Record breaking weather

As I post this, we are having our second day in a row of cloudy weather, and our first rain in a month.  And by "rain" I mean, a few hours of drizzle.  Not real rain, just a few drips or a little mist.

What broke the record?  A full month of temperatures in the seventies (F)/twenties centigrade, which is a joy to all west coasters, a long dry period where watering of plants is necessary, and a shock to the usual slug population.  

Here is a day in the parks of city center Bergen.

And a quick day trip to the island of Stord.

Weather in Norway

Meteogram, next 48 hours

*Nedbørssøylene viser maks- og minverdier for nedbør per time. 

This is just SAD!  The chart doesn't even go over 20ºC...

We are just laughing it off, in fact, at this moment it's quite bright out, like there's sun somewhere, but the cloud cover is shrouding the mountains.  I'm SOOOO glad I'm not a tourist here for the day! LOL

Sorry about the pasted chart above spilling over into other columns, but you get the idea.

Today we had a mini birthday party for our 2 year old.  The puddles under the swings was VERY popular, as was the splash at the bottom of the slide!

We kept the cupcakes under foil and everyone was cheery as if the sun was shining.

No complaints!

I've been a bit moany about Bergen's weather.  I'm not the only one, which makes me feel less ungrateful-- because-- There have been some nice days, like today. Though I took no pictures today was the first time, I went without a jacket, and dared to show my bare toes in public.  Just to cover all bases, I wore my Europa shawl around my neck and visited a yarn shop.  Got a compliment, too, from the shop keeper, and I returned the favor by helping her find the right word for tourists who were appalled that the shops would be closed totally, both Sunday and Monday.  Yes, it's the great celebration of 'Pinse' or Pentecost.

 And last week... although not as warm, it was nice weather for a walk.

The re-planting of gardens in the parks is on-going.  Everything was ship-shape for the 17th of May celebrations, but not quite up to par a month later.

Hills to negotiate with a stoller.  

Real hills...

A walk through the Botanical Gardens.  Being a nice day there were loads of students soaking in the sun.

 And a friendly cat as our guide.

What Doing?*

I've been busy, but I also feel like I've neglected my blog.  Does anyone else feel that way?  Does anyone else notice?  I notice, because I like to read my favorite blogs, and ... and... they are doing the same thing as me-- neglecting their blogs.

Brenda, I don't mean you!  I need to make a convenient link to your blog so I'll have NO excuses.  HERE

My days are full of little errands, baby-sitting, and watching the weather.  In NM, there is little weather to watch:  Sun, sunny, mostly sunny, scattered showers possible, clear.  Here in Norway:  Rain, rain, more rain, partly sunny, and fog.  It's just how it is. I'm not complaining because when you see the cute rain gear, you can't help but smile!

I went button shopping today.  So hopeful that I would find something to match other buttons.

For this "completed" project I need 6 buttons down the front, and 11 buttons for decoration in the diamonds.  I have 10.

I wish you could see how lovely those buttons are. They are a shiny orange and exactly the same green as the sweater.  Looks like 3 buttons one on the other.  My daughter bought them years ago, just because they are beautiful.  She has them in this orange and green combination, and another set in pink shades.

The shop still has the pink ones, but not the orange/green.  Bummer.  They just don't photograph well.

*Favorite expression of my 2 year old (minus 2 weeks) granddaughter when she sees someone.  

Weather: Live with IT!

Unexpected sunny weather in Norway for over a week! Statistically this is a one of the rainiest place on Earth.  The talk amongst us was:  What nice weather to remember Norway by, now that we are leaving for a year.  Then BOOM!  Friday hit, two days to go, and it turned rainy, and by the time we left the flat, and went to two birthday parties on our last day, it was not only rainy, but down-right COLD (especially by my June standards).


Rainfall in May for USA varies greatly.  That was a link to show that some places got up to 20 inches of rain for the month, while in the high desert SW we got soaked this year with 1/2 inch.
For Bergen, there's often rain every day.  Sometimes it gets to be contest, and the citizens begin to cheer it on towards another new record.  That's usually in the Fall though... so here's what I found about Bergen.

Rain
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 May is the best month for tourists in Bergen! And looks like the same as the rainiest days in the States. When it comes to the whole year, Mobile takes the prize in the States (2007), and Bergen comes in at ±88 inches for the year. (A bit more impressive than the reported 66 inches in Mobile.)

Not only is Bergen the warmest city in Norway, thanks to the influence of the Gulf Stream, but it is also probably the wettest. In fact, so well known has the city become for its high rainfall that at one stage an entrepreneur posted umbrella vending machines in the streets. Bergen's annual average precipitation is 88 inches (2250mm), and most of this falls as rain. Summers are pleasantly mild to warm, and in winter temperatures generally remain above freezing, although stiff breezes and high humidity may make it feel colder. Snow falls on odd days, and is generally not more than 10 cm deep. 

NEW PLACES!

Moving on to Spain, we can expect less than an inch in the month of June! Now that's more like it!  
Arrived this morning, leaving in coldish weather, at 5 AM with some of the last party-goers.  Two of them hitched a ride with our taxi, and they didn't get the 5 hours of sleep that we did.  We were a bit disappointed to see the weather reported in Alicante at 21ºC and rainy.  But there's none of that... And I easily could set up shop on the roof top for the next 2 weeks.

Or maybe a little shade...?