La Palma is on fire. See http://lapalma-island.com/another-forest-fire/ My house is quite safe, but not all my friends are. A lot of the south west of the island has burned, but the fire appears to be under some sort of control on most fronts. Most of it is too depressing to talk about. Anyway, as a result I learned about a new type of cloud. A virga cloud produces rain that…
It’s been freakishly warm for months, but winter suddenly arrived on Thursday. I pretty much spent the day hibernating, apart form German class. Yesterday morning I went into town. It was raining but that usually means very short queues everywhere. I didn’t take an umbrella because of the gusty wind, just a cagoule. I got everything done, with gaps of waiting around in shops for the heavy showers, then headed…
Our printer’s finally died. It’s been getting more and more persnickerty for some time, and more and more inclined to print at a slight angle, make graunching noises or chew up the paper. Well, it finally went to the great yard sale in the sky. My husband found a new (second-hand) one for free, so on Thursday afternoon I was trying to install the driver for the new model. It’s…
Even La Palma we have bad weather sometimes. Usually it’s in winter when a big depression rolls in from the Atlantic, bringing wind and rain for a day or two. I’m philosophical about it: you can’t have the rainbbows and lush forests I love so much without rain sometimes. But it is a pity for holiday makers, especially when they come here to escape the cold. Yesterday La Palma had…
Every year NASA holds a competition to chose the best photo of Earth. The Canary Islands won this year’s Tournament: Earth is again. (Last year’s winner was a photo of the submarine eruption off El Hierro.) The Canary Islands sit in the trade winds and the Canary current, both of which come from the north east. This photo, taken by NASA’s Terra satellite on June 15, 2013, shows long…
We’ve had unusually wet weather for the last few days. There’s nothing odd about the odd winter storm, although I swear they’re windier than they used to be. What is unusual is having two of them almost back to back. So I’m sorry if you’re having a soggy holiday. The rain tends to blow in and out pretty quickly, so I suggest that you at least enjoy the rainbows.