5 ms·

Growing up in Germany, before I moved to the Bay Area, I was wondering why weather apps and widgets were so prolific. Sure, knowing the forecast for next weeken

by anyfoo 4y ago

Growing up in Germany, before I moved to the Bay Area, I was wondering why weather apps and widgets were so prolific. Sure, knowing the forecast for next weekend was nice, but for anything closer I'd just get out of bed and look out of the window. That would pretty much tell me what weather it is, and it would usually change just slowly over a few days or so. Then I moved to the Bay Area, and weather does not only change quickly, it may also be vastly, vastly different just a short distance away. Temperature differentials of 10°C or more within just 40 miles are interesting enough that it's a frequent topic of conversation with friends in Germany. Everything suddenly made sense. The weather widgets. The hoodies: Easy to put on or off.

anyfoo 4y ago
Another anecdote: In the South of Germany at least, long stretches of sunny days are often followed by sudden thunderstorms with equally sudden bursts of rain. That "fact" had been so deeply ingrained in me that it was subconscious. You'd have a careful feeling if it was hot for too long, suddenly you might find yourself running for the next awning to escape the torrential rain. Sunny weather was a bit like building up a sort of pressure, that must release violently. Took a while to let go of that feeling in California. It basically rains in winter, and does not rain in summer. Like, at all. (Note that I moved away about a decade ago, climate may have changed in the meantime.)
- s0rce 4y ago
  Midwestern USA has similar stretch of hot summer followed by thunderstorms.
  - jsjohnst 4y ago
    May (followed by April and June) are the most active months for storms, especially tornado producing ones in virtually every state in the Midwest USA, well before “hot summer” days.
- dan-robertson 4y ago
  I hadn’t even thought of that until I read this. I had thought thunderstorms after hot weather were just a fact of life. I guess in places near German latitudes that get thunderstorms the hot weather is caused by high pressure systems but maybe that isn’t really the cause in California.
  - barbazoo 4y ago
    Coastal weather is often lacking the conditions that creates thunderstorms. I live near the coast now too and haven't experienced the kind of thunderstorm I know from Germany.
    - macNchz 4y ago
      Depends on the coast I guess...NYC, for example, gets some real whopper summer thunderstorms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk3Gz9o9yw4&t=12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk3Gz9o9yw4&t=12s
      - bee_rider 4y ago
        Have you been to the Midwest? I grew up near Cape Cod, and I have to say -- I'll take a nor'easter any day, give me the snow. That "maybe a tornado will just come down and demolish your house" type thunderstorm is pretty scary! I'm glad we've got a calm atmosphere up here.
    - Foobar8568 4y ago
      I guess maybe in North Europe where the climate doesn't vary much, but in the South, we do get thunderstorm and flood in coastal area. https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/15/watch-as-more-flooding-in-southern-france-shows-the-severity-of-climate-crisis https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/15/watch-as-more-floo...
- wrycoder 4y ago
  When I frequented Portola Valley, we called it six months of mud, six months of dust. Those golden hills are actually brown.
- gonzo41 4y ago
  Thats what we used to have in Australia, and now it just rains. It's killing my morale atm.
- Fatnino 4y ago
  The climate did change. Now it hardly rains in the winter either.
- prottog 4y ago
  > It basically rains in winter, and does not rain in summer. Like, at all. You needn't have moved so far from southern Germany to experience that! Lack of rain in the summer is a defining characteristic of the Mediterranean climate. You would have experienced the same a few hundred miles south. :-)
FullyFunctional 4y ago
Yes. I’m from Denmark, but I check the weather every night before stepping out as I have experience 13 C nights where the previous night was 20 C. And this is not uncommon. When I first got here I was stunned by how noticeable nicer the weather was when driving from Santa Clara to Palo Alto, and more than once have I forgotten to bring a sweater to SF.
- anyfoo 4y ago
  Yeah. Living in SF and working in the South Bay, it's common in the evening to get into my car sweating, and coming out freezing. I always pack a hoodie. On the bright side, a hoodie is often all I ever need, all year long.
tiagod 4y ago
My hometown is close to Portugal's westernmost tip, about 30km from Lisbon. Its not uncommon to see differences over 10C between the two, and the car ride will many times include rain or fog only in a specific spot of the highway, half way. Even if you stay right next to the ocean/river during the whole trip by avoiding the highway you'll notice a big difference most days.

by anyfoo 4y ago

anyfoo 4y ago

Another anecdote: In the South of Germany at least, long stretches of sunny days are often followed by sudden thunderstorms with equally sudden bursts of rain. That "fact" had been so deeply ingrained in me that it was subconscious. You'd have a careful feeling if it was hot for too long, suddenly you might find yourself running for the next awning to escape the torrential rain. Sunny weather was a bit like building up a sort of pressure, that must release violently. Took a while to let go of that feeling in California. It basically rains in winter, and does not rain in summer. Like, at all. (Note that I moved away about a decade ago, climate may have changed in the meantime.)

s0rce 4y ago
Midwestern USA has similar stretch of hot summer followed by thunderstorms.
- jsjohnst 4y ago
  May (followed by April and June) are the most active months for storms, especially tornado producing ones in virtually every state in the Midwest USA, well before “hot summer” days.
dan-robertson 4y ago
I hadn’t even thought of that until I read this. I had thought thunderstorms after hot weather were just a fact of life. I guess in places near German latitudes that get thunderstorms the hot weather is caused by high pressure systems but maybe that isn’t really the cause in California.
- barbazoo 4y ago
  Coastal weather is often lacking the conditions that creates thunderstorms. I live near the coast now too and haven't experienced the kind of thunderstorm I know from Germany.
  - macNchz 4y ago
    Depends on the coast I guess...NYC, for example, gets some real whopper summer thunderstorms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk3Gz9o9yw4&t=12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk3Gz9o9yw4&t=12s
    - bee_rider 4y ago
      Have you been to the Midwest? I grew up near Cape Cod, and I have to say -- I'll take a nor'easter any day, give me the snow. That "maybe a tornado will just come down and demolish your house" type thunderstorm is pretty scary! I'm glad we've got a calm atmosphere up here.
  - Foobar8568 4y ago
    I guess maybe in North Europe where the climate doesn't vary much, but in the South, we do get thunderstorm and flood in coastal area. https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/15/watch-as-more-flooding-in-southern-france-shows-the-severity-of-climate-crisis https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/15/watch-as-more-floo...
wrycoder 4y ago
When I frequented Portola Valley, we called it six months of mud, six months of dust. Those golden hills are actually brown.
gonzo41 4y ago
Thats what we used to have in Australia, and now it just rains. It's killing my morale atm.
Fatnino 4y ago
The climate did change. Now it hardly rains in the winter either.
prottog 4y ago
> It basically rains in winter, and does not rain in summer. Like, at all. You needn't have moved so far from southern Germany to experience that! Lack of rain in the summer is a defining characteristic of the Mediterranean climate. You would have experienced the same a few hundred miles south. :-)

FullyFunctional 4y ago

Yes. I’m from Denmark, but I check the weather every night before stepping out as I have experience 13 C nights where the previous night was 20 C. And this is not uncommon. When I first got here I was stunned by how noticeable nicer the weather was when driving from Santa Clara to Palo Alto, and more than once have I forgotten to bring a sweater to SF.

anyfoo 4y ago
Yeah. Living in SF and working in the South Bay, it's common in the evening to get into my car sweating, and coming out freezing. I always pack a hoodie. On the bright side, a hoodie is often all I ever need, all year long.

tiagod 4y ago

My hometown is close to Portugal's westernmost tip, about 30km from Lisbon. Its not uncommon to see differences over 10C between the two, and the car ride will many times include rain or fog only in a specific spot of the highway, half way. Even if you stay right next to the ocean/river during the whole trip by avoiding the highway you'll notice a big difference most days.