The sun has reappeared in central Canada! This is news to this home returnee because for the first 18 days of my visit, I saw the sun once!
We’ve had virtually nothing but straight days of cloud, overcast and rain. And it was cold, most nights dipping to low single digits Celsius. Daytime highs were barely in the teens, running mostly 10 to 12 -- a good 4 to 5 degrees off the 2010 temperatures.
I wore four layers of clothing -- every day. I had to borrow an insulated vest and never gave it back during the first 3 weeks. The three short-sleeve dress shirts and three hot weather pull-on shirts never left my suitcase. I wore my heavy rainproof shoes everyday. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring my Bangkok umbrella, mostly because I had been using it as the rains started early in Thailand, really early.
When I arrived in mid-April, I stepped out into the damp, cold of the airport and was struck by snowflakes. Snow!?!?!? Argh! I was freezing. It was only 2 or 3 degrees. I just came from Bangkok where it was 34C and three days previous, from eight days in Phnom Penh where it was 35-37 degrees (photo: steamy Phnom Penh street where even the moto rider has sun awning). I've gotten used to the heat, or at least my blood has. I wore a jacket when BKK temps fell to 17 overnight.
People are saying it’s been the worst Toronto spring in memory. Most here believe we’ll just go straight from winter to summer! That may be true.
This weekend -- I’m writing this on Sunday -- it’s been sunny all day both days. You don’t realize how much that means to body and mind until you step out onto the deck of your friend’s family home, with coffee and cigs in hand and feel those truly warm beams that (finally) reach below the skin surface. From there the comforting signals go to the brain and make everything all right.
In April 2010, the mean daytime maximum temperature was 16.2 and mean overnight low was 10.5. This year those numbers were: 11.8 and 6.9 -- 4.4 degree and 3.6 degree differences respectively. The mean daily temperature for April 2010 was 10.5C, this year 6.9C -- an almost 4 degree difference over the 30-day month.
Back in Bangkok, temps are roughly in the low 30s, some days hitting mid-30s as this is the hot season.
The early part of the winter was actually quite cool, relatively speaking, with daytime temps hovering in the 28-30 range occasionally. Sometimes, the overnight lows dipped to 18 or so. We got some really hot days, 35-37, but there have been few of those.
However, the rainy season seems to be intruding early. I can remember some heavy rains in late February. March occasionally would bring rain showers. I see now for April and May forecasts of thunder showers.
But I miss the heat and yes, even the humidity. I’ll be back in the warm womb of Bangkok in a week.
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