It’s rained a lot in the last couple months, but since I go from an attached garage to a covered ramp, i don’t have to be out in it enough to justify an umbrella.
posted by Autumnheart at 3:10 PM on May 4, 2019
I brought it with me when I departed, but accidentally left it at the security gate in Toronto where I had a layover, and didn’t figure it out until I was halfway across the airport. I was bummed enough about that to make my case to a security guard, who definitely gave me a “You’re an idiot” look (hey, I don’t blame her), but when I was able to say exactly where I’d left it and what it looked like, she decided to make the hike back to security for me and get it back.
So I still have my Irish Tesco umbrella, and now that I just bought a red car, it irrationally pleases me that my snow scraper and umbrella coordinate with the car. It’s rained a lot in the last couple months, but since I go from an attached garage to a covered ramp, i don’t have to be out in it enough to justify an umbrella.
posted by Autumnheart at 3:10 PM on May 4, 2019
Facebook (public) link, but this photo of a narrow Venice street filled with jostling umbrellas is such a perfect encapsulation of why umbrellas in Venice can be horrible that it just made me laugh.
posted by lazuli at 8:46 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by lazuli at 8:46 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I grew up in southern Maryland (just outside Andrews AFB), and can remember getting yelled at for sitting in the big bay window at the front of our house to watch thunderstorms. I love listening to the rain, especially at night, in a (dry) tent, cuddled up with a loved one.
Now I live in the Bay Area which very, very rarely gets thunderstorms and the rain we do get mostly just annoys me when I'm trying to motorcycle-commute, so there's that.
posted by hanov3r at 3:50 PM on May 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
Now I live in the Bay Area which very, very rarely gets thunderstorms and the rain we do get mostly just annoys me when I'm trying to motorcycle-commute, so there's that.
posted by hanov3r at 3:50 PM on May 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
I once had a really great umbrella that was given to me by the Farm Bureau after I worked at a charity event. I could never have justified buying anything that nice with my own money. I left it in a doctor's office. The only reason that's interesting at all is that the doctor's office called me twice to ask if it was my umbrella, and like an idiot I said no without even checking to see if I had it. By the time I realized that's where I left it, the practice had closed down and the doctor moved out of town.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:29 AM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:29 AM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
Lightning brightened me awake last night, and then some distant, soft thunder. The tapping of the rain on the fence and window sills made me happy this morning. Every thing is muffled, the sharp barking of neighborhood dogs,the sirens dulled, the rumble of the garbage truck softened, and set to fast fade. The ever present dust is layed down, washed off the grass, and sidewalks are shiny, hooray for So Cal rain! I stood in it and drank coffee, this is the major event, get back everything else, right? Green light! Earth, you are so worth it!
posted by Oyéah at 7:55 AM on May 10, 2019
posted by Oyéah at 7:55 AM on May 10, 2019
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posted by Melismata at 2:25 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]