Being British I’m predisposed to discussing the weather far more than seems necessary. I also live in Yorkshire which seems to rain far more than seems necessary. It may come as a surprise then that I have rather exacting standards when it comes to a nice day. For me a nice day isn’t just above a certain temperature. It’s not about having some blue sky. And it’s not simply a day that doesn’t rain. No. My definition of a nice day is for clear blue skies all day without a cloud in the sky. If I see even so much as a hint of a cloud then it’s not a “John Conners Nice Day”. And I’m pretty sure that the last time I saw a day that qualifies in Britain was about 5 years ago. That’s the problem with having high standards for British weather, you spend most of your time being disappointed.
So it came as an intense shock that yesterday – of all days – was a “John Conners Nice Day”. The temperature was around 27C, there was a light, refreshing wind and there were blue skies all day long without a single cloud in the sky. I was so surprised that I actually forgot to take a photograph to post here. Sorry, you’ll just have to take my word on how nice a day it was.
After a bit of sunbathing in the sunshine (I’ve started to rather enjoy having a tan and wouldn’t mind keeping it a bit longer – sort of like a souvenir from my holiday) I went mountain biking. Unusually high temperatures and high-exertion exercise probably don’t mix too well but it seemed like a good idea at the time. While driving to the meeting point I was ice cool in my air-conditioned car (how did I ever live without it?) thinking how much fun the biking was going to be. As soon as I parked and stepped out I felt like I’d just stepped off a plane in the middle of a desert (hit by a wall of heat). I’d filled up my Camelbak to its full 3 litre capacity in anticipation of a bit of sweating and I wasn’t disappointed.
It was surprisingly hard work but very rewarding – the views were superb and my tan is coming along nicely. I’ve lost quite a bit of my fitness due to my lazing around on holiday for two weeks so that didn’t help. In fact I’ve been suffering from post-holiday blues since I came back from Antigua, but a nice sunny day tends to take all the troubles away. It’s funny walking down the street in Skipton on a sunny day. Everybody’s smiling and there just seems to be a better mood around the place. Cut to a typical cloudy day and everybody seems to be walking around with their own personal rain cloud overhead. Or maybe it’s just me.
Anyway, this is probably all the summer we’re going to get so I better make the most of it. Anyone for tennis?
The only sun I saw yesterday was at 6:15 – 7:00AM on my way back from Basics so I’ll have to take your word for it being nice……
You need to stop burning the candle at both ends…
we will be more than happy to swap rain for sun and heat with you. we had 41 degrees here (106 degrees fahrenheit) yeterday and the monsoon rains are late.
I should have stayed in Blighty. That was weather that I don’t remember happening since being in the single digits. Also, add to that a win for the cricket team and I’m sure I should be looking for three men on horseback.
I arrived back to humidity and torrential rain. Still, at least the pilots worked for their money…bumpy is an inadequate word.
At least you get 4 seasons though…
Everyday in Frankfurt it’s 30C with clear blue skies and a nice breeze. The only depressing thing is being stuck in the office all the time when it’s like that… At least you can sit outside in short sleeves until midnight enjoying a drink – and it’s still warm!
27 as a wall of heat! – I got out of my car yesterday and it was 38 (Celsius, not Fahrenheit)- that’s some wall, I can tell you.
The trick now is to keep that weather going for more than 2 days in which case there’ll no doubt be a hosepipe ban and trains will stop running (melting tracks).
Anyway, when I was a kid, it was 27 every day right through the school summer holidays….
If we’re talking about ‘walls of heat’, when I stepped off the plane in Egypt last Monday, I was greeted with temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius – at 7.30pm ! The day-time temperatures were usually about 47 C – not the best when you’re wandering around ancient monuments! Now I know why the holiday was so inexpensive!!
I’ve been chilly since returning to the UK……..
Wow! You lucky thing. I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt and see the pyramids and other historical artefacts (I watch more Stargate SG 1 than is healthy). Too hot for sunbathing I’d imagine…
If your knowledge of Egyptian architecture is based on Stargate, I’d say that’s a little too much, otherwise I don’t think you can have too much. I recently snaffled the DVD set of Season 1 from a friend and watched it … straight through.
The thing that amazes me most about Stargate SG 1 is that until I recently saw a re-run of McGuyver I didn’t realise that the man himself and Colonel O’Neil were played by the same actor! Can’t believe I never clicked before…
38 degrees? 47 degrees? Pah, that’s nothing, when I were a lad blah blah blah…
Why hasn’t modern science answered this seemingly simple question about cooling water? The main problem is that the time it takes water to freeze is highly sensitive to a number of details in the experimental set- up, such as the shape and size of the container, the shape and size of the refrigeration unit, the gas and impurity content of the water, how the time of freezing is defined, and so on. Because of this sensitivity, while experiments have generally agreed that the Mpemba effect occurs, they disagree over the conditions under which it occurs, and thus about why it occurs.