Olivers wrote:

Bjorn Viaene extrapolated from data available...



At the same time half way around the world another monsoon is getting
started. The monsoon across the western United States, as it is called
locally, has just started to bring the risk for afternoon
thunderstorms across parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado for the
next few days. Much of the western United States receives a good chunk
of their annual rainfall from the summer thunderstorm season.

I don't suppose that the BeeB has ever cottoned to the fact that the
weather is in most locales somewhat variable.


Yup:

http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2004/Art/0708/news7.php

Experts call cool summer 'normal'

Past year's heat wave was exception for Central Europe

"Unlike average Praguers who have grown attached to their umbrellas of late,
meteorologists in the know are not surprised by the recent cool, wet
climate. After last year's summer of Mediterranean weather, the Czech
Republic is apparently back to normal.

While most of us might curse the frequent showers, cloudy skies and average
temperatures between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius (68 and 78.8 degrees
Fahrenheit) we've had during the past two months, meteorologists call this a
typical Central European summer.

Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute (CHMU) forecasts indicate no change is
expected in the near future. Jan Pavlik of the CHMU said July will probably
be similar to June, in terms of temperature as well as rainfall.

"This is a totally normal start of the season. What was abnormal was last
year's dry, hot summer," Pavlik said.

While this year we have more Atlantic ocean air flowing here, in previous
years there was a flow of warm air from the southwest because of a
high-pressure area. That resulted in the warm and dry weather, according to
Pavlik.

"After last year's extremes, the weather in all Europe will get back to
normal," he said.

It's quite understandable that people in Prague are surprised by this return
to meteorological normalcy. The past two years have been something of a
weather roller-coaster. In August 2002, a long, hot summer culminated with
the devastating flood of the Vltava river. And the summer of 2003 was the
hottest in the last 40 years. But even when considering those two years,
again, the experts remain calm.

"It is true that the last 10 years were warmer than in the past 150 years.
Warming is a trend which will continue but that does not mean there won't be
colder periods in between," said Vit Kveton of the general climatology
department at CHMU.

Vojtech Kotecky of the DUHA ecological movement also said extreme weather
swings are not rare. He said such fluctuations are likely to become more
frequent because of pollution, which contributes to climate change. He added
that in the future we can expect sharp turns in cold and hot periods and
frequent flooding. "But the weather we have now is not a consequence of this
trend," he said.


Good for crops

However sorry we are to see summer showers, the current weather is certainly
beneficial to Mother Nature. Plenty of rain will balance out the long-term
lack of humidity and sources of underground water will be renewed, experts
said.

"So far this season, rainfall has been average and from an agricultural
point of view that indicates it will be a good year," said Tomas Vrablik of
the CHMU biometeorological-applications department.

The return to normalcy is just what farmers have been hoping for.

"We finally expect the normal harvest we were used to," said Jan Zahorka of
the Czech Chamber of Agriculture.

Thanks to the weather, the country's legion of mushroom pickers can expect
to find a bumper crop growing in the forests, as plenty of rain is ideal for
mushrooms to grow.

"We are already harvesting some," Jan Borovicka of the Czech Mycology
Society said. "In comparison with last year, the season is much better. It's
due to rainy, cold weather in May and June. There were typical autumn
mushrooms in the forests."

While last year it seemed pointless to travel abroad in search of sunny
skies and warm weather, this summer travel agents are reporting an upswing
in packages to beach locales. Meanwhile, outdoor public swimming pools in
Prague are hosting fewer visitors.

"In comparison with last year we have 10-30 percent fewer visitors," said
Vaclav Sala, an administrator with the Petynka swimming pool in Prague 6.
"Weather plays a great role in the number of people we get."


WEATHER DATA

.. Mean temperature (Celsius) as recorded at Prague

Year May June July August
2001 16.3 16.1 19.9 20.3
2002 17.3 19.4 20.3 20.7
2003 17.0 21.7 20.7 22.7
2004 11.7 15.7


Source: Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute (CHMU)



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