Similar weather and conditions over the border here, in south Wales, Vee - about 50 miles away. But fortunately, here near Swansea we haven't been flooded out. The 2 rivers in this place - Tawe and Clydach - have been dug down into culverts and the drains are holding out well (touch wood). It's 50 miles further north-west, along the coast near Aberystwyth that all the Welsh flooding has been. Today, there's quite a bit of sun and it's warm, but it could change at any moment.

Fortunately, I really like rain. I have been called abnormal - mad, even - but I bet there are more people out there who like it but are afraid to own up. Please say, if you like- love, even - the rain (and wind?)

'Rain at the windows, beating doors
'And blasts that besom the green....' (Hardy)

Yesterday at 4pm it was 106F here in N. Calif....it is only 103F now.....

I don't mind those breezes, but I don't like the wind, we get North winds here that are really bad on the allergies. I don't mind rain at all, unless it is non-stop for days on end.

Pat

Pat, I read in our Sunday paper that the city of Nottingham had (until the w/end) less than 20 hours of sunshine for June, so far! When you consider that sunrise is 04.44am and sunset is 9.22pm, that's over 16 hours per day with mostly the grey and wet stuff . . . it is no wonder you moved to sunny California.
Dido, I don't mind rain, especially when it falls on dry land and you get the wonderful fresh smell of grass/flowers. It is just the relentless heavy cloud and gloomy skies. And wind in moderation, but not when it blows smoke down the chimney and power lines collapse.

Some more Hardy . . .

This is the weather the shepherd shuns,
And so do I;
When beeches drip in browns and duns,
And thresh and ply;
And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe,
And meadow rivulets overflow,
And drops on gate bars hang in a row,
And rooks in families homeward go,
And so do I."

Aah. Rain. We are actually getting some in Texas right now, which is more than we got last year when we had a huge drought. Still have the drought restrictions, but at least it rains every now and then.

I work with a lot of climate change researchers so the coffee room conversations can be rather interesting at times. We had a very warm winter, a hot spring, and now a boiling summer (and it's only June). Called my mum yesterday who had just put the heating on and was going to bed in a jumper/sweater!

I asked her to send some rainy weather and cool temps over here just for a treat.

Lemonhead - do your climate researchers use NASA satellite data? If so, we may have some mutual acquaintances, since I work in the NASA Earth Science group that funds a lot of climate research.

Back to topic (sort of), I mixed up the subject line with "Western Wind":

O WESTERN wind, when wilt thou blow
That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms
And I in my bed again!

Connecticut had a dry April and a very wet May and early June. It's also been on the cool side lately -- I've worn my winter coat and toted umbrellas and blankets to a few evening baseball games this past month. In general, I don't mind the rain, and it's been a nice, cool spring overall. All that is set to change this week, our high temps lately have been in the 70's, by Thursday they're supposed to be in the high 90's. Instant summer!

This post brought to mind one of the (very few) snippets of childhood poetry I have rattling around in my head:

The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

I do hope your weather improves, Vee!

donnamira, that's just about my favorite poem.

Many of us who live in the East coast have been talking about our own unusual weather: we hardly had winter at all, and the earliest spring many of us can remember. Spring flowers began blooming in winter, summer flowers bloomed in spring. The leaves came out on the trees over a month early. Today is the last official day of spring, before the heat waves begin. We had the earliest tropical storm on record, in May.

I read somewhere that last year's earthquake in Japan slightly tilted the earth on its axis, and that this accounts for the bizarre changes in weather patterns.

Donnamira -

I would think that some of our scientists would work with that satellite data. Not sure though. Do have some friends on the floor above who do a lot of research on how to recycle water to make it safe to drink when you're in space.

I really do know a rocket scientist. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: BBC funny sketch re: rocket scientist/brain surgeon

Lemonhead, very funny! Fortunately, very few of the folks I work with are like that! Space environmental systems are mostly within a program on a different floor from where I work, although I commute with someone who's in the medical office here. If you're at U.Texas/Austin, your CSR is headed up by the scientist who's currently chairman of our advisory board and the Principal Investigator for the GRACE mission. GRACE is a gravity mission, and he could probably tell Woodnymph if the Tohoku earthquake affected climate. :)

I've been hearing about this from a friend who lives and gardens in Hampshire, near Romney.

Here in California we had a very dry winter, then just when we had about given up on getting any rain, a wet March and April. We get all of our rain in the cooler half of the year, so a dry winter is a serious thing. We ended up with about half of the average, and were grateful to have it.

The weather now seems pretty normal for this time of year. I would be willing to make the sacrifice of taking one or two of your surplus rain storms!

Rosefolly

The Rain is forecast to return this afternoon and continue for days.........

I happen to adore Mary Oliver's poems and came across this one to do with rain. It's called Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me.

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
That's what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain -
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

I love the image of rain being happy to be released from the clouds... Little raindrops with smiles... :-)

We had a tornado on June 7th which ripped through our suburb. This is a most unusual occurrence for although tornados do happen in the nearby ocean, they are very rare on land. No-one was injured, which was miraculous, as large amounts of plate glass blew in at some of the shops and many huge trees were uprooted. As telephone poles were damaged, many homes were without power for some days. The emergency services, including the voluntary groups, worked hard because we were told there were two more storms coming.
Sadly I almost lost my beautiful bottle-brush tree in the first one that came. Most of the branches were snapped by the strong winds and had to be removed. It is now a poor stumpy thing, about the same 5 feet that it was when I moved here. It grew another 10 feet and screened off the hot afternoon sun and was loved by the honey-eaters who flew in for snacks! It will sprout again at the sawn-off branch-ends but will not be the lovely tree it was. though I was lucky it didn't get uprooted or snapped off like the avenue of pencil pines elsewhere in our retirement village.

Annpann -

Very glad that you are ok and did not have too much damage (except for your bottle-brush tree). I am seen oh too well just how damaging high winds can be, so although it's awful to happen, at least it wasn't a lot worse. :-)

We had thunder last night, but no rain... That is just cruel teasing on the part of the Weather Gods, in my opinion.

I moved to the Pacific Northwest (Washington)2 years ago. Rain? Its not a day in Washington without it! Over 2" so far this month, which is more than an inch more than average for ALL of June. It may be summer on the calendar, but here it doesn't start (if we're lucky) until mid-July. They say, jokingly, that summer starts July 4th, and autumn July 5th. Believe it!

Here, we say: if you can see the coast of Devon from Swansea Bay (across the Severn Estuary), it's going to rain. If you can't see it, it is raining.

Ann, that must have been a horrible experience.
Dido, we had a whole day without rain . . . I think it was on Tuesday, I made a note on the wall calendar.
Last week there were floods in S England, yesterday over an inch of rain fell within a few hours in Lancashire, Yorkshire and parts of Scotland bringing more flooding.
When visiting Pembrokeshire W Wales, we were told by the locals that when the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland come into view it will rain . . . they did and it did.

I just went on a retreat with Matthew Fox (the theologian) and he read that poem - he adores Mary Oliver, as well as many other poets. He believes she is a prophet. I am inclined to agree.

"Blame it on the rain, rain, rain..."

Cue: Milli Vanilli.

Here is a link that might be useful: Milli Vanilli song (with lipsync-ing) :-)

The wettest June ever recorded is over with twice as much rain as we would normally expect and colder and with less sunshine . . . the City of Nottingham managed 72 hours of sun for the entire 30 days (I blame the wicked Sheriff). July is starting off in the same way with wall-to-wall wetness. The weather forecaster explained that the unbearably hot conditions you in the mid US are facing is caused by the position of the jet-stream which is then swooping down over the Atlantic much lower than usual, leaving you too hot and us too wet!
We have watched on the TV the ravaging fires in Colorado and the terrible storms along the East Coast and hope all RP'ers are safe.

Safe here in Maine but also experiencing wet, wet, wet. Very odd. The days are hot and clear, then in the afternoon the heavens open for about 30 minutes. Then it clears again. Reminds me of south Florida.

I have just moved to my new digs. Although one of the great things about my new home is the very low rent, it is in a very pricy, prestigious area. Our road washed out and was fixed the very same day. Wonder how that works?

Vee, thanks for your good wishes. Indeed, it is beastly hot here in most of the US. Temps soaring to 101, here. So we get out and walk before 9 a.m. As for English weather, my BF and I are watching the Wimbledon tennis matches here, but it is so wet they can only use one court, the covered one. Most disappointing! Let's hope your weather improves in time for the Olympics, July 27!

Love that poem, lemonhead!

It is thundering, lightning and pouring rain as we 'speak' and I actually LOVE it!

Makes me wanna curl up and READ!

Good day, friends...

nola anne

Sojorning for a week in Surrey where it was raining, is raining and will rain according to the forecast. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!

I'm just back from my trip that included Croatia. We had some locally guided tours of walled towns where it was absolutely baking hot--44 C. which converts to 111.2 F. was the highest temp reading that I saw. My husband was quite disappointed that I could top his "it was so hot" stories. It got up to 106 in Louisville last Saturday and was 100 and over for six days. He said he just hibernated inside and can hardly wait to see what the utility bill will be. It rained yesterday, and today was quite pleasant.

Mary and whoever else told me about the Lipizzaner horses, you were absolutely correct. They were gorgeous, and we enjoyed the performance tremendously.

Carolyn, glad you had a good trip. We have been reading about the US 'heat wave' in our papers . . . between the many pages given over to the UK weather of rain and more rain, flooding, rotting crops, cancelled sporting events, lack of sales of summer clothing etc.
But on a positive note Thursday 5 July was a dry day in our corner of the swamp. During the mid-evening I glanced out of the window and couldn't understand why the sky had taken on a strange reddish hue. The DH looked at me as though I was an idiot "Have you forgotten? It's the sun setting."
Role on the Olympics, presumably they carry on regardless.

Oh don't, Vee! I am soooooo fed up with sport! Football was once a winter game and had a definit 'season'; now it's with us all year with the summer being taken up with so many 'cup-winners' series and finals that it never ends. I comfort myself that it keeps men quiet, in the long run. After all the shouting, screaming, swearing at the Ref, leaping up and down and waving arms around, sweating, beer-swilling, groaning, correcting the last 'unfair' decision and finally insulging in intelligent discussion amongst themelves, they crash into unconsciousness until the next round and let the 'Ladies' (I'd much prefer the term 'women', but apparently that has now become an insult and we've all been upgraded, deservedly or not) - as I was saying, let the 'Ladies' get on with things in peace. (apologies to all men who read this and who are NOT as I have described above. You're welcome to give me a call). (Actually, Stan, thankfully, was NOT as I described above: he couldn't abide sport in any guise )

I'm with you on this one. And I used to be a fan. But it all went so far over the top, for me at least. On the individual level, sport has taken over the family, with everyone shuttling from game to practice to game to doctor's office and back to the game, stopping only to go through the McDonald's drive-through because all this sport precludes any kind of real family meal. Even on Sunday! No rest for the sporty types. So typical - a little sport would be a healthy activity but we have to take it to extremes. And the professional sports - riddled with drugs and bad behavior of every kind. No more for me. I can't enjoy it anymore. Okay, rant over.

We've had lots of rain, but the last few days have been clear. And luckily the heat has left us too.

Vee - laughed out loud when I read your comment about the sun setting not being familiar to you...!

Thanks for the smile. :-)

And yes, I agree. Counting down to the Olympics (or Limpets, as my mum will say)... (Limpets are a type of shellfish > that stick to rocks and the underside of boats in UK and elsewhere...)

I wish we would get some rain here in central New York. It's been so dry that all the grass has turned brown and is crunchy underfoot. I have been watering the gardens only, not the lawn but that is primarily because I spent a lot of money on flowers and herbs for my gardens and they haven't had a chance to get established. The last I heard, we were down 6 inches of precipitation season to date. So perhaps those of you being rained out could ask the rain gods to send a little of that rain my way? :)

Dido, here in the United States, at least among people I know, "women" is generally preferred to "ladies". The thought is that women are wonderful just as they are and do not need to be upgraded to ladies to be worthwhile, and that it is somewhat insulting to think that they do. It is my impression that this attitude is very prevalent in the Northeast and the West, but somewhat less so in the Old South (the southeast), where manners are different.

Another term that until recently was looked down upon was "girls" for adult women, a term that professional women found to be belittling, as in, the girls in the typing pool. It was thought to imply that this term denied women full adult status, that they did not need to be taken seriously. I have noticed a recent trend among educated adult women to occasionally refer to one another as girls in informal social situations, something I did not hear as recently as ten years ago. However, it would still be considered patronizing for a man to refer to adult women as girls.

Rosefolly

Dido you will be familiar with the English saying "All ladies are women but not all women are ladies."

Paula/Rosefolly I am getting to the age when I am more than happy to be referred to as a 'girl' but not when used by a jovial male in the context "Perhaps the girls would like to make the coffee/wash up/ prepare a couple of dozen sandwiches, while we men (never boys) discuss this weighty problem. Did any of you see the Big Match last night? That ref really needs to get his eyes tested . . . "

Sorry Dido, Sport rears its ugly head and it is the spitting of footballers I really cannot stand, especially in close-up on TV.
I'm very non-sporty partly because I was a wheezy child at a time when asthmatics were wrapped in cotton-wool and not encouraged to 'take part'. The older generation of my family were big players/kickers/hitters/throwers/goal-scorers and my brothers and I were always being reminded how feeble we were in comparison. Even my Grandfather, who, by the time I was a child spent his days sitting in his armchair had played rugby against the famous All Blacks in 190?. An impossible act to follow!

Vee, I am also very non-sporty which is a problem as my family and Australian TV are totally into sports all year round! No wonder I have memberships to 3 libraries and two book buying clubs!
Getting back to my earlier post about the damage done to my bottle brush tree, I have been advised by three people, who know about native trees, to have the remaining branches cut on a level with the ones that were sawn down after being damaged and I will have a fine looking new crown in about two years. A bit more drastic than I would like but that is the consensus.

Here in western NYS we have crispy brown lawns and must water our plants in a rotating fashion some each day as we have had almost no rain in many weeks. We also had a non-existent winter and many days in March in the 80's-unheard of! It is also hot here.

Mantel mentions in Bringing Up the Bodies that in the months before Boleyn was beheaded there was an unusually long stretch of rainy weather.

After the >100ðF days the weather broke, we've had so much rain the manager at our pool actually allowed us in after the sound of thunder (but mostly sunny skies) "at our own risk" yesterday. I was flabbergasted, but took advantage. Lots of good weeding weather. Flowers and bushes blooming here about a month early.