Winter here is getting a bit absurd; between the 5-6 feet of snow that has fallen over the past couple weeks, and the sudden downpours which have caused major floods (and which is now freezing in the streets) I'm starting to think that I need to spend winters somewhere more temperate...like the Arctic Circle.
East coast of Canada. Right across the Atlantic from you, and normally our weather isn't terribly dissimilar to yours, just a little colder...temperature drops and we get storms here and there, but it generally hangs around freezing or a bit above, so snow melts off before the next nor'easter. This year, it's been -10 Celsius or below the vast majority of the time, with absolutely wild storm systems; about 10 days ago, it was -5 and snowing, suddenly transitioned into 10 above and torrential rain for about an hour or two, and then the temperature plummeted and turned everything into a skating rink. Storm drains are clogged with snow and ice, so there's now a couple feet of standing water in major thoroughfares that is beginning to freeze in place. ...is a couple roads down from where I used to live. That snow-covered 'field' behind the lake that they're trying to drive through? It's an inlet off the Atlantic...and it typically remains unfrozen and clear throughout the year.
Cripes..! If I remember my basic meteorology, you being on the east coast of a continent means that you get the extremes of weather for any given latitude. In the winter it tends towards the drier, but a damn sight colder. In the summer you get the warmer temperatures, and still relatively drier. In Southampton we couldn't really be more different, given the similar latitude, unless we were in the southern hemisphere. We're in an island, so we tend to get an island climate, but we're damn close to Europe/Asia, so we get a bit of continental climate too. It's amazing how that east/west tilt goes though, even in little old England. I lived in Kent for several years and the weather extremes were ridiculous compared to my niece in Cornwall. Here in Southampton we seem to get the best of everything, plus it's a micro-climate anyway, due to being surrounded by high land in each direction and/or protection from the IOW. I think it's fair to say that we've barely had a winter in Southampton. At least not one that one thinks of as traditional. I've even ridden my motorbike once and no extreme cold weather biker. We've had one thin carpet of snow which I missed because it thawed before I saw it, and a couple of frosts, but nothing to write home about [couldn't resist that one]. In fact, it has been a bit balmy, and the other late evening we had clear skies AND relatively balmy temperatures, which was distinct odd for this time of year. It's been a bit wet in the last day or so, although today itself was sunny. Tomorrow [Monday] is forecast rain, though later in the week the dear old Sun returns for a while. I can honestly say we've had it easy so far, and we're just about to start coming out of the coldest part of the year. Rest of the country has been shivering and knee deep in it. Soft southerners are us, mate.
Generally the opposite here; 'colder but drier' is found in the interior of Canada...Ontario and the Prairies. We're about the second-warmest place in Canada most winters, with the exception of coastal British Columbia (where it's almost spring), with the trade-off being the occasional apocalyptic storm. This winter has been a much different story, with frigid temperatures and massive weather events.
Only 3000 kms, give or take. Hard thing to wrap one's head around in the UK, but Minnesota and Nova Scotia are farther apart than any two places in Great Britain...and yet there are locales in North America far more removed than those two. For the sake of comparison, Halifax to Minnesota is a shorter distance by major roadway than Paris to Moscow.
Well done to Ireland who beat the West Indies by 4 wickets. Joyce (who used to play for England) scored 84. I know the Windies aren't what they were, but a good start for Ireland in the WC.
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/...is-sights-on-swapping-shropshire-for-the-usa/ Article about a 5 year old golfer trying to raise money to compete in the under 6 competition in the USA. He was on Sky this morning...talented, but importantly still having fun.
Yes, I meant the difference between the east and west coastal regions. I see I wasn't clear on that. You'll have to blame the fact that I was dog tired. True, generally the interior will always be the coldest and driest.
Met someone last night who used to work with Nigel. Kind of confirmed what we probably suspected that he's unfailingly upbeat and positive, but would be incredibly irritating after about five minutes to go for a pint with.
Feel a bit sorry for Nigel at the moment, not being at a club. He's so incredibly upbeat about all his previous clubs, and Saints absolutely do not get left out. They're like his little children who have left the house. Knowing him, he's probably getting his coaching education improved or some such thing. He's not one for standing still to contemplate. Indeed, bloody irritating.
The guy was very effusive about our set up at St Mary's. Said that Mo Gimpel had the best job - he went travelling everywhere around the world (at Cortese's behest remember all ye naysayers!) to study every different sport's set ups in the physio department - from top NFL teams through to Aussie Rules, hockey and eggball. Like everyone, he thinks Southampton are the best and pioneers of a 'new breed'.
I'd love to get out there in the summer. Unfortunately I usually get the call for Feb/March time when it's bloody freezing. Our owner has his own golf club, but I'm as yet not selected for the golf day
