Sunday 16 August 2009

The vagaries of mountain weather

This afternoon, we have cooked. Almost literally. It has been up to the mid 30s again and impossible to spend too long outside without dissolving into a sticky, dripping, uncomfortable heap. But then, late afternoon, our saviour arrived - I watched, in anticipation, as it made its approach, its black bulk moving slowly, gradually in our direction from its birthplace in the mountains in the distance. It emitted a low grumble as it pushed closer. It took a couple of hours for it to be upon us, but when it hit, it did so with impressive force, sending down a veritable deluge which was accompanied by an impressive light display in the blackened sky and some deafening claps that truely rattled the windows as they bounced off the various hills which surround us. Yes, just another storm, but the wonderful thing about storms here is that in the space of just 2 hours, the temperature has plummeted by 12 degrees. That is quite a significant temperature difference! We can breathe again and have flung the windows wide open in a bid to clear the heavy air that has sat in the house since we were forced to shut the heat out this morning. Wonderful! However, less than 2 hours after the storm was upon us, the skies have already cleared in anticipation of more stifling heat tomorrow. That's mountain weather for you!

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