Monday, August 4, 2008

Weather Report

A windy, wavy day at the Baltic Sea!


Summer here hasn't been like the Midwestern summers we know. It rained almost every day for three weeks of July and the high temperatures were only in the mid-sixties! People said it was typical. I'm sure it sounds good to those of you that have suffered through blazing heat waves, but it did not feel at all like summer should feel. We have now had almost two good weeks, with sunshine and warmer weather- highs up to 83 degrees but usually in the 70s. It has not been humid but it is almost always breezy or downright windy! I imagine this is because we are on a peninsula between two seas. The Baltic Sea (which the Germans call the Ostsee, or East Sea) is just about 10 miles away. The North Sea (Nordsee) is 30-40 miles to the west.

If you look at a world map, you can see how much farther north we are here, somewhat equivalent to Edmonton, Canada. That means that summer days are long, long, long! I arrived here just after summer solstice and the sky didn't get dark until after 11:00 PM! It started to get light again just after 4:00 AM! But, it will also mean dark winters and I am not looking forward to that. Interestingly, they say the winters are not as bad as those in the Upper Midwest. I hope they are right! It will get below freezing, but the lakes won't freeze over solid and there is rarely snow that sticks on the ground. After seven winters in Michigan that sounds just fine to me!

1 comment:

Jessica said...

Isn't it funny how much the weather seems to affect our experiences? And something we always talk about? Maybe it's because the weather is universal, it's something that no matter your name or rank or station or location, it still affects everyone. And it's always something to talk about, since, well, we all experience it!

I'm anxious to hear about your winter with the different daylight hours! We always complained about it getting dark too early in Alongquin on Halloween, but that's got to be a drop in the bucket compared to the changes you'll be experiencing!

Such an exciting endeavor!! Anxious to hear more!! If anyone can do it, you two can.

Xo
Jessica