I might just be addicted …

IMG_2739Maybe it’s the heat? It could also be the cold. Or perhaps the non-summer we had in 2011-12 in contrast to the scorcher this year. But I have a problem. It’s getting serious. I can’t leave it alone.

More than anything I need to how what the temperature is. Right now. All the time. From the crack of dawn till I fall asleep. Not only that, I also really have to know which way the wind is blowing, and what’s happening in Braidwood. Yes, Braidwood. For Braidwood it is the weather vane, the lead indicator for when Canberra will cool down. Once that easterly air hits Braidwood, it is only a question of when. Yes, when? Exactly when?I really have to know. I have the tool in my hand constantly to answer all these questions and more. I check the weather before I check anything else. But I don’t look out the window, I check my weather apps. Yes, that’s right plural. I especially like the charts. It really did get HOT yesterday – and check out that diurnal range! Over twenty degrees in one 24 hour period. Let me just check back to last year. Definitely hotter overnight than the same day last year. Do I need a coat to go out at lunchtime? Can I make it home before it starts pouring? Not content with checking all these things for myself, I find it necessary to share this information with the world.

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Gratuitous rainy shot February 2012

This addiction has been a while in the making. I’ve always been interested in the weather, I own a few books. I used to rely on the newspaper and radio bulletins to keep me up to date. I once had a very bizarre conversation at school with my then brand new room mate, who asked me what I was thinking about while we were lying in bed trying to sleep in the unfamiliar beds. I answered that I was thinking about how the Northern Tablelands gets its weather. She laughed so hard she nearly fell out of bed. But I was! Complete with topographical 3D maps in my head trying to work it out.

It was a struggle to keep up to date in the olden days. It’s hot. But how hot? There used to be a recorded information service, like the talking clock, but it only provided the forecast. There wasn’t any real time information except for the backyard gauge. Wet bulb? Or dry bulb? Weather vane? Rain gauge?

The apple phone changed all that! No more checking the Bureau of Meteorology website, no more comparing reports on the radio bulletins. Now I have boundless information right at my finger tips. All the time. Wake up in the night. What’s the temperature? What’s the forecast? What’s it like in Braidwood? When’s the cool change due? Anything on the radar?

The weather in Canberra is largely predictable in summer. Hot but cooler overnight. Dry as anything. Winter too is pretty same same. It’s freezing and a bit more freezing. Sometimes there are variations. Like last summer where it did nothing but rain and never got above 30 degrees all January.  But the real question is what exactly is happening right now? Has the wind shifted yet? Has the humidity dropped? Is it safe to open up the house yet to let the cool air in or should I wait till 5am? Let me just check.

Weather of a kind Canberra is more famous for

Weather of a kind Canberra is more famous for

It is a sickness.