The weather here continues to fascinate us for several reasons. First, it’s very different from the weather at home in a number of ways, most obviously if by no means exclusively because it’s warmer. But also because we’re not good here - or for that matter in the UK - at reading the signs and making predictions. The clues in the sky don’t seem to lead to the same conclusions. Then there’s the fact that the weather matters more to us here - and also less. We don’t have a car so every place we go involves walking or a combination of walking and waiting in the open for a dolmuş. Preference for not being caught in the rain if we’re going any farther than the grocery store. On the other hand, we have no real responsibilities beyond buying and cooking food and a bit of basic washing and sweeping. So pretty easy if it rains to decide it’s a good day for reading books and making soup.
And there are the dramatic skies. There are floor to ceiling windows on the Mediterranean and mountain sides and we can see for miles down the coast to the west. Raising the bedroom blinds in the morning has all the drama of raising a theatre curtain. Will the sun be illuminating the highest peak? Are dark clouds gathering over the mountains? With a full wall window and a mountain range immediately behind us there’s always drama. On the north side the sea is farther away than the mountains on the south and the questions are different. Are there white caps? What colour is the water? Can you see Türkiye? Is there a rainbow?
While I’ve never lived with such a “big sky” as here except in Saskatchewan, we have obviously experienced seasonal rain elsewhere. So how does London compare? There October and November are typically rainier than December and January, unlike in Cyprus. And surprisingly winter rainfall in Cyprus is typically slightly greater than in London’s rainy season. Compare the London average of 71 and 63 mm for October and November to the Cypriot heavy months of December and January at 75 and 64mm. But I’ve always said that London gets a bad rap. Paris has more rain but no one ever says they won’t go to Paris because it will be too wet. December in Paris averages 78mm. And Sioux Lookout? Winter isn’t a good comparison because the precipitation consists mainly of snow - which doesn’t melt down to all that much water if you’ve ever been reduced to melting snow for domestic water needs. But summer? June, July and August average 96.8, 93.5, and 87.6mm respectively. Sunny summers quite a bit wetter than Cyprus’s winter rainy season.
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